The American definition of globalization or “outsourcing” is the action of “obtaining of goods or services needed by a business or organization under contract with an outside supplier”. This definition seems pretty clear and concise but what it fails to include are the countless other factors that this fad has introduced into American lives.

Some see outsourcing as a way to help other countries build their own society and economic wealth but this action causes more harm than good to those countries. Not only is outsourcing non beneficial to our country because it gives away countless jobs that we desperately need during these hard economic times, but we are also limiting the rights of the people within these deprived countries.

By outsourcing, the United States and its companies are stripping not only ourselves of our own culture by not influencing the output of products that read the label “ Made in USA” but also other countries of their own individual culture. Globalization is just another way for big companies to manufacture their products with cheaper labor, goods and services.

Over decades American families have helped build our nation to what it is today, and now we don’t even have the resources to support these workers that have helped make our country the “super power” it is.  Why should people overseas reap the benefits from our economic hardships? Is it because the government wants to keep the rich richer?

Is it because the government wants to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer? Or is it because companies don’t want to take on the accountability that comes with having American citizens working in their factories?

On the surface, globalization seems like a good idea to spread knowledge and technology to less fortunate countries but what we may not realize is that people in these countries suffer under safety and health violation and the possibility of discrimination and illegal behavior, since developing countries do not have the same level of labor rights making it easy for them to be exploited.

Thus safety hazards and unsafe labor conditions are created. Not all labor laws in the U.S. exist in these countries and if they do they are certainly not enforced the way they are in the United States, with that in mind companies can contract and make their own labor laws to which they feel are ethical.

Since these countries aren’t as well developed as the U.S. children and women are able to work long stressful hours, in an unsanitary environment for very little pay to help support their family. Companies are also exempt from paying as much for their workers health benefits.

Along with the disadvantages of the people in these undeveloped countries are the people in the hometown of these big corporate companies. According to an American Union report by AFL-CIO “Goldman Sachs estimates 400,000–600,000 professional services and information sector jobs moved overseas in the past few years, accounting for about half of the total net job loss in the sector over the period.”

The report also states “Forrester Research Inc. predicts U.S. employers will move 3.4 million white-collar jobs and $136 billion in wages overseas by 2015.” Not only are Americans struggling with looking for work during this almost Depression-esc time the work that we do have were giving away billions of dollars to countries at a cheaper price and cheaper value.

By not circulating the money within our own country, companies are benefitting to the economic hardship by not hiring Americans to run their businesses and work in their factories. Companies are at fault by not providing a solution to the country that are assisting the problem.

In reference to the loss of jobs due to globalization, according to the CRS Report for Congress both physical and emotional factors have begin to come into play within our society people are scared that they may eventually lose their job and this creates “worker anxiety”, “The current, highly publicized wave of offshore outsourcing has caused considerable anxiety among both unemployed and employed workers….

Domestic outsourcing and offshore outsourcing result in job losses for those employees who no longer are required to produce the goods and services that their employers decided to purchase. Some displaced workers must seek jobs in other fields because the domestic firms that specialize in providing outsourced functions do so more efficiently than their former employers.

Others who lose their jobs to domestic outsourcing can continue to perform similar work — perhaps for lower wages and fewer benefits,” the CRS Report for Congress states on page 5. Americans are taking pay cuts and receiving less health benefits due to outsourcing and are made to believe that globalization is good for the country, our America.

The question is who’s America we’re speaking off and if we really want to live in ‘that’ America. Outsourcing could be detrimental to our country especially during these financial times where companies need to promote as much revenue as possible. We cannot successfully help others if we cannot help ourselves.

As it was so eloquently put in the textbook The New World Reader “The essence of globalization is a subordination of human rights, of labor rights, consumer rights, environmental rights, democracy rights, to the imperatives of global trade and investments.”

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The September 11 terrorist attacks brought more than the loss of American lives, they brought considerable impact on internal affairs of the United States. The CIA’s involvement with the NYPD is considered, by many, another stain on the Agency’s long history of scandals.

The CIA has been accused of infiltrating the police department and using its resources to conduct spying operations on a domestic level, mainly targeting the Muslim community in New York City. After a thorough investigation, the Associated Press has published an article revealing the relationship between the Agency and the NYPD in the past ten years.

Work have been done on two main levels. First, a veteran CIA officer was assigned to be in charge of training a police officer who would put into practice new espionage techniques inside the police units. This action allowed the CIA to influence and reorient NYPD towards serving intelligence instead of fulfilling its normal duty as a law enforcement institution.

Secondly, a senior CIA officer was sent to work as a clandestine operative inside the police headquarters, with the main goal of supervising and watching the progression of the project. Bookstores, cafes, bars and nightclubs are some of the public places targeted by the program which consisted of citizens’ surveillance, also referred to in the AP report as “human mapping.”

The same reports said that the NYPD has sent “rakers” into minority neighborhoods to spy and gather data. Police have also used informants, referred to as “mosque crawlers,” to report on religious sermons or gatherings in mosques, even in the absence of suspicious activity.

In his comments on the issue, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, admitted that NYPD is working with the CIA, but defended its practices saying, “If there are threats or leads to follow, then the NYPD’s job is to do it. The law is pretty clear about what’s the requirement and I think they follow the law. We don’t stop to think about the religion. We stop to think about the threats and focus our efforts there.”

In a response to the report, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights organization, asked the Justice Department for an investigation into the case. CAIR attorney, Gadeir Abbas, believes that “the first amendment protects our right to associate freely with one another.”

“An investigation of a community [rather than of a crime or a particular person] unlawfully chills the rights of persons within that community. Furthermore, the Establishment Clause requires NYPD to maintain neutrality between all religions. Their intelligence unit appears to be failing to maintain that neutrality by institutionalizing suspicion of all things Islamic,” Abbas said.

Police involvement in CIA activities has blurred the lines of domestic and foreign affairs as well as the limits between local and federal jurisdiction.

Some say that the CIA’s dependence on the help of the NYPD is because of the the agency’s inexperience dealing with a domestic environment. The lack of diversity among the CIA’s personnel may also play into its inability to conduct operations independent of the police department. The NYPD has both features; a direct contact with citizens, as well as a culturally and linguistically diverse staff that more easily blends into the community.

Others are questioning why the CIA doesn’t try collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instead of NYPD. Whatever the reason, the issues surrounding privacy and freedom is not only found in the U.S. Many Arabs are currently fighting against regimes, where spying on citizens is routine. Meanwhile, many New Yorkers are unaware of the spying efforts of the CIA and police department.

Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock.com

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U.S. students don’t know their own country’s history.

Based on recent national test scores, results show less than one-fourth of students are “proficient” in American history, CNN reports.

The Nation’s Report Card: U.S. History 2010, test results report by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education showed 20 percent of fourth graders, 17 percent of eighth graders and 12 percent of 12th graders showed “solid academic performance” on the tests.

Exam statics are based on 7,000 fourth graders, 11,000 eighth graders and 12,000 12th graders.
When it comes to testing, it doesn’t seem as though history is the most important subject for students to know anyways. U.S. history is not even tested in the No Child left Behind policy.

Knowing history also can’t help students pass the SAT, because there’s no history section on that test. Most jobs don’t even focus on employees’ abilities to remember what year the civil war started or who the president was during that time period.

Teachers tend to focus on subjects such as English and math, which have more practical and vocational applications for students, beyond standardized testing.

There could be many factors and reasons why students are doing so poorly in U.S. history. Teachers may need to venture into new methods of teaching history to the country’s children.

“All of these students will be voters… and almost 40 percent were already eligible to vote when they took the assessment,” said Diane Ravitch, a New York University research professor of education in a statement released after the results of the study were published. “They will be making decisions in the voting booth that influence our lives.

They should be well informed and capable of weighing the contending claims of candidates, especially when the candidates rest their arguments on historical precedent.”

Knowing history may not help to perform well on the job at McDonalds or Starbucks. But, knowing history helps those who are informed make better decisions in life.

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree,” the words of Michael Crichton an American writer.

Jorg Hackemann / Shutterstock.com

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The US government decided that the problem of obesity amongst children in America has gone far enough and will be stepping in to regulate. The government will be limiting what foods can be advertised to children.

Data from the National Health and Examination Survey shows that about one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese. Approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese.

According to the New York Times 11 food giants, including McDonald’s, Campbell Soup and PepsiCo, have already agreed to stop advertising products that do not meet nutritional standards to children 12 years old and younger.

“We are hopeful that people will look at this and say that the community has done a substantial, enormous amount of work,” Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of the Association of National Advertisers told the New York Times.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus and its Children’s Advertising Review Unit will be reviewing these companies marketing plans and will report to the public on their findings.

The Times reports, according to industry estimates, advertisers spend almost $900 million annually on television made for children younger than 12.

“This is great public relations for the companies, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough,” said Susan Linn, co-founder of the Boston-based group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “It is going to be impossible to monitor if the companies are actually doing what they say.”

Obesity currently results in an estimated 400,000 deaths a year in the United States and costs the national economy almost $122.9 billion yearly.

Obesity and weight gain are caused by consuming more calories than the body needs. It is most commonly cause by having a poor diet, consuming high calories, fatty foods, and living an inactive lifestyle.
Obesity impacts more than people’s lifestyles, it can also lead to lower self-esteem, cause depression and can cause people to be uncomfortable in social situations; Obesity can considerably weaken someone’s quality of life.

The government stepping in plays a role in the fight against childhood obesity. But parents need to do their part as well. To avoid childhood obesity, parents should incorporate healthy diets and exercise into their children’s daily lives.

Both children and parents should participant in activities that involve physical exercise and limit the time watching TV, playing video games or on the computer.

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Despite the new look for McDonald’s Happy Meals starting in Sept in the U.S. critics say McDonald’s can still do more.

