Science Fiction in Real Life

I hate watching scary movies. Yes, I do know intellectually that the stories aren't real and that the actors really are all alive at the end. I hate watching them because later on at inopportune moments, such as when I am trying to fall asleep, I see those vivid images in my mind's eye. I find that disturbing.

I like reading the newspaper because it has always seemed a relatively safe genre to avoid being completely creeped out by images. However, two stories that appeared in yesterday's news has me rethinking my assumption.


The first from MSNBC involves swarms of ants that have invaded Houston.











The second from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer involves giant beetles (some the size of a child's hand!) in Pennsylvania.







EEWWWW!

From the Center for American Progress: Foster an Inclusive American Identity

Increased legal immigration creates concerns among many regarding possible effects on our American identity. Immigration reform efforts must take these concerns into account and support the ongoing process of shaping the American identity influenced, as it has always been, by new immigrants, yet grounded in traditional core values of equality, freedom, and opportunity. To that end, both government and the private sector need to invest in more programs of English language acquisition and civic education.

Creating increased opportunities for permanent migration, although a significant number may opt for periodic migration, is an important way to create incentives for immigrants to become more fully integrated into American society. Creating and expanding English acquisition and civic education learning opportunities that are crucial to that integration process must also be part of the comprehensive immigration formula. Unfortunately, the desire within immigrant communities to learn English far outpaces the capacity of the existing educational infrastructure.

Given the societal and worker productivity implications of the growing demand for adult English language and literacy education, the responsibility to meet the demand falls jointly upon the public and private sectors. Successful immigrant integration efforts exist at the state and local level and should serve as models for action at the national level. For example, the New Americans Initiative, a partnership between the state of Illinois and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, to encourage eligible immigrants to become citizens, is an important example of the kind of work needed to help immigrants in their efforts to become full members of society.

For more on the Center's policies on immigration, please see:

• Principles for Immigration Reform

To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

For print, John Neurohr, Press Assistant
202.481.8182 or jneurohr@americanprogress.org

For radio, Andrea Purse, Deputy Director of Media Strategy
202.446.8429 or apurse@americanprogress.org

For TV, Sean Gibbons, Director of Media Strategy
202.682.1611 or sgibbons@americanprogress.org

For web, Erin Lindsay, Online Marketing Manager
202.741.6397 or elindsay@americanprogress.org