A Rude Intrusion :: Day 58

This is my blog for day 58 of cancer treatment and recovery, Tuesday, 5 Sep 2017.

Two doctor's appointments today, with the radiation therapist and the oncologist. I feel like I'm getting a little better every day, now, with the radiation burns on my neck healing up and the pain in my throat is lessening.

I spoke to my half-sister Elena again this morning. She told me that she just had to call her mom (my birth mother), that it was eating at her. And so she did, and asked her straight out about me. Her mom admitted that, yes, she did have a child back in the 50's. She went to live with another family once she found out she was expecting. Then she had me and gave me up. I don't even know if she ever got a chance to see me. But she never told anyone - ever. Her husband didn't know. Her kids (Vincent and Elena) never knew. She told no one. 

So she might want to meet with me, when Elena comes into town at the end of this month. But she needs some time to process things (as I might expect). At a minimum, I'm going to meet with Elena, even if it's for a cup of coffee before she flies out. (She lives in Texas.) My birth mother still wanted me to send the letter I've written (the last was sent back as un-deliverable).  So, this morning, with the (hopefully) correct address, I sent it out.

So that's pretty big news, isn't it?

The doctor's appointments went off without a hitch today. It looks like I might be going back to work the first week in October. But I have to start eating, as soon as I can. So I'm planning on a soft diet this week - pudding, applesauce, ice cream, oatmeal - and going from there. 

And now I'm going to wade into a subject that people may hate me for (Matt): DACA. Personally, I believe that President Obama had no authority to waive the application of immigration law to the group of people known as "Dreamers". No authority to simply stop enforcing US Immigration law. That is not preserving, protecting and defending the constitution of the United States. Why? Because Congress passed the immigration laws, as is their "job", constitutionally, and put in place what was to happen to person in the US illegally. The President has responsibility for administering the laws, constitutionally, and a failure on his part to carry out the law, as enacted by Congress, is a failure in preserving the Constitution. Period.

Read the article titled, "How the United States Immigration System Works" - link. Legal immigration is limited to 675,000 people per year, under these principles:  the reunification of families, admitting immigrants with skills that are valuable to the U.S. economy, protecting refugees, and promoting diversity.

So, by not enforcing the law, as written, allowing for the apprehension, detention and deportation of people here in the US illegally - no matter whether they came her as children or adults - I believe that President Obama was wrong. Now that he's out of office the rest of this is moot. 

So what is to be done with that class of people known as "Dreamers"? Let me suggest the following: what about allowing people from this class to stay in the country based on the number of legal immigrant that would have been allowed from Mexico (and other countries), while decreasing the number of legal immigrants from those countries. In other words, replace those who would have come here in 2017 with the already here. This is the same as providing people with a path to citizenship.

This will not include anyone who has a criminal background. At least a criminal background of at least a felony conviction. Lawmakers can set this limit. But it would be a hard-and-fast limit. Then it's on to apprehend, detain and deport. 

I've watched a lot of stories about Dreamers who are the top of their class, who have been in the military and who are working as paramedics and firefighters, and I feel for them, I really do. But I also believe in the law, and that we are a nation of laws. So lawmakers - find us a way out of this!

Oh, and I would do one other thing: I would write into the law that any mayor or governor who sets up a "sanctuary city" (at a level defined in the law) would be guilty of sedition, and could then be arrested by the FBI and taken to court, where, if convicted, their penalties would be anything from jail time to execution. I am not kidding about this. 

Fittingly, today's YouTube video is Jailhouse Rock, from the end of the Blues Brothers movie - Link. Go figure.

For convenience sake, here a running list of all of the links I've posted to YouTube in the past many days:

According to Plan, Carolyn Arends - Link

And I Love Her - Link
Apollo 11 launch - Link
Ashokan Farewell, Jay Ungar - Link
Back In You Own Back Yard, Al Jolson - Link

Because We've Ended As Lovers, Larry Carlton & Steve Lukather - Link
Blessings, Laura Story - Link
Brandy, Looking Glass - Link
By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Glen Campbell - Link
Chicago Bears fight song - Link
Chicago Blackhawks song - Link
Comfortably Numb, Pink Floyd - Link
Cross Road Blues, Robert Johnson Link
Crossroads, Eric Clapton and Cream Link
Cry Me A River, Joe Cocker - Link
Cry Me A River, Diana Krall - Link
Dancing in the Moonlight, King Harvest - Link
A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request - Link, Steve Goodman
Eat It, Weird Al Yankovic - Link
Eclipse, Pink Floyd - Link
Galveston, Glen Campbell - Link
Gentle On My Mind, Glen Campbell - Link
Glen Campbell-hosted country music special - Link
Go, Cubs, Go, Steve Goodman - Link
Going For The One, Yes - Link
Groucho Movie Clips - Link
Heart Of The Heartland, Peter Ostroushko - Link
I'm Alright, Kenny Loggins - Link
I Love A Rainy Night, Eddie Rabbit - Link
I Love Being Here With You, Diana Krall - Link
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman - Link
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman, from the movie Here Comes the Groom  - Link
In Good Hands, Carolyn Arends - Link.
Invercargill, United States Air Force Concert Band - Link
Jailhouse Rock, The Blues Brothers - Link
Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression, Part 1, An International Collaboration - Link
Lay Down Sally, Vince Gill and a cast of All Stars - Link
Limbo Jazz, Coleman Hawkins and Duke Ellington - Link
Living in the Past, Jethro Tull - Link
Lookin' At The World Through A Windshield, Bill Kirchen - Link
Montana/We Are Not Alone, Univ. of Montana Percussion Ensemble - Link
My Baby Loves Lovin', White Plains - Link

My Funny Valentine, Kristin Chenoweth - Link

My Funny Valentine, Miles Davis - Link
My New Philosophy, Kristin Chenoweth and Stanley Wayne Mathis - Link
On The Street Where You Live, Dean Martin - Link
One Is The Loneliest Number, Three Dog Night - Link
One More Last Chance, Vince Gill - Link
Powdermilk Biscuit Break, Garrison Keillor, et al - Link
Questions 67 and 68, Chicago - Link
Rain, Uriah Heep - Link
Reaching, Carolyn Arends - Link
Route 66, Asleep at The Wheel - Link
She Used To Be Mine, Sara Bareilles - Link
Shim, Sham, Shimmy (dance) to Tain't What You Do, Jimmy Lunceford - Link
Sisters, Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt - Link
Sisters, from White Christmas - Link
Sixteen Tons, Tennessee Ernie Ford - Link
Slang of Ages, Steely Day - Link
Slow Poke, Pee Wee King - Link
St Louis Blues, Stephanie Trick & Paolo Alderighi - Link
Standing at the Crossroads, Elmore James - Link
Stars and Stripes Forever, United States Marine Band - Link
Subdivisions, Rush - Link
Sweet Georgia Brown, Wynton Marsalis/Mark O'Connor - Link
Take Me Out To The Ballgame, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Link
That's Jazz, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong & The All Stars - Link
Time, Pink Floyd - Link
Time to Blow, From That Thing You Do - Link
Truck Drivin' Man, Buck Owens - Link
Truck Drivin' Man, the Don Kelley Band - Link
Truck Drivin' Man, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Link
US National Anthem, US Marine Band - Link
Village of the Sun and Echidna's Arf (Of You), Frank Zappa - Link
War, Edwin Starr - Link
Your Love Is My Saving Grace, Kristin Chenoweth - Link
Zappa Medly, George Duke - Link