Fake Ids, when you here this you usually think of your older brother’s friend who makes you one out of the back of his car. Maybe you think of the movie Las Vegas Vacation when Russ gets a fake id from some guy right off the main strip. For the law enforcement in Nebraska, fake identification cards no longer seem to be a problem. We now have new drivers licenses that are harder to duplicate. The problem now is that people are bribing the DMV clerks to issue them a real drivers license instead of buying them from your brother’s friend. Now the problem is real ID’s are being made with the wrong information. To me this is a very big problem because it is not just changing the age on a driver’s license. Illegal immigrants are going to the DMV to get new identities. The clerks are using other people’s information for the illegal immigrants. It is not just immigrants using this, it is also sex offenders not wanting to register. It is a very scary thought to know that if these people are picked up by the police, they will not be recognized as sex offenders. A driver’s license is not just to show you can drive. Stores check them when you write a check or use your credit card. Stores also use them to check a person’s age to see if they can buy alcohol. The police use your driver’s licenses to check you when you are pulled over. I think Nebraska really needs to crack down on the employees of the DMV. We need to have better screening for the people who are hired. We also should look at how much these people get paid. Most of the employees are under paid, so the bribes are every enticing to these clerk’s. I also believe that Nebraska needs to have better regulations on how they handle the department of motor vehicles. This is a problem that needs to be dealt with soon. It is amazing how easily people can be swayed with money.

After I wrote my last free write on my brother Leo, my other brother, Noah, wanted me to write one on him. It was funny because my brother was playing a game called Halo and he asked me about my writing class. This made me remember of all the times we would play Halo. It is our favorite game and we can play it with each other. Halo is about aliens trying to take over the world. You play as Master Chief who is a Spartan and he has to stop the aliens. It is one of the few things that we both enjoy doing. I remember all the times we would stay up for hours trying to beat the next level. We would get so into it. We would scream at the screen. My mom would think that a real war was going on in our basement. We would call out commands like GERANDE!!, lookout, and regroup.
For us the game was a matter of life or death. When Halo two came out, my brother and I went to the store at midnight to get a copy. We stood in line for about an hour. We had to preorder the game about four months in advance. After we got our copy, the next day we had to call the school and say we were sick. The real reason was because we stayed up so late playing the game that we were too tired to get up. These memories mean a lot to me because this was a way for my brother and I to connect. He is more of the bookworm who does not play any sports and spends all of his time inside. I am more of the outdoors, got to keep moving sort of person who spends all of my time with others. So for me playing video games with my brother was not just beating the next level, but a way for us to be closer to each other.

I chose to talk about immigration in Nebraska. We are one of the top ranked states for population of immigrants coming in. One of the issues I found was about immigrants learning English. It has become a problem for hospitals and other places to be able to communicate with their patients. The doctors cannot understand what the problems are with their patients. The hospitals have considered hiring translators to combat the problem. The only issue with this is that there are more than 60 languages spoken in Nebraska. The hospitals do not have the funds to get translators for all of these different languages. The Lincoln Literacy Council was set up to help illiterate Americans learn and speak English. Now its main duty is to help teach immigrants English. I believe this is a great thing for the new immigrants to this country. A lot of jobs now require you to learn English if you are an immigrant. I believe what the council is doing is really great. If we want immigrants to be able to assimilate to the United States and our culture we need to have more programs like this for them. Many people like to complain about immigrants not knowing English, but if these people would just stop and take the time to help them, they could see some of the struggles these immigrants are having. Volunteers and donations run the council. They have over 262 volunteers that help to teach immigrants English. The number of immigrants that are learning English and go to the Lincoln Literacy Council exceeds 1000 people. The number of immigrants that want help is even more. I believe this is a major issue in Nebraska and is one that needs to be looked at more closely. I believe that Nebraska should offer more classes like the Council does. The problem is only going to grow worse.