Local vs. Non-Local

I just read an interesting status, and partook in a conversation about whether or not buying locally is relevant to us.

But I wanted to know what do you guys thought about the subject? Should we ALWAYS buy locally to support our community and the local businessmen? Or are there exceptions to the rule? Or is this question completely irrelevant, and a product/service’s geography should not have a role in our decision-making?

Graphic Designers: Help!

Hey guys. I’m helping my friend with some marketing for his documentary that he’ll be releasing soon. He wants me to do some flyers/postcards to distribute. I thought of some really neat ideas with diecut printing, but I’m having a really difficult time finding a print house that does this type of print.

I know a lot of my followers are graphic designers, or at least interested in that kind of stuff, and I was wondering if anyone could lead me in a right direction.

Thank you already!

(Note: Dan, this is not necessarily a response or attack lol to you. I’m just giving my opinion from the question asked by Jaymie.) Oh, if it were only that… If officers were to ONLY check the people who are stopped for (serious) violations or crimes then, yeah, of course that’d be okay. But twothree things about that: What is considered a violation? Speeding 5 miles above the speed limit? I understand some people are here illegally, and it’s not the best situation, but is it really the best thing to do to tear apart a family of 6 whose past 20 years has been spent living in the United States… whose children is more American than most of actual Americans… who has never, ever been late to pay any type of taxes, mortgage, or car payment… and send them back to their home country, which they obviously don’t want to go back to because they’re in America instead of there? I understand they were wrong in the first place, but I know countless upon countless personal experiences of people whose lives were completely turned around in a single day just because they didn’t have a green card. If there are people out there who are committing crimes, and they are stealing stuff, and murdering people and all that stuff… I say keep them in jail THEN send them back. Without a question. But isn’t that the case already? If someone commits that type of crime isn’t that one of the first things they do? Send them back to where they came from? Do we really need a law telling us that (plus giving more leeway to cops to do other stuff)? I didn’t read through the original law and stuff, because there’s quite a lot of it, and I don’t understand a lot of the stupid legal lingo, either… but I’m trusting the NY times when they said this in their article about the immigration law: “The law would require the police ‘when practicable’ to detain people they reasonably suspected were in the country without authorization. It would also allow the police to charge immigrants with a state crime for not carrying immigration documents. And it allows residents to sue cities if they believe the law is not being enforced.”  So, rhetorical question here, how can the police charge immigrants with a crime for not carrying immigration documents without asking them to see their documents? And then how are they going to choose who to ask? I think this depiction is absolutely spot-on. How many white, blue-eyed mexicans do you know? Sure I know a few people who don’t look from another country AT ALL, but the probability isn’t high. I don’t know. Sorry if you guys think my opinion is stupid. I don’t really care. I’m a native US citizen. Born, and always, raised in sunny South Florida. I speak, read, and write fluent English. Most people don’t know I’m 50% Brazilian. But being from around here, I know too many people that were born in other places, and it just KILLS me to see them leave because either they are deported, or just can’t stand being without a social security number and a driver’s license and their legal process has been taking over 10 years to resolve. In 2010 (THESE PAST 5 MONTHS) alone I’ve had at least 6 people I consider pretty close to me leave back to Brazil. 6 PEOPLE! 6 people that I would see at least once a week, and now they can only APPLY to come back here in 10 years!! That’s 2020!!! Maybe I just have a lot of sympathy because I actually SEE the effects of immigration almost every day… and although I know they’re wrong, they love it here and most of them have more respect and pride of living here than the Americans who were born here… There are always two sides of a coin, is all I’m trying to get at.
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(Note: Dan, this is not necessarily a response or attack lol to you. I’m just giving my opinion from the question asked by Jaymie.)

Oh, if it were only that… If officers were to ONLY check the people who are stopped for (serious) violations or crimes then, yeah, of course that’d be okay. But twothree things about that:

  1. What is considered a violation? Speeding 5 miles above the speed limit? I understand some people are here illegally, and it’s not the best situation, but is it really the best thing to do to tear apart a family of 6 whose past 20 years has been spent living in the United States… whose children is more American than most of actual Americans… who has never, ever been late to pay any type of taxes, mortgage, or car payment… and send them back to their home country, which they obviously don’t want to go back to because they’re in America instead of there? I understand they were wrong in the first place, but I know countless upon countless personal experiences of people whose lives were completely turned around in a single day just because they didn’t have a green card.
  2. If there are people out there who are committing crimes, and they are stealing stuff, and murdering people and all that stuff… I say keep them in jail THEN send them back. Without a question. But isn’t that the case already? If someone commits that type of crime isn’t that one of the first things they do? Send them back to where they came from? Do we really need a law telling us that (plus giving more leeway to cops to do other stuff)?
  3. I didn’t read through the original law and stuff, because there’s quite a lot of it, and I don’t understand a lot of the stupid legal lingo, either… but I’m trusting the NY times when they said this in their article about the immigration law:

“The law would require the police ‘when practicable’ to detain people they reasonably suspected were in the country without authorization. It would also allow the police to charge immigrants with a state crime for not carrying immigration documents. And it allows residents to sue cities if they believe the law is not being enforced.” 

So, rhetorical question here, how can the police charge immigrants with a crime for not carrying immigration documents without asking them to see their documents? And then how are they going to choose who to ask? I think this depiction is absolutely spot-on. How many white, blue-eyed mexicans do you know? Sure I know a few people who don’t look from another country AT ALL, but the probability isn’t high.

I don’t know. Sorry if you guys think my opinion is stupid. I don’t really care. I’m a native US citizen. Born, and always, raised in sunny South Florida. I speak, read, and write fluent English. Most people don’t know I’m 50% Brazilian. But being from around here, I know too many people that were born in other places, and it just KILLS me to see them leave because either they are deported, or just can’t stand being without a social security number and a driver’s license and their legal process has been taking over 10 years to resolve.

In 2010 (THESE PAST 5 MONTHS) alone I’ve had at least 6 people I consider pretty close to me leave back to Brazil. 6 PEOPLE! 6 people that I would see at least once a week, and now they can only APPLY to come back here in 10 years!! That’s 2020!!! Maybe I just have a lot of sympathy because I actually SEE the effects of immigration almost every day… and although I know they’re wrong, they love it here and most of them have more respect and pride of living here than the Americans who were born here…

There are always two sides of a coin, is all I’m trying to get at.

How to be straight up without sounding like a jerk? Is that even possible?

Of course it is. But I fail miserably at it.

I’m a very ‘nice’ guy (I guess), but I also have lots and lots of honest opinions; I just can’t figure out a good way to say it.

Example #1: A friend will make a joke or point out something about another person. That person will take it very lightly, but still to heart, while laughing about it and etc.

Example #2: Me. I’ll point out the same thing. Except when I say it, the person would give me the most serious face, while not laughing, and at times be mad at me for saying it!

See my dilemma?
I’m asking this not for anything in specific, but for future reference lol.

What do you guys do?