DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA:

DREAM ACT

Please find a more positive voice when you are dealing with the passage of the Dream ACT as words, thoughts, and emotions are energy that seeps into our society and the world at large.  You need to educate the citizens of our country, along with members of congress, to the facts on this issue:

1.      Remind everyone that the vast majority of our country’s current population’s ancestors came around the globe.

2.      The Hispanic immigrant’s ancestors were here long before Europeans.

3.      That all immigrants pay taxes in one form or another whether here legally or not. They pay taxes when they buy food, cars, gas, homes, etc. And from my experience, most of the ones here illegally even paid Federal taxes by use of phony SSN’s. That money goes into our treasury but they don’t get any benefits from it.

4.      They are consumers!

5.      They are needed because our population is aging rapidly while birth rates are dropping even faster.  We need these people to keep the social programs such SSI solvent.

6.      They come here because they can find work that Americans won’t do.

7.      Remind people that immigrant’s serve in our military, fight, and die for our country.

8.      Open the door WIDE for the H1B visa system to make it easier for the talented engineers and doctors to get citizenship more quickly.  They emigrate from our country to others that are more welcoming of their talents. 

9.      We owe Mexico a BIG apology for the mess at our shared borders.  America is the biggest arms dealer on our planet and we make them readily available to anyone with cash. Additionally, the drug issue is our problem because funding for addiction treatment is minimal at best and non-existent in rural communities where meth addiction is very high. Legalize pot then let law enforce focus on meth, crack, heroin, etc. Following up on these actions would calm things down considerably at the Mexican border.  

Please remind people that America is a very young nation in comparison to many on this planet.  America is a nation of immigrants that wouldn’t exist and be what it is today without these brave adventurers.  All cultures bring with them new and different ways to look at life and therefore bring new insight and hope into how our nation could evolve for the better.

 I’ll end my letter with a line from one of my favorite songs – “if everybody looked the same we’d get tired of looking at each other”. 

Appreciatively yours,

Leslie Beil

Written 12-20-10

Dear Madam Secretary Clinton:

Please be forceful in your negotiation stance this week with Israel.  America literally holds the keys to peace in that region – or the purse strings I should say – as we continue to float Israel’s economy with US tax dollars in aid and weapons.   

This 60 yr old social experiment in regards to 2 states hasn’t worked and never will due to Israel’s  emotionally immature “they made me do it” mentality with their regressive, hostile, and negative mindset towards the Palestinians and Arabs in general.    To this “armchair strategist” there is only 1 solution – 1 state, 1 government, equal rights and representation for all the people. Jerusalem, being the perceived religious “birth city” of 2 billion Christians and 2 billion Muslims, needs to be considered a World Heritage Site, its own city state, over seen by the UN.

True peace comes into being when all sides integrate their belief systems, thoughts, words, and actions to resolve conflicts.  True peace happens when all involved come to the realization that they are part of a beautiful and interconnected “Oneness” with all things, including each other as we are of One Tribe.  As I was composing this I found a recent article by Alla Katsnelson, published by Nature.com on June 3, 2010 in regards to genetic ties: "Different communities of Jews around the world share more than just religious or cultural practices -- they also have strong genetic commonalities, according to the largest genetic analysis of Jewish people to date. But the study also found strong genetic ties to non-Jewish groups, with the closest genetic neighbours on the European side being Italians, and on the Middle Eastern side the Druze, Bedouin and Palestinians.”   Gives a whole new meaning to the song “We are Family!”

Lastly, please remind Israel of Golda Meir’s quote “We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go”. Well neither do the Palestinians!

Respectively yours.

Leslie Beil

Written 9-13-10

Dear First Lady Obama:

Edible Landscaping

Having lived in a concrete box most of my adult life doesn’t negate the fact that I love gardening and being outdoors.

After discovering some wild raspberry bushes in a local Arlington VA park I approached a park ranger about the possibility of planting more edible landscaping (EL). His response was a terse “Nothing comes into the park and nothing is taken out of the park.”

Needless to say, that was my call to “arms” moment, or more accurately my call to hoe and shovel moment.  After a few cocktails with friends, we came up with the notion of forming a commando gardening club to rectify this miscarriage of justice.  But upon sober contemplation the logistics of carrying out our plot was too formidable so that’s why I’ve come to you.

All kidding aside, there is currently a worldwide food shortage crisis that will only worsen in the coming months and year. Please, can you and your staff work with the USDA and local/state governments to promote the idea of edible landscaping in all parks?

Just as Lady Bird Johnson promoted beautification of the national hwy system, I was hoping you would take up this cause for EL in regional and national parks.  I envision the plants being perennials like all types of berries, grapevines, and fruit trees, including utilizing local varieties that would help to sustain all life, human and animal alike. 

The best part would be that it wouldn’t cost the government a thing as no pesticides would be needed (organic), just let the strongest specimens thrive. And the plants/trees would be donated by the loyal joggers, runners, cyclists, and dog owners of these parks!   

Again, please consider this opportunity.  Otherwise my friends expect me to dress in the donated cammo outfit but it just isn’t me, and besides, I don’t have any shoes to match the outfit.

Respectfully yours,

Leslie Beil                                                                                                                                                           

Written sometime in late 2010 or early 2011