The golden arches will be offering a healthier option for their Happy Meals. But the University of Minnesota’s Simone French believes McDonald is missing a bigger chance to help children’s health. French believe McDonald should get rid of the soda.

The kids’ meals will be adding 1/4 cup of apples to their meals in addition to serving a smaller portion of french fries.

This change with cut 130 calories from the current Happy Meal. -The new Happy Meal with four pieces of McNuggets, apple slices, smaller French Fries and 1% milk will have 410 calories, 19 grams of fat and 560 milligrams of sodium.

French is an expert on marketing and societal influences that affect eating behaviors and is studying how to improve the diets and habits of low-income Minnesota families. These families are particularly affected by fast food practices, she said, because those restaurants offer food they can afford.

“What you could do is not even offer a sugar-sweetened beverage in a kids’ meal,” she said to Star Tribune. “If parents want it, they should have to order it separately off the menu.

Childhood obesity has become a growing problem in the U.S. and health advocates have pointed fingers at McDonalds for contributing to the problem. But McDonald’s is taking steps to change that, “by adding fruit in every Happy Meal, McDonald’s hopes to address a challenge children face in meeting the recommended daily consumption of produce,” according to the corporation’s statement.

The changes follow first lady Michelle Obama’s public health campaign to prevent childhood obesity. The first lady says she commends the progress McDonalds is making by providing more fruit and reducing the calories in its Happy Meals, “I’ve always said that everyone has a role to play in making America healthier, and these are positive steps toward the goal of solving the problem of childhood obesity,” Michelle Obama in a statement.

“McDonald’s is taking steps in the right direction, but we should be careful in heaping praise on corporations for simply reducing the scope of the problem they continue to create,” said Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International to CNN Health. “Ultimately corporate responsibility is not about securing public relations for cleaning up your own mess, but for not creating the problem in the first place. In this case, that means stopping the marketing of junk food to kids.”

The suggested retail price of the Happy Meal will not change, remaining between $2.99 and $3.49.

“McDonald’s has been engaging suppliers, government and non-government organizations to determine ways it could play a role in helping society address today’s obesity concerns,” the company’s press release said. “McDonald’s will develop additional fruit and vegetable choices and expects them to roll out over the next few years.”

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According to Beyoncé’s debut single Girls Run The World from her latest album 4: “My persuasion can build a nation. Endless power our love we can devour. You’ll do anything for me” – the album hit stores June 28.

This anthem was the lead single from Beyoncé’s latest solo album 4. The song samples “Pon De Floor” by Major Lazer and has been met with mixed feelings. The radio doesn’t seem to be picking it up as a summer hit. Some feel this song is controversial because it sends messages of false hope; this song has a nice beat and interesting dance pieces in the music video.

“It’s definitely riskier than something a bit more…simple,” Beyoncé told Billboard.com of the single. “I just heard the track and loved that it was so different: it felt a bit African, a bit electronic and futuristic. It reminded me of what I love, which is mixing different cultures and eras — things that typically don’t go together — to create a new sound.”

Despite ridicule, 4 is doing well, it debuted at #1 last week on the Billboard albums chart, and most likely will remain there a 2nd week.

“You’ve got to remember that Beyoncé, being typical Beyoncé, her albums generally are anchored by really big hits; this album doesn’t have those hits yet,” Us Weekly senior music editor Ian Drew told MTV News. “It’s not to say that it won’t. There are some very strong songs on the album, but they have not been released yet. There are those songs on it, but they have not come out yet and they haven’t struck yet. Beyoncé is coming out at a time when radio is very crowded.”

4 is definitely different from Beyoncé’s first solo albums. This album focuses more on her vocals and shows she is growing and experiencing life, like any newly married 29-year-old woman. You can hear this in the lyrics of some songs, “When I think of the time I almost loved you/ You showed your ass and I saw the real you,” Best Thing I Never Had the second single off the album 4.

4 is an inspired title, Beyoncé gave her fans the credit with coming up with it. In addition to it being her favorite number. “It’s the day I was born. My mother’s birthday, and a lot of my friends’ birthdays are on the fourth . . . April 4th (or 4/4) is my wedding date,” Beyoncé explained.
More than 60 songs were recorded for this album.

This past year Beyoncé ditched her father as her manger and is currently managing herself. “I’ve only parted ways with my father on a business level. He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly. I am grateful for everything he has taught me.” Beyoncé said in a statement.

Her father, Matthew Knowles oversaw all aspects of Beyoncé career, from music to movies to fashion and more, he was there from the beginning, Destiny’s Child to her solo career, Beyoncé’s publicist stated.

“At this point, I really know who I am, and don’t feel like I have to put myself in a box. I’m not afraid of taking risks – no one can define me,” Beyoncé said.

4 is a deep, soulful album, some of the tracks are very romantic, dealing with being in love, to getting your heartbroken.

Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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The FBI launched a national television ad in an attempt to track down one of America’s 10 Most Wanted: James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, an 81-year-old Boston gangster. Bulger was; wanted in connection with 19 murders. The ad featured Catherine Greig, a 60-year-old former dental hygienist who has been on the run with him.

The couple was on the run for 16 years, last seen together in London in 2002

The FBI ran a 30-second public service announcement in areas where they believed Bulger and Greig still had connections. They believed that broadcasting Catherine Geig’s photo amongst those in her age group would lead to a tip about her whereabouts and ultimately to the arrest of Bulger.

The ad wasn’t the most creative. Regardless, “the just the facts” method, featuring not the suspect, but his girlfriend, was successful. About 36 hours after the ad debuted in 14 cities, the FBI found Bulger and his girlfriend Greig in Santa Monica, Calif.
FBI spokesman Greg Comcowich said a tipster called the FBI after she saw the ad. The tipster led agents to the California home of Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger and his longtime girlfriend, The Associated Press reported.

The FBI’s 30-second TV commercial was created by two small agencies in Maine: Northeast Media Associates and Blackfly Media.
The FBI used about $5,000 for the TV production, in addition to $45,000 for the use of media publication, which included two cities in California: San Francisco and San Diego.

The FBI has used TV ads in the past but not to this extent, said Daymon Katz, chief counsel at the FBI’s Boston division. The ad ran during daytime programs such as: The View, The Dr. Oz Show and Rachael Ray, Katz added. These shows appeal to women in the same age demographic as Grieg.

The ad was scheduled to run for a week, but right after Bulger’s arrest it was pulled. The government is seeking a refund for the remainder of the time according to Katz.

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This year Italy lands at Tribeca Film Festival of New York with the movie “A quiet life” – in Italian “Una vita tranquilla” – directed by Claudio Cupellini.

This movie come out in Italy in November 2010 and took part in the International Film Festival of Rome. At Tribeca Festival it was presented at the spotlight section and it was welcomed with the audience’s applause.

Rosario Russo is an Italian man immigrated to Germany, he lives in a small and quiet town with his German young wife Renate and his son Mathias. He owns a restaurant and hotel in a rural area leading a simple life and enjoying his fellow villagers’ esteem.

One day the arrival of two young Italian man from Naples , on a secret mission for a settling of scores, stirs his quiet life and his past emerges all in one go. Since that moment two lives, two faces and two worlds interlace for Rosario. His old and real identity comes back and he starts to be in torment with it.

For him past means camorra, and camorra, as it is shown in the movie, doesn’t stick in Naples, but goes beyond the Italian borders without losing its power and its rules.

The immigration of Rosario Russo to Germany is in fact the escape from a certain death of the camorrist Antonio Di Martino, whom left his first wife and son in Naples to take refuge abroad under false pretences.

A tangled mix between ties with past, family and camorra which leads to a short circuit of violence, pain and love developed with a slow and suspenseful rhythm.

The action has a minor importance in comparison with the characters, which being explored and studied, are the actual focus of the story. The antihero figure of Rosario, interpreted by Toni Servillo – the actor of Gomorrah and Il Divo -, plays a central role especially for his inner conflicts and his fixation for preserving the future and cheat the death.

This crime-drama movie, structured as a thriller, digs into an individual man’s soul to make emerge the two scourges that afflict Naples: camorra and garbage, which are indissolubly tied.

The linguistics choices are very careful, the alternation between Italian and German is useful to achieve the effect of separation among Rosario’s two worlds and two faces. Also the choice of the regional Napolitani marked Italian – perceptible by Italian native or high level speakers – appears to be appropriated for creating a sense of reality.

Director Claudio Cupellini makes sophisticated and careful choices succeeding in constructing a net of symbols, fine metaphors, significances and correspondences with a brilliant result in terms of a realistic representation of the human being and the world.

Toni Servillo’s performance is excellent in conveying Rosario’s strong inner conflicts, managing to express the constant tension between his double personality and double feelings, highlighting the discrepancy of the two different lives and the true human nature which broods over fear, individualism and violence.

Another Italian crime movie masterpiece.

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“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement..It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

These are the words of the historian James Truslow Adams, taken from his book Epic of America published in 1931. They summarize the idea of freedom and equality linked to the USA developed over the centuries which shaped the nation and has been rooted in the world populations common imaginary.

At the immigration to US basis there has always been the desire of liberty, redemption and success historically embodied by the “New World”. Over all its history America has been seen like the cradle of the possibilities by the people of all parts of the world.

During the 20th century started an immigration wave mostly of European people. The most industrialized cities as New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia were the destination of those who were attracted by the idea this new country where everything would had been possible and all the dreams would had become true. Different immigration acts were drawn up to regulate and limit the migratory flows.

Nowadays the “American dream” keeps attracting and fascinate a lot of people from all around the world. United States of America represent a worldwide appeal, every year more than one million legal migrants are welcome in this big and open country. US has the widest migratory flow of the world,immigration here has been the major source of population growth and cultural exchange and it laid the groundwork for a multicultural state.

