$50 Billion Games

With the 2016 Winter Olympics approaching, Russia has spent $50 billion into the Olympics, making it the most expensive Olympics in world history to date. Sochi now has new railways, highways, stadiums, hotels, ice rinks, residential districts, and airport constructed in record time. The question now is what is going to happen after the Olympics?

They're hoping that this would bring more tourists to Sochi especially since they're expecting a Formula One race to happen in the near future, along with the promotion of their farmer's market, local winery, branding tasting, and Scorpions concert.

“When you bring such big events to a country, they leave a legacy that includes infrastructure, optimism, jobs and, sometimes, even new industries like sports marketing,” said Zoran Vucinic, president of Coca-Cola’s Russia, Belarus and Ukraine Unit.

The American "Dream"

Earlier this week House Speaker John Boehner announced that the House would not be considering immigration reform this year. President Obama, earlier this year, said that immigration reform would be something that would come to light before the year’s up, but the House replies that there simply not enough time to enact something expansive enough to cover all aspects of citizenship. In fact it seems like the US is working in opposition to this aspired equality.

This article states that last year President Obama deported over 400,000 people, tearing families apart and also creating more means for protest and activism on behalf of immigrants. On June 25 the Supreme Court shut down the Voting Rights Act, which allowed states like Texas to reinstate the strict voter ID laws, ultimately restricting immigrants from voting who are citizens but don’t have the correct ID to be able to vote. A chain reaction across the United States has occurred where more voter ID laws and "show me your papers” accusations are becoming reinforced.

These laws are more constrictive to our citizens of color and many are comparing this to the discrimination given when citizenship was first granted and the eligibility to vote was given. It seems that once a rung is acquired in the latter to equality the US finds a way to demolish that progress by taking care of another issue.

The article also touches on the American Dream and I think it's funny that the American Dream is so tangible to some but nobody really understands what it is. It also seems that the funnel to get the American Dream is so narrow, you have to fit all of these qualifications in order to even consider for yourself that you’re living the American Dream. I feel when something has so many qualifiers and many people aspiring to obtain it, but the “it” the “dream,” the concept of it is cloudy and unclear, that it no longer becomes a dream, but more so a myth. Where all trying to live the American Folklore.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/15/opinion/culliton-gonzlez-immigration-voting/index.html?iref=allsearch

Optimism Only Goes So Far

The Republican majority of the House of Representatives has been collectively stating that they have no time for immigration reform, and that, at least for 2013, the immigration bill is dead. Though President Obama has made many attempts to revive the bill, this Tuesday he succumbed to Republican demands, agreeing to a piecemeal approach to immigration. President Obama has been a huge supporter of the immigration bill, agreeing that having 11 million Americans living in constant fear of deportation is wrong, and that $1.4 trillion (the amount of money that could be brought in with immigration reform, plus an extra $184 billion in tax revenues) should not be passed up. Now he is taking a different approach with the Republicans, saying, " If they want to chop that thing up into five pieces, as long as all five pieces get done, I don’t care what it looks like." Many democrats have expressed their concern that with this strategy, saying the majority of Republicans will just pass the, "easy," parts of the legislation and not the harder, more debated parts. What this really means is though the President has recognized the immigration system as broken and in need of complete overhaul, its not going to happen.

The President was also quoted saying, "I am actually optimistic that we’re going to get this done. I’m a general optimist.” But, optimism only goes so far. Those 11 million people living in constant terror aren't feeling very optimistic at the moment. Those 50 million people living in poverty in the U.S today, who could be substantially helped by an improved economy, aren't feeling very optimistic right now. I understand that there may be a different way to approach immigration reform, and this could turn out to be the way. However if and when the majority of the house gets away with denying the parts of immigration reform that could actually make a difference, I don't think the President will be feeling so optimistic.

http://www.ibtimes.com/immigration-reform-bill-2013-obama-says-piecemeal-deal-1477808