While watching Jeopardy College championship finals last night, it occurs to me how wrong Trump and the GOP are on immigration.

First, it is widely reported that Trump and ICE are deporting lots of immigrants in this early stage of the administration.  I think it is a way for Trump to show how tough he is on immigration and that he is serious about his promise to build a wall paid by Mexico and so called putting Americans first.  I think that by putting fear out there, he thinks Mexicans will actually self deport as Romney said they would do.  Some may actually do that.  In fact, since the recession of 2008, more Mexicans have left the country than have came in.  So the trend may continue under Trump but not necessary be because how tough he is.  I would say most of the people who are scarred and decide to leave are good people.  The criminals are going to stay regardless of the policy.  In fact, if people are scarred of going to police in fear of getting deported, the criminals will be more free to operate.

Beyond the threat of deporting illegal immigrants. there are also threats to legal immigrants.  Senators Tom Cotton of Ark. and David Perdue of Georgia have proposed to decrease legal immigration and refugees by half of the 1.1 million.  They say immigrants take away jobs of Americans.  That is absurd.  I have never seen a white or black guy working in the fields here in California.  There are engineering and science jobs and graduate schools positions that cannot be filled by qualified Americans.  So by restricting immigration, our economy will shrink and the country suffers.  Also the age of Americans is rising, without young immigrants, soon we will not have enough of all kinds of workers.  And with not enough workers to pay the taxes to fund social security and medicare.

So how have all these got to do with Jeopardy?  The three finalists last night consist of an Asian woman from MIT, an Asian man from the Naval Academy, and a south Asian man from Stanford.  (The woman won).  Jeopardy has been a game show that has been dominated by white male contestants in the past.  This year the 9 semi-finalists consisted of one white male.  I think as the second and third generations immigrant Americans become more involved in American culture, they are not just science nerds but are capable of dominating in other fields. 

Trump doesn't want any Syrian refugees.  Did he not know that Steve Jobs' father was from Syria?  Without this Syrian immigrant, there is no Apple.  Other immigrants that are crucial to our country include Sergey Brin, Andrew Grove and Elon Musk.  Who is to say the next Jobs will not be child of an illegal immigrant from Mexico or a refugee from Somalia?  Throughout history, empires fall because the people get complacent.  We have immigrants who come here and push us to continue our excellence.  Instead of blaming immigrants for the ills of this country, we should embrace them and ask those who are born here to step up.  There is no law that say native born Americans can't go to MIT, Stanford or the Naval Academy.

Taking a break from the dramas of Trump, we will put in the final installment of evaluation of Obama's presidency.  We will talk about foreign policies.  I think the worst mistake for Obama occurred with saying that he is drawing the line in the sand if Assad uses chemical weapons.  Assad crossed that line and Obama did not do anything.  You should only draw the line if you know that you can act if that line is crossed.  There was and is no good options in Syria.  So one should never promise big things if one can't deliver.  The second mistake was underestimating ISIS.  ISIS maybe a jv team to him but they are still dangerous and a big headache.  So I think Obama could have done better against these terrorists.

But of course Obama was not the founding father of ISIS as Trump pointed out.  ISIS happened because Bush invaded Iraq.  I think thev history of U.S. foreign policies are poor.  We supported dictators in Vietnam and Iraq and went to war in those countries for no good reason.  We supported the Shah of Iran and then allowed Hussein to use chemical weapons against Iran.  So if I am to grade Obama on his own merits, he would get a B- but if we grade on a curve with other presidents, I give him a B+.

The reason for the relatively high grades if that I agree with him on the Iran deal, opening up Cuba, staying out of ground wars in the middle east.  He also tried to pivot toward Asia which I think in the long run will be more important than the middle east and terrorists.  I also agree with not fighting the Russians over Ukraine.  But interesting enough some of my conservative friends demanded that Obama take action against the Russians over Crimea (never said what action should be taken).  Now we know that Trump was going to lift sanctions.  Really tough actions!   And anyone who doesn't get along with Netanyahu is good in my book.

Michael Flynn was fired for misleading VP Pence regarding his conversation with the Russian ambassador.  Flynn served as director of U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency under Obama.  He was ousted in 2014.  He criticized Obama's strategy on terrorism and implied that that was the reason he was fired.  Obama supporters claim that Flynn was abrasive to others and was not a team player.  The fact that he criticized Obama probably helped him get the job in Trump's administration.  But it looks like he is a liability just as he was with Obama. 

There is also the question of why he sat next to Putin at a dinner for RT, the Russian propaganda network.  Given that Trump's admiration and defense of Putin, I wonder if there is more problems and conflicts besides Flynn in the administration.  Now it appears that the DOJ had warned Trump about Flynn 18 days ago.  So is Trump also trying to hide something from his own VP?

From the previous blog:  I know I am being dramatic when I say 20,00 people killed by people with guns.  I know that even if guns are totally banned, there will be people killed by illegally obtain guns and other weapons.  But even if we discount all the killings by criminals and gangs, we still have a lot more killings by guns than most other countries that have strict gun laws.  Guns make it easier for mass killings, road rage killings, killings of passion, killings by accidents etc.  I don't think Zimmerman would approach Martin if he was not carrying a gun.  To believe that guns are not the major reasons for killings in this country, one would have to believe that we are a country of higher percentage of criminals and people with mental problems than other countries.

Unbelievable, two guys walk into Dearborn police station in armour and carrying guns.  Supposedly they were trying to see if the Dearborn police are going to protect their rights under the open carry law in Michigan.  See, this is why such laws are stupid.  It seems to me by the letter of the law, these guys cannot be arrested and shouldn't have to give up their guns.  Of course, does anyone blame the cops for not wanting to have people walk into their station with guns?  Obviously they can't tell if these guys are going to shoot them.  So by the same token, how would they know if they come across them in the streets  they would not shoot the cops or anyone else?  By the same token, how do you or I know that the guy walking down the street with a gun in a holster will not start shooting at me or you ?   If this guy cuts in line in front of me, can I complain without fearing for my life?  So this about carrying guns make us safer is absurd.

By the way, I wonder if two black guys walk into a police station with guns would they be shot before given the same opportunity to surrender as these two guys were?

Seems surreal that last week we were just talking about the Red Wings moving into a new arena.  Now the news come out that Mike Ilitch has died.  Rest in peace Mike, I thank you for all the good that you did for Detroit.

Great game!  Brady just cemented himself to be the best qb ever!   There isn't much else to say.  Regardless of what I think of him now, I will have to salute his greatness on the field. 

The new "24" is off to a good start.  It is weird without Jack Bauer and the main female actress was on  previous season of "Homeland"!  I will watch it and see if the new chapter lives up to the "legacy".