Whereas in the past mostly of the migrants came from European countries, the biggest part of the current migrants come from Latin America and Asia.

Every year the American Government gives the opportunity to make the “American dream” come true for 50,000 foreign people who want to live and work in USA. The Green Card Lottery is a Diversity Immigrant Visa program which allows to receive a United States Permanent Resident Card. This lottery is administered by the Department of State. According to the Immigration Act of 1990, 50,000 permanent resident visas are made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The visas are distributed on a regional basis. Each region which sent a lower immigrants number to the US in the previous 5 years will receive more diversity visas. Currently, about 80% of the visas are given to Africa and Europe.

Lottery ‘”winners” must have all eligibility requirements under US law to get a diversity visa and immigrate to the United States, including at least a high school diploma, or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training.

The lottery is conducted under the terms of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The participation to the program is free. The majority of the world’s inhabitants have the right to participate,this right is established according to the birth country of the participants. Also parents or spouses’ birth countries are accepted for applying.

USA open the doors to all the dreamers. Are you ready to run for your “American dream”?

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Independent experts from 24 countries gathered during the past month to discuss and assess the World Health Organization’s handling of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009. The panel reviewed the W.H.O. harshly, despite not affirming controversial accusations that it exaggerated its reactions to help vaccine companies get rich during the outbreak.

In its draft report released Thursday on the W.H.O.’s website, the panel claimed that the world has always been unprepared to handle severe cases of pandemics, and if a more fatal virus arises, millions of lives will again be risked.

The disease was interpreted to be severe in the spring outbreak last year. It was not until the summer, past the assumed climax of the disease when countries felt the need to place orders for the vaccine, that the mildness of the situation was clarified and confirmed.

Also the 78 million doses of vaccine donated by rich countries to poor ones were not distributed, since the W.H.O. was tangled in liabilities and costs conflicts with vaccine manufacturing companies.

This resulted to millions of vaccines going unused and wasted. Despite this trouble, the panel said that there is “no evidence of malfeasance.”

The panel, led by Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine, criticized how complex the health organization defines a pandemic, how it describes the level of a pandemic depending on how geographically wide it spreads and not on how severe the pandemic in one place is.

It also criticized how the W.H.O.’s expert advisers’ names were held in secret to avoid pressure and thus produced “suspicions that the organization had something to hide,” as well as how potential conflicts of interest “were not managed in a timely fashion.”

How the disease’s severity was communicated was also inefficient, the panel concluded, and the pandemic produced confusion in people with W.H.O.’s “ill-advised” communication and how it responded “with insufficient vigor.”

The panel did not offer only plain criticism. Members of the panel also praised how W.H.O. identified the swine flu virus quickly with the help of national health agencies of countries including Canada and the United States.

Although the draft is already published, the W.H.O. will not respond to the report until the final version of it is released at the assembly of the world’s health ministers in May, a spokeswoman for the organization said.

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Through the centuries immigration has been a major source to the United States’ growth and development. But it has been also, and it is still, a source of controversy and conflict.

One of the biggest problems tied to immigration in US is the large number of illegal immigrants which outnumbered the legals one. A 2011 survey showed that the illegal immigrants living in the United States in 2010 were about 11.2 million – a number essentially unchanged from the previous year -.

In the controversy about this fundamental issue, either Democrats and Republicans agreed over the years on the need to make changes to the federal immigration laws to face this problem. But essentially just in 2010, after the passage of a new immigration bill in Arizona, the need of a reform in this field has came back to light and has become the subject of discussion.

The Arizona immigration bill, the toughest of the nation about illegal immigration, was signed on April 2010.It required state and local police officers to inquire about the immigration status of anyone they stop if they have a “reasonable suspicion” the person is an illegal It also makes it a state crime to not carry immigration papers. One day before to take effect, in July 28th, the bill was blocked by a judge who asserted the primary authority of the federal government over state lawmakers in immigration matters.

The bill was strongly criticized by President Obama who declared that it threatened “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

Analysing the strategy of the Obama administration in matter of illegal immigration, it is clear that he is pursuing the programs started by the former President Bush administration, despite initially he pledged he would had moderated his predecessor ‘s policies.

Starting from the Bush administration’s policies Mr. Obama expanded a program to verify workers immigration status, replacing immigration raids at factories and farms with a different enforcement strategy sending federal agents to check companies’ records searching for illegal immigrant workers.

These kinds of audits don’t lead to the deportation of the illegal immigrants workers as in the past, but these are being usually fired. Since the beginning of this practice in 2009 thousands of suspected illegal immigrants workers have been fired.

The aim of this policy is to prevent future illegal immigration discouraging the employers to hire illegal immigrants and the immigrants to not cross the borders illegally being conscious of the difficulty of finding a job in those conditions. The effects of the enforcement of this strategy are evident mostly on the Mexican illegal immigration which seems to be reducing. Mexicans – that are the largest group of illegal immigrants – are delaying in crossing the United States borders illegally because of the current situation of low possibilities to find jobs, a considerable decline has been shown by the Mexican Government’s census data.

