New Immigration law leaves the fields emtpy

So today I'm posting about a political issue again, this time in the US. In my English class we were assigned to transcribe a video about American culture. The video I got was about a new Immigration law in the State of Alabama. This new law toughens the rules about social intercourse with undocumented Immigrants as you will hear in the video. What was funny though: As the law was introduced most Immigrants fled to another state and no one was there to work on the fields because Americans didn't want to do it. So it is true Immigrants documented or not are a backbone of the economy and also what makes the US. And if we are all honest to ourselves there are also many jobs that a lot of people here in Austria consider themselves to be too good for too. But it's work that has to be done! So the next time someone whines about Immigrants taking away jobs from us they might want to think about that!

Down here you can see the transcript of the video. There is one part missing tho, because I really could not understand what the second man they interviewed was saying sorry! Also I only did the first part but you can find the second on my classmate Hannah's blog here Hannah's blog

Anchor:Five states have now enacted strict immigration laws, Arizona began to upper last year but since that Utah, Indiana, Georgia and now Alabama have joined the ranks. And It turns out that they are already feeling the pitch. See last week we told you about the Hispanic populations were fleeing from Georgia before this law goes into effect on July 1^st. And farmers instantly found themselves without a work force to pick their crops. (They switch over to a field where a worker comments on the new law)

Hispanic field worker: “ Some of us is going to be on the field, going to spoil. Some people is going to lose a lot of money.

Anchor: Well now Alabama who's law is said to be the strictest in the Nation,they are expecting the same thing.

Speaker: Gathering the things we like on our diner is hot, hard work and somebody has to do it.

Man: Sometimes it's difficult to find local uh folks that are willing to do the some of these jobs.

Speaker: That's what we've found at about half a dozen south Baldwin farms, Immigrant... (switches over to anchor again)

Anchor:Alabama's law criminalizes not only employing undocumented immigrants but also assisting them, providing transportation or housing and renting. But the farms may not be Alabama’s only problem as reconstruction efforts are much needed after tornadoes tore through Tuscaloosa just weeks ago.And out of the kids of this bill said it's meant to put Alabamians back to work but really do that work. Or does this once again show that undocumented immigrants are a backbone of this economy. Here to discuss this with me is immigration attorney Eleanor Pelta with Morgan Lewis and Bockius law firm Thanks so much for being here tonight Eleanor

Pelta: You are welcome

Anchor: So you and I have spoke about some of theses laws before when it first popped up in Arizona and of course there was a lot of debate around the country a lot of people were angry there was a.. you know lot opinions that this is a prejudice law
But now it seems like that fear has actually turned into an action and that populations are fleeing these states, did you expect that to happen?

Pelta: Well I'm not surprised to see it happen particularly in Alabama. Alabama is like Arizona on steroids umm you don't have to look very far to see the venom in that particular law. Umm The law uh prohibits citizens from helping other citizens if they uh reasonably should've known that the other citizens of the state where uh undocumented umm the law requires public officials to report on school children who they think might be illegal, it really is a very vicious piece of legislation.

Anchor:That what I mean it goes is far beyond uh, trying to bring jobs back to Americans and dealing with you know what you could say with what is the undocumented Immigrant problem but the fact that.. that's just inhumane especially in areas like this where are just so many natural
Disasters you can't assist somebody if they might be undocumented

Pelta: I..That's exactly right and I think that what the Alabama law shows is that this is really a civil rights issue it is.. it is not just an immigrants rights issue. It's an issue that has to do with.. uh preserving human rights and human dignity umm I think that's really the Alabama law stripped bare.

Anchor: Well uh otherwise its sounds like it is telling you to let the person just lay there and allow them to die, it's horrible.

Pelta: And his wife and children

Anchor: where are these people going going instead they are fleeing from Georgia they're fleeing from Alabama just other nearby state that haven't enacted any of these measures?

Pelta:Well its hard to know where they're going but I don.. I don't believe that they're going home on Umm they're really just retreating further into the shadows which really doesn't help anyone it doesn't help our economy, it doesn't help us raise wages , it doesn't help people come out of the shadows and pay taxes and contribute to the economy and it really just shows the problem with this kind of state patchwork of laws umm if you have one state in enact one law and another sate enact a different law you are going to have people move from state to state instead of having one unified balance to approach that really kind of deals with the problem in comprehensive way

What NOT to do in Rome

Here is a travel blog again, it's just  what I like to write about most. Before going to Greece this year I spent four days in the Italian Capital. I had already been there four years ago with school, so this time it was fun going without teachers and stroll around the city on our own. While there is a wide range of great activities to do there I thought I would just write down the things you should rather avoid.

1. Go there by bus.
   Going there the first time we took the bus from Graz, it took about 12 hours and was tiring since the driver had to take mandatory breaks and just unnecessary. Flying to Rome is very cheap and convenient. It only takes about an hour, you board, eat your muffin or whatever they serve you and then it's already time to get off again. I don't know the price but I for sure
   did not pay more than 100€ for a flight to Rome and back.
2. Go there in August.
   I personally didn't mind but if you are sensitive to heat you might wanna avoid the hot months of July and August. Especially around 14:00 it can get very hot and just walking becomes a strain. When I was there in May the weather was perfect, way better than in Austria but not too hot, still summer like.
3. Buy water bottles from the kiosk.
   I know those bottles consisting of 70% ice can be way too tempting when you are walking in the heat of the noon but they are completely overpriced so don't let them take you to the cleaners. Buy a water bottle at a grocery store in the morning and then refill it at one of the many fountains in the city. The water is of good quality and for free.
4. Buy goods from the bootleggers or accept flowers
   There are many people over town dealing with fake designer glasses, handbags, belts etc. Those people are always on the run and gone within a second when the carbinieri are insight. A friend of mine once bought a belt for 8€ and paid with a 20€ bill when the police came around the dealer ran off of course without giving him the change. Also don't accept any flowers gypsies offer you especially girls. They first try to make it look like a present but in the End they will run after you and demand money.
5. Stay at the Arenula hotel.
   Ok first of all something good: The location of this hotel was simply perfect. It was a three minutes walk from the Pantheon and you could walk most sights like the Vatican. Vittorio Emanuelle was just around the corner and from there you could walk down the boulevard along Forum Romanum to the Colosseum. But that's it. We booked five days before leaving and very cheap, so you can say I expected nothing but was still disappointed. The rooms were very very basic but that’s something I can live with. What I couldn't live with though were the traces the former guests left in the bathroom.. and with that I mean in the toilet. It was so disgusting we always used the shared bathroom in the hall although we had an own.
   The staff did not mind to clean it for our whole stay. Will not be returning!!
6. Eat somewhere around the Pantheon. The restaurants on this square are very pricey but if you look around you might find one with reasonable prices (there was one on the boulevard to the Colosseum that had a great view and ok prices for the city). You can find a lot of nice and affordable restaurants if you walk a little through the old town in the direction of the Vatican. I recommend the restaurant Sugo at Piazza Nicosia
7. Pay more than 30€ for the cab from the airport
   If your cab driver wants more than 30€ from you for taking you to your hotel from the airport don't pay it. Roman government introduced the rule that all rides from airports to the city cost 30€. I don't think there are many who do so but still better safe than sorry so don't be fooled and maybe even set the price before getting into the car.

Those are my don'ts for a stay in the eternal City I hoped it was informative and interesting!

California-style Pizza

I want to introduce what was my favorite place to eat at when I was on vacation in New York three years ago. First of all New York City has wide range of excellent places for dining in every price class. What I really liked for example where the many Delis scattered around town. Delis are some kind of mix between grocery stores and fast food restaurants which often sell ethno-food depending on the area they are in. I liked the ones focusing on Jewish specialities like Katz' Deli a restaurant on the Lower East Side serving kosher styled food and corned beef sandwiches too big to fit into your mouth. The place is especially famous for being the location of a certain scene from the movie “When Harry met Sally”.

As cool as this place was it was not my favorite. An American friend of mine gave us the tip to pay a visit to the “California Pizza Kitchen” mostly referred to as CPK. So what about this place? CPK is not your normal Italian place serving Magherita and Calzone. They serve California-style pizzas. Which means a thin crust topped off with ingredients of the Californian cuisine. This results in very innovative and for us unusual kinds of pizzas since most restaurants wouldn't put lettuce on their pizzas.

Some examples are the Original BBQ Chicken Pizza the Thai Chicken, and the California club pizza which is my favorite it is topped with chicken, mozarella, bacon, lettuce and avocados. When my cousin went on a Canada/US-East-Coast trip this year I told her to check this place out and she ended up eating there four times. When she came home we even tried to prepare the California Club Pizza at home and it didn't turn out that bad. I'm definitely planning on going to this place again when I'm in the States the next time and can only recommend it!!

Our attempt at a California-Club Pizza

Assads chemical weapons to be brought to Europe for dismantling.

Today I wanna write about a political issue I have been following for the last week now . Everybody

Protests today in Tirana

knows that Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad has agreed to put all chemical weapons in his government's possession under international control. Although it's clear that this is just a tactical move and that he will continue killing his own people anyway it is at least something. But what happens with these lethal weapons after Damascus hands them over? They need to be destroyed of course. And the current number one candidate to do so is the south-eastern European country of Albania. While the Albanian government under newly elected Prime minister Edi Rama tries to sell this undertaking as a NATO request to it's citizens people are mounting the barricades and that with more than one reason. This Tuesday and also today hundreds of people gathered in front of the Parliament in the capital Tirana to protest against this plan.

The first reason for the protests is bad experience with dismantling chemical weapons in the past. I'm referring to the explosions in Gerdëc five years ago where they were destroying obsolete ammunition left over from the communistic regime rule 20 years ago. This all was done by untrained staff without the necessary knowledge. While it was planned to blow the weapons up with small controlled explosion it all (very likely through a human error) blew up at once causing an explosion lasting from 12:05 until 2:00 next night killing 26 people and destroying 318 houses and damaging thousands in the surrounding. The shock could be felt in Tirana as well as in the 170km far away Macedonian capital Skopje. Being one of Europe's poorest countries with big deficits in infrastructure as well as in the medical sector ( most people actually go to Greece to be treated due to the lack of medical stuff and supplies) the severity in case this catastrophe should happen again with Assad's is unbearable. 

The second thing is that Rama outed himself as a hypocrite by offering to have the weapons destroyed in his country. It was his party to organize protests against the government when the 2008 explosions of Gerdëc happened under the rule of Democrat Prime Minister Sali Berisha. 20 years after the overthrow of the communistic Hoxha regime the country is still facing big issues concerning corruption and bribery and it is questionable if the money paid for destroying the Syrian weapons will ever be used for the citizens of this country. Overall you can say that Albania does not have the resources (technical and medical) for this dangerous undertaking and that the payments would only support the corrupted system that is causing this country that strives EU membership so many problems and I hope international rulers will think twice before bringing those weapons to European soils.

Of course the internet has become the biggest tool of protest in this case as usual nowadays. The first link is an open letter to US President Obama by an Albanian citizen and former Georgetown scholar who points the major problems of this topic out pretty well. The second is a petition to avoid the import of the weapons.

http://begaa.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/open-letter-to-obama/

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Peticion_kunder_pranimit_te_armeve_kimike_te_Sirise_nga_Shqiperia_No_to_Assad_Chemical_Weapons_in_Albania/?ayeocgb

Athens for only one night? Why not?

Athens from above

This weekend I met up with a good friend of mine who loves travel just as much as I do but with

completely different opinions about it. While he says if you go outside Europe you should at least take three weeks of time I'm of the opinion you can also make a good trip out of a week. But maybe that's because I like visiting citys and he to travel around the country which of course takes longer.

So this Sunday we came to a point discussing on what too do if you have to wait for hours for your connecting flight. While he said leaving the airport would be too stressful and you can't really see anything I say talking from experience it is the best thing to do.

When I went to Santorini with my cousin this summer we ended up booking really shitty flights because we had to go on a certain date due to work. Our route was Vienna-Zurich-Athens-Santorini. With a six hour wait in Athens..in the middle of the night. Instead of whining about the long waiting I decided to make the best of it and started to plan this six hour stay. Eleftherios is connected to the city via a new metro line, but unfortunately the last metro departs at 10 pm while I got there at 12 am. Searching the internet I found various opinions on how long it would take and how expensive a cab would be so I just decided to not think about it anymore and decide when I was there. When we landed we soon found a cabman, he was currently having a break and showed us where the cabs on duty were and also told us not to pay more than 50€. It was then

Greek Parliament at Sytagma Square

when we noticed a bus that had “Syntagma Square” written on it, Athens' main square and the place we wanted to go and a ticket was only 5€!

I have to say I was kind of nervous when we got on that bus because it was a long ride and I was worrying about being back on time and if there is a bus back. What didn't really help was when I checked my cell and got a text from my Greek girlfriend who lived in Athens for some years that said:” I know there are buses from the airport but they take for ever, better be safe not to miss your flight and stay where you are” , well thanks I'm already on that bus very comforting.

After all the bus ride took an hour and it drove directly to Syntagma Square. It's a big square in the city center housing the Greek Parliament, a park and connected to the main shopping mile. Since shops were closed we just strolled around the square. We even had a nice surprise walking down the street when we turned out heads to the left and got a glimpse the Acropolis something we did not really think we'd get to see. So all in one we had a five hours stay, 2 of them on a bus, one at the airport and two in the city and I can only say it was a fun and exciting experience because driving around town on that bus and walking the the city center although all shops were closed was still better than sitting at the airport for five hours being bored and I would always do it again.

Acropolis

M.I.A.

With the 1^st of this month British recording artist M.I.A. Finally released her fourth studio album

“Matangi”. While she might is not known to a wide audience I'm sure most people have heard her song paper planes that was on Slum-dog millionaire and nominated for an Oscar.

The reason I like her is that her music is not ordinary but very exotic and most of all critical.

Just like in her last albums she addresses social and political injustices.

Mathangi so her real name was born in London to Sri-Lankan parents who moved her back there when she was six months old. Spending the first years of her life in a war torn country and later living as a refugee had a big impact on her today's music. MIA is of Tamil ethnicity, the biggest minority in Sri-Lanka that had been fighting the Sinhalese majority for years in the civil war.

Since she is the only Tamil person in western media she tries to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Sri-Lanka how she calls it and also addresses other serious topics like the situation of Syrian refugees, women's rights in Arabia and the prey upon the poor by the upper class.

One example for her sense of picking up the right topics is a song she released in 2010 with the lyrics “Handbone connects to the internet connected to the Google connected to the government”
Back then some people might have laughed or said she was being overly dramatic but regarding this whole NSA scandal that is all up in the media lately she wasn't so wrong at all.

While critics may say some of her sociocritical lyrics like “for her Bentley is she riding your dirty dick” are pure hypocrisy since she enjoys several material privileges from her engagement to billionaire heir Benjamin Bronfman, her origins and her father a Tamil freedom fighters leader do give her credibility.

Her music is one of a kind, while she mostly raps, she uses Indian elements which paired with her critical lyrics make her songs really worth giving a try. I have a few clips added here in the End. The first to is an interview where she talks about the problems Tamil people are facing. The other is a music video to her song "Born free" a song about racism which's video had been banned banned because it had visualized the images and consequences of racism too much for some people.

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                                                 MIA talking about the war in Sri-Lanka