Citizen Rules

I love to read and research, and with the advent of the Technology Age I am totally in love with the idea of so much information at my fingertips. But I guess if you really want to learn and have complete knowledge, you need to read about the not so fun and cool stuff. I read the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. The text of the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act (43 U.S. Stats. At Large, Ch. 233, p. 253 (1924)) reads as follows: BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and house of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all non citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property." Approved, June 2, 1924. June 2, 1924. [H. R. 6355.] [Public, No. 175.] SIXTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. CHS. 233. 1924. See House Report No. 222, Certificates of Citizenship to Indians, 68th Congress, 1st Session, Feb. 22, 1924. Note: This statute has been codified in the United States Code at Title 8, Sec. 1401(b). It boils down to, anyone born before June 2, 1924 was not considered a citizen of the United States of America, even if you were indigenous population born on American soil. That means my wonderful grandfather, Thomas Sagoonick, was not considered a U.S. Citizen for a time. That thought sucks. I don't know how that would of affected his life, I truly hope it did not. I had always known there were people who believed that any race but their own, typically of Eastern European decent, were beneath them or lacked what they considered intelligence. And they either took it upon themselves to 'better' the poor things or made the world a better place for themselves by segregation, or separating, these 'lowly' individuals from themselves. Hey, you are allowed to think and live as you please, you create the balance in your life and have to deal with your own decisions in the end. People will be people. I am thankful that there were people around who found that making this act into law was an important thing. I am also glad they revised and completely fixed the inadequacies of this Act and made the Immigration Naturalization Act of 1940 to include the indigenous peoples as complete citizens, basically regardless of of age. Those people and groups are to be commended on their hard work and finding a voice and sticking to it to make the intentions of our Founding Fathers into real reasoning. It is mind boggling to me that on my most deeply rooted side of my family tree, at one point my family was only considered a two generation American. Because of words on a paper, and points made by people who were deemed important at one time or another. You would think that my native heritage would of given me a firm foothold in this country, but it does not. At least legally, and on paper. Maybe if people behaved more like they would of when their mother was standing over their shoulder things would of been different. Maybe not. Who knows? But I know this, I think if the world learned to embrace more and not fear or hate, this little blue speck could get light years ahead.

Nothing dumber than expectations

I'm gonna Bah Humbug, I'm allowed, right? Good....

Valentine's Day. Yup I'm gonna go medieval on it's hinny, so hold on.

 Stupidest day ever. Hands down, a complete farce and commercialized drivel. Created by card companies to pad the new year since Christmas is such a long way away. Restaurants get into this gig too, two person lovey dovey specials to make you look good in front of your significant other.  Flower companies might even be the worst, making Commercials that air for two weeks or longer that tell you what kind of idiot you are for not ordering your flowers earlier. All of it is so self serving, so money based it takes the good name of Love and covers it in chocolate dipped dollar bills and tries to tell you advice on how to live in a relationship.

The only redeeming grace I have ever found in this 'holiday' is when one of my adorable children walk up to me with a mischievous grin on their face, holding something precious and dear behind their back, as the say Happy Valentine's Day Mommy. Because I know that the pure and untainted love they have for me is poured out on that little construction paper heart that they created with their own two little hands. That, that is Love. And restaurants, card companies and even a florist can't create that kind of Love. It's so unexpected and real.

I think, perhaps that most of my problems centered around Valentine's Day is the expectations. Expectations ruin more things than can be told on a mere blog. They suck, their hurtful and in general something that should not be encouraged. But it happens, and well it sends me into a furry of frustration that makes it hard for me to deal with. Maybe one day when I really am a grown up I can let stupid things like this just not even be a factor, and when that day comes I hope I blog about it. So I can go back and read about how much I have grown. But as for now, I'm not there yet.