Cape Karen
Television has sunk to a new low. Parents are being guilt-tripped into looking at their kids with a new eye to their future. Through the magic of computerized enhancements, on the new show, "Honey, We're Killing the Kids!" they're seeing their adorable, beloved children 'morphed' into computerized blow-ups of what they will look like at age forty. And, of course, it's not a pretty picture. (They end up looking dirty, disheveled and even worse than their 'already forty' parents.) Then, after viewing these ugly-Americans-to-be, the shamed parents are severely warned to stop feeding their kids like piglets. They are urged to stop allowing them to continue gorging themselves at the trough of fast foods, pastas, cookies, cakes and sugar-laden soft drinks, and are encouraged to get them outside and moving! Or else . . . they'll be contributing to their early demise.
Like parents don't have enough to worry about these days?
It goes without saying that our current sedentary lifestyle has created some pretty hefty folks around the country - and, for sure, thanks to the the hectic pace of life, the ka-zillion dollar, fat-laden fast-food industry, the federal and state cut-backs in school athletic programs and the preponderance of time spent in front of computers and televison sets, we're seeing lots of over-weight Americans waddling through the malls these days - but, to lay the entire blame for this "explosion" at the feet of loving parents seems unnecessarily cruel and heartless.
This show not only guilt-trips the parents, and shames them unmercifully in front of an audience of millions of viewers, (and they volunteer for this?) but, the show's health nutritionist, Dr. Lisa Hark, hands out her "new weekly menus" ~ made up of foods that most of us have never even heard of, and that we would go out of our way to avoid ~ even if we were a size six. This, from a woman so uptight, that if she were to really smile, permanent cracks would form all over her size-ten, bland if pretty, face. She has all the right credentials, and has lots of letters after her name ~ giving evidence of a life spent entirely in darkened study halls ~ but, unfortunately, she also has the personality of a light bulb before it's turned on.
I especially love it when she sends the family out food shopping ~ after dumping all their beloved fatty foods into the trash; and she sends them out shopping to buy . . . octopus legs, snails and squid, for their first "weekly diet challenge" which is designed to introduce the kids to healthy eating. O' yeah. . . we're all going to rush right out and find those recipes! And, when the kids ask mom at the grocery store, "Is this asparagus? while holding up a leek - well, then we know they're all in serious trouble!
After mom makes dinner, we then get to watch as the kids gag and spit-out all the food that she has put on their plates ~ this, after she has slaved away for three hours, trying to make those new, white slippery-slidey foods into a tasty meal for them. And, when they do gag and throw-up, we don't blame them one bit! We just want to call Dominoes, and have a gooey pizza delivered to their house immediately. And the frequent, "But, I don't LIKE it!" juvenile tantrums, usually performed with great gusto under the kitchen table, or heard from behind loudly slammed bedroom doors, are lots of fun, too.
The best part of this bad show are the weekly family outings. The family gets off the couch and goes for a bike ride; they climb a rock wall together; they ride horseback, they swim, or they take a ride in a hot air balloon - anything but sitting in the house in front of a screen, or at a table piled with junk food. They start to re-connect as a family, and to get some long-overdue exercise. Nothing wrong with that . . . but, those yuccky foods have gotta go! Just because you want the kids to eat healthy, doesn't mean parents should have to force slime down their throats, Dr. Lisa! I think this nutritionist needs to get a life. I think she needs to have a glazed doughnut, now and then; and maybe, just maybe . . . she even needs to get laid!
Don't get me wrong here, I'm all for having a healthy lifestyle change, and for reorganizing the family's food intake from junk food to fish, fruits and veggies ~ but, I would make it a lot more fun, and a whole lot more appetizing, than this stiff-lipped, seriously-dark-suited Dr. Lisa does. Let's face it, TLC, a slug could have done this show better.
I think it's a real shame that this subject, one so vital to the future health of our children, is being featured on national television in such a negative, demeaning and unappealing manner.
That said, I have to run now! My low fat, triple-layer, custard-filled chocolate cake is almost ready to take out of the oven.
Justice has been served! Guilty on all counts. Led away in handcuffs, Ken Lay, Enron's founder and Jeff Skilling, former CEO, no longer looked so smug, as they left the courtroom in shackled shame. It took five years, but finally those who were bilked out of their life savings, and who lost their investment and retirement accounts, have seen two of the top-most men responsible brought down.
Still insisting that they "didn't do anything wrong" and it was just a "bad market" that caused the downfall of their giant corporation, they plan to appeal their verdicts. Still oozing arrogance, Skilling responded to the verdict with an "Oh well . . . that's the way it goes" attitude. I think he's still in denial. A few days dressed in prison garb should change all that. Take off the suit and tie, and underneath, he's just another lying crook.
