Immigration Reform
The Hot Potato Nobody Wants to Touch

Immigration returned to the news cycle with Former President Trump attacking the Haitian Immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. His claims were proven false, but it still stirred up more threats of violence.

The Border Security Bill, S 4361, would have restricted migrants claiming asylum, clarified the White House’s parole authority, ended asylum seekers remaining in the U.S. while they waited for hearings, and given the President authority to close the southern border, when the number of migrants got too high. It failed in the Senate in May and never made it to the House. Meanwhile, Biden issued new asylum restrictions that also reduced illegal border crossings. In recent years, most of those crossing the southern border have come from Central America, Africa, and Asia rather than from Mexico. In fact, we have a net migration to Mexico.

Empty Swimming Pool

Summer Is Almost Over

From the three weeks of drought in June to August when we got 5 - 8 inches of rain, the weather has been in the news. Summer thunderstorms are the norm, but even the tail end of hurricanes can carry a wallop. Hurricanes contribute a significant amount to the annual rainfall total in North Carolina.

It didn't rain last night. It must have been the wind.So that’s it for the weather. Politics also contributed to the heat with both national campaigns visiting North Carolina multiple times. That would seem to indicate that the campaigns feel that North Carolina is in play. I wish I could have similar report for in-state races. The local candidates seem to be ignored by the media.

Oppenheimer won an Oscar as the best picture for 2023. It was popular internationally as well as the United States. Perhaps it is because I have seen so many movies about the bomb that my reaction was jaded. My reaction was just the opposite of the Oscars. I flunked it on what I consider to be basic technical issues. No. 1 - Continuity. The story line was so jumbled that I never knew where I was or when or who the characters were. To me it was just a big jumble, so I gave up after 30 minutes of struggle.

Of course, the individual who was the basis of the film was a complicated figure with lots of drama in his story. The Red Scare tried to destroy him, and so it dimmed his place in history. There were lots of characters who played significant roles in the story, and their physical appearance in the film added to the confusion. Too many eggheads.