Nation Made Strong

August 5, 2019 Joseph McKeown

Carolyn's Trip to Hungary

August 2, 2019 Guest User

This week’s edition of Friday Photo(s) comes from Carolyn’s trip to Hungary. Carolyn visited historic landmarks in Budapest such as Heroes’ Square, known for its statues commemorating figures from Hungarian history. She also checked out the Hungarian Parliament Building, a World Heritage Site and functional government office, and the Holocaust Tree of Life Memorial, which has the family names of Holocaust victims inscribed in the metal tree, at the Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe.

Carolyn and her husband ventured beyond Hungary’s capital to scenic places like Lake Balaton, a popular summer destination that happens to be the largest lake in Central Europe. Near the Balaton and in the many small towns that they drove through, there were tons of sunflower fields as pictured above. Thank you to Carolyn for sharing her beautiful pictures with the blog!

Forbes: “Congress Asks USCIS To Explain Immigration Delays And Denials.”

July 30, 2019 Guest User

Congress raised concerns about the rising delays and unjustified denials of various visa types at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), during a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on July 16, 2019. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), chair of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, specifically highlighted inefficiencies regarding changes in processing, noting their impact on students experiencing significant delays for Optical Practical Training (OPT).

Dangerous Game

July 29, 2019 Joseph McKeown

Eduardo Kobra: Colors for Liberty

July 26, 2019 Guest User

Eduardo Kobra’s colorful, playful murals can be spotted all across New York City. The famous Brazilian street artist has been active here since last year, painting Colors for Liberty, a series of 18 murals that share a message of peace and address injustices such as environmental problems, racism, and gun violence. Many of his pieces celebrate individuals who defined their generation by making a lasting positive impact in their community. Kobra remarks, “The idea is to use murals as a platform for issues that we are living with in the world today and talk about it in a peaceful way, without offending anyone or to promote hatred with my artworks.”

Pictured above are his murals around Chelsea and Soho: Albert Einstein We Love NY Squared, Mount Rushmore with Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Keith Haring and Basquiat, Gandhi and Mother Teresa, and Kid with America Balloon.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: DHS and DOJ Issue Third-Country Asylum Rule

July 23, 2019 Guest User

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced stricter eligibility qualifications for asylum seekers on July 15, 2019, according to a statement released by the DHS. The joint Interim Final Rule (IFR), published in the Federal Register as of July 16, 2019, denies asylum to any applicants who passed through a third country in transit to the United States but did not formally seek asylum in that country, with only a few exceptions.

You Belong

July 22, 2019 Joseph McKeown

"Camp: Notes on Fashion" at The Met

July 19, 2019 Guest User

Susan Sontag, author of the iconic 1964 essay “Notes on ‘Camp’”, stated, “To talk about Camp … is to betray it.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition “Camp: Notes on Fashion” explores the elusive camp aesthetic of deliberate stylization and extravagance in fashion. The exhibition, heavily influenced by Sontag, traces back to the origins of the camp aesthetic to 17th century France. Through more than 250 pieces, the exhibition showcases camp’s manifestations throughout history and the present, and how it continues to challenge established notions of taste, sexuality, and race.

“Camp: Notes on Fashion” is sponsored by Gucci with support from Condé Nast, and will be on display through September 8, 2019.

friday photo, camp, met museum, fashion

The Washington Post: “FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches.”

July 16, 2019 Guest User

Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration Customs Enforcement agents use state department of motor vehicle databases for facial-recognition purposes, reveal newly released documents. These records, obtained by researchers with Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology and shared with The Washington Post, contain thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents, and emails over the past five years.The Washington Post reports that “DMV records contain the photos of a vast majority of a state’s residents, most of whom have never been charged with a crime,” affecting millions of Americans whose photos are being used without their knowledge. Lawmakers across the aisle have criticized the technology as a “dangerous, pervasive and error-prone surveillance tool.”

Proud of Mine Too

July 15, 2019 Joseph McKeown