According to the Department of Homeland Security officials, in each of the last two years the number of immigrants who were deported is the highest in the country’s history, about 400,000.

Over the last months many states government all around US started advancing legislation proposals inspired to Arizona’s bill, with the aim to crack down on the illegal immigration penalizing the illegal immigrants. Mostly in the states under Republican control, this fact is due to the lack of consensus recorded by the Congress.

The debate on toughening up on strategies against illegal immigrants is stirring also the states that have usually been tolerant, that are proposing tougher measures in matter of illegal immigration.

The purpose is to make life so difficult for illegal immigrants to push them to go back to their own countries. As never before since 2006 the possibilities of these laws to be passed appear so high. Perhaps is something changing in the Americans’ attitudes toward immigrants or it is just a political manoeuvre? We will see if the 2012 elections would make reach a turning point on this issue.

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Johnson&Johnson, manufacturer of various medical products including children’s Tylenol, reached an agreement with federal regulators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Thursday regarding the condition of three of its manufacturing plants. Regulators say that their manufacturing policies do not conform to the law.

According to the New York Times, the agreements were specifically directed to Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare division manufacturing sites situated in Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico. The plants’ policies have been criticized by lawmakers and regulators for over a year now.

“We’ve had a long engagement with McNeil over the last year with regard to their quality system,” Douglas Stearn, an F.D.A. official involved with the agreement said in an interview Thursday.

The agreement concerns a plant in Lancaster, Pa. that makes products in cooperation with Merck, a plant in Las Piedras, P.R. that has already received an agency warning last year, as well as a closed plant in Fort Washington, Pa. Johnson&Johnson was tabooed to reopen the plant until the independent inspector confirms the plants legal compliance.

Once approved by a federal judge, the agreement would require Johnson&Johnson to hire an inspection expert who would monitor and ensure the quality of the manufacturing processes in all three plants. With this F.D.A. would also be given the authority to shut down McNeil once manufacturing flaws were detected, and would be able to fine the company at least $15,000 per day, amounting up to $10 million a year.

Despite the extent of civil complaints covered by the agreement, F.D.A. officials would not comment on related criminal investigations, the New York Times reports. The F.D.A said last year in a Congressional session that the McNeil case was already referred to its office of Criminal Investigations. A spokeswoman confirmed the statement and said that other investigations are underway.

William C. Weldon, Johnson&Johnson’s chief executive, addressed the company’s employees in his statement released Thursday, saying that the company’s higher-ups have been taking care of the manufacturing problems of the specified plants. In spite of praising how the company has already advanced its manufacturing competence, Weldon continued to press the importance of this issue and how measures are being observed to eliminate these problems.

“[The agreement] requires additional quality assurance measures, and is a reminder that important work remains to be done,” Weldon said.

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Salmonella is a zoonotic bacterium, one that can be transferred from nonhuman to human species, which can cause severe infection to people. The disease gives those infected fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea which can last up to a week. It can often be found in contaminated food, such as eggs and nutmeg in the past, and now, in peanut butter, too.

Famous peanut butter Skippy manufacturer Unilever has issued a press release Friday that recalls its “Reduced Fat Creamy” and “Reduced Fat Super Chunk” brands because of a suspected Salmonella contamination.  The recall was released to 16 states, mostly in the east and south regions, including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

According to the press release, the contaminated products are sold in 16.3-ounce jars and have best-before dates of May 16-21, 2012 written on the lid.

Unilever did not specify the cause of contamination, the degree of severity nor any clean-up processes being or planned to be conducted in its manufacturing equipment. The press release only stated that the contamination was declared after the inspectors’ “routine sampling.”

Although there are no recorded cases of diseases yet, this should serve as a big caveat to all consumers. We must always be aware of the condition of products in the market, of what we intend to buy, even those names we have learned to trust.

At least, Unilever guaranteed people replacement coupons. Buyers who have the said product specifications above must immediately throw away their jar and contact the company at 1-800-453-3432 for a new, uncontaminated jar.

Further, people who seems to have the symptoms of Salmonella infection, or even those who have just consumed the recalled products must also contact the company. They are advised to talk to a doctor immediately.

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Jaime Jorge Zapata, a 32 years old US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent, was killed on February 15th during a drug gang attack in Mexico.

He and his colleague, Victor Avila, were driving on a Mexican highway on the way between Monterrey and Mexico City, in the state of Saint Luis Potosì, when their vehicle was forced by the members of the Mexican drug cartel known as Los Zetas, which opened fire against the ICE agents in an ambush. Agent Avila was only injured at the leg while Jaime Zapata, shoot five times in the chest, died.

He joined ICE in 2006 and was temporary assigned to the ICE attaché office of the US Embassy in Mexico City, to the human smuggling and trafficking unit. About 30 are the ICE agents in Mexico, and they are not authorized by the Mexican Government to carry firearms.

The Los Zetas drug gang members have been identified as the liable of the ambush and have been arrested by the Mexican authorities right after the attack. They are .Julian Zapata Espinoza, the gang’s leader, Jesus Ivan Quesada Pena, Ruben Diario Venegas, both of Honduras; Armando Alvarez Saldana, Mario Dominguez Realeo and Martin Barcenas Tapia, all of Mexico.

Other two alleged leads Sergio “El Toto” Mora and Luis Miguel Rojo have been arrested one week later with the charge of been also connected with the killing. During the raid on four safe houses in the San Luis Potosì area were seized five rifles, a handgun, an indeterminate amount of cash, ammunition clips and five vehicles, including a bulletproof one. In addition were seized also payroll forms for the gunmen who belonged to the gang.

The leader of the gang, Julian Zapata Espinoza nicknamed the “Tweety bird”, declared that the attack was just a case of mistaken identity,they thought the two US Immigration agents belonged to a rival drug cartel gang of Mexico, he officially said. The incident remains under investigation, but officials have said that the team of gunmen opened fire after Zapata showed his US government identification.

Anyway the announcement of the arrests made by the Mexican authorities have been welcome by the US authorities as a sign of collaboration and development.

“We are encouraged by this action and appreciate the efforts by Mexico to bring Special Agent Zapata’s killers to justice” said the ICE Director John Morton .“ It is important to remember that this is an ongoing investigation, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners in Mexico and in the United States as it unfolds. We continue to hold the Zapata family in our thoughts and prayers, and look forward to a swift resolution of this case,” he added.

Mexico and USA will keep working together to solve the case. President Obama thanked the Mexican President Felipe Calderon for the efforts that his country is doing to bring to justice the murders of the US agent Zapata.

The fact that the two countries can work so closely is a good demonstration of the collaboration of ICE and the Mexican authorities in the struggle to smuggling and drug traffic,which has meant the death of an agent who was there to do his hard work.

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Also this year and also the United States got ready for the usual celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day. A festivity that can be seen as the symbol of the Irish community which lives in the US. March has been even recognized as the Irish-American Heritage Month in the 90′s by the US Congress because of the celebration of this feast.

In fact the origin of this feast goes back to Ireland where St. Patrick’s Day is being celebrated as a religious holiday to honour one of the patron saints of Ireland. The first official celebrations occurred in the 17th century and since then have never stopped.

The reason why it is being celebrated in numerous countries around the world,has to be found in the exodus of Irish emigrants to many countries as United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and others in various continents,which is also called “Irish diaspora”.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebration is fixed on the 17th of March, not only in Ireland where is an official public holiday, but also in other countries as well as US. The cities where the largest Irish communities live are the ones where the celebrations of this feast started earlier and where are currently the greatest. Boston was the first in the world to have a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the 18th century,due to the presence of a large number of Irish immigrants which wanted to make by this way social and political statements about their difficulty of receiving an equal treatment in the work places as well as in society.

Nowadays parades are held in many cities with a high rate of Irish-American population including Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Seattle, New Orleans, Detroit, Baltimore, San Francisco and more. Following the Irish tradition which associate the green colour to St. Patrick’s Day – the legend tells that the saint used the shamrock for explaining the doctrine of Holy Trinity to the Irish people who weren’t Christian – to celebrate the people in US, either Irish and not Irish, use this colour dressing in green clothing and consuming food and drinks that are naturally or just dyed green.

In many cities the green colour is used also to dye the waters of rivers, canals, fountains, traffic stripes and so on. Even if in the US St. Patrick’s Day is not a public holiday it is largely celebrated. Although regardless of the Irish heritage and the cultural and historical background in this day many people go to clubs and restaurants where Irish theme parties are organized using as predominant colour the traditional green. Alcohol is strongly tied to this feast’s celebrations, it can’t be a good St. Patrick’s Day party if you don’t drink a lot.

The sense of heritage among the Irish immigrants and the people who have Irish ancestry in United States has been always very strong. The bonds with the Irish culture and tradition are represented also by this feast,which could be seen as the symbol of the Irish community in US. The annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is a good occasion for celebrating also the “Irishness” in all its forms.

If you go to a party in this day while wearing something green and, above all, before to get drunk remember that it’s the symbol of the Irish community and a reminder of the Irish immigration to the United States.

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Since the late 2008,when the program Secure Communities initiated,there has been confusion about its enforcement and its interpretations.

Documents containing hundreds of messages, mostly copies of emails sent between officials of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and public relations advisers from early 2009 and the present time,show all the uncertainty and the misunderstanding created by this obscure and vague program.

“I’m totally confused now. I’ve got so many versions of the opt-out language I don’t know what’s current and what’s not. It seems like we have different language for different purposes and it’s confusing. Can we put this on today’s agenda to talk about?”

This is one of the emails,written on June 2010 by a member of the ICE staff who expressed his perplexity on the question,and it is just one of the many collected by the National Day Labourers Organizing Network with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Cardozo School of Law.

Secure Communities is a program wanted by the Obama administration to enforce the laws of immigration and crime and,by 2013 it should be spread to all local jurisdictions in any states. It consists of a collaboration between the state and the local police. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases are put at their disposal to check either the criminal records and the immigration history of those immigrants who are arrested.

Since the program started in 2008 has led to the deportation of about 58.300 immigrants with criminal convictions but, groups of immigrants advocacy opposing to the program say that in reality it has led to the unjust deportation of thousands of illegal immigrants with no criminal records or of people arrested just for minor traffic infractions, tearing established families apart.

According to ICE are 39 the states where Secure Communities is at the present time. Still many states are opposing the enforcement of the program. New Jersey, the state with the nation’s sixth largest immigrant population, is one of those refusing to join it and also supporting the protest against the inefficiency of Secure Communities.

The confusion is mostly related to the fact that it’s not clear whether the program is voluntary or mandatory. Can the local law enforcement agencies opt out of it or not?

Over these years the responses of ICE have been different and conflicting, changing every time. There isn’t any legal and official mandate that indicates the program enforcement is mandatory, but DHS decided in October 2010 that local jurisdictions could not opt out of Secure Communities, giving no clear explanations about the legality of this imposition. Thus the doubts about the constitutionality of making the program mandatory are still strong.

Moreover even at the technical level it is totally confusing how exactly should the criminal identification process work. The FBI databases are shared with the DHS databases now,so apparently there is no way, technically, to limit the ICE’s filtering by the local jurisdiction, even if those refuse to participate to the program.

Highlighting all these problems due to the conflict and the obscurity of the program,the immigration advocates oppose strongly Secure Communities, pointing the question that immigration is a federal problem and any state should enforce specific federal laws and, especially should be free to opt out of the program.

So can a state law so vague and confusing be enforced obligatory by every local jurisdiction?

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According to a new report, over 11 million homeowners owe more than their homes are worth.  This number rose at the end of last year, further distressing an already weak housing market.  The number of underwater mortgages had risen during the previous three quarters of 2010, but that was likely because many homes had already fallen into foreclosure.

Approximately 11.1 million households, or 23.1 percent of all mortgaged homes, were underwater in the October-December quarter, according to report released Tuesday by housing data firm CoreLogic. That represents an increase from 22.5 percent, or 10.8 million households, in the July-September quarter.

When home prices fall, underwater mortgages typically rise.   Home prices in December hit their lowest point since the housing bust in 11 of 20 major U.S. metro areas. In a healthy housing market, about 5 percent of homeowners are underwater.

Roughly two-thirds of homeowners in Nevada with a mortgage had negative home equity, the worst in the country. Arizona, Florida, Michigan and California were next, with up to 50 percent of homeowners with mortgages in those states underwater.  Oklahoma had the smallest percentage of underwater homeowners in the October-December quarter, at 5.8 percent. Only nine states recorded percentages less than 10 percent.

In addition to the 11 million mortgages underwater, another 2.4 million homeowners are getting close to being underwater as well.  When a homeowner owes more than the home is worth, they cannot qualify for refinancing.  Although home prices began to stabilize last year, they have begun to fall again because of ongoing unemployment and record number of foreclosures.

Underwater mortgages also slow down home sales.  Homeowners often don’t want to take a loss or get the bank to agree to a short sale, so they may hold onto a property that otherwise they would sell.   Home sales have been weaker in areas where there are a large number of homeowners with negative equity. The total amount of negative equity increased to $751 billion nationwide, up from $744 billion in the previous quarter.

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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may not be running for president after all.  Palin has refused to give any hints about her intentions in 2012 and this had led to the media, Republicans, and pretty much all of America, speculating about what each of her moves might mean.

According to The Hill, Palin will deliver a May 2 keynote address during a “Tribute to the Troops with Sarah Palin” at Colorado Christian University. The fundraiser is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Mountain time.  The significance of this engagement is that May 2 is also the date of the first GOP presidential primary debate in California.

John Andrews, a coordinator for the event, said he was aware of the conflicting debate taking place in California on the same day, and suggested that the former governor would be skipping it.  “Presumably, this means she will be doing [the fundraiser] instead of any other engagement on the second,” Andrews told the Denver Post.

Palin continues to state she has not decided if she will run for president.  “You enter a race to win the race, so there are still a lot of considerations that have to be made,” she told the BBC in an interview that aired Monday. “We haven’t made up our mind or desire to make an announcement yet as to what it is we will be doing.”  The former vice presidential candidate said the considerations include her ability to match President Obama’s fundraising prowess and whether the country would be ready for an “unconventional” candidate like her.

Melissa Giller, a spokeswoman for the Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, stated that no likely Republican candidates have committed to attend the debate, which will be moderated by NBC “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams and Politico editor John Harris.

Palin has recently been troubled by poor polling numbers, including troubling results in the key state of Iowa.

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