Film Friday - Making it in America

by Nomad

Joris Debeij's documentary- part of a series called "I Am Los Angeles," focuses on the life of a former immigrant turned citizen. Her story may seem ordinary. That's precisely the point. She has the same dreams and goals as any other American.

As a teenager, Alma Velasco had dreams of finishing school and getting a degree in El Salvador. But her dreams were shattered by the dangerous conditions created by the El Salvadorian civil war which first broke out in 1979, and lasted for almost 13 years. Alma's mother lived in fear for the safety her children, and although it meant she may never see her daughter again, she made the difficult decision to send Alma to cross the border into the United States.

At the age of 16, Alma managed to survive the exhausting and dangerous trip across the border to join her uncle in California. That's right. She came to this country as an undocumented immigrant.

Yanqui Matón: How Trump's Bullying of Mexico is Playing With Fire

 by Nomad

In his book "Trump: The Art of the Deal," Mr. Trump- or somebody he paid- wrote:  

"Bullies may act tough, but really they're closet cowards. "

it is hardly an original observation but given the source, it is typical Trump hypocrisy. 

Perhaps nowhere can we better see the Trump's bully personality than his position on our neighbor to the South.  

La Intimidación del Yanqui

Trump's hard-ass diatribes against Mexico included blaming that country for exporting its undesirables (criminals, drug dealers, and rapists) to the US to cause mayhem and to steal American jobs. 

He has- at least, in the past- boasted that he would build an extremely expensive wall to keep Mexicans out and would somehow force the Mexican government to pay for it. In addition, Trump has been pushing to renegotiate NAFTA, the trade agreement that has bound the economies of both countries (and Canada) for more than 20 years.

During the campaign, a lot of voters bought the hateful rhetoric and unfounded allegations. 

Sanity Sunday- Three on a Theremin

by Nomad

The year 1928 produced a lot of technological marvels. British inventor John Logie Baird broadcasted a transatlantic television signal from London to New York.
Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as a passenger on June 18th of that year.
And the first machine sliced, machine- wrapped loaves of bread were sold in Chillicothe, Missouri.

It was also in that year that Russian inventor, Léon Theremin (Термéн), patented the electronic musical instrument known as thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox and later shortened to simply the Theremin.

Film Friday- Sarah’s Uncertain Path

by Nomad

Filmmakers Andrew Droz Palermo and his cousin Tracy Droz Tragos produced this 2014 vignette called Sarah’s Uncertain Path, documenting a low-income family in western Missouri.

We are introduced to Sarah, a pregnant Midwestern teen, who is struggling to beat the odds in a tragic family tradition.

Congress Demands Legal Justification for Trump's Syrian Missile Attack

by Nomad

Dear Mr. President

You might not have seen the joint press release from Congressman Adam Schiff and Senator Tim Kaine issued yesterday. It was in regards a letter they sent to the Trump administration concerning legal matters and the Syrian missile attack earlier this month.

An interesting letter it was, too.

Washington, DC – Yesterday, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, sent a letter to President Trump asking that he detail the legal basis for the strike against, which has yet to be provided to Congress and the American people.
Schiff and Kaine stated that a full understanding of the domestic and international legal basis for the strike is of great importance to Congress in exercising its constitutional responsibilities.

As the letter states, “By articulating a legal basis for military action, as well as laying out a strategic vision for such action, a president provides a justification for the use of the momentous power to commit American lives to a cause, but also an understanding of the limits of those powers.”
Both Schiff and Kaine believe that Bashar al-Assad must be held accountable for his atrocities and war crimes, but have argued that the missile strikes on the Syrian regime without congressional approval were unlawful.
The full text of the letter is below: