"We're exempt" 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

"Compassion" justifies the sanctuary movement in their opinion. Our laws limiting who and how many may enter the US are an outrageous violation of the virtue of compassion, they seem to think. Instead of working to change those laws they consider un-compassionate (as our system allows), they choose to defy the lawfully created rules.

That's very bad policy. It won't work for them and it won't work for America.

Of course we need laws, and of course the laws should be enforced. Citizens who want completely open borders make a claim that is irrational, and they have left common sense behind. No other country's borders are open in that way, and for good reason.

If "no one is illegal [image]," then no one is safe either.

"We're exempt" 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

A 32-year-old woman, Kate Steinle, died in July of 2015 while walking in San Francisco. She was with her father and a friend when a man, Jose Garcia-Zarate, shot her in the back. He was in the US illegally and had a long criminal record.

He had earlier been arrested on a drug warrant. US immigration officials asked San Francisco police to hold him for a couple days, but they dropped charges and released him. Kate was shot less than three months later. He said at his murder trial that it was an accident. The jury found him innocent of that but guilty of a minor charge. Then an appeals court threw out that charge. He was only deported--for the seventh time.

How could a man here illegally break our laws, kill one of us, and get home free?

Under our previous president's administration, immigrants illegally crossing our border were set free and told to show up later in court for processing. One example in 2022 from Venezuela went to New York (sanctuary city), was housed at the Crown Plaza hotel, and then requested to be flown to Georgia. Taxpayers paid for his flight, then in Georgia he brutally killed a nursing student, Laken Riley (photo).

from Imprimis

(cont'd tomorrow)

"We're exempt"

Our first president, trusted for his integrity, was elected unanimously. George Washington "was, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great man" according to Thomas Jefferson. Some thought he was so good that he should be made into a king.

But he rejected the idea then, and we don't want a king today. Why? A king can be a tyrant with power to overwhelm the people. America is a republic. Our representatives are elected by citizens to make laws that govern us according to the people's will--not a king's will. We call ourselves a nation of laws (not men) and we enforce those laws.

That is, we all did respect and enforce our laws . . until recently. Now, segments of this country declare themselves exempt from laws they don't like. That's the "sanctuary" movement (image). It started with the city of Berkeley, California, back in 1971 and now it's that whole state and more.

A long list of cities, counties, and states declare that they refuse to enforce America's immigration laws.

from Imprimis

(cont'd tomorrow)

Unmanned

You probably saw the 2022 movie "Top Gun: Maverick." Here's the trailer, in case the years have dulled your memory of its entertainment value. Great as that was, this technology expert says that the movie's action is already outdated.

Its theme is a dangerous aviation mission requiring singular, dazzling flying skill. The question is, do we today need manned aircraft to accomplish that kind of mission? The answer is, No. Unmanned military drones can do the job.

Consider their abilities. They are unaffected by high G forces, which can cause a human pilot to black out if high enough. AI does not black out. Drones can also carry a map stored in its computer, thus not needing any GPS signals. 

Better than any of these advantages is the fact that no pilot has to risk his or her life on this mission.

from Mind Matters

(cont'd tomorrow)

Welfare Europe

Sustainable agriculture (examples in the last two posts) is farming that preserves resources that we depend on. Unsustainable methods would eventually mean that soil or water quality won't be there for future farming.

It's a good word that can be used in other contexts. An unsustainable over-spending habit, for instance, results in a serious lack of money in the future. Some Europeans worry about that very thing on a national scale in their countries.

Over-spending has been the story for decades. Europeans pride themselves on extravagant welfare hand-outs. They consider it a core European value to be very generous. But how long can anyone keep giving away more money than they have? 

Last summer the Prime Minister of France made a serious attempt to reign in his country's spending because he realized they are drowning in debt. "The life of the nation is at stake," he told them (photo).

But the proposed budget cut was bitter medicine for voters, and they rejected it--and him as well. He left office in September.

from The Stream

(cont'd tomorrow)

Way too big

Everybody has known it for a long time: the federal government's spending habit has grown too big and needs trimming. Actually, what we need is not a simple trim but a huge haircut.

We spend enormously on education, but outcomes are mediocre; on health care, but outcomes are below standard; on welfare payments, but without prosperity.

All this spending put us so deeply in debt that many think we'll never recover. As you may have heard, the interest we pay on our debt at the national level surpassed the entire U.S. Defense budget last year. That's not sustainable. We need drastic remediation.

Vibe shift 4

Follow-up to these posts

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos (photo) just made an additional change to the newspaper. In perhaps another example of the "vibe shift," he directed the opinion pages to write in support and defense of two new themes. He calls them "pillars," probably in the sense of American foundational values: personal liberty and free markets.

 

Not everyone is happy about it, so I have to wonder just what they have against personal liberty and free markets (rather than forced or coerced ones). When he asked his opinion pages editor to manage this new direction, the man chose to quit his job instead.

Other subjects will be addressed, but the policy shift is clear. "Viewpoints opposing those pillars," he says, "will be left to be published by others." 

from his X post

Overspent

America's over-spending has gotten us into a dangerous position, so the new administration is taking steps to curtail that spending. Some people are very upset about their funds ending. They can't go on doing things the same way.

But we have to put a lid on the spending, so choices are being made about what to restrict or end altogether. 

Watch this bitter man be outraged when his wife's organization is targeted for cutbacks. He says the money just "stopped. Doesn't matter if you had a contract;" they expected "another million" and then the money just stopped. Wait . . millions? For what?

The man and his wife are British, and she is shown teaching Afghani peasants about Western deviant art. We don't feel sorry for them. It's not as if they have a right to millions of American taxpayers' dollars.

Poor learning

(cont'd from this post)

Our former Secretary of Education has seen the NAEP reports on how well our children are learning in school in recent years, and she is alarmed. Reading and math skills are declining.

 

 "Declines in student performance date back about a decade," exacerbated by Covid measures.

Since 1979 when the U.S. Dept. of Education was created, hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent but students are less proficient (image). They're spending $80 billion per year and achieving no improvement. That's not a worthy return on investment.

Her advice: shut it down.

 from The Free Press

Sleep pods

No doubt, you've heard about DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency). It officially started operating under the new U.S. administration on Inauguration Day with a mandate to make the federal government more efficient.

Its leader, entrepreneur Elon Musk, is working from the time he wakes up until the time he sleeps, he says. His young staff (age 19-25) may be sleeping at the office, as Musk does.

Founder (photo) and owner of Eight Sleep is apparently a big fan of the concept. He shipped "bed pods" to the office: "I hope this will supercharge @elonmusk and the incredible team to shape the future of America. Let's go."

Not earned?

DEI policies were promoted as fairness of outcomes, the idea that all results of any activity should be equal. But the natural "diversity" of human beings makes that impossible. 

Instead of outside force, the solution is still to build virtue among the individuals in community. Rewards must come by merit, by earning the rewards of your work with skill and achievement.

Here's an individual (from a post on X) who gets it right:

"DEI has placed an asterisk on the achievements of every black person and woman in a prestigious role. It’s caused those people and the public to reasonably doubt whether they earned their role by merit or agenda. This hurts black people, women, and public trust."

Yes, it does.

Clear cut

Much of northern Michigan is a hardwood or pine forest (photo), so valuable to the state and to the environment. It takes a long time to replace such a forest; estimates run from 40-100 years.

 

You'd think a forest like that would be protected, especially by environmentalists. But there's a proposal to clear 420 acres of it.

This parcel of land may be clear cut for a solