ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

Anchor Babies

I have not heard of the term “anchor babies” until I read an article today from Time Magazine “Arizona's Next Immigration Target: Children of Illegals”.  I am not even aware that SB1070 was signed on April 23, 2010.  How ignorant I am!  Senate Russell Pearce, an Arizona Republican introduced SB1070 which allows Arizona’s law enforcement officers to detain an individual under reasonable suspicion if this individual seems and “sounds” illegal in the United States.  The law enforcement officers in Arizona can further arrest this individual if he is unable to prove his legal status in the United States.  In addition, it is a misdemeanor in the state of Arizona for foreigners and immigrants not to carry passports or immigration papers at all times.  Before this bill went into effect, law enforcement officers in Arizona could only check a person’s immigration status when that person was a suspected criminal.  The purpose of this bill is to crack down on crimes associated with illegal immigration and to protect the nation from terrorists through identifying, prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants to tighten border security. 

Something out of Nothing - A Poem by Elisa English

 On 6/3/10 in Minneapolis

The statement "You are something else" can be interpreted differently when used in different situations.  It can be negative or positive depending on the tone of the voice. 

(1) Something else can be a compliment, meaning that you are unlike someone else and that you are someone special, unique or extraordinary.

I have read somewhere in a news report that Minnesota has an average of 41 tornados in a year, mostly between June and August.  Seeing damages from the Tornado that swept through the Midwest this past weekend, I felt that I should be more alert in weather conditions in the future. 

A suppressed truth, a distorted truth, a hidden truth

What is the truth? Truth can be distorted and people can be easily misled and brainwashed by the "mastermind".  I remembered that while I was young, we were told by the teachers that the pro-democracy activists involved in the Formosa Incident were Communists trying to overturn Taiwan.  Luckily, a lot has changed in Taiwan to unveil the truth.  Still, there are places in the world where governments continue to deceive their people, distorting, suppressing and hiding the truth.  This happens mostly in countries governed by dictatorship.  When the Chinese government criticized the Japanese government of distorting the truth of the 918 incident, have they thought of what they did to the truth of the Tiananmen Square?  My husband showed me a video.  It tells us how naive the people can be when information and minds are controlled.  How powerful brainwashing can be on a young mind and the long effect it has on their people even living abroad.  I remembered that I once met a Chinese in 1994 in Minneapolis.  He graduated from Peking University, a very talented person and a son of a high-ranking Chinese government official (高幹子弟) but has little common sense and the ability to distinguish between true and false.  He told me with arrogance how pitiful the Taiwanese are to have no fruits at all and to have to rely on the imports from China.  I couldn't help but laughed because I thought that we praised Taiwan as the Kingdom of Fruits.  Anyway, he took whatever he was told to be the absolute truth without doubting it.  Even though he had access to the open and non-government controlled media in the US, he chose to ignore them.  Like the majority of his countrymen, he firmly believes that the Western culture is a pill and the Western media is constantly sabotaging his country.  I still wonder why he and many of his countrymen tried all methods wherever possible to stay in the US, a country they despised so much and a country they thought to be filled with poisons.      

I should stop thinking.  I shouldn’t let my mind wander and run wild.  Now I am completely emotionally drained.  If you can’t stand my mumbling, please refrain yourself from reading it.

While I was browsing the internet, my eyes were caught by the words “This is my farewell letter.  I am feeling calm and ….”.  I didn’t click on the article to learn about what exactly the content was.  Instead I let my mind run wild.  I thought of what would have gone through those people’s mind when they might have faced the death.  What came to my mom’s mind when she was harmed by the robber?  What was my father-in-law thinking as he underwent the third stage chemotherapy treatment and when his mind danced between consciousness and unconsciousness?   

Can you say it for sure? – a poem, just for the kicks

A recent incident prompted me to think about what is possible and what is impossible and it also brought back memories of some incidents happened on me and on my family that seemed rather unusual.  Everyone comes from different background with different values.  There are generation gaps, cultural gaps and whatever gaps lie among all of us.  Things that may sound reasonable to you might sound absurd to me.  Things that I experienced may seem hallucinations to you.  We can never force people to see it our way, although we often hear that "It is either my way, or the highway".  Anyway, this incident prompted me to write another alphabet poem.  I wrote it just for the kicks.  I can’t always find the Pierian Spring.  Just let me indulge in it for a little longer.    

While I was single, after graduating from school, with plenty of time on my hand, besides frequenting the gym and playing racquetball with my friends, I found reading Stephen King’s novels to be a good pastime.  Like I said in my previous articles, nothing is 100% impossible.  I read Stephen King’s novels for the sole purpose of opening my mind and stimulating my imagination.  Stephen King is a novelist with unrivalled imagination, though in a macabre way.  Some of the plots may seem quite disturbing to many of us.

By the way, I am not here to talk about his novels.  Maybe I will do that in the future.  Before I talk about a story of my mom’s, I would like to ask you a question.  Do you believe in afterlife, the resurrection of Jesus and the fairytale-like healing stories of Falundafa?  Do gods, ghosts, spirits, and aliens (E.T.) exist? Have you ever watched “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” television show?  Are all of them just a hoax?  Is human cloning a possibility?  Is it possible that one can dream the same dreams as some strangers or own telepathic ability?  Can you say with 100% certainty that any of this is 100% impossible?  Though I have doubt, huge doubt that they could be true but I cannot say it with 100% certainty that they don’t exist, just because I have not experienced it.  My husband likes to say “Never say never”.  Actually, his precise words are “不要太鐵齒” 

Hunting Crabby

On our first morning at Fort Lauderdale, my daughter woke up asking for her daddy.  I told her that he had left for work.  She was pretty upset and kept crying for her daddy.  We always have hard time trying to make her understand that she doesn’t always get what she needs and at the exact moment that she needs it.  Anyway, I was at my wit’s end.  In an attempt to distract her from crying, I asked if she wanted to go crabby hunting and cook it.  She liked the idea of cooking with me.  Occasionally, I would ask her to help me cook to sway her from attempting to get her daddy’s total attention on her when he is working with my son on the homework. 

Some interesting dining experiences on Fort Lauderdale Beach

These are some of the interesting dining experiences we had while vacationing on Fort Lauderdale Beach.  They represent how we felt but not necessarily the truth.  These restaurants are all located across the street facing the Atlantic Ocean.  By the way, all restaurants I mentioned below offer live music performances and are within walking distance of the Westin Hotel where we stayed.