A former employee, Roger Boyce, who worked for Enron for 30 years, said he first knew something was wrong the year after he retired, in 1991. "I'm glad they are finally trying to get some of the top guns and put the blame where it belongs," said Roger Boyce, former human relations director of an Enron pipeline company in Minnesota. Boyce figures he lost more than $2 million in retirement savings when the Houston company collapsed. The loss has sent him back to work again. 72 year-old Boyce now does consulting work in the Minneapolis area.
And, we are being given the opportunity to purchase some of Enron's Stress Balls. Now, for sure, this is an important piece of history. O'yeah ~ everyone should have at least one Enron stress ball as a family heirloom. The ad reads: "The bankruptcy courts ordered that Enron's assets be liquidated -- and that included Enron Stress Balls. They come direct from Enron's own warehouse, and now they can make their way to you. The stress balls are made of springy foam and they measure 2-3/8" in diameter. Like the Enron CEOs, you are probably under a lot of stress yourself. Why not use these actual artifacts to squeeze your tensions away."
GENUINE ENRON SQUEEZY BALL
WAS $3.99 - Now just $1.99 to own a piece of history.
(while they last, which may not be any longer than Enron lasted.)
To wrap this up - I elect as "The Person of the Day" former Enron employee, Sherron Watkins - Ms Watkins, honoured in 2001 by Time magazine as one of a trio of whistleblowers, uncovered the professional misconduct and fraud that was running rampant in Enron. She had the guts to stand up to these giants of industry and to call their bluff.
So, this is her red-letter day! Thank you, Sherron Watkins, for having the courage to help bring to justice these greedy, corrupt and powerful criminals ~ and to start the 'real squeezing' of those balls!
Since I've decided to become an 'armchair activist,' and have signed-on with various citizen groups who are fighting the good fight to keep Congress on its toes and to stop the government from passing legislation that is environmentally unfriendly, my name is now on the mailing lists of such notables as Robert Redford, the Kennedys and others who are trying to combat what the Bush administraton is doing, day-by-day and hour-by-hour, to harm the country and put our future in jeopardy.
Just yesterday I received a notice from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. informing me that the Bush administration is now trying to get Congressional approval to sell our National Park lands ~ to raise money for their bankrupt coffers. Evidently, there are two bills heading to Congress written by George W. - one of which could forever change the law which protects our National Park and Forests from such outrageous exploitation. (The way the law reads now, the proceeds from any lands sold within our National Parks is to be used only to procure more protected public lands.)
I found this news so utterly unbelievable that I decided to do some online research. I went to the US Forestry site, and there it was ~ a state-by-state listing of Nat'l Park and forestry lands, from California to Virginia, that will be put up for sale if these bills are passed under FY 2007. The McDonald and Walmart CEO's are licking their chops; and, as we speak . . . the big-name timeshare developer's, like Disney and Hilton, are getting ready to pounce.
Here is what the National Resource Defense Coalition has to say about this matter:
"In a reckless attempt to cover its own budgetary mishaps, the Bush Administration is proposing the sale of 1,250 square miles of national forests and public wildlands - an area the size of Yosemite National Park - to logging companies, real estate developers and other private interests. This raid on our public real estate would sacrifice stretches of three NRDC BioGems which include prime habitats in Greater Yellowstone for bears, elk and wolves; popular recreation spots in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, wildlife-rich ecosystems in the Greater Cumberland Plateau regions and hundreds of other natural treasures across the country.
The first of two Bush Administration proposals calls for auctioning off 300,000 acres of irreplaceable national forest lands that span 35 states, in a shortsighted approach to fund - for five more years - an already failing 'rural schools' program. In doing this, California alone would lose 75,000 acres of its national forest lands. The second scheme would enable this and future administrations to sell off hundreds of thousands of acres of public wildlands that are now overseen by the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forestry Department, and to use the proceeds for budget deficit reduction."
If this legislation does go through, we can expect to see - as we head into our National Parks - hundreds of garish billboards lining our way ~ advertising new motels, casinos, entertainment facilities, strip mall shops, and restaurants. No longer will these lands be the pristine and beautiful wilderness areas we all cherish so much. No longer will we be comforted to know that there are still places we can go to escape the 'tackiness' and gross materialism that assaults our senses on a daily basis. If this happens, our children and grandchildren will only see our National Parks, as they are today, in outdated picture books and old movies.
I just have to believe that a public outcry will prevent this latest Bush administration 'environmental terrorism' attack from happening - now, and in the future. There are some things that should never be for sale ~ and our National Parks and forestlands should be forever on that list ~ as was intended by those who set aside and donated these lands to the public trust in the first place.
Well, I carefully listened to the President's Address to the Nation last night, and I found it quite interesting. I purposely avoided listening to any reports after the speech, however, so that I could form my own opinions without being unduly influenced by others. Here are my off-the-cuff thoughts about what Mr. Bush had to say:
First, I was struck by his demeanor. A stiff and formal posture, with his hands folded tightly in front of him, was the first clue that this was going to be a 'different' Mr. Bush. He was being very careful not to exhibit his usual smirking haughtiness. (It's obvious that someone's been coaching him to correct those less-than-attractive personality traits.) That he only stumbled a couple of times while reading from the prompter was also very refreshing. I could actually bear listening to him ~ for a change. And, it was short . . . only 30 minutes. . . hooray!
Secondly, the fact that he had outlined the speech into five seperate steps, and had studied-up on the subject, was also a big plus. It reminds me of a college student who got C's and D's all during his first three years of school, and then decided to buckle-down and earn some A's and B's during his last year on campus. You've gotta give the guy some credit. Let's give him an "A" for effort ~ it's obvious he's trying to finish-up his term with a better performance. (?)
The ideas he outlined were interesting, if somewhat unrealistic, for this long overdue situation to be corrected quickly. Our borders have been 'leaking badly' for decades, and the gaps have just grown larger and larger over time. Today, our mostly unmanned borders allow thousands of illegal immigrants to easily enter our country on a daily basis. We all realize that this problem won't be completely fixed anytime soon. But, at least it's finally being addressed publicly, and some steps are being suggested to try and fix it. Is it too little, too late? Perhaps. Time will tell!
I liked the idea of an personal identity card that can't be tampered with or forged. How that would be successfully implemented is the problem. How long will it take to create them? Where, when and how will you get the immigrants to be fingerprinted? The basic idea is a good one, even though it's a little "Orwellian." If they can do it quickly, and without complete chaos, it just might work. The idea that only those immigrants who show a 'fingerprint sensitive' identity card can be hired to work here, is a great idea in theory. No card - no work. Goodbye. But . . . can it be done? Is it even legal to "stamp" some people, and not others?
I also liked the idea of seriously penalizing employers who are exploiting the broken system by hiring illegal aliens for cheap labor. If they really do that, then the borders won't be overflowing with illegals. If they can't get work here, they'll stop coming here. The excuse he mentioned - that employer's don't always know they are hiring illegals because their paperwork is forged, is a bit flimsy. I think they know all too well who they're hiring! After all, you don't usually pick up your employees at a 7-Eleven or Wiegel's each morning, and load them into the back of your pick-up truck.
So, if Bush's card idea works, and those guys in the back of the truck don't have an identity card, and employers still hire them; then they'll be breaking the law, and they'll be fined and punished. My question is, who will enforce all this? Will we have "secret agents" going into every business in the country trying to catch illegals without cards? Will immigration officals sit at the convenience stores in every town in the U.S. at 6:00 a.m., or earlier, to catch the undocumented illegals waiting for the trucks to arrive? Not!
Those in the 'obvious' jobs should be easy to catch; at the farms, the mills, the construction sites and the factories in this country. They could start there. They could do it mill by mill, and farm by farm. I'm sure there are lots of jobless people in America who would love to be hired to be government "agents." Kind of like the Sky Marshall program - the government could deputize a bunch of "Land Marshall's" to go around the country finding cardless, illegal aliens working in the shadows. The LM's could wear red, white and blue uniforms with gold badges on their shirts, and they could wear cowboy hats and boots like Wyatt Earp; maybe some could even go out on horseback, like the Canadian Mounties.
One part of Mr. Bush's speech I found very 'suspect' was his idea of allowing temporary workers to come and go, in and out of the country. In my mind, that was nothing more than a politcal ploy designed to appease his opponents; those like Ted Kennedy and John McCain who want blanket amnesty for all the millions who are already here. If the government attempts to implement a workable 'temporary worker program,' we all know it will just become a nightmare of tangled, red tape. Such legislation could take decades to compose, iron-out and perfect. 'Just more political rhetoric' was my take on that idea.
Then, there is his idea of deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to the borders ~ on a "rotating" basis. To have so few deployed, to help protect the gaping holes in the 2,000 miles of borders; and to send them there unarmed ~ as mere "figureheads of authority" ~ is just plain foolish. Do it right, or don't do it at all. And, if there is a need for civilian volunteers to make up the difference in the numbers needed - then put out the call. The Minutemen will be there - and I'm sure lots of others would go if asked. What's wrong with forming a temporary 'civilian army' in the face of such a dire and dangerous national security issue?
Overall, I liked the format of the speech, but I disliked the loosely outlined ideas. Mainly, because they all need so much more substance before they can be implemented. A great deal of time will need to be spent figuring-out all the logistics, and getting others to agree; time that will not be spent stopping the flood of illegal immigrants over the borders. Talk is cheap ~ and actions speak louder than words. So, the real test begins - how much of what he outlined will actually come to fruition, and will any of it work?
Now, I'll go to MSNBC and CNN, and find out what all the 'talking heads' have to say about all this, It will probably make me change my mind on some aspects, but those were my initial thoughts ~ for whatever they're worth!
It just doesn't stop! Now, thanks to good reporting by USATODAY, we've discovered that Mr. Bush, again without going through the proper legal channels, has been allowing the NSA to secretly collect our phone numbers and e-mail addresses from Bellsouth, AT & T. and Verizon since 2001. First, it was the international wire-tapping, now it's our domestic phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Seems they've been entered into a massive computer program, to try and find suspicious "patterns" ~ {supposedly} to try and track down the terrorists who are residing in this country. Gathering Auntie Bee's phone records and Grandma Smith's calls to her 10 grandchildren around the country, must make for some time-consuming analysis! Qwest Communications was the only company that refused to give up its private customer information to the powers that be. They were the only company concerned enough about our right to privacy that they dared to question and challenge the legality of such a move. (Go Qwest!)
I have an unlisted phone number with Bellsouth, and yet my "unlisted" number is posted boldly on the top of every bill that I receive from them. I thought that was pretty stupid, but this kind of secret data gathering is just plain wrong! The abuse of power we have witnessed, since the attacks on 9-11, have stretched constitutional law to such a degree that we all need to be seriously alarmed. The on-going claim, that this is being done to try to track down terrorists and to "protect us," is wearing really thin. And, that many American's are reported to be supporting this illegal behavior, on the basis of that untruth, is as foolish as when they also believed the claims about 'weapons of mass destruction' being stored in Iraq. Hopefully, in the days and weeks ahead, those who support such measures will come to understand the deeper implications of this blatant abuse of Presidential power and those poll results will change. (Smarten-up America!)
The really scary thing was realizing that Congress only learned of this secret data collecting by reading USATODAY! When a newspaper knows more about what's going on in D.C. than the members of Congress, how frightening is that? As the 'overseers' of our Constitutional rights and protections, our Congressional leaders have been failing us miserably. (Talk about a "wake-up" call!) It seems that Big Brother Bush is holding us all hostage to his fears and his ever-growing paranoia. (He reminds me of a former, too powerful, FBI director who secretly collected all kinds of personal information on innocent Americans a few years back; and more recently, a CIA director who did the same.)
Will we learn next that our private medical records are being secretly scoured and stored in the Big Computer in D.C.? Will they begin collecting our grocery store receipts to see who is buying ingredients for creating foreign recipes? How about collecting receipts from all the hardware stores in the country to see who's buying potential bomb-making supplies? How about our library cards to see what we are reading? Where will it all stop?
Of course it isn't a bad thing to want to track terrorist activities, or to try and keep the American public safe. But, it is a bad thing to steal our personal records and to go through other personal information without first asking or informing us. We have a long-standing constitutional system that was set-up to provide checks and balances, so that a 'rogue President' can't use his power of office to run roughshod over our rights. The audacity and arrogance that lie beneath this latest attack on our freedoms, by a sitting President no less, is unheralded in our country's history. Even Nixon's Watergate scandal is beginning to pale in comparison to what's going on these days up on the Hill. It's as if a bunch of thugs were sent into our homes, to steal our personal information in the middle of the night. In this case, the "thugs" were the compliant phone companies, who were too easily convinced to do the dirty work. (Shame on them!)
And, just the day before this news hit the wires, Mr. Bush was televised meeting with some people who have had their identities stolen viá credit card. His pretense at being outraged, about how their lives were negatively impacted by such a theft, seems rather phoney now, doesn't it? Just the fact that he could sit there with a straight face, and pretend to give a damn about their 'loss of privacy' and the suffering it caused them, is a measure of the man's true character.
It would behoove all of us to demand that he and the NSA 'cease and desist' with these increasingly secretive actions against the rights of law-abiding American citizens. I'd like to see us stand tall and make public statements about how outraged we are. Write a letter, make a phone call, (they will listen to it later on the tapes) write to the editor of your local newpaper. Do something! To do nothing, or to believe it was done in 'our best interests,' is to condone such illegal actions, and to invite more of the same in the future.
The search for unseen, radical terrorists is certainly not an easy one; and we all understand that. I'm sure, if we had been asked, many of us would have readily agreed to do whatever needed to be done to help our country in this difficult endeavor. But, we were never asked. We were never given the opportunity to volunteer our assistance, or to willingly give them our phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Instead, our unalienable right to privacy, as outlined in the 4th Amendment of our Constitution, was breached with the full consent of our President.
From the Washington Post today come these words:
"AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth secretly provided records of tens of millions of customers' phone calls and e-mails to the National Security Agency. The USATODAY newspaper cited people with direct knowledge of the arrangement, and quoted one anonymous source as saying that, "thanks to the phone companies, the NSA now possesses the largest database {of private citizen information} ever assembled in the world."
In a brief statement at the White House, President Bush simply insisted that "we're not mining or trolling through though the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans." He said that the NSA's programs are lawful, and that the privacy of ordinary Americans is "fiercely protected in all our activities." Privacy lawyers and consumer advocates say otherwise. Moreover, they say the phone companies appear to have violated not only their own privacy policies, but also federal statutes governing the protection of customers' personal data. "They haven't just the violated the law once with this disclosure," said Barry Steinhardt, who oversees privacy matters at the American Civil Liberties Union. "They've violated it millions and millions of times. This is a mass crime."
Thank goodness we have the right to free speech!
Maybe now would be a good a time to start exercising it . . . while we still can.
And, let's don't forget to watch the President's Nationwide Address this Monday night. (He 'bumped' Oprah's "Legend's Ball," right off the airways, so it better be good!)
I'll be listening . . . very carefully.
I just found the most interesting website:
http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2006
"The Congressional Pig Book is the annual Citizen's Against Government Waste (CAGW) compilation of pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. The 2006 Pig Book has identified 9,963 projects in 11 appropriations bills that constitute the discretionary portion of the federal budget for fiscal 2006 ~ projects which are costing taxpayers $29 BILLION. A "pork" project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates our tax dollars for a specific purpose, in circumvention of established budgetary procedures." (This is a book that I think should be required reading, every year, for all our High School students.)
Unlike most of us, who are busy just trying to survive, the folks at CAGW are keeping a really close watch on where our tax dollars are going, and they are challenging our leaders to stop this nonsense. (Now I know where John Stossle gets his "Give me a Break"reports!) If you have some spare time on your hands, go to their website, and just read. It's unbelieveable! I've listed here ~ from the largest amounts to smallest amounts ~ just a few of their interesting "pork" discoveries this year, and have added some tongue-in-cheek comments, alongside.
$591,017,000.00 - For eight additional C-130J aircraft. This, even though the Department of Defense has rated the C-130J model unsatisfactory, citing deficiencies in its defensive systems, to name a few. (Half a billion dollars worth of deficient airplanes. Okay, sure . . . why not?)
$13,500,000.00 - For the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) which includes funding for the World Toilet Summit. (Could there be a better example of flushing away our money?)
$8,270,000.00 - For breath alcohol testing equipment, including $7,270,000.00 for Breathscan® non-invasive alcohol testing. (Gee. Thanks!)
$4,200,000.00 - For shrimp aquaculture research. (Huh? )
$2,500,000.00 - For out-of-this-world telescope explorations in CA. (Are they looking for aliens or in-coming asteroids?)
$2,300,000.00 - For the International Fertilizer Development Center in Michigan. (P-U!)
$1,000,000.00 - For the already-closed Philadelphia Navy Yard. (Could you repeat that, please? I don't think I heard you correctly.)
$1,000,000.00 - For the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative. (See! They are just pissing away our money!)
$950,000.00 - For a parking facility at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. (They need more parking space in Nebraska?)
$500,000.00 - For the construction of a Teapot Museum in Sparta, North Carolina, in the hopes that it will draw tourists to their town. (O' yeah ~ I'm on my way!)
$450,000.00 - For plantings on the eastern front of the Capitol. This will allow members of Congress a chance to “stop and smell the roses” before they proceed inside to plunge the country deeper into debt.
$400,000.00 - For acquiring a support building near Kam Wah Chung & Company Museum in John Day, Oregon. This amount of money could support the construction of 10 new buildings. (Go Kam Wah Chung!)
$365,000.00 - For the Center for Rural Studies project in the state of Vermont. Since 1992, $2 million has already been appropriated for this project. According to USDA testimony, "No formal evaluation of this project has ever been conducted.” (Oops!)
$350,000.00 - For the Chicago Greenstreets Program, to install and maintain 950 hanging flower baskets. (But . . . but . . . that's over $36,800.00 a basket! Are they lined with gold?)
$234,000.00 - For the National Wild Turkey Federation. (Oh'~ of course! For Cheney and his hunting buddies!)
$179,000.00 - For hydroponic tomato production research. Since 1998, $1.2 million has been appropriated for this research. (I think these special tomatoes are being developed to give to those who will be attending future White House press conferences.)
$100,000.00- For the Harpers Ferry Police Department in West Virginia. The "police department" consists of one part-time and two full-time police officers. (This is the same size police force as the fictional town of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show.)
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Hey! What can I say? These are just a few examples of what's going on with our tax dollars throughout the country. You can see that the things I listed above, are things that we just can't live without, right? I'm so speechless, that I'll just end this with another quote from CAGW (an organization I think we should all join, pronto!)
