Happy Fourth of July--a little early

Stuart here....I just got back from a 4th of July party at the residence of the American Ambassador to Honduras, Lisa Kubiske.

This is Mattias Mitteman (sic) who is the Director of the Mission. I think that means he runs the embassy somehow. I got the picture becuase I love the suit (blue and white pinstripe, cotton suit!!!) and hope to get one someday.

I don't usually run around in the circles of the people who attended the party....politicos like, The Honduran President (speaking here), Supreme Court (of Honduras) justices, the mayor of Tegucigalpa, different ministers of the country, lots of embassy people, US and Honduran Military, press people, etc.

It was a good experience. Plus the food was great. They also had a really interesting presentation with the breads in actual bread bowls,

and bread cornucopias.

What I heard there, combined with the announcement of President Obama last week to not deport people brought illegally as children, esp. those studying in college, has really made me think and be a little conflicted.

From what I have gathered from my limited exposure to the news is that the Executive Branch won't deport people that are under 30, but have been in the US for a long time, and are in college or are studying and were brought here as children.

At first glance, that seems OK, until you realize it is an end-run around the 2-times Congress has rejected the DREAM Act, which would do the same thing. In short, it is another example of the President assuming Congressional power through executive order or through lassaiz-faire--non-enforcement of Federal laws. Either way, I think the acquisition of more power in the Executive is not good and was astonished at the way Pres. Bush used his power. Unfortunately, it continues and I am sure under a Romney Presidency (or Obama) more power will be concentrated in the executive, which doesn't seem to bode well for the Constitutionally explicit checks and balances.

On the other hand, after hearing the speech of Ambassador Kubiske and then that of President Lobos Sosa, President of Honduras, I was intrigued. He was very pleased with the announcement. He praised the US policy and was glad. Last Saturday the main headline in the paper in about 60-font was the announcement. It should affect about 8 million people in the US.

People in Latin America want to come to the US. While they aren't the fastest growing ethnic group (Asians are now), the opportunities in the US are huge. After living in Honduras and working closely local Hondurans, I have found that there are many that would LOVE to come to the US. As such, I am torn about what to think about the new US immigration policies. Ranae has written a little about how difficult it is to get ahead here, since it is really scramble competition--some get a lot, some get little and some get none.

But the opportunities there in the US, the peace that is there, the customer service, the comparative lack of government corruption, the clean water everywhere, pretty, clean farms, few razor wire fences on houses in town, etc. all make it a real paradise, despite the wonderful things that are also here in Honduras.

In any case, I am again reminded about how great it is to live in the US and the blessing it is to be from there. I am thankful to Congress for appropriating the money for the Fulbright Program that has and will forever change my family--improving their skills and outlook on US life. I am thankful for what the 4th of July represents. We do live in a great country that has in many ways influenced the world very positively. Happy 4th of July next week!