headlines and tidbits...

Illegal immigration is a hot topic still, and likely will continue until the elections when our politicians can go back to not giving a rat's ass about anything important in America...after all, gays are trying to marry and someone is trying to burn a flag somewhere. Here is the secret that many in Congress don't want you to know...making more things punishable by longer prison terms does not do a damn thing to end illegal activity, it only overcrowds our prisons more and brings us closer to the authoritarian regimes we claim to strive against. Be wary of anyone seeking an approach to illegal immigration that is based in making it a felony and "cracking down" on illegals. Drugs destroy lives, yet people continue to use them despite tougher penalties, do we really believe that people will stop striving for a better life for themselves and their families because it might me jail time? If you really believe immigration is dragging this country down (and for the record, I will not buy into such rascist bullshit) then the only way to end it is to take away America's role as the land of opportunity (a job which the governmen thas been striving to complete for decades). While the United States continues to offer opportunity and liberty, people will continue to come.

Throwing those people in jail and deporting them will only tear apart families and make criminals of good people. Here in New Mexico, go sit in a classroom...realize that stricter penalties and enforcement will mean that some of those children will lose a father, a mother, a brother, an aunt or uncle, a grandparent, or maybe even all of the above. And you call yourselves advocates for family values.

Kim Jong Il is portrayed as a madman in the United States, but his actions are logical and always point to his number one goal, retaining power. He is not firing off missiles now to invite attack or because he plans on striking the first blow. He has watched the Middle East, he recognizes that the country that is not a true threat, Iraq, was overrun, the country that was a true threat, Iran, will get a soft water reactor. There are two ways to stand up to the United States, Chavez and Venezuela are showing one, KJI does not have the oil to deny the United States and cripple her economy, but he has nuclear capabilities...and, at least for the time being, America will listen to that. You want to make sure that KJI actually uses those capabilities, or shares them with groups he would otherwise never associate himself with? Go ahead and talk tough and back him into a corner, leaving him no choice...we did it to Nazi Germany, and they stopped their plans to assasinate Hitler and ramped up the murder of Jews, millions in the last few months. Of course history does not seem to be a strong subject here.

Don't look now, but India just tested some missiles...and they damn sure have nukes.

The government is willing to throw money at preaching abstinence to fight teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, it regulates the living hell out of cigarettes and has warnings slapped on all their packaging...anyone with half a brain can recognize that it ain't working.

What has the government done to combat obesity, the largest threat to the health of the American people and the ability of our health care system to even accomplish what little it can now? An updated food pyramid. God forbid we do something to put a halt to companies skimping to save a penny here or there by injecting you and I with too many calories and too much fat. Am I to believe the executive branch can take us to war, hold people indefinitely without counsel or charges, listen in on every word you or I say on the phone, read our mail (electronic and otherwise), and otherwise trample on the Bill of Rights, but they can't say "no more trans fat"? Does this make sense to anyone?

Here in Albuquerque the Police Department raided a gay gym...it's excuse...cracking down on alcohol. So the swat team came barging in and found a few dozen elderly men eating tacos...obviously criminal activity was afoot, and thus they were made to lie face down on the floor while handcuffed with guns to their heads. This will be the end result of the right's campaign against gay equality...fostering an attitude that leads uniformed officers to swarm old men, basically for no other reason but being gay and enjoying tacos and a beer with other old gay men, then take photos of them and mock them. Put as much window dressing as you want on it, if you are against gay marriage, it is because you are a homophobe.

Bush is excited because the deficit was just below $300 billion this year. Hooray. Good job buddy, you did it. And of course he credits his brilliant tax cuts with the slight reduction in the budget deficit. Never mind that those tax cuts further weaked an already struggling economy through further stratification of wealth and less growth. But hey, maybe now he can set his sights bringing growth up to half a percent. It's alright though, the stress of being the leading economic power was getting to be too much anyhow.

Bush is also saying all prisoners of the United States are entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions. The world community want to say thanks for joining the rest of us. I would not get your hopes up though, expect another fight when he claims he is acting in accord with the Geneva Conventions when he is doing the absolute bare minimum to even consider the question. Well George, unlike you, I am not satisfied with simply "not being as barbaric as them"...which itself is in doubt...rather than gunning for mediocrity, I expect my nation to strive for greatness.

Finally...in 1989 the Berlin Wall was dismantled by dancing Germans. That event lead to largely bloodless wave of democracy throughout the Soviet Empire. Freedom is a powerful enough force to topple authoritarian regimes, but it will not come from the crater left by a depleted uranium shell.

I've made my grave...