Essay 292

Monday Mini MultiCultClassics Minutes…

• Mexican President Vicente Fox spoke out against U.S. plans to erect a fence on the border to prevent illegal immigration. “This wall is shameful…When we look at their roots, the immense majority are migrants, migrants that have arrived from all over the world,” Fox griped. Not sure why the man is complaining. The U.S. will probably employ Mexican immigrants to build the damned fence.

• Add another name to the growing list of countries with tensions surrounding immigrants: Russia. The nation is seeing immigration-inspired protests from rival groups pushing various agendas. In Russia’s case, many people seeking work are migrating from former Soviet republics like Ukraine and Kazakhstan. And of course, there are plenty of youth hate groups to keep things ugly. Rodina, a nationalist party, ran a particularly controversial TV spot. The commercial presented Central Asian men squatting on a curb, leering at a blond Russian woman with a baby carriage. The men throw a watermelon rind on the ground, as a voiceover asks, “Isn’t it time to clean up Moscow’s streets?”

• A new survey showed the superrich are not super generous. The young, wealthy folks — people under 35 making $500,000 to $10 million — on the average made charitable contributions equal to 0.4 percent of their assets. People in the same age range making $50,000 to $100,000 donated 2.5 percent of their assets. Can’t help but think that the money spent conducting the survey would have been better used if donated to charity.