Those islands under territorial dispute that China have been doing reclamation works on and building infrastructures on have been an issue with us, Japan, Vietnam and other east/southeast asian nations.

It has been an ongoing issue for years, but China has been doubling their efforts to populate and develop these islands and reefs. Why? Oil and mineral reserves, and likely strategic location.

More recently, the US flew surveillance jets over the south China sea and have navy ships within range of the disputed islands. China didnt like it.

China just celebrated 70 years of "winning" WWII. They displayed a lot of military equipment, vehicles and paraphernalia. Putin was present in the celebrations.

It's a passive-aggrssive move. Show of force.

Iam, you give much meaning to your name. Thank you

Thank you for your well wishes everyone. Enjoy the cake.

Annie, you are a cherub in disguise.

Ana, you are one of the best people ive met since I first started here

J1, muchos muchos gracias, un verdado caballero.

Ruth, i made a wish for you and yours.

MW, send over some of your world famous pork ribs!

Romeo, you are right. Compared to me, you are juvenile.

Reposted from immigration/migration thread due to relevance with topic at hand.

Thank you Conrad for bringing in this article.

There is a world domination conspiracy to this ^^.

Some grandparents and relatives overstep their boundaries. Some have well-meaning intentions, but others are in it for power play. With the proper guidance, kids will grow up and can decide rightfully what should be done and who have their best interests at heart.

Candy and cuddly toys: Migrants finish epic trek to Germany

http://news.yahoo.com/hungarian-bus-fleet-delivers-migrants-austria-welcome-062852405.html

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — For weeks while they traveled a punitive road, Europe cast a cold eye on their unwelcome progress. On Saturday, for the first time since fleeing their troubled homelands, they could set foot in their promised land — and it came with a German face so friendly that it brought some newcomers to tears of joy.

More than 7,000 Arab and Asian asylum seekers surged across Hungary's western border into Austria and Germany following the latest erratic policy turn by Hungary's immigrant-averse government. Within hours, travelers predominantly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who had been told for days they could not leave Hungary were scooped from roadsides and Budapest's central train station and placed on overnight buses, driven to the frontier with Austria and allowed to walk across as a new day dawned.

They were met with unexpected hospitality featuring free high-speed trains, seemingly bottomless boxes of supplies, and well-wishers offering candy for everyone and cuddly toys for the children in mothers' arms. Even adults absorbed the sudden welcome with a look of wonderment as Germans and Austrians made clear that they had reached a land that just might become a home.

"I'm very glad to be in Germany. I hope that I find here a much better life. I want to work," said Homam Shehade, a 37-year-old Syrian shopkeeper who spent 25 days on the road. He left behind his parents, a brother, wife, a 7-year-old boy and a 2 ½-year-old girl. He hopes to bring them all to Germany. Until then, he said: "I hope that God protects them from the planes and bombs. My shop was bombed and my house was bombed."

As the migrants departed Hungary, leaders took a few final swipes at their departing guests.


Migrants storm into a train at the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary, September 3, 2015 as H …
Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters that Hungary drove the migrants to the border only because they were posing a public menace, particularly by snarling traffic and rail lines west of Budapest when they mounted a series of surprise breakouts from police-controlled positions Friday and headed for Austria on foot.

Orban said the people being taken by Germany mostly come "from regions that are not ravaged by war. They just want to live the kind of life that we have. And I understand that, but this is impossible. If we let everybody in, it's going to destroy Europe."

Orban said Hungary was determined to staunch the flow of foreigners traversing the country. He criticized European Union plans to reach a bloc-wide agreement at a summit Sept. 14 committing each nation to accept higher quotas of foreigners to shelter, arguing that this would only spur more one-way traffic.

"What will it solve if we divide 50,000 or 100,000 migrants among us, when uncountable millions will be on the way?" Orban said.

A central Budapest rally by Hungary's third-largest party, the neo-fascist Jobbik, underscored why many of those seeking sanctuary in Europe wanted to get through the country as quickly as possible. Earlier in the week, many of the same Jobbik activists traveled south to the border with Serbia to hurl verbal abuse at newly arrived travelers.


Refugees flash victory signs and wipe away tears as they arrive at the main train station in Munich, …
Jobbik leader Gabor Vona told the crowd of 300 waving Hungarian and party flags "that Hungary belongs to the Hungarians. We like everybody, we respect everybody — but we don't want anybody coming here."

Other speakers branded supporters of refugee rights "traitors" and "scum."

The contrast could not have been greater in Vienna's central train station. When around 400 asylum seekers arrived on the morning's first border train, charity workers offered food, water and packages of hygiene products for men and women. Austrian onlookers cheered the migrants' arrival, with many shouting "Welcome!" in both German and Arabic. One Austrian woman pulled from her handbag a pair of children's rubber rain boots and handed them to a Middle Eastern woman carrying a small boy.

Sami Al Halbi, a 28-year-old veterinarian from Hama in Syria, said he fled to avoid mandatory military service. "They asked me to join the army. I am educated. For years I've been holding a pen. I do not want to hold a weapon," he said. "We all want to have a better future."

It got better as travelers continued west on more trains, some of them specially provided for the migrants. As Austria's government noted, virtually none of those coming intended to seek asylum before reaching Germany, the Eurozone powerhouse that has pledged to aid Syrians fleeing from their 4-year-old civil war. Germany expects to receive a staggering 800,000 asylum seekers this year.


A woman holds her smiling baby in her arms as she arrives at the Hauptbahnhof station in Salzburg, A …
In Munich's central station, the first arrivals from Hungary received cheering and applause. Many who had endured nights sleeping on crowded concrete floors at Budapest's Keleti station appeared disoriented as Germans approached them holding trays of food. The youngest brightened up as teddy bears were offered as gifts.

"We are giving a warm welcome to these people today," said Simone Hilgers, spokeswoman for Upper Bavaria government agencies tasked with providing the migrants immediate support. "We realize it's going to be a big challenge but everybody, the authorities and ordinary citizens, are pulling together."

A total of about 6,000 people had come through Munich by Saturday evening, Hilgers said. All were given food and drink, and most were housed in temporary accommodation.

The latest arrivals add to the tens of thousands of migrants who have been streaming each month into Germany, the EU's most populous nation with 81 million residents. The influx has strained emergency accommodation and local bureaucracy, triggered sporadic violence by neo-Nazi extremists, and inspired empathy from many more Germans. Volunteer groups have sprung up to help asylum seekers find permanent housing and jobs, and to receive free German language lessons. German media estimate this year's expected bill for providing sanctuary to be 10 billion euros ($11 billion), should the forecast 800,000 arrive.

Germany typically places newcomers in housing earmarked for asylum seekers. They are provided free meals, clothing, health care and household support, as well as monthly spending money averaging 143 euros ($160). After three months, they receive restricted work opportunities. By contrast, the migrants left behind a Hungary that stuck them in sweltering outdoor facilities on the Serbian border, left any aid to private charities, and pocketed the money the migrants paid to buy cross-border train tickets that they were blocked from using.


Forensic police officers inspect a parked truck in which up to 50 migrants were found dead, on a mot …
Hungary announced Saturday morning that its emergency bus services to the border had finished and would not be repeated. Almost immediately, two new groups started long walks to the border: about 200 people who walked out of an open-door refugee camp near the city of Gyor, and about 300 who left Keleti station. Hundreds more made their way west independently, on foot and by train.

Free will is one aspect, most definitely, that determines trading and/or using religion for survival.


The events in the border station camps are no less traumatic for those involved.

I dunno why...these look like starbucks mugs...

Is it not because the jewish peple themselves wanted to be establish themselves in jerusalem again and regain their national identity after numerous diasporas? Why would they want to establish a territory in germany???

How is syria the most advanced muslim society?

That is true. Due process for citizens can take effect according to their respective legal system when under the table deals are made to expedite certain transactions.

But this becomes a burden if it is done by ones outside the legal system, not only to government systems, health systems, educational systems, law enforcement, and other resources, but also to the population itself affected by it.

The question of humanitarianism vs the law takes place -- Is it really non-humanitarian if the choice is between entitled benefits of legal entities vs aid to non legal entrants (which essentially warrants deportation and permanent non-entry)?

I expected California to be one of the first...

http://news.yahoo.com/school-switching-gender-neutral-bathrooms-students-201124192.html

This School Is Switching to Gender-Neutral Bathrooms for All Students


Out of 365 students, about six to eight kids at Miraloma Elementary don’t adhere to the traditional gender binary—and that makes potty time fraught with anxiety-inducing decisions.

In order to make using the restroom a carefree process for every student, the San Francisco school has started getting rid of gendered bathrooms, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

So far, the single-stall bathrooms for kindergartners and first graders—which are located within the classroom—are gender neutral. The school plans to phase in bathrooms used by older students over the next few years, including restrooms with multiple stalls.

California is one of just 14 states with laws barring discrimination against students based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to Human Rights Campaign. The state’s 2013 School Success and Opportunity Act grants students the right to use bathrooms and play in gender-segregated sports that match their gender identity. While many schools offer one gender-neutral bathroom for students on the gender spectrum along with traditional boys’ and girls’ rooms, Miraloma’s principal, Sam Bass, wanted to do more.

“We are the first elementary school in the district to say that’s not good enough,” Bass wrote on the school website. “All of our students should have full, equal, safe, comfortable access to facilities.”

Bathrooms have become something of a battleground for transgender rights. A federal judge ruled Friday that a transgender teen could not use the boys’ room at his Virginia high school. More than 100 students at a Missouri high school walked out in protest of a transgender girl being allowed to use the girls’ bathroom and locker room. In both schools, the students have used gender-neutral bathrooms while their peers use the boys’ and girls’ room. Both students have said such segregation unfairly singles them out.

At Miraloma, no student will feel othered when they need a bathroom break because all students use the same facilities.

“I think most people don’t think about how difficult it can be, going to the bathroom for someone like my son,” Jae, the mom of a first grader at Miraloma, told the Chronicle. (Out of concern for her son’s safety, she only gave her first name.) Choosing a bathroom is difficult for Jae’s child, who was born male and identifies as a boy, but prefers to keep his hair long and wear traditionally feminine clothing. At summer camp, he wet himself rather than face a gendered bathroom.

Such conflicts are common for kids who don’t fit the gender binary. Older students will also avoid using the bathroom for an entire school day, which can lead to urinary tract infections and chronic constipation. That’s why the U.S. Department of Labor cited restroom access as matter of “health and safety” in new guidelines for companies looking to integrate transgender employees.

The school will continue working with parents and faculty to create restrooms that make all of the students feel comfortable as they get older. But so far, the parents at Miraloma are pleased with the changes.

"There are absolutely parents with questions, more about the logistics than anything else,” Ellen Schatz, the school’s PTA president, told ABC News. “I haven’t heard a single parent say they didn’t like this or thought it was unnecessary."

Classic!
Thanks for reminding

Healing stories abound in the forums

To all those who have experienced it....be proud of it.

Never forget thankfulness that God may continue to bless you and watch over you.

Keep up the good fight, everyone. We can all be winners.

Many people choose to immigrate to another country for work and education purposes. They secure their visas accordingly and stay within the host country as long as the visa is not expired.
Host countries often advertise job openings for migrant workers because the country lacks a skilled workforce or just lacks cheap labor.
Schools have different reasons for advertising "study abroad programs" it can be because of money, or because of knowledge-sharing.

But nonetheless, these are legal procedures with proper documentation. Maybe with some "under the table" proceedings but usually advantageous to both parties.

What becomes problematic is when people go in illegally and/or with fake identities and/or overstay beyond the expiry of their visa. They are persona-non-grata. They hide out and get jobs that give them no security nor legal liability, hence they can either commit crimes in these "jobs", or they can be trafficked to do "jobs" by virtue of their non-status. They can also siphon resources that are intended for the welfare and benefit of citizens and legal migrants.
Bad experiences with any particular nationality or group such as the above, also makes the process more difficult for those wishing to immigrate legitimately and gainfully.

This is not the same as immigrants with refugee status and those seeking asylum as their stay in the host country is also processed and documented. But therein is where the confusion and overlap about this immigration issue also lies.

This is a very good argument.

I work in healthcare and many issues on differences in belief crop up.

Ex. Some beliefs to not allow blood transfusion.
Whether this be a patient or a doctor belief, medical systems dictate that there are cases requiring blood transfusion. And should things go out of hand, medical malpractice or neglect can always take effect. And this goes for both private institutes and government employed doctors.

I agree with the fact that a superior officer or personnel should've stepped in and smoothed things out one way or another before things got out of hand. Or she could've requested for someone else to process the paper. Or a separate queue can be made for these circumstances that will not encroach on personal beliefs. This may not be easy to do under the circumstances, but that is how working for the government is sometimes. Being a public servant means that you look out for the public's welfare, and this would include not only the rights and legal personality of private citizens but also of civil employees.

There is a fine line between separation of church and state. But that line still exists in many countries. It is not hard to see that line and not intentionally step over it if mutual respect between both is observed.

kind words and sincere thoughts are the prettiest things of all.
Thank you so much PacStar

That is wonderful!
Great news all around
With a little faith and determination, things are bound to continue getting better.
Keep up the good fight

Thank you so much mel.
One of the happiest people on here keep spreading your smiles and laughter

Yummm