"The guilty pleas of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham illustrate how pork-barrel projects, whether used as currency for re-election, or as political favors to well-connected individuals and businesses, have corrupted our political process. The historic lack of restraint in the appropriations process has helped to create a projected $371 billion-dollar budget deficit in fiscal 2006, and a National Debt of $8.5 TRILLION.
We're $8.5 Trillion in debt ~ and we still have a couple more years left of this 'wild and crazy' Administration. Whoa!
(And they wanted to impeach 'naughty-boy' Bill Clinton ~ who put us in the black, and gave us an economy to be proud of? Looking at the messes we're in today, how silly was that?)
Last week, I wrote a note to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) expressing my views about immigration reform. I received back his 'canned' response with an outline of the bill he and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) call the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005" (S.1033) Although McCain and Kennedy adamantly deny that S. 1033 is an amnesty bill, it clearly spells out a path to jobs, benefits and residency for all 12 million illegal aliens who are here, as well as those who are yet to arrive. I took Mr. Kennedy's response, paragraph by paragraph, and I have rebutted some of its contents.
12 million undocumented workers are currently living in the United States, working, paying taxes, and raising children who are U.S. citizens.
Since when do undocumented, illegal immigrants pay taxes? Are you telling me that they don't have a visa or a green card, but they do have a Social Security card? Oh - you must mean that little tax on the goods they purchase - o' gosh, o' golly. And, if all their children are American citizens by virtue of their birth in the U.S., then who is paying their medical bills? Over two-thirds of Americans cannot afford health insurance, but all of the illegal immigrants are happily receiving government assistance for their family's health care. So, as taxpayers in this country, we're all helping to pay for the health care of millions of illegals ~ while many of us can't even afford to go see a doctor. (I must have that wrong - that can't be right?)
Border enforcement has increased dramatically from 1990 to 2004. The budget for the Border Patrol has increased from $263 million in 1990 to $1.6 billion today; a six-fold increase. During this period, between 480,000 and 660,000 undocumented immigrants have entered the U.S. each year. (If we know how many are arriving each year, then why aren't we documenting them?) In all, nearly 9 million have arrived {illegally} since 1990. Our immigration system is broken, and enforcement alone will not fix it.
Broken isn't the word for it! You're just admitting to more government waste of our tax dollars, and more poor leadership ~ obviously!
We need realistic and comprehensive solutions that will protect our borders, enable temporary workers to enter the country legally, and allow workers already here to earn legal status.
What is "realistic?" What is a "comprehensive solution?" Big empty words! And, we don’t need anymore temporary workers in this country; 'temporary' won’t work, anyway – once here, they will stay here. Let's face it - our communities are having to spend millions of dollars to build new schools due to overcrowding, caused in large part by the illegals who have already come here; our neighborhoods are being inundated with people who have no regard for our laws, and who also live under the radar; and these illegal workers are sending their "undocumented” earnings back home, so that their friends and families can afford to pay for their 'illegal way' here, too! (Bribery of border guards? Paying the truckers in the night?)
Undocumented immigrants who wish to become citizens must show they are currently working, pay a $2000 fine, work for an additional six years, pass security checks, pay taxes, learn to speak English, learn about American civics, and get in line behind all other legal immigrants before being eligible for a green card.
Why a $2,000 fine? How did you guys come up with that number? And, GOSH, why would they “wish to become citizens,” if they will be fined, taxed, have to pass security checks, obey our laws, pay for their own health care and ~ god forbid ~ even have to learn how to sing our National Anthem in English? If I were them, I’d sure as hell stay in the shadows, too!
A new temporary visa will be created to allow foreign workers to enter the U.S. The visa will be valid for 3 years, and can be renewed one time for a total of 6 years. Enforcement of current laws will be strengthened, improving fraud detection and allowing random audits of employers to ensure compliance with existing labor laws. Unnecessary obstacles preventing families from being together when immigrating to the U.S. are also removed. The bill will enable undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows, submit to background checks, and register for legal status. During this time, they would have to continue working, play by the rules, and pay substantial fines and back taxes.The bill is not an amnesty, which implies that all is forgiven. It is not. Undocumented workers must pay fines and go to the back of the line, before earning a chance for citizenship.
Blah, blah, blah. . . maybe you guys think that all sounds real good on paper ~ but it’s completely insane, and way too confusing! Those with criminal records won’t be ‘coming out of the shadows’ and allowing for background checks! Nor will their non-complying employers. Obviously, that won’t work. Nor does it address the problem of overcrowding and the resulting cost to us, socially and economically, in this country.
By heritage and history, America is a nation of immigrants. Our bill proposes necessary changes in the law while preserving this tradition. These necessary changes will ensure that immigrant families today, as in the past, continue to live the American dream and contribute to our prosperity, our security, and our values.
