I read an article in the Times today that got me thinking. It’s a story about the revamping of the US naturalization test that immigrants must take to become citizens. Quoting from the article:

“The redesign of the test … follows years of criticism in which conservatives said the test was too easy and immigrant advocates said it was too hard.
…
“The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights … said the test included ‘more abstract and irrelevant questions’ that tended to stump hard-working immigrants who had little time to study.
…
“‘People who take this seriously will have a good chance of passing,’ said Gary Gerstle, an professor of American history at Vanderbilt University. ‘Indeed, their knowledge of American history may even exceed the knowledge of millions of American-born citizens.’”

I like immigrants. I believe that on the whole, immigrants are brave, hard-working people who are looking for opportunity and a better life for themselves and their families. Immigrants have always been the backbone of this country and one of its greatest assets. That being said, I’m all for a tough naturalization exam, because I believe that Americans should be expected to know and understand the basic tenets of their country.

But note that I said Americans, not immigrants in the above statement. In fact, I find a tremendous amount of hypocrisy in an exam that only immigrants are expected to take. Isn’t it totally discriminatory to expect those who are born outside these lands to pass an exam that many natural-born citizens would be stumped by? In fact, we celebrate the stupidity of our citizens on shows like the Tonight Show, where Jay Leno goes ‘Jay Walking,’ all the time, while we expect immigrants who haven’t had the benefit of our educational system to answer the same questions we as Americans often can’t. I think we all too often have a disgusting sense of entitlement in this country, and this is just another example of that.

So here is my suggestion: make every American citizen, immigrant or natural-born, take and pass this exam. For those who can’t, well, maybe someone is hiring down in Mexico.

See it you would pass; Take a test of some (admittedly difficult) questions from the US immigration exam.

Mom and I went to Bradford, PA in July for a family 25th wedding anniversary party. Somehow in the shuffle of life I forgot to post the family portrait, but I figured it’s never too late. And I’m in so few big family portraits — actually, this may be the first — so it’s extra special.

Here is another, admittedly smaller family portrait taken on the drive home from Bradford.

There is the unmistakable feel of autumn in the air today, which has me fondly reminiscing the summer gone by. I made a bold declaration this spring; I said that I thought this would be a very good summer. Sure I was tempting fate, or so says my internal pessimist — but I was right. It was a summer that started in Paris and ended in Wine Country, with what seemed like endless weddings, barbecues and all other manner of the celebration of life, love, family and friendship squeezed in between. I have everyone to thank for all these happy days, especially my kind, sweet and completely wonderful girlfriend who makes every day infinitely more special by just being a part of it. Yes, I said it; Life is really good.

I stumbled across Becker Vineyards while surfing the web and I was just delighted to discover a vineyard that bares my name.  The vineyard is located (surprisingly) in Texas Hill Country, and is owned by Richard and Bunny Becker.  I also found a great article that tells the story of the vineyard and how Becker wine has become a staple of the White House dinner table.   I *have* to get myself a few bottles!

I served jury duty yesterday in the New York Federal District Court, and was questioned for the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment case.  Today I’m quoted in the New York Times and the New York Daily News.  I guess I gave a good sound bite to the New York sports media — call me WFAN!

As promised, here is the story…

This was my third time serving jury duty, so I’ve become accustomed to the usual procedures and nothing that morning seemed out of the ordinary.  I’d been called amongst the first group of jurors from the jury pool and we were all shuffled into a courtroom and seated.  I was sitting in the second row of the audience, and the plaintiff, defendant and all of the lawyers were seated in front of us with their backs towards us.  Then one of the men, who was sitting just ahead of me, turned around to look at the prospective jurors and I recognized him instantly — it was Isiah Thomas!

My insides did a summersault at the sudden realization that this was no ordinary, ho-hum, run of the mill case.  This was high-profile!  This was going to be in the news!  I’d heard about this case!  Without thought the words “Oh My God” escaped from my breath.

I wasn’t called in for questioning until late in the afternoon.  Each prospective juror was being questioned individually in a separate room and the process was taking a long time.  When it was finally my turn I was seated at a desk, admittedly nervous at the exceptional circumstances in which I found myself.  Directly across from me was the judge, sitting in front of a bright window so that I could hardly see more than his dark outline against the glare of the sunlight.  It almost gave him a divine presence, though I’m sure this was completely unintentional.  Directly to my right was Isiah Thomas and his lawyers.  To my left was his accuser and her lawyers.  The press was behind me.

I was asked if I was familiar with the case; I’d heard about it on TV but didn’t know any details. 

I was asked if I had any opinions about the case; I told them that I’ve had discussions with friends about how it seems like basketball players get themselves into a lot of trouble with the law (the New York Times paraphrased this quote) but that I also understood that someone with a high profile and a lot of money could be an easy target for this kind of case.

I was asked if I was a Knicks fan; I told them I used to be but wasn’t anymore.  This response was met by Isiah Thomas slouching over the table in mock dissapointment and burying is head in his arms.  After this, I continued to explain that I gave up following the Knicks after they signed Latrell Sprewell.  (This was quoted in both the New York Times and the Daily News).

I was asked if it would be difficult for me to give up watching sports or sports news during the trial; I told them I was a big Mets fan, and with the Mets close to a pennant, this would be very hard for me.

I was asked if I had any opinion of Stephon Marbury, who is scheduled to testify in the case; I told them I had a very low opinion of Marbury, especially after his recent comments defending Michael Vick during the dog fighting scandal.  Responding to this, the judge reminded me that it would be my responsibility to judge all witness testimony equally and without bias.  I told him I understood this duty and would do my best, however, given testimony from a witness whom I know nothing about and testimony from a man whom I have very little respect for, it would be difficult to be completely unbiased.

Finally I was asked to tell my profession, education and other vital stats and then excused from the room.  Within a minute of returning to my seat in the courtroom I was dismissed from the case.

I’m quite proud of the fact that I was completely forthright and honest in the questioning.  Not surprisingly, a knowledgeable sports fan with strong opinions and moral principles was not the right person to judge this case.  But it was certainly an entertaining experience, and now I have a great story to tell.

We spent Labor Day weekend sipping wine on the North Fork and cruising around town on the South Fork.