Tag: united states

No Green Card, No Travel

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10329392-happy-greencard-winner-by-greencardcom

Being able to travel out of the Untied States, keep a steady job, and settle a family in the United States is something that most natural born United State citizens take for granted. However, for millions of immigrants, especially Hispanic immigrants, these freedoms do not come so easily. Immigrants coming to the United States must apply for a green card or some kind of visa to be able to work and live.

Nevertheless, this process is cumbersome for most and involves many steps and applications. Univision.com outlines the two major steps to getting a green card and they are as follows:

  1. Someone must sponsor you for a green card, either a family member or a employer. In some cases the person can petition for themselves.
  2. Once approved they can present their solicitation for Registration for Permanent Residency of Form 1-485 in the United States. Processing times vary. For example forms 1-485 has a 4 ½ month waiting period.

What Can Hurt Your Green Card Status

Did you ever think shoplifting could get you deported? Well if you are not a natural born citizen of the Untied States a simple misdemeanor can put your citizenship at risk. Committing a crime or felony can affect obtaining and current green card status tremendously. If a person has been arrested, accused, or convicted of a crime they must present documentation of this when applying for a green card. This includes offenses such as a DUI.

More information about green cards and the Naturalization process click here.

To see a slideshow on the topic of immigration and green cards click here.

Interview with Jorge Jimenez on the issue of a green card

Interview with Jorge Jimenez on green cards

Converting Trash to Energy

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waste to energy

It is Europe’s new trend: creating energy from residential waste.  In previous posts, I have talked about the Copenhagen Summit, and the effects it has had on the US and Europe.  Just outside the city where this world conference convened, trash is brought to make energy.

In Denmark alone there are 29 plants, called incinerators.  Across Europe, there are over 400 incinerators.  In comparison, the U.S. only has 87 incinerators, all build more than 15 years ago.  The citizens of the country have embraced the technology.  In her article printed in the New York Times, Elizabeth Rosenthal focused on the Danish city of Horsholm.  It costs less to burn the trash at the incinerators than it does to use a land fill.  The energy created at the plant then goes directly to the community surrounding the plant.  Homeowners say the plant’s presents lowers their heating costs and increases their home value.

Here are some benefits of incinerators:

  • creates less climate-warming gases than landfills
  • creates 9 times more energy than landfills
  • cost less than maintaining landfills
  • Little odor

Even with these benefits, the U.S. is reluctant to build more incinerators.  Here’s why:

  • We have a lot of land to use for landfills
  • Belief that it will detract from the strong message for people to reduce waste and recycle
  • Cost of building (though some say that the cost would pay for itself over time by money saved)
  • Traditionally, trash disposal is a responsibility of the state/local governments, not the federal government

I feel that a lot of people are not aware of the use of incinerators, so I showed Rosenthal’s article to a Furman student to get her take on the use of waste-to-energy technology.  Here is what she said:

Podcast on Rosenthal Article

Photo Sources:

trash, arrow, lightbulb

Conversations in Rogue

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Dr. Akan Malici
Dr. Akan Malici

I had an opportunity to sit down and speak with Dr. Akan Malici, professor of Political Science at Furman University. We discussed ways in which U.S. government officials can potentially ameliorate tensions between the United States and rogue nations. One point that his article, “Rogue States: Enemies of Our Own Making?” focuses on is “unmaking” the enemy by altercasting. Altercasting is, “treating the Other in a desired way” where another country will reciprocate one’s kind gestures.

We also spoke about the current desire of Americans to respond diplomatically as opposed to militarily. Furthermore, Dr. Malici ends the interview by stating that the United States is a great country, but how do we remain so?

Listen to the entire interview below.

Dr. Akan Malici Interview

I would have to agree with Dr. Malici that past attitudes toward “rogue” states has not been beneficial to the United States. If anything, “going after them with a stick” has caused us to pour insane amounts of money into causes, leaving us with the choice of running large deficits and increasing the national debt, or having to consider making cuts in desperately needed domestic programs. And not to forget, it has continued to make relations with these countries all the more volatile. I care about the manner in which foreign policy is presented to us and the information given, because the ramifications cannot only be costly, but deadly.

Click here for more pictures and information about Dr. Malici.

Rogue Nation #1

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North Iran
The North Korean Flag (left) and the Iranian Flag

Iran. North Korea. Syria.

These are just a few countries that come to mind when one is called to think of a rogue nation. However, if you were to ask these countries who their top choice is for rogue nation of the globe, the answer may or may not be surprising: The United States of America.

This assertion does not go without merit. A Newsweek article points out, “…for many states the term ‘rogue’ might just as well apply to the United States as to the renegades it seeks to isolate.”

As Samuel Huntington, author of The Clash of Civilizations, notes the United States is viewed as intrusive, exploitative, and hypocritical. The overthrow of the Iraqi governmentunited-states-flag against international objections, possession of nuclear weapons, the support of governments who commit human rights violations against their own citizens, all are reasons some deem the United States as “rogue.”  

Several people may dismiss this claim as a sign of jealousy or ill will toward America. They may be right. Yet this opinion, no matter how trivial it may seem, circulates within the global conscience. Huntington quotes one British diplomat as saying, “One reads about the world’s desire for American leadership only in the United States. Everywhere else one reads about American arrogance and unilateralism.”

The use of the term “rogue,” along with several other descriptions, can potentially have the same antagonistic affect on other countries’ policies toward the U.S. as the U.S. rhetoric has on American foreign policy. In either event, the connotation linked with “rogue” can be applied to any country.

Click here for pictures of “rogue” leaders, past and present.

Academic Source: Huntington, Samuel P. “The Lonely Superpower.” American Foreign Policy. Ed. G.  John Ikenberry. 4th ed. New York: Longman, n.d. 586-96. Print.

U.S. and Peru Collaborate on Conservation

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The meeting discussed the needed steps to put a stop on environmental damage
Government officials from the United States and Peru discussed conservation issues

While individual nation’s plans on emission cuts are being drawn up all over the planet, government officials from both the United States and Peru met on Wednesday, February 17 in Washington D.C. to discuss conservation issues concerning the two countries. The event marked the first bilateral environmental affairs meeting between the two countries and focused on the following key points:

  • Environmental Protection
  • Forest Governance
  • Biodiversity Conservation

To address these issues, the officials discussed the creation of the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, that would effectively combat the occurrence of the environmental damages. The topic of forest governance included tactics of how to decrease deforestation, which accounts for nearly 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions according to a study by the U.N.’s Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The meeting also resulted in the creation of the Environmental Affairs Council under the Environmental Chapter of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (USPTPA). During the meeting the government officials discussed the conception and implementation of environmental policy in regards to interactions between the two nations. The State Department said that, “The bilateral meeting provided an opportunity for the public to raise issues and ask questions on implementation procedures as well as provide suggestions on improving environmental protection in both countries.”

As active economic partners, the policies formulated between the U.S. and Peru will help establish a strong basis on which to continue forward with both the continuance of economic benefits as well as the preservation and protection of the environment.

More environmental pictures here