We may be a nation of immigrants, but we are not a nation of illegal immigrants. Hello: ~ What American dream? ~ What prosperity? ~ What security? The minimum wage in this country is below the poverty level, the poor are getting poorer, the sick are getting sicker, health care reform is non-existant and, at the rate you're spending up there in D.C., Social Security will be bankrupt by 2020. Our prisons are so stuffed to the rafters that we're letting rapists and murderers walk free, our mentally ill have been left to flounder on their own for years now, our city streets are filled with the homeless and Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts are still roaming around the world, scott free!
Please, tell me Senators, why should we take in 12 million illegal immigrants and vow to care for them ~ while many of our own citizens are in so much distress? Isn't it time to focus some attention on helping our own 'legal citizens' ~ like the sick, the handicapped, the poor and the elderly? I think too much U.S. government attention is being aimed at helping others around the world; like spending billions of dollars to first bomb, and then rebuild, Iraq! I think it’s long past time for those of you who represent our government to come back to the American people, and to address some of our urgent needs first ~ just for starters!
In my opinion, it was a good try, but no thanks! The "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" needs to go undergo some serious revisions~ or, perhaps it would just be better to put it right into the trash can and save us all the time and money. It could never work. For one thing, who's going to enforce all those new laws and regulations? What kind of massive paperwork will it require? Will we give that task to the government? (The IRS? FEMA?) I don't think so! We don't need to witness any more bureaucratic nightmares up on the Hill. Therefore, if I had a chance, I'd vote "NO" on S. 1033.
I think that Senators Kennedy and McCain need to take a good hard look at the costs of having 12 million illegal immigrants living in our country. And, remember, as they said ~ thousands more are pouring over our borders, unchecked, every single day. This is a serious problem that is growing worse by the minute. It's not only threatening our national security - it's also threatening the increasingly limited resources of every community in this country. Just ask around. . . .
I still think we should just offer them all free air transport over to China, where they are begging for hundreds of thousands of workers. Surely, that would be the quickest, easiest and most cost-effective solution!
And, you can call my bill the "Airlift Illegal Aliens Out of America Act." (K. 5606)
Whew! This is an amazing time in the good old USA. To add to all the other distressing news of the day, we now have gasoline prices going through the roof. I'm beginning to think that this Administration is doing everything it can to completely screw-up the country. I honestly can't see one thing they have done, since Bush took office, that is positive and encouraging. We seem to be going from crisis to crisis, from scandal to scandal and from to lie to lie. When and where will it all stop?
Gas prices are really hitting home now, because I am planning a 15 hour, 990 mile drive to Cape Cod this summer - or at least I was. I want to get home and see my friends and family. I want (need) to eat some fresh seafood and walk along the ocean shores. But now, I also have to figure-out how much gasoline is going to cost me to do this. (I can't fly, so I have to drive; and taking a bus or train is just not an option.)
Let's see, if my 'old Olds' only gets about 15 mpg, and my tank holds 22 gallons, I can drive about 330 miles per tankful. So, I'll need to buy at least 3 tanks of gas between Knoxville, TN and Boston, MA. It will probably cost around $3.50 a gallon by the time I go. Therefore, one tank of gas will cost me around $77.00 x 3 = $231.00 = $462.00 round-trip. Then, driving all around the Cape while I'm there will require about another 3-4 tankfuls, and gasoline in MA will cost more, so figure around $4.00 a gallon; that will mean about another $308.00, or so. And that's just for gas - not for my lodging, entertainment, food or shopping. So, I guess I'm looking at around $770.00 for fuel alone ~ and that's only if the prices stay at, or below, $4.00 a gallon. (One more damaging Gulf Coast hurricane, and they will really soar.)
Meanwhile, we're reading that the oil barons and investors, like Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, are raking in unprecedented profits in the billions of dollars! And "regular" people are already scrambling around rolling coins, selling their blood and pawning their jewelry to buy gas! Something is very wrong with this picture. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer, and the middle-class has disappeared before our eyes. It seems that if we aren't poor yet, we will be soon. How encouraging is that?
We'll all 'keep-on keeping-on' with our usual driving habits ~ most of us have no choice; and I will drive to the Cape. It just irks me no end that we all have to pay so much for gas, while those greedy 'fat cats' are getting richer at our expense. (Something about this whole deal stinks.) Now, the Post Office is even jumping in, and using this as an excuse to raise the stamp prices again ; our food prices are soaring, gas gouging is going on everywhere ~ and dear Mr. Bush could give a damn. All he knows is that his coffers are swelling with wealth like never before.
In two years, Mr. Bush will leave office with a bigger silver spoon in his mouth; one that we helped pay for. He'll be leaving us in a complete state of disarray, with a National debt larger than ever before in our history. His lack of good leadership, his attacks against the environment and his lack of concern about the average American citizen, will leave us all feeling the negative impacts of his term in office for many, many decades to come. I know we're supposed to respect our leaders ~ `but I cannot respect this man!
