Third Saturday Seminar 2005-2006

Humanity at a Crossroads

Fifth Meeting
21 January 2006
9:30am to 12:00 noon
Room B-102, Montgomery College
3200 College Park Drive – Conroe, TX – 77384 – 936.273.7000

Immigration, Legal and Illegal, (What) Do We Care?

Curt Gibby

For our first meeting of the new year we will tackle a subject suggested by  one of our members, Gene Bruce.


The subject of immigration is one that most of us have fervently hoped would be resolved by an intelligent, fair, imaginative government.  Yet the evidence would indicate we will wait long for that to happen.

In the meantime it is affecting us all.  The problem really isn’t simple and there are groups in this country with conflicting interests. The Politicians, who are always trying to please everyone at the same time  go schizoid when confronted with this issue.

Traditionally, local law enforcement was spared the responsibility for enforcement of federal laws, now there is interest in putting them to work.  What about the Armed Forces?  Is there a technical or military or criminal just solution to the problem?

The issue has many dimensions, economic, humanitarian, ethical, social, health, etc.

Do you have any good answers?  Does your philosophy or religion?  Let’s see if we can make sense out of this most elusive issue, even if it won’t be perfect.

We will look at the problem, statistically and some of the general  information readily available on the Internet (See the Links Below.  I recommend the top two links* especially.) And of course I will bring more.

But the most important resource will be our own minds.  We will need to challenge each other hoping to bring our something of benefit.

“Homework:”  Word Association – Skim over the following list partial list of words that bring to my mind  things associated with the issue of immigration and how it should, must, ought to be dealt with. for the future growth and tranquility of our country.

Hospitality
Stowaway
Wetback
Amnesty
Evacuee
Illegal
Unemployment
Refugee
Citizen
Immigrant
Public Safety
Fairness
Alien
Religion
Foreigner
Border Protection
Human Being
War on Drugs
Resident
Guest Worker
Green Card
Coyote
Homeland Security

Bring yourself and your thoughts to share.

You might want to check out:

*Statistical Abstract of the US-Section One, Population (see tables 5-10, 46, 47)
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/pop.pdf

*Immigration to the United States, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
http://uscis.gov/graphics/

Welcome to the Office of Immigration Statistics
http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/

Center For Immigration Studies
http://www.cis.org/

History
http://www.cis.org/topics/history.html

Illegal Immigration
http://www.cis.org/topics/illegalimmigration.html

American Immigration Center (A commercial venture )
http://www.us-immigration.com/

Department of State Statistics – Visas
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/stats/stats_1362.html

U.S. Immigration Statistics by State
http://www.gcir.org/about_immigration/usmap.htm



Current Events: (We always talk about current events to start out)
You know there are plenty – Eavesdropping to Space Exploration and the eruption of Corruption.  The  new President of Iran has decided to  do some tail twisting back.  (Remember, daring, and double daring in the school yard?, the World needs your prayers if these two guys don’t get a dose of reason in the next couple of years.)


NOTICE:
Future Dates for the Third Saturday Seminar Spring 2006 Semester –
95917 CCALL 3980032 M3076 Sa 1/21, 2/18, 3/11, 4/8, 5/20 9:30AM-12PM B102
Note the March and April Dates are NOT the Third Saturday due to Spring Break and  other MC schedule constraints.

Special Event Announcement: (This is not an ALL sponsored event, but one I personally recommend, given the recent and ongoing challenges to our Democracy)

Dissent in a Democracy

COLONEL ANN WRIGHT
(U.S. Army Retired, Former U.S. Diplomat)
January 25, 2006
Wednesday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm.
Montgomery College Theater
Building D
Montgomery College, 3200 College Park Dr., Conroe, Tx

A suggested donation of $10 is requested, (This is not an ALL sponsored event) Call 281-298-2780 for additional information. 
You can download a flyer by clicking: Ann_Wright_Flyer_wPhoto.pdf

Retired Army Colonel Ann Wright is a decorated veteran with 26 years in public service as an U.S. army officer and 15 years as a U.S.US diplomat around in countries like Grenada, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Mongolia, etc. She joined the Foreign Service in 1987 and served as Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan, and Mongolia, with previous assignments in Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Grenada and Nicaragua.  She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism. She resigned from US Foreign Service on March 19, 2004 while serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy in Mongolia, to protest the US War in Iraq, the US policy on Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. policy on Korea, and the erosion of civil liberties.

 

About The Third Saturday Seminar

Started in January 2000, We are about personal empowerment through demystification.  Our subject matter is broad but it always tries to be about understanding ourselves and others better; and, having fun.

The Third Saturday Seminar is sponsored by the Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) Program at Montgomery College.  There is no fee for ALL members.  More on the ALL program at: http://wwwstagemc.nhmccd.edu/Templates/Content.aspx?pid=11811

For information about Montgomery College: http://wwwmc.nhmccd.edu

Parking: May I suggest that you park in the “West Parking Area” , as that parking area  is closer to Building B.  Ignore the “Instructors Only” signs on the parking,  That only applies on week days.

Map of MC Campus: http://www.montgomery-college.com/Templates/Content.aspx?pid=14970 and directions http://www.montgomery-college.com/Templates/Content.aspx?pid=14972

Looking forward to seeing you there. (And please let me know if anything in this announcement doesn’t make sense.)

Next Session: January 21, 2006 (Happy New Year)

As usual, if anything doesn’t work or make sense (It is midnight), please let me know so I can warn the others – see you Saturday


Best regards,

Curt Gibby
Spring, TX
281-353-4350
Fax: 281-288-8230