Wife Appreciation Day - Never Too Late

Last Sunday was "wife appreciation day." Who else missed it? Yup, had this reprint all ready to go, and I let it get by last Sunday. I say it’s never too late to appreciate our wives; let’s make it a continual process eh? Whereas I write many silly things and many serious things, this one comes from the heart.



I Love My Wife Because...

Because

Because

Because there are no words - in this limited language of letters, sentences and punctuation marks - to capture an essence
To capture her

She is free

She can see

The foibles and toils and troubles

She can feel 

What it means to live in a world of foibles and toils and troubles

In anxious anticipation of humanity's underbelly 

And yet

And yet

And yet she is free

She can see

The beauty, and the garden and the love

All that comes to mere humans from above

In the walk through the desert where the promise of hidden creek keeps her on the trail
In the snuggle with a faithful pet who reflects back the beauty of pure relation

In the giggle that recalls the desperate need to mock all that is false

In the intuitive perceptions that crack the porcelain pretense 

In the willingness to give to and be present for others 

The same others who reveal not the same presence, willingness, perception, faith, promise, beauty, feeling, essence
Unconditional

The love

From her

And towards her

Because 

Because 

Because

When Sports and Sportsmanship were Innocent

Kidd to Taylor: "Hit me."

With all the talk at present about Tom Brady and the Patriots' possible tendency to cheat, the author takes a poke at sports and those who cheated in the past ... as well as a peak at a childhood that had to rely on an "honor system." 

When I was a child, we played football out on the recess field.



When I was a child, we had rules like the professionals had – rules such as no holding while blocking a rusher, no off-sides when rushing a passer, and having to catch the ball with two feet in-bounds. Yes, if you had one foot in and one foot out of bounds, the catch was incomplete. Just like the pros. The college teams could have one foot in-bounds and still consider it a catch. But we wanted to be more like the pros. The professionals and all their greatness was something to look up to.



When I was a child, we played by the rules, because that’s just what you did to make the games … well, games.



Of course we had no referees, so we had to play on what they called “the honor system.” Such a system had everyone own the rules on the football field and be responsible for playing fair. It was the right thing to do, it felt good, and we believed it’s what the pros would do.



But that may not be true … right?



Right Mike Tomlin? This is the Pittsburgh Steelers coach who – by accident he says – stepped on the field during a play in the third quarter of the Thanksgiving night's game against the Baltimore Ravens in 2013. The coach lingered on the same sidelines that Raven Jocoby Jones raced along trying to avoid the coach, who later said he was unaware of his placement on the field. What could one expect from a cheater but a lie?



Right Cam Newton? This is the Carolina Panthers quarterback who in a 2013 game flopped to the ground, out of bounds, as he embellished a late hit resulting in a penalty against the Miami Dolphins. The two Dolphins in question did not hit Newton out of bounds, but a flailing and over-dramatic Newton sprawled to the turf before arising with a wide grin on his face.
 
Isn’t that right every punter in the NFL who has ever hoped to draw a penalty flag after pretending to get hit by an opposing player?

And such dishonorable play can even be found in other pro sports … right?

Right Zach Parise? This is the New Jersey Devil left-winger who was hoping no one noticed that his goal came off a deliberate “hand pass” during the Devils’ game versus the Los Angeles Kings in May 2012, even though it’s clearly illegal to score that way.

Right Dewayne Wise? This is the New York Yankee outfielder who, in a June 2012 game, didn’t dispute an errant call that had him mistakenly catching a foul ball. What was all-the-more disturbing was that Wise chose to pretend he did catch the ball, as he secretly – in front of thousands of onlookers and network television cameras – clutched nothing in his glove, and then jogged off the field.

Right Lance Armstrong? This is the world-class bicyclist who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and who finally admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs – a secret habit of many a dishonorable cheater in modern-day athletics.

Right Jason Kidd? This is the Brooklyn Nets basketball coach who pretended to drop a cup of soda on the floor in order to manipulate extra time in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. TV replays caught Kidd telling Nets guard Tyshawn Taylor to "hit me" with 8.3 seconds left in the game. Taylor immediately walked into Kidd who spilled a beverage, forcing the officials to take time to clean up the court while a Nets assistant coach drew up an offensive play in an impromptu huddle. "The cup slipped out of my hand," Kidd told reporters after the game, but later recanted and admitted to the ploy. When Kidd was told of one colleague who grinned with a remark that it was an “expensive” mistake, Kidd, too, smiled.

Smiled. He smiled. Like Cam Newton smiled. Like Mike Tomlin smiled. What is wrong with these professionals, these disgraceful and dishonorable adults who not only place winning over sportsmanship, but cross the limits on more than a simple sideline?

When I as a child, and we played at recess, we had our rules too … and if someone had only one foot in-bounds and he knew it, he did not pretend to get a catch. That would haunt us kids. That would be an empty win. That would simply feel so bad in our head and our stomach.

When I was a child, we played by the rules. We had to. Not because we would be fined or suspended or lose some possible income, but because that’s what you do when you want to play and play in the right way. That’s what you do when you want to win, and win in the right way.

Maybe for these pros – out on the field, the courts, the rinks and the raceways – they can take a cue from an innocent time in the past, when the most important thing was making sure the game was, well, a game.


James Anthony Ellis is a writer and producer living in Lemon Grove. The author of "The Honor Book," he still plays sports games with the men in his international men’s organization MDI, where they normally have refs. He can be reached at www.LegacyProductions.org.

True Care Found in all the Odd Places

All right, this one may seem a bit odd.

 But you're used to that by now from me?

It was a magic moment, and though this may come across sounding silly, this is a true story, and it did mean a lot to me. 



It all happened at the Giant Pizza King place on Federal Boulevard in Lemon Grove. It was here, I found true love.



No, it wasn't the pizza, though I do love this place's pizza. And no this isn't a romantic tale. It's the story of a moment rarely found in this day and age of fast-food, fast-paced, careless crazy inconsideration. 



I think many of us are dead to the truth that deep down all of us do care about each other, with a brotherly and sisterly love. For, many of these feelings and realities exist way below the surface, unknown to the conscious and incapacitated mind. Such moments of recollection have to rush up quickly and in the moment; it's the only place you can glimpse beyond the illusion of the separate world in which we coexist. 



So here's how it went down. It was halftime of the Monday Night Football game. I went down the hill to get a large pizza. It was "take out." I entered the pizza joint, paid my bill, then picked up the pizza box. The gent there had walked away from the counter, as I walked the other direction. Noticing I had accidentally knocked his receipt book on the ground, I leaned down to pick up that book, and just so happened to make a bit of a noise. At that moment, unknowing what was happening with me and apparently believing I may have hurt myself, the gentleman looked over with wide open eyes and a concerned look, asking "Are you ok?" 



I will always remember his face. 



It was filled with true care and consideration. It rushed up onto his face, before he had the chance to think. And that is the key. The true face must exist beyond all thoughts. Was this man concerned for his own self? Was he filled with thoughts that were self-serving, such as "oh no, I hope this doesn't mean I will have to fork out insurance for this man's injury" or "oh no, his injury will preclude him from paying the bill?"  



No. I had already paid the bill. 



His concern wasn't about him. It was about me. It was about another human being, another person whose well-being could matter as much as one's own. Such a care must come in the moment, IN A FLASH, where the care for another goes beyond some selfish thought, generated by ego.



Yes, I saw it. You can't take it away from me. Sure, it is a silly story about a pizza and a receipt book and an errant noise signifying nothing of importance. But the look in the eyes - of unity, connection and mutual care - will always reside with me. And for this I am grateful. 



Thank you Giant Pizza King: for the look of care, the large black olive and mushroom pizza, and a reminder of a unity that will always be cherished. 




Jim Ellis is a writer, producer and pizza fan who can be reached at LegacyProductions.org.

Top 5 Infomercial Gifts I Want Damnit

Staying up late has me watching a few of those infomercials, and man are they convincing!

Especially when they throw in those "If you act now's."

With my birthday coming up in only one month, here are the special TV Infomercial Birthday wishes:



1. The Chillow
  -  It's a pillow that somehow gets cold! Perfect for hot weather. Though fall and winter are upon us. So now it would be good after I run or something.  


2. The Pocket Hose  -  
It's a garden hose that doesn't getting all tangled up but shrivels up into a small ball when you turn the spigot off. Everyone needs this! Admit it.   


3. GripGo Car Phone Mount 
-  This would hold my cell phone in the car near the dashboard so I can always know where it is and feel safe that it ain't lost under the seat again. Vital.   


4. Side Socket
  -  You know how your electric plugs sometimes bump up against your furniture? Ain't that rotten? That's why they made these sockets that twist to the side, and why they'll send you two if you call in the next 10 minutes.


5. Cat Track Ball
  -   This is awesome. You can have your cat occupied for hours chasing a fake sphere under a cloth, since we know how bored cats can get during the day. I really want one of these items ... and I don't even have a cat.

And since you acted TODAY, here is a bonus one:



• 65 Classic Soft Rock Hits

  -  The guy from Ambrosia couldn't be wrong.  




Jim Ellis is a writer and producer living in Lemon Grove. Birthday gifts can be sent by connecting at www.LegacyProductions.org.

The Face of Humanity Staring Right Back at You

Yesterday I saw the face of humanity.

And it was beautiful.



Yesterday I went to see a friend who was in the Grossmont Hospital emergency room after an episode involving his medication ... and some alcohol.



It was a harsh scene:  two of his close friends, his sister, his sister's husband and then me, all in a huddle of intense conversation about this man's plight, his past, and his pain. We shared what we knew about him in order to bring understanding and compassion ... in order to help bring sense to a crazy world. As we talked, I would intermittently look around at the others in the waiting room. I saw many sad faces, many worried faces. Two women over in one corner. A family of three in another part of the room. A mother with her young sleeping child on another side.



I saw one man sitting in a chair, flanked by a friend on each side of him. Every now and then, a reality would hit and he would start to grieve, falling over to his left or right as he collapsed into tears and into a loved one's arms. I didn't just see sadness and despair, not just compassion and empathy. I saw the love and I saw the beauty. I saw humanity.



This is the same humanity that appears in all humans who have hearts, loves and losses. It's found in those humans in Iraq, Iran, America, Afghanistan, Russia. It's found in the humans in Syria. 



For every heart that has lost, there is a human who is torn apart. There is a human who cares, who deeply loves another and wants to remain connected and aligned. This sort of humanity runs, like a stream, through the fabric of all people of the planet. It knows not country boundaries, nor political allegiances, nor flags, nor some propaganda concept of "us and them." It knows not enmity, polarization, competition and attack. It knows only the uplift of connection and the ruin of separation.



It's at this level where the battle ends, where territory can be shared, where arms are put down, where war is studied and cheered no more. This is a level where the face of humanity looks itself in the mirror and sees what there truly is to see: love, truth and beauty.



Yesterday, I saw it for myself.

James Anthony Ellis is a writer living in Lemon Grove. He can be reached at LegacyProductions.org.

Meeting Up With Joe in a Chance Encounter with a Neighbor

In an unexpected encounter with Joe I learned about my house and what it means to have a neighbor.

Today while my wife Jennifer and I were walking our dog Hennessy, we came across Joe. We didn’t know his name; we hadn’t truly met. But there he was working on his home front yard as we took our walk up Massachusetts from Madera.

I made a quick comment about the vision he had for his front yard; he remarked a lighthearted ”what vision?” And so began a connection for a mere five minutes which included the history of our own house. Our own house. It was quite an intriguing five minutes.

You see, Joe has lived in Lemon Grove for decades, raised right there in the home on Massachusetts. When he commented that he could remember Lemon Grove history back as far as the year of my birth, I really got a glimpse of how much history this man has had with our fine town.

He talked about Berry Street, the street of our house. How the street ended not far passed where our home resides. How a Japanese man owned a farm beyond that marker. How the oldest eucalyptus tree used to grow right there on our driveway - with “a trunk as wide from me to you” - before the city had to take it out because it was causing problems with the street. How my house, back in the 1960s, was a dump for so long, before the previous owners added on a sunken garden in the front and a home in the back. How he once stopped by to tell me the dome light on my car was on. How he likes to look at Jupiter and the moon with his telescope from Berry Street Park at the right times of day. And how he, on this day, recognized us because of Hennessy, our famous Akita mix dog.

The feeling of warmth and recognition lasted for some time.

What I walked away with was a knowing of a need for community, neighbors who know your name, know your dog’s name, and can stop by to let you know your dome light has been left on. I walked away with the longing to know our brothers and sisters who live to the north, south, east and west of us. In this great community town. To be in communion. Since at the end of the day, connections are what truly count.

Especially those unexpected connections that can be made on, say, a simple dog walk up Massachusetts from Madera.


Jim Ellis is a writer and producer living in Lemon Grove. He can be reached on dog walks with Jennifer and Hennessy and at www.LegacyProductions.org.

War - What is it Good For - Absolutely Nothing

War is a bunch of glorified and romanticized bullshit.

That’s hard to fathom if you haven't realized how much you’ve been duped and romanced by those who would convince you that war was vital for your freedom and your present nation’s way of being. Yes even though our history books will spin the wondrous tale of victorious WWI, WWII and the like ... it’s all rubbish.

A tough concept to swallow … unless you are a human with a human heart.

Take it to a microcosmic level and attempt to comprehend. Would the neighbor on your block who had a problem with your dog be wise in communicating and negotiating through conflict, or would it be best if he simply created an all-out attack on your house? Which one is the mature approach? The wise approach? Do our so-called "leaders" truly bring such a context of wisdom in finding common ground and unity, before the military "missions?"

The lying, falsifying or demented leader calls for his or her people to go into battle. Someday, the public will know there is bullshit in a newscast as soon as a supposed "leader" chooses sending his or her people to their death rather than being a mature adult and supporting true relations with honest negotiations. Do any parents worth their weight support their kid in a fight over working things out maturely? Why do we not expect the same from our "leaders?"

You will call this example ridiculous and out of scope, but it's only because you have thoroughly been sold a bill of goods; you have bought into the widespread and long-standing propaganda, the romance of war, the axis of evils and the "us and them" mind-warp, the false pride of a nation above all others ... even though the horror is so gruesome and hideous.

Our own sick and self-serving ego loves the idea of domination and must live vicariously through the rah-rah pride of some battle "over there" somewhere. We can justify the bloody messes because some machine has taught us that it's the right thing to think. Wake up and see the body bags, the tortured souls, the limbs that are scattered, the civilians blown apart without much care since such foreigners are not humans like "us." Justify this lie and continue to be fooled.

Meanwhile those who heed the call of peace and non-violence - sentiments spread by saints, unconventional outlaws, and master spiritual teachers - will continue to speak up. We will continue to march, continue to stand in civil disobedience, continue to fight the good fight without weapons of any sort. We will continue to pray... that the dream of war and the false victories profiting no one will someday end.


Jim Ellis - writer and producer living in Lemon Grove - only justifies battles on the sports fields and ice rinks where warriors still have the sanity of referees, rules, penalties and the delineation of players and spectators. He can be reached for a healthy argument at www.LegacyProductions.org. 

It's Hot! - How to Deal...

Alright, has everyone else happened to notice?

It's been hot.

And not just hot - somehow it's bearable to deal with Lemon Grove's Best Climate on Earth when it's just hot. But it's beyond hot. Beyond Africa hot.

In order to survive such humidity and the overall yuck, the family unit (wife Jennifer and pet Hennessy) have come up with these 7 main ways to beat the heat:

1. Complain a lot.
2. Keep the front door open at night and use a fan to blow in the cold air and then close the door in the morning. 
3. Keep the door closed during the day.
4. Keep the curtains closed during the day.
5. Find random excuses to look for items in the fridge.
6. Naked Thursdays.
7. Stand naked in front of the fridge, with the curtains closed, while complaining.

We hope these fine points help you and yours in your endeavor to stay cool.

