How Times Have Changed

  It has been years since I posted here, and though it may be a futile act they the economy is going, I expect to publish again soon.

Our Sovereignty

Vicente Fox seems to think he has a right to pass approval on our methods of defending our southern border.

He has no right whatsoever, other than to comment on whatever we may choose to do. He has no right, nor even a reasonable expectation, to being invited to review and comment prior to any vote. And frankly, any Senators or Representatives who believe to the contrary are in violation of their oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Vicente Fox has staged what may be the largest invasion in history. And he has done so with minimal expense, and no armaments. That it has been relatively free of violence makes it no more forgivable. Mexico is the aggressor, and Vicente Fox is the leader of the invasion.

It is long past time for our elected politicians to find their spines, and to vote resoundingly in favor of securing our border.

Put the comprehensive plan where it belongs: in the trash. We are being flooded with illegal aliens; tell them to stop the flood, and then indulge in all the debating their twisted hearts desire.

There a few stalwarts in Washington: Johnny Isakson (R- GA) who tried to amend the bill in favor of security first, is one. But Mr. Isakson's amendment was defeated, by a number large enough to make plain that some of our nominal Republicans are confused about this issue.

The polls continue to show that the American people are not confused in the least. Make your voices heard in Washington.

Latter Day ZPG?

The liberals, who in the 1970's began championing zero population growth (ZPG) are now hell-bent on tearing down our borders, with some estimates running as high as 100 million new immigrants in the next 15-20 years. And the ZPG folks were wildly successful, having reached a low of less than replacement level.

Need anyone ask why these folks, with their ZPG, eco-freaking, and open borders have earned from me the name lemmings?

Stupidity, Again...

Yesterday the Senate voted to declare English our national language. They didn't have the courage to put it so plainly, but that would be the net result.

Harry Reid, that most embarrassing of our Senators, has declared that to do so is racist. Harry, of course, is a consumate idiot.

The United States of America is, and has been, a monolinguistic country. The sizable communities of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Hispanics in our country notwithstanding, English is our de facto national language, and always has been. English is the language of commerce in this country, the language of power, and the language of education. Failing to achieve competence in English will leave any immigrant in a second-class position in life here.

Failing to ensure that immigrants understand this reality, and that they achieve competence, if not mastery, of our national language, is the real racism.

Get it right, Harry.

Stupidity on the March!

Despite my normally low opinion of the folks who represent us in Washington, D.C., they have astounded me.

We should all be painfully aware that Social Security is a bankrupt system that continues to operate more from inertia than any other reason. OK, technically it's not bankrupt yet, but really, how many trillions of unfunded liabilities must we be able to show before we acknowledge the truth?

Well, now our good senators have decided that we must accrue benefits in favor of those here illegally, working illegally, and that when they reach the qualifying age, they, too, can be a drain on that system!

Call me crazy, but the Congress-critters seem hell-bent on nothing less than the complete destruction of this country.

I can understand this level of idiocy from the Democrats, but what has brought the nominal Republicans to this pass?

Last night on Brit Hume's show, Charles Krauthammer nailed it. He pointed out that the President's proposed immigration reform is indeed an amnesty, in that it proposes to pardon the crimes of those who have been here illegally, and working illegally. In fact, it doesn't even acknowledge that there have been any crimes.

The liberals have based a good deal of their current heart-bleed on the fact that being here illegally is only a misdemeanor. OK, fair enough. But obtaining false documents is not a misdemeanor, but a felony. So anyone working illegaly is indeed a felon, convicted or not.

Write to your representatives and senators, if they still remember what their constituents are. Let them know, in no uncertain terms, that this madness cannot continue, and that not only will they not get your vote, but you will lobby all your friends against voting for them, as well.

Moonbats on the March!

Well, our move is nearly complete, and I see that the forces of insanity have been very busy.

The campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz has been particularly active, students having seen fit to keep the world safe from on-campus military recruiting during a recent job fair there. The Solomon Amendment, passed in 1996, but unenforced by the Clinton administration, requires universities to grant to recruiters access equal to that accorded other employers. Failure to comply requires the withdrawal of Federal funding to the campus.

UCSC Chancellor Denice D. Denton, whose lordly salary would seem to be justified only by the acquisition of substantial funding for the campus, has apparently done nothing to correct this disgraceful behavior on the campus. Hired in 2004, at a salary reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel as $275,000, Chancellor Denton said: "I want to find a way to bring in the resources to take Santa Cruz to the next level." Can this be what she meant?

Santa Cruz county is admittedly not among the more conventional places in the country, even allowing for some of the stranger behaviors in California. Still, this recent action brings the traditions of the UCSC campus to a new low. A taste of the local coverage can be seen on the web site of the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Their opening sentence sets the tone:

"Dozens of UC Santa Cruz student and faculty anti-war activists launched protests in the rain Tuesday morning outside a campus job fair, prompting military recruiters inside to retreat from the event."

Sam Aranke, a second year student at UCSC, offered this:

"It's not just about the action today, it's about creating sustained movements that directly resist the militarization of our communities..."

Anyone who has visited Santa Cruz, much less the UCSC campus, would be hard-pressed to imagine what "militarization " has so concerned Mr. Aranke. Santa Cruz is a community that works hard to preserve its image as a throwback to '60's radicalism, a town where tie-died clothing is still considered chic, and where successful campaigns have been held to keep out such subversive influences as McDonald's from the city center. There was much moaning and wailing when their efforts failed to keep Borders Books from setting up shop, a few years ago.

The city council is determined to place on the November ballot an initiative to set a minimum wage in the city of $9.25 per hour. Subject to automatic indexing, this is expected to pass easily, given the university domination of the local political scene. UCSC is the largest employer in the county.

Once again, we see the proud actions of a small group of moonbats (reportedly some 100 or so students on a campus of about 15,000), who may now have jeopardized the continued availability of Federal funds -- reportedly $80 million for last year. (Hat tip to Michelle Malkin.)

Moving!

I've tired of California, and of life in a terminally blue state, so will be relocating to Georgia in the next two weeks. The reasons for the decision are several:

• better cost of living (housing 25-30% of California prices)
• better public schools
• better economy

The decision, following a good deal of research, was one of the easiest I have made.

A bonus is that I am moving my immediate family into closer proximity with other family members, always a good thing.

I'm impatient for the move to be done!

The Reality of Ports...

What an impressive firestorm rages now over the possibility that a company based in the United Arab Emirates may assume "control" over a number of U.S. ports. It is providing endless opportunities for our elected panderers -- on both sides of the aisle -- to indulge themselves in more than usual grandstanding. But have we learned anything useful from any of these overloud folks?

First, it would be best to bear in mind that the "control" the company will exert is subject to override from other sources, such as the Department of Homeland Security, and the lonshoremen's union. Homeland Security is in a position to assert requirements for employment screening, and the longshoremen will continue their long tradition of rejecting anyone who they deem unsuited to membership -- and the company will have no more success controlling that than has any other company in the past.

Second, the "control" of these ports by a foreign-owned company is hardly news, as the ports are currently under the "control" of a British company.

Third, if the goal were to do harm to American ports, there is simply no need to spend such large sums, as our pathetically low level of inspections of imported goods -- variously reported as 2-4%, or at most, 5% -- means that it would be almost trivially simple to ship bombs to us, and we'd be unlikely to discover them prior to the damage being done.

The hard reality is this. If we find foreign "control" of our ports unacceptable, then is it unacceptable regardless of the country involved. Further, we would be better served were our noisy politicians to spend some time honestly considering whether a higher level of incoming inspection might be in order.

If the politicians really want to do something useful, they might begin by eliminating all earmarks, and finding opportunities to reduce their outrageous spending, rather than pushing us ever closer to economic collapse.

Free Speech & Leaks...

Freedom of speech is one of our most treasured rights. The current turmoil over the Muhammed cartoons only underscores how critical a right that is.

But there are members of our society, indeed, citizens, whose rights to free speech are, and must be, constrained. Many people might find that statement curious, or even abhorrent, but it is logical and correct.

Members of our military are necessarily constrained by military regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Obviously, men and women in the field in a war zone must not exercise free speech, lest their "loose lips sink ships."

But what should be equally apparent is that our elected Representatives and Senators must also be constrained. When a Senator, for example, leaks intelligence information in a time of war, that Senator should, at the very least, be censured, but in truth, should be considered as a possible traitor.

I have heard some rather strange rationalizations about how narrowly the charge of treason should be applied, but the Constitution makes clear that giving aid and comfort to the enemy is a treasonous offense. Now surely, a leak that makes plain our methods of surveiling known or suspected agents of al Qaeda rises to that standard. Why then, do we not hear any great hue and cry about the continuing indiscretion of Senator Leahy, a.k.a. Leaky?

There are many ways in which our elected leaders bypas the Constitution on an almost daily basis, but surely this is among the most offensive.