Dictatorships make peace easy

I listened to a reporter in Venezuela today report on the shutdown of the last non-government controlled television station. He was clearly stunned that not only was the station shut down, but that the other stations weren't covering the huge riot that was ensuing by the few still sane people of that country.

Apparently, people didn't understand that voting to allow Hugo Chavez full control to change any law he wants means he can do anything he wants.

What I don't understand is why people are surprised. Frankly, shutting down the station isn't even newsworthy IMO. Of course he shut it down. Duh. Of course he doesn't want the others to report that people are rioting. Double duh.

What part of dictator did people not understand exactly?

Exactly which part of one man deciding what everyone else is allowed to do is appealing to anyone but that one man? Especially to free people. What say you Danny Glover? Is free speech just another useless trinket to toss away in the name of "peace".

It's easy to keep the peace when you are standing on everyone's throat. At least there is no war. Nobody can say anything but how great Chavez is, but hey, at least there's no war.

Well guess what you peace-mongering morons? There is war. Chavez is oppressing his own people. Those people are not free. They are not at peace. Just because they are so oppressed that they cannot put up a decent resistance does not mean there is peace.

So it was with Iraq. No matter what you think of the situation we are in now, there was no peace there before us.

A dictatorship is not peace. A dictatorship is the appearance of peace by force.

You want peace? Silence anybody saying there is not peace. If you don't hear about how many soldiers died today, then obviously everyone is at peace. Keep thinking that as you sit in your comfortable homes in a free land watching tv and eating junk food.

Obviously what this world needs is more dictators - so they can tell us we are at peace.

"Climate change is a reality"

Well, apparently Nancy Pelosi had to go to Greenland to get caught in the rain for the first time in her life.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070528/ap_on_sc/climate_change_2

She saw "firsthand evidence that climate change is a reality". Amazing. The rest of us have seen the weather change hundreds of times every year. Here in Florida we see it a couple times a day most days.

Ignore the fact that the Vikings called the island "Greenland" because, at the time, it was lush and green and they settled it to FARM on. Ignore the fact that the glaciers there formed in "modern times". Ignore the fact that IT'S SUMMERTIME, of course the ice is melting!!!!!!

Someone please send Ms. Pelosi a dictionary with the word "anectodal" highlighted. Maybe a children's book with the parable of the 6 blind men meeting an elephant would be good also. Feel the trunk, it's a snake. Feel the leg it's a tree.... Look a temporary glacier as summer starts - it's global warming. Wow, that's science. But it's first hand. After all, we weren't there, so we'll have to take her word for it. After all, she has a doctorate in climatology - oh wait, no she doesn't. She doesn't know diddly about the climate.

Somebody looking for grant money and, or publicity showed her a pre-set dog and pony show. "A fool and their money are soon parted." No wait, "A sucker born every minute". Ah, whats the difference? Same end result.

But she is right in one respect. Climate change is a reality. It always has been. Summer comes, it gets warm. Winter comes, it snows. Clouds form, it rains. Wind patterns change, there's a drought, etc, etc, etc. Rarely, if ever, has a human been able to change any of the above in any way beyond putting a roof over their head to stay dry, or lighting a fire to stay warm.

As a society we have spent trillions upon trillions of dollars just to predict what the weather will be like in a few hours. Forget about what it will be like in a few weeks. Years? Nobody would consider you sane if you said you could do it.

We can't predict the weather with any kind of reliability let alone change it. For 100's of thousands of dollars we can "kind of" make it rain by seeding clouds. But if there are no clouds - even that lame attempt fails. We can't make the simplest of weather changes (rain) in a small area with all our efforts concentrated on it, yet we are led to believe that we are irreversibly effecting the weather of the entire planet by driving to work.

The planet is a huge place. Even a few billion humans can scarcely make a dent on it's surface. The tiny fraction of CO2 that we put into the atmosphere doesn't compare to the other sources of greenhouse gases.

I hate to disappoint the politicians, but we just aren't that powerful. Even Ms. Pelosi's huge jet can't destroy the climate. No matter how much she wants it too.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

by John Godfrey Saxe

It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined,
who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind),
that each by observation, might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant, and, happening to fall,
against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the elephant, is nothing but a wall!"

The second feeling of the tusk, cried: "Ho! what have we here,
so very round and smooth and sharp? To me tis mighty clear,
this wonder of an elephant, is very like a spear!"

The third approached the animal, and, happening to take,
the squirming trunk within his hands, "I see," quoth he,
the elephant is very like a snake!"

The fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like, is mighty plain," quoth he;
"Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree."

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said; "E'en the blindest man
can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant, is very like a fan!"

The sixth no sooner had begun, about the beast to grope,
than, seizing on the swinging tail, that fell within his scope,
"I see," quothe he, "the elephant is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long,
each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!

So, oft in theologic wars, the disputants, I ween,
tread on in utter ignorance, of what each other mean,
and prate about the elephant, not one of them has seen!

John Godfrey Saxe (1816 - 1887)

Immigration "reform"

Hang on just one second here. The shady politicians pull a fast one just in the title.

The title would have you to believe that they are going to make changes in our immigration policy. I'm sorry to disappoint, but dealing with the 12 - 15 million illegals in this country isn't changing our immigration policy at all.

They are two separate problems.

When your kid is running around with a crayon marking up the walls, do you start repainting the walls first and then take the crayon from the kid?

Well that's what the idiots we've elected propose. Let's give the current illegals a way to become legal - without doing anything about the fact that 12 million people can enter our country without our knowing about it. The kid is still marking up walls - the border is still being ignored. What is the point?

I just don't understand how people can be laissez faire about 12 million people trespassing on our property.

I heard one of the talking heads on the radio last week say 1 in 12 illegals has a criminal record. That means there are 1 million criminals running around our country without our knowing anything about them. But wait!!!! That's totally wrong. They violated US and international laws by entering our country without our permission. That's 12 million criminals running around our country.

Think about it. Would you sneak into another country? Why not? Because you aren't criminally minded. People with respect for another persons property don't blatantly disregard that sovereignty. These people may be "good" people. But inherently they've proven that they are willing to disregard the law. Where do they draw the line at what is "acceptable" law and what law they will ignore? This isn't a speeding ticket. This is entering a country without permission. This SHOULD be a serious thing.

Unfortunately, we've let them know that we don't value our property, that it's not a big deal to trespass. So inevitably it is our own fault. If we dealt with criminals like criminals instead of giving them a free pass we wouldn't be in this position. Americans know not to break the law in Mexico or they may disappear forever. It's common knowledge that you will be in big trouble if you cross the law in another country. Not so the other way around. Instead, we GIVE them a drivers license and send their kids to school - KNOWING they are criminals who are not here with our permission!!!!!

Next I want to talk about the number 12 million (15 by some accounts). The boneheads in Washington are talking about legalizing this 12 million people. Making them jump through some hoops and then they are citizens. You hear about how they are doing jobs Americans won't. You hear about how companies can't afford to pay Americans to do these jobs and that we shouldn't raid companies that hire large numbers of illegals. What you don't hear about is how the hell our economy is going to handle suddenly paying 12 million people minimum wage and FICA taxes, etc, etc, etc. Do you really think that those 12 million AREN'T going to join unions after they are citizens? They AREN'T going to demand higher pay?

You don't hear anyone talking about what dumping 12 million legal workers into our economy is going to do. Say goodbye to the 4% unemployment rate. Cuz guess what? Instead of having seasonal workers that go back home after the work dries up, they'll be living on our tax dollars collecting unemployment.

Then, if that weren't bad enough, it's still not the whole story. Once those 12 million become citizens they will certainly bring their dependents into the country. Let's say on average one dependent per illegal. A wife for some, a wife and child for others, etc. That's 24 MILLION people added to our citizenry. That's a fairly big deal.

The bottom line is that we need to take away the crayon first. We need to deal with the fact that people are violating our sovereignty. They are entering our country without our knowledge or permission. We must stop that.

At the same time, we need to be making policies that allow workers to EASILY come work in our country temporarily without granting them citizenship and all the rights therein. We also need to truly reform our immigration policies as far as making it easier for LEGAL immigration.

We need to work with the alien workers to come up with a solution. We don't need to throw them all in jail or to grant them all citizenship either. We need them, and they need us. As it stands now they are in more control of the situation than we are, and that's just crazy.

As long as people can enter our country illegally with little to no chance of meaningful reaction, this problem will continue - no matter what insane legislation the power mongers in Washington pass.