Be cool.


James Anthony Ellis is a writer living in Lemon Grove. He can be reached at www.LegacyProductions.org.

911 - Let Us Remember ... In a Different Way

This is a time to remember, yes. However, this may not be the sort of memorial you are accustomed on this poignant day. It is not meant to bring any disrespect, but rather bring the highest of respect. And embrace a view that encompasses us all.


For those lives that were lost, let us bury them with respect, honor and love. Let us do that once - for the sake of completion - and no longer use their lives and deaths as a vehicle by careless characters to realize an agenda still bent on revenge, war-mongering and holier-than-thou elitism. Allow the loss to be what it simply is, as all our losses are: painful.


Let us feel the pain of our losses. 

And let us remember. Yes, let us remember.



Remember not for the sake of continued bitterness and national righteousness. Remember not so we can hold a separatists' sword ready to plunge blindly at the next country the media and administration tells us to hate. Remember not because we pretend to still care about lives we never really knew.



If we are to remember anything, let us remember the love and the loss we feel when any human is murdered, killed or in any way lost to us. Let us remember that a lost life is not just an American's life, but a life lost to the family humanity - and such lives are being lost all over the globe, all over this city, in homes of family and friends we do know personally or intimately.



And finally let us remember a time, a mystical and sublime time, in the brief period following that fateful day. As the smoke still billowed and ashes still smoldered, there was a quiet hum that could be heard. It was the sound of the one heart that does truly care about the family humanity. It was a global community that grieved for the hearts that hurt and experienced loss. It was a planetary embrace for the common denominator that connects us all. There was a unity bond that arrived in the form of empathy and shared compassion, not every single place but in the majority. And it promised a peace - if we lived at this level and remembered this feeling always. 



As warmongers and media hounds do their best to tear down this level of unity, and hijack this day and those lives away from our brotherly and sisterly oneness, let us remember, let us truly remember ... we always hold the power to take that unity and humanity back. 



James Anthony Ellis is a writer living in Lemon Grove. He can be reached at LegacyProductions.org.

Slimed For Telling The Truth

 

A new nation was hurting. A bunch of hopeful hoodlums on this side of the Atlantic decided to break the "law" of the land. Thirteen colonies on what would someday be called "the East Coast" were doing their colonial thing, yet feeling the crunch of a controlling mofo homeland. We had the colonies, and we had the British crown, led by one incredibly immature king tyrant.

So, what to do? What to do? Beyond brilliant, beyond genius, inspired by the divine or perhaps something higher, some fatherly folks chose to create a declaration of independence and then a constitution to reign over a republic for this United States of America.

What would be of import was FREEDOM, staring with men (mostly white) and then ultimately women and all sentient beings (well, not animals yet, but coming soon I bet). That freedom would include a Bill of Rights (inalienable from what I recall) that included freedom of religion and press and speech. Guarded tightly was this freedom, especially because of a well-documented and nasty tendency of egotistical individuals and megalomaniac governments to become tyrannical in their control over others. In other words, we had to protect ourselves from our own government!

Freedom demanded it.

Now, let's flash forward a couple centuries for a present-day reality, a nightmare come true for the founders of our country, and the analogy of a burning flag … and the republic for which it stands. Though there are many ways our nation and Constitution are being chipped away at, the mayhem I wish to point out is related to our (yours and mine) freedom of speech. This freedom of speech is not just being threatened in our nation's societal landscape, but in areas we may have heretofore not considered. (This is called "foreshadowing.")

In days of old, as far back as the ancient historic times of 1974, a US President found to be supporting the spying, wire-tapping, and otherwise breaking of trust with the American people was taken off of his post.

Yet today, the mainstream media reports that our government, with its collective panties in a wad, has decided anyone pointing out such improprieties to be guilty of "treason" as a "defector," a felon and a traitor. And punitive actions will be taken for such people. That goes for all the Bradley Mannings and the Edward Snowdens of the world. That goes for you. You are all suspects in this game of chance, and must be watched ever so closely. And if you step out of bounds, you will be brought to justice. Whistle-blowers who may point out such insanity are now no longer safe to speak the truth in a society that one past leader would have labeled "repugnant" in its secrecy and non-transparency.

For we appear to have come to this: the more truth you bring, the easier it is for you to be the one who is "in trouble." The more you speak up and reveal the more challenging truths, the easier it is for you to be the one slimed. And it's not just before some hypersensitive politician, judge, boss, Catholic diocese, police or political machinery. Sadly, it has become the case in personal relations – with family and friends.

When was the last time you brought a grievance to a friend, and that friend replied with a grateful "thank you," full of appreciation? This latter sentence may even bring a laugh, for imagining such a scenario is so far from reality that it becomes a joke. Though consider the value in a friend noticing something amiss about your actions or deeds, and bringing such to conscious awareness for you. Would it not have value? Would it not give you some insight you may not already hold? Would it not take courage for someone to bring this insight?

He or she, if a friend, would most likely bring it to you in an act of support. As well, this person probably will be in a vulnerable state, risking relationship, risking attack, defense and retribution for a simple perception and act of kindness you may not comprehend.

But for those people concerned about any criticism coming their way from a friend, not to worry! And that is because this will not happen. For the environment has been set: people and governments are so afraid of the truth that they all have their defenses in place:

• The government with its media-for-hire and jacked-up laws protecting nothing but their own fort.
•  The common people with their egos, pride and handy pop psychology phrase of the day: "What someone thinks about me has nothing to do with me."

Yes I know we've all nodded our head along to this cozy concept. Yet, what does it protect us from? The truth has gone out of style, having so many people – veiled by their own BS, protected by an ego out for only glory and the superficial good-looking appearance – feeling out of sorts. But what do we give up by not allowing a friend to speak his or her mind on matters that may come across as critical? What do we give up by not allowing the people a place to assemble to oppose a doctrine or dogma?

We give up life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We give up freedom.

Until a freedom of speech is alive and well within all our relations – whether it be relating to our family, friends or countrymen – we will all be prisoners of a controlling force dictating how everything should be. Until we can experience a free dialogue, there will be no conversation. Until we are free to speak our truth, there will be no truth.  

May we all do right by our friends and be a friend. May we all do right by our family and be a contributing family member. May we all do right by our country, and stand up and speak up for the principles that made it all worth fighting for in the first place.

James Anthony Ellis is a writer and producer who just used his “freedom of speech” in a country still free because of, in part, the still free Internet. He can be reached at LegacyProductions.org.

The End of the Know-it-all

The times they are a changing.
Yes, you will be happy, and perhaps a bit anxious, to know that the time is coming.
It is the end.
The end.

Yes, no more do you have to look up to anyone, embracing some demeaning-to-self concept that you need someone to know better and more than you.
This is the end of an era
This is the end of the know-it-all.

Now, I'm not referencing a good teacher or mentor who can help guide a student towards his or her own answers. I'm talking about the know-it-all, those fancy folks who need to know more than you in order to use leverage to their advantage.

For so many eras - eons perhaps - we as a people have felt the need to look up to the "expert," the "leader" and the pious pundits who were glad to maintain such a lofty identity over the pubic. For so long, we have looked up "teary-eyed" as the public speaker, the President or the prophet spoke in great speech. For too long we have lowered our own esteme believing that someone else would hold and then grant us the answer, the pill or the edict we all needed.

But this is the mentality of the weakened and lazy mind. And it need not be. And it will not be.

Though we still wish to act like little boys and girls, hoping mommy and daddy will take care of us, we are finding this is not the way it is to be. Some white smocks are stained blood red. Some top government leaders mainly watch their own back as well as their friends' backs. Many fancy-dressed public speakers spout off their words followed by applause and a sales pitch. The promises of job security and homeland security reveal holes throughout.

And what is left after all the false idols fall and fail? What are you left with? You are left with you. You and your thoughts, your intuition, your discernment, divinely given ... directly to you.

The time is coming very soon, when you will see ... this is all you need, and this is all you have ever needed.


Jim Ellis is a writer and producer who would be a know-it-all if he hadn't just admitted to not knowing everything. What he does know about can be found at LegacyProductions.org.

Labor Day Newsflash! "Saturday" & "Sunday" a Thing of the Past

In one of the biggest breaking news stories to come out since the Gregorian calendar was first created by a madman with a need to time and then etch something, it has been discovered that Saturday and Sunday do not really exist.

You may notice this phenomena on days such as this: Labor Day ... when a "Monday" actually feels like a "Sunday" or, even more surreal, a completely non-defined day. How freeing is that?

The notion of "weekend" - even in all its celebratory forms - has been found to be mere concepts, since the ideas of "Saturday" and "Sunday" were actually labels created by a human who may have simply wanted "time off." This "time off" has unfortunately created the need to have "time on" in the form of working, workdays, workloads, work burnout, coworkers and cubicles. 

Those who were close to the concept of "weekend" were found to be quite despondent after learning of the news since they didn't know they were even trapped in a matrix of space and time, believing they had to conform to a hard life of hard work. 

Others were quoted as saying, "Woohoo, now I can make up the life I want, every moment of my life!"

Though Saturday and Sunday will be things of the past for some, the notion of "vacations" will always be in effect, however without the necessary idea of having to end that vacation. 

James Anthony Ellis is a writer living in Lemon Grove. He can be reached any "day" of the "week" at LegacyProductions.org.

 

Canada or Bust - Another Way to Look at the Immigration Issue

I'm confused over the whole immigration thing.  You know, the whole Mexicans coming into the  United States thing.

 

Why is there such an uproar? Why are emotions running so high and debates so convoluted? Yes, people are feeling marginalized, segregated, put down. There are cries of racism everywhere.

Can't we simply take it to a very simple level, without all the emotion and labels? Isn't it actually simple?

Isn't it simply - at some level - as easy as a protocol to enter a territory? Isn't it about respectful boundaries, and the natural law that governs right actions surrounding these boundaries? An example would be a home. Someone wants to enter a house. They may knock on the door, and request entrance. However, the permission of that entrance is under the discretion of the home owner.

With headlines of immigration issues, can't we see it as simple?  Can't we see it as simple as what Canada holds as its immigration policies and protocol?

Canada has strong borders and a high standard for citizenship if you want to move into that country. Isn't that a sign of high respect for their nation? I admire Canada for demanding those who wish to move there to outline how they would improve Canada (see details below).

Do I balk at their protocol and call them "racists" for holding the bar that high? No, I start to ponder how I can better myself and then show my worth...

Here is how they outline their citizenship protocol: 

General Immigration  (Express Entry)

• This form is for professionals and workers.
• Federal and Quebec Skilled Worker, Provincial Nominee, Federal Self-Employed, and Canadian Experience Class.
• Individuals are evaluated based on their education, training and work experience, which reflects their ability to economically establish themselves in Canada and takes into account labour market conditions in Canada.

There are even some protocols for not entering the country at all. 

Grounds for Inadmissibility 

Individuals may be refused entry to or removed from Canada on the following grounds:

• Security reasons, including espionage, subversion, violence or terrorism, or membership in an organization involved in such activities.
• Human or international rights violations.
• Criminality.
• Organized crime, including membership in an organization that takes part in organized criminal activity.
• Health reasons, if their condition is likely to endanger public health or public safety, or might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demands on health or social services.
• Financial reasons, if they are unable or unwilling to support themselves and their family members.
• Misrepresentation, which includes providing false information or withholding information directly related to decisions made under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
• Failure to comply with any provision of IRPA. For instance, an attempt by persons who, having previously been deported from Canada, seek to enter Canada without written authorization.
• Having an inadmissible family member.
• Offenses committed as a minor.

Again, Canada has a front door. You must knock to get in. That would be the respectful thing to do. 

Can not those wishing to enter the United States be just as respectful, and if they can't, is that someone you would want to let into your home?

 

James Anthony Ellis is a writer and producer living in San Diego. Though born in the United States, his father's father's father came to the country from Ireland, byway of Ellis Island, the port of entry at the time. He can be reached at LegacyProductions.org.