So, I wonder how they're doing up in Canada? I will have to start looking into that. It seems moving out of this country might be the only way I can financially survive my "golden years." If the Democrat's don't get into office next term, and if we don't at least elect someone who has a good brain and a good heart, then, we will be in deep, deep shit.
Happy Summer Vacation, everyone. I'll see you on the road ~ maybe we can meet-up and share our bag lunches at a rest stop somewhere!?
All this immigration news is grating on my nerves. I don't understand it, but that doesn't stop me from being irritated. Seeing tens of thousands of "undocumented" immigrants, flaunting themselves in front of our news cameras, carrying their banners, and shouting for their "rights," makes me wonder why are they still undocumented? If they can come out into the light of day with their banners and shouts of protest, then why didn't they sign-in when they came here? I'll have to research this topic some more, I guess.
Basically, we are a nation of immigrants, as MA Senator, Ted Kennedy, likes to remind us, but we are not supposed to be a nation of illegal immigrants, are we? Last time I looked, "illegal" meant breaking a law. And, when laws are broken, people are supposed to be punished, detained or at least questioned, aren't they? Or is being an illegal immigrant legal now? I just don't get it? And now, they're going to hold us hostage to their demands by refusing to work or shop for a day? If they refuse to go to their jobs, then fire them! You'd fire me if I did such a thing, and I'm even legal. Give me a break!
Here we have all these millions of illegal activists pouring into the streets of our cities in broad daylight. So, round them up and document them! While you have them all out in public - stamp their hands with indelible ink, take down their names and addresses, find out who they're working for. Don't just plaster them all over the news, so we have to actually see how many of them have snuck past our borders in the dead of night.
Eleven million illegal aliens (that we know of) - that's a whole lot of sneaking-in!
In my 'lovely' neighborhood, over the last five years, we have seen multitudes of Mexicans coming to live here; with about 15+ people to a house. From a neighborhood which had five American children three years ago, we now have at least 60 Mexican children pouring off the school bus here every day. Their parents must work in town, most are probably undocumented illegal aliens, and although I'm sure they do work very hard, I don't like what they do here after work; because they play hard, too. And not only that - they have no respect!
Just yesterday, I watched out my back window as one of their beat-up trucks, filled with about 25 big, black garbage bags, rounded the corner on two wheels, loudly blaring Mexican music. Half-way up the road, on the way to the neighborhood trash containers, some of their garbage bags fell off the truck, landing in the middle of the road and splitting wide open. And. . . their garbage is still sitting there, in the middle of the road, today! Gross! They all have to drive past it, back and forth, back and forth; because there is only one road they can take to go in and out of here ~ and, yet, they just keep speeding right over all the the garbage they dumped in the street. DUH?!
No . . . I won't go pick it up. It's a matter of dignity. If they're going to refuse to work or shop - then I refuse to go out there and pick up their dirty garbage! (Uck!)
As far as I'm concerned, if they all went back to Mexico tomorrow, it couldn't be soon enough. Sorry, but this isn't racism or prejudice - it's a human response to annoying humans. I'm sure there are neighborhoods filled with American citizens who are equally as irritating. I'm just reacting to what I'm witnessing - and it's disgusting! Anyone doing this would irk the shit outta me! I don't know what their homeland is like ~ I've only been as far as Cancun, Mexico, and that's just a big tourist trap; but if how they live here is any indication of how they lived there, then it must be a noisy, smelly, dirty place indeed. Obviously, they're feeling right at home now ~ living here in "their" new neighborhood; where they outnumber us 'documented American citizens,' by at least two to one.
And now, they want us to start singing our National Anthem in SPANISH! Pleeeeaaaasee!
There's a limit to how much we can put up with ~ and, I don't know about you, but I'm reaching mine real fast!
I think I'll drive up the hill where they all live, and start blaring my loud American music from the car radio. I'll drive back and forth all day long. Then, from 11:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m., I'll do it some more, like they do. I'll get out my old tapes and I'll blare-out some Janis Joplin tunes for them! Oh, and I mustn't forget to bring my garbage bags to throw out the window, too ~ I'll have to make sure to throw them hard enough that they'll break open and spew the trash all over the road.
Ahhhh . . . that makes me feel better! I won't get mad . . . I'll get even!
Illegal immigrants . . . I say, "Document who they are and make them legal; or send them all home!" Or. . . perhaps we could send them to China? This report comes from just one industry there that desperately needs workers . . . right now:
"A survey of members by the Asia Footwear Association in Hong Kong found earlier this year that many Chinese shoemakers were understaffed, some by as much as 60 percent. Newly built plants in Dongguan are idle for lack of workers, says Percy Lan, an entrepreneur who publishes a footwear industry magazine. He says the industry employs around 1 million laborers in Dongguan, but needs 100,000 more." Simon Montlake / Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor