Yeah, right. · ago by Amberlee

For many years I have preached a rather radical theory to friends and family. FDR was the worst President in the history of the US because the policies he instituted (a government running on deficit spending, social prop programs created without time-outs thus beginning our welfare state, the institution of a perpetual income tax thus allowing for professional politicians and the ability to pass the buck) would be shown by history to be the beginning of the end of America.

This week I am proved wrong. Ronald Regan and his trickle down theory of economics (based in deregulation and privatization of assets like the national power grid which, even if we built nuclear plants and produced enough electricity through home-grown means to free us from overseas oil, would not be able to handle the load) that does nothing more than end up costing the taxpayers 700 billion dollars in bailouts (this go around—don’t you all remember the S&Ls and the many other such situations?) and brings the dollar so low we might as well call this the new depression is now running neck and neck with FDR in my book for destroying the country.

FRD turned us toward socialism. Ronald Regan turned us toward greed. Now we’ve got a guy no one elected asking for 700 billion without checks, balances, regulation, oversight, or so much as giving the American public the courtesy of a reach? Right. Welcome to the new Monarchy.

We’ve been pretty lucky the last eight years with our business. We’ve also tried to be smart. We live in a modest house. Our cars are over ten years old. We paid off the student loans. There’s some stuff left on cards from our last few trips but some belt tightening wouldn’t make things too bad and those numbers could go away. We’ve got equity in our home. Mind you, our retirement funds are now shot to hell but who doesn’t have that problem after the last few weeks?

I think this situation is far from over. What happens when the rest of the world stop buying US Bonds (basically loaning our government money so they can do business) because they no longer have confidence in our leaders or the financial markets? Yeah. Not a pretty thought. I can only hope that day doesn’t come because the day we do our first default on a loan is going to be one very bad day indeed.

A fine line between tabloid trash and the truth. · ago by Amberlee

For the record, two items. First, I am a Libertarian. Second, I’m voting for Obama. I think these two things should be disclosed before I go further.

As a woman I’m pleased that the Republican party has finally done what the Democrats found the intelligence and fortitude to do back in 1984 – acknowledge the equality of women in the political arena and nominate one for the second highest office in the land. However, I must say that I feel that McCain’s choice (a man used to think a lot of but don’t anymore) seems less motivated by finding an individual who is qualified to lead should he die while in office and more motivated by tokenism.

Rumors have flown since Mrs. Palin’s nomination regarding the parentage of her youngest son. It seems Mrs. Palin was a touch too active and not showing much during her last pregnancy. Some Internet sites have gone into detail with circumstantial evidence that Mrs. Palin’s oldest daughter might actually have been the child’s mother and that Mrs. Palin lied to the public regarding the issue to hide the issue.

Today, an announcement was made that Mrs. Palin’s daughter is currently five months pregnant prompting respectable news sources such as the APA to take note of these rumors and mention them. The Obama campaign has been asked to respond to the idea that they put the information out there or that they are attempting to run a smear campaign against Mrs. Palin and her family. Mr. Obama flatly denies any involvement, has stated that if he thought for one hot minute anyone on his team was involved in such a thing that they would be immediately fired, and said that family (but particularly children) should be “off limits.”

I’m not sure that’s true in this case. Here’s why.

This isn’t just about a seventeen-year-old girl getting pregnant (if you believe the rumors, for a second time). Mrs. Palin may have lied publicly and perpetrated fraud. If that child is not hers, and she attempted to pass it off as such to the public, what other kind of lies is she capable of telling? What other kinds of cover-ups?

Look, a young girl from a respectable family has sex (which we all do) and either doesn’t use birth control (which most of us have done) or the birth control failed. It happens. Many would call that “ruining her life.” It’s natural a family would want to protect their child. Hushing up a pregnancy when you are Joe and Jane Jones is one thing. And yes, it’s no one’s business but theirs. But when you are a Governor and you loudly proclaim you are pregnant instead of your child and then go through the motions of lying to the public and your staff about the issue, that’s another matter.

Bristol, regardless of the truth of the rumors, has a tough road. As a young woman I was faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The breakdown of the relationship between myself and the father caused a lot of stress. My mother was involved in her own life at the time as she had just remarried and she indicated to me that she was not going to assist me if I kept the child. My father was an irresponsible drunk who could be of no support. Had I not miscarried I might have had a very different life. I commend the fact that the Palins are willing to support their daughter and that they stand by their convictions as a family with regard to abortion. Personally, I couldn’t go through with one. While I think every woman should have the choice of abortion and control of their own body (much less easy access to effective birth control), I also feel that life begins at conception and my personal belief means I could not make the choice to terminate a pregnancy. The fact that young Bristol must have her sex life and youthful decision making processes (much less mistakes) drug through the muck is a sad thing. But I think the Palins also must address the rumors about Trig’s parentage. They must come out to the press with clear unassailable evidence of who Trig’s mother and father are and put this to bed. They need to do so they can stop the tabloid crap and both parties can move on to talking about important issues instead of sensationalism.

Seriously, this is a sad thing. I really feel for Bristol. The whole nation is nosing around in her personal life. Still, her mother is a public figure who may be a “heartbeat away” from the Presidency. Mr. McCain is over seventy. The office of the Presidency is a stress on men nearly thirty years younger than him. The idea that we might have a woman capable of some kind of crazy lies and cover-ups in the public eye as President should worry every individual in this country. We’ve just had eight years of deception, truth-twisting, lies, and incompetence out of the current administration. If we’re to get more of the same I think it should not be “off limits.”

Stop the press! · ago by Amberlee

Yes. I’m posting.

The last year or so has been, to put it in a nutshell, challenging, busy, and full of change. Things here have taken a backseat to personal issues.

Over the next few months, that will come to an end.

I’ve already begun a bit of virtual housecleaning. Some links will be updated and I’ll post notices here with regard to those changes. Where this “blog” will go at this point I’m not certain. Some content from my writing journal which has been locked down for the last few months will move here to the website and be available for download. Other content will be removed completely and placed under other domains.

What have I been doing with my time? Travel. Nursing a terminal pet. Writing. Making my first short film. Helping run the business. Editing a literary journal. Reading a lot. Political activism. Attending conventions. That kind of thing.

Hope all of you have been well and I’ll see about getting back in the swing of things.

– Amberlee

Another Year Gone · ago by Amberlee

2006 was a year that went quickly but did not see many accomplishments. It was a year of health issues, interpersonal relationship maintenance, and contemplation. I felt like I spent a lot of time in idle waiting for things to change—for other people to make decisions so I could make my own—only to come to the conclusion that waiting around on others was going to get me nowhere.

On the other hand, the idle of 2006 gave me time to consider my options and my future. To reevaluate and take stock. For the most part things are in a good place. Aside from needing to tighten up some finances and finish off a few projects I’m at a point where I can launch in almost any direction. That’s a good thing. I also was able to visit with plenty of old friends and some family members at weddings and other events.

I did a lot of procrastinating and left a lot of projects unfinished in 2006. As a result, my 2007 will be devoted to finishing off my projects, making a list and checking it twice, and making my decisions and plans for the next phase of my life. I also plan to do quite a bit of travel in 2007. In order to make good decisions for the future some research of the hands-on variety must be done. I’ll be going by car, plane, and foot to places I have not yet been and will be exploring new vistas. I’ll also, no doubt, be meeting some of you that I have known online for years but have yet to meet in “real life.”

I hope that your year was at least as good as mine, if not better. I also hope that all of you will have a safe, prosperous, and happy 2007.

For the record · ago by Amberlee

I do not believe that torture should be used on prisoners for any reason. I do not believe in shipping people to secret over-seas facilities for interrogation is acceptable under any circumstance. I do not agree that just because you are a terrorist or an enemy combatant means that hundreds of years of law in my country should be suspended so you have no access to lawyers, no right to a speedy trial, that you can be held indefinitely, or be deprived of the ability to examine all of the evidence against you and face those that accuse you of wrong doing.

I am ashamed of my government for passing laws that make a mockery of our justice system and go against everything that I feel America is truly about. The current President of the United States and the individuals in congress that voted for this abominable legislation do not speak for me. I will continue to shout this message to anyone that will hear it because I am an American citizen that believes in freedom and will not allow myself to be intimidated into silence for disagreeing with the state. I have a responsibility as a member of this democracy to help preserve my rights and the rights of others against those that would sacrifice those rights in the name of fear. Rest assured that I continue to be a squeaky wheel even if it seems to do little good.

Fast note · ago by Amberlee

May went by all to quickly and June is no different. Office work, work on my original project, and dealing with my illness take up the majority of my time. My house needs a cleaning like you wouldn’t believe and we’re off at the end of the month for a wedding in Colorado.

In other words, don’t expect much news here until some time mid-July.

Additionally, I continue to remove content from the server as I download and back it up to my external HD. The majority of this stuff won’t be coming back—particularly the photographs. I’ve noticed that my photographs get a heck of a lot of traffic and while I’m certainly appreciative that people link to them and whatnot that stuff no longer belongs here. When I finally get the photography business website up it will go there.

Final note: I started editing LG and have begun posting edited chapters to the pit of voles. Already I have had such stunning questions in my comments as, “he names,example ‘Aurik,Youke etc’,are they real square enix names or were they made up for this fic?” Um, perhaps you missed the disclaimer there that explicitly noted that unless you encountered someone in game play that they are MY CREATION. Geesh. Now I remember why I really can’t stand writing in a gamer fandom.

Peace out.

Thanks, that's nice to know · ago by Amberlee

At the end of March, my husband got to find out exactly how distrusted—even hated—he is by the majority of America. You see, my husband is an atheist and a study released by the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota intended to gauge the acceptance of religious diversity in America revealed a startling fact: you could be a Muslim terrorist and you’d be more respected and tolerated than an atheist.

My husband linked the new release and the data from the study to me not long after it came out. As a young man, he was raised in a Catholic home. He considered the priesthood for many years and, in fact, was encouraged toward religious vocation by his family and his church. But when it came time to start college, my husband had a radical change of heart. Not only did he decide that being celibate was just not something he was willing to do for his whole life but his intense study of world religions, in depth knowledge of Catholic dogma, and his scientific mind caused him to reject the idea of a deity all together.

Please know that my husband is not an intolerant man. He will go to religious events such as weddings and bow his head with others when an invocation is done at a graduation or sports event (whereas, being a Buddhist that doesn’t believe in a Christian god, I do not because I find it hypocritical of me). He’s perfectly fine with people having their own beliefs but if they are brought up around him he will engage people in spirited and direct debate as to the reasons they are the specific religion they are. He will challenge them and call them on faith statements and will point out esoteric parts of their religion that make no sense, contradict one another, or have no basis in logic. He will force people to admit that they are not being logical and that their religion is illogical. He will say, “it is perfectly ok with me if you choose to hold an illogical and improvable belief as long as you ADMIT to me that you have no good reason other than faith for doing it.”

The only exception to this is Jehovah’s Witnesses. He is unmerciful when they visit our house, tells them he’s happy to talk about their god on one condition—that they talk about his. He then pretends to be a Satanist and asks them to participate in his worship service and let him reveal the truth of his Lord and engage in debate. They never come back to our house. Ever. It’s a total lie on his part designed to get door-to-door Christians to leave him alone. And, I have to say, it works like a charm. He does it once and it takes between six and ten years for someone to even consider knocking on the door again. Of course, the best part of this tactic is that my husband (like myself) is so well versed in world religions that if forced to debate these people it could easily be done in a convincing manner. He actually used to keep a container of table salt by the door and for years I didn’t know why. It’s a prop for when these people come to visit so he can tell them he was just about to draw a pentagram. Wow.

But I kind of digress.

The point is that I know of few people on this planet that are more intelligent, kind, hard working, tolerant, and helpful than my husband. Sure, he’s got annoying habits that drive me nuts—like the fact he can’t put his damn socks in a hamper—but everyone has such things. Yet, in spite of the fact that you don’t get more “boy scout” (trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful, brave, thrifty, and clean—he’s not that into being obedient and he’s definitely not reverent but he is respectful) than my husband. Still, he is apparently the worst of all evils if you go by the cross section of this study. Here are some examples:

hen asked to identify the group that “does not at all agree with my vision of American society,” 39.6% of respondents listed Atheists, well ahead of Muslims (26.3%); Homosexuals (22.6%); and Jews (7.6%). Conservative Christians drew a negative response from 13.5% of those surveyed, slightly ahead of recent immigrants at 12.5%.

The survey presented respondents with the following statement: “I would disapprove if my child wanted to marry a member of this group.” Once again, Atheists were at the apex of this negative-image cohort at 47.6%, followed by Muslims (33.5%); African Americans (27.2%); Asian Americans (18.5%); Hispanics (18.5%); Jews (11.8%); conservative Christians (6.9%) and Whites at 2.3%.

To say my husband was, on a certain level, rather shocked by some of the statistics in the study was to put it mildly. Since, unless a friend starts tossing their God statements around, my husband keeps his religious views to himself means that he doesn’t have to deal with a lot of direct animosity. My husband engages only people he knows in spirited debate on this topic—and with good reason. Still, he was pretty disheartened by the content of the study and it made him feel a bit odd.

I bring this up partly because is should be discussed and partly because, on live journal, someone linked to this post:

http://bradhicks.livejournal.com/237324.html

Having also seen the movie “Thank You for Smoking” (and having an atheist for a husband) I certainly understand what this individual is talking about. In addition, as a non-Christian, I am constantly confronted with an overabundance of exclusionary and uncomfortable situations in my daily life thanks to the saturation of Christian identity in American culture. From direct mail flyers that encourage me to come to revivals to “Jesus Fish” and billboards that say things like, “Please don’t take my name in vain – God,” Christianity is omnipresent in this country. People like myself and my husband are FORCED to be tolerant of such things because if we speak up we are bashed for it and treated like nutcases. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in your God and, therefore, I do not feel it is appropriate for me to “bow my head” in respect to a deity I don’t believe in. If your God does exist, and I were him/her, I would be a little pissed that someone that didn’t believe in me participated in my worship services. Call me crazy.

But J. Brad Hicks says it better than I could:

“…he is the second-rudest smoke-nazi I’ve ever met in my entire life. Completely past rational on the subject. No, it seemed to him, the only thing that science fiction fans could be persuaded to be intolerant of was his religion, Christianity. (Another pet peeve of his.) And having just come out of Thank You for Smoking, I thought I’d finally thought of the perfect metaphor that would finally explain to him why that was. I told him that science fiction fandom, being a hot-bed of atheism and of non-Christian religion, is as sick of Christianity and as angry about constant exposure to Christianity as he is about frequent exposure to cigarette smoke, and for exactly the same reason. We don’t get to pick whether or not somebody else shoves their Christianity into our space and down our throats. And like the people who ask smokers to put their cigarettes out, we’re treated with great hostility by anybody around us when we object to it, like we’re the intolerant ones. I told him that second-hand Christianity and second-hand smoking are, in fact, the exact same issue. And, I confessed, while I’m not the banning personal behaviors kind of guy? If I had to choose? If one of the two was going to disappear from this earth and never have existed, I’d choose to keep tobacco and excise Christianity. Christianity’s more obnoxious, done more harm, killed more people, and Christians are much less considerate about involuntary and unwelcome exposure to their religion than any smoker I know is about his or her smoke.

And the part that enraged me was the overt denial of reality that came next: both of them, bright people who really do respect their non-Christian friends, seemed to have never heard of the idea that anybody was involuntarily exposed to or inconvenienced by Christianity. It seems to them that anybody in America is hardly ever exposed to Christianity, and certainly not in any kind of unpleasant or pernicious way.”

And that’s the really crazy thing—how the majority of people have no idea exactly how subliminal and omnipresent Christianity is in this country because they either ignore it or they ARE Christian and, therefore, let it all blend into the background. But, for those of us that aren’t Christian, it’s actually offensive. We don’t talk about it because we are both tolerant of others and because we don’t want to deal with the vehemence and nastiness we know will ensue if we do but it DOES offend people. A lot of people.

In his post, Hicks suggests that someone take a “clicker” and try to count the number of times a person is confronted with overt or implied Christian thought and dogma in a day. I’m pretty interested in seeing people do this and finding out what the real number is. Hicks suggested to his friends that it would be at least two times an hour. I would venture to say more.

What can be done about it? In all honesty, nothing. My husband and I will continue to try to educate people we know about the fact that atheists are not people to be feared in some fashion. I will continue to explain when I don’t bow my head in public events that I’m not Christian but I’m happy to keep my head up and remain respectfully silent. And if someone wants to engage me or my husband on the topic we’ll continue to talk.

I just think it’s pretty sad that a guy that is a stand-up and fantastic as my husband has to deal with the kind of statistically marginalization that the U of M study revealed.

God Save the Queen · ago by Amberlee

Today is the 80th birthday of England’s monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. While much may be said with regard to the relevance of the monarchy in modern times, and even more might be said when it comes to Elizabeth’s seeming inability to raise children with the moral fortitude and clarity required to lead what was once the world’s great super-power, such criticisms can be said of most of the truly significant rulers of British history.

Queen Elizabeth, as a young girl, had no idea she might one day ascend the throne. The abdication of her uncle to wed a divorced commoner and the untimely death of her father brought her to rule England at a young age. She helped to see her country through the difficult years of World War II. At the tender age of eighteen she toured the battlefields of Italy and began to perform many of the official duties of Head of State. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Services as the equivalent of a second lieutenant to show her commitment to both her people and the war effort.

Since her ascension to the throne at the age of twenty-six, Elizabeth has seen many changes both to society and the monarchy. She has weathered many storms always with a “stiff upper lip,” a mind toward her duty, and a strong sense of purpose. If for no other reason than her fifty-four years of rule, Elizabeth II will go down in history as one of the great monarchs of British history. Will her children and grandchildren find her example hard to live up to? Will they be able to follow her with the dignity and grace with which she carries the mantel of Queen? Such things remain to be seen. However, the now octogenarian should be praised for her individual contributions to the people and her country. It is a far fair number more of monarchs whose rule is hopelessly flawed and spends more time and money mired in self-indulgence than ones that care about the image and stature of their country and their people.

Good on ya, Elizabeth. Here’s to many more!

The Death of the RPG · ago by Amberlee

I’m about to go on a rant here about console games that have the term RPG tacked onto them. Call me a bitter old cow that used to roll dice or logon to a text based MUD to do my Role Play, but the games today are not RPGs and I’m getting damn tired of that term being used for things that are, in all honesty, interactive movies.

When I have played a game for upwards of 70 hours and spent more than 2/3 of that time watching story cut scenes or having the system load the next map up every twenty to thirty seconds because the graphics are so pretty and intensive that I can’t just run around the world and hack things to my heart’s content it is no longer a role play game. When there is only one way for the game to end (and I’m not talking about super secret endings that get tacked on to the end of the end of the end but actual different resolutions to the story line) it is no longer a role play game. When the computer selects my party for me and won’t let me ditch or change people at will, I don’t consider that to be much of a RPG anymore. Just because you have to run around and kill things that have some kind of fantasy association, wield something, and have HP, MP, and abilities or potions doesn’t automatically mean that the game is ROLE PLAY.

In specific, I’m bitching about the new Kingdom Hearts. I’m not going to spoil you folks on detail but I’ll tell you that I agree with IGN and other that say, “well, it’s nice to look at but if you’re looking for interesting game play look somewhere else.” I think IGN giving it a 7.5 on that front was pretty generous. Only one boss fight is optional. There is only one way for the story to end. I spent at least 35-40 hours just WATCHING CHARACTERS TALK.

Look, if Disney and Sqeenix wanted to put out a movie of KH I would have been happy to watch it. I also would have wasted less of my life and gotten better graphics out of it. That’s not to say that KH isn’t pretty—it is—but it is, without a doubt, an interactive movie. You can’t friendly fire your party members. You can walk off a cliff and die. You can’t turn evil. You can’t make decisions along the way of the story that will change the ending or cause you to not get certain bosses instead of others. You have to keep certain party members and are forced to take others at different points no matter what you think of it.

As much as I hated the fanservice of the “dress spheres” in FFX-2, it was a far superior RPG to KH-2. If you wanted all the “jobs” and outfits you had to play the game through AT LEAST twice. With all the job classes it meant loads of work to get all of your skills powered up to the max. There were three different dungeons that were optional that not only gave you great fights and good places to level up but also gave you additional story that had nothing to do with the “main plot” but was darn interesting. You could finish FFX-2 with only 43% of the story line complete if you just wanted to get to the end. The secrets and minigames were harder, more interesting, and had better payoffs. I had MONTHS of gameplay out of FFX-2. That’s a good value for your money!

While KH-2 has made improvements in several areas over the original, and gives plenty of fanservice for us Square fans that love our Final Fantasy folk, the game itself is a bust as an RPG. I have about 80 hours of play time in and only have of that was play. In addition, I have no desire to play it again. I have Sora at level 99, I have every special weapon. I have all the special armor. I have killed everything I can kill and gotten to see every cut scene there is. All I can do is ask myself why I bothered other than a couple of FF fanservice moments that covered, at best 2 hours of combined cutscene and gameplay time.

I am sick of games that take the easy way out made by companies that know better. I know that KH is probably directed at a “younger” bunch of people because of the Disney name but that’s no excuse for this. If I wanted to watch a movie I would go to the theater and pay 7.50 for a ticket.

I'm so productive · ago by Amberlee

Yes, I know. The shock of the fact that I have updated and it hasn’t been a month or more must have you running for your bottles of nitroglycerine.

In spite of the fact that my doctor has requested that I go on such a low carb diet (30 or less total carbs – not net carbs but total carbs – a day) that I am a cranky tired woman on a constant basis, I am being fairly productive. I’ve begun work on the next chapter of my original project. I have the billing and invoicing for the business up to date. I have entered in all of the credit charges for the business and I’m even reconciling those and the bank statements so that I am 100% spot on for up through the start of March. I have gone through the business files and retired all the non-2006 documents for the letter A today and I expect to get through at least D before I leave the office. I have also administered two certification exams and expect to do another before days end.

Woot! Go me! I will feel absolutly no guilt whatsoever that I am about to spend from 6pm tonight until god knows when doing nothing but playing Kingdom Hearts II. I expect I will surface some time on Sunday to do yard work but I’m not going to bet on it. I have now done enough that I feel no need to give anything of myself to society at large until KH is done.

In other news, I was listening to NPR on the way to the office today and they had someone doing an OP/Ed thing on immigration issues. Since it’s been proven that no one really cares about the gay marriage thing as a political football (and the popularity of Brokeback in this country pretty much told the Republican party to drop that as a topic like a hot potato) now they are ragging on immigrants to push the fear buttons of conservative middle America. My white-haired mother, father, and step-father all spend loads of time these days complaining about immigrants of all shapes and colors: they are dangerous, illegals should be deported, they cost too much money, they pay no taxes, they aren’t intellegent, and oh, btw, they take jobs from American workers. This from people who are on Social Security and haven’t worked in more than five years. Yeah, the influx of Mexican’s in New Mexico and Arizona really hurts you guys and you’re ability to get a job washing dishes, doing hard labor in your yard, cleaning your houses, watching your kids, and taking care of your trash. I’m sure you’d love to come out of retirement to do construction. And I know that you’d be happy to see all of your college-educated children give up their day jobs in the nursing, technology, and education fields to take jobs cleaning toilets in office buildings. That’s why it’s so hard for you in Indiana and why our taxes are going up to cover services for immigrent workers and their children in this state. Not.

Don’t get me wrong here. There are some serious problems with immigration right now in this country. In many of the southern most states there are some real public health, education, and tax issues involved as the result of illegal immigration. Back when they did the last amnesty for illegal immigrants they gave aboutu 2.7 million of them a by and let them get citizenship. Note that it did nothing to solve the problem. Now we’ve got more than 12 million that they are trying to legalize. While I don’t, on some levels, have a problem with that idea (most of these folks are contributing to our society and have paying jobs, even if it’s not legal) I do think that it sends the wrong message.

The essential question that people need to ask is: why and how do these people keep coming here? We have laws that are supposed to keep people from employing individuals without immigration papers. Only 3 companies in the ENTIRE COUNTRY got fined last year for hiring illegal immigrants, yet we have over 12 million of them here? What’s wrong with that picture? The IRS has the ability and databases available to companies to ensure they are not getting bogus social security numbers from people. Obviously, neither the IRS or companies are doing their job in this regard. As for those that complain that the influx illegals from countries to our south takes work from Americans, I say this: Americans don’t want those jobs anyway. I’m not saying that it isn’t important that legal immigrants and citizens have a fair shake in the job market (and I think it is totally unfair that people go unpunished for breaking the law and hiring illegals) but I am saying that even if these jobs were not being filled by illegal immigrants I doubt they would get filled by citizens. How many people do you know that would take a job in a slaughter house if it were offered to them? How about cleaning out sewers? I challenge you to watch the show “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel and to ask yourself if you would do something like that if it was the only thing you could find to feed your family or if, instead, you’d rather be on the dole (as they like to put it over the pond in the UK).

The true problem with immigration has nothing to do with giving people amnesty and everything to do with enforcement of current law. If we dried up the source of jobs, cracked down on giving driving licenses to illegals, and put more manpower into patroling the border I think you’d see a heck of a downward trend in the number of illegal immigrants you find in this country. These people are here because they can find work, and get paid well for it. If they can’t get funds, can’t get housing, and can’t get services they will either leave or turn to crime. One would hope they’d just go home instead of filling our jails but I suppose that’s something we’d just have to wait and see.

In addition, enforcing current laws will also reduce the bigoted complaining that people like myself have to listen to from people like my parents. One of our employees is hispanic. He’s in college. He is a citizen. His mother and his grandparents are citizens. However, because his last name is Garcia he constantly gets looked down on and given a bunch of crap. And we’re in Indiana. He moved up here from Texas so he figures things are a lot better than they were but still. From profiling to snide comments this poor guy has to deal with a whole lot of crap. It’s totally unfair.

And, while I have largely focused up to this point on the issue of immigrants from Mexico and Central America and made some blanket statements with regard to jobs and education, don’t think that I’m one of those people that thinks all immigrants are nothing but low-wage earners and uneducated people that can’t speak English. I’ve known Frenchmen that have moved here. I’ve known Englishmen that have moved here. I’ve never known a Canadian that moved here (and why would they want to?) but I’ve met people from Africa to Australia and Prague to Peru that have come to the US to live and work. The majority of these people have college educations and work high-paying jobs. They pay their taxes just like everyone else and have a strong sense of pride about living in the US. For the entire debate about immigration to focus only on low-wage jobs (instead of enforcement, immigration limits, border patrol, and visa issuance) is short sighted. For that matter, a lot of people come to this country to get their college educations.

Have we got a problem? yes. Can it be solved without new legislation? Yes. But having my mom say crap like, “Soon we’ll have riots like France if they don’t deport all these wetbacks” is just so offensive and pisses me off so much that I had to do a brain dump about it here. Hopefully this will keep me from doing anymore than frowning at her and writing my Senator and Congresspeople. I mean, geesh. Can’t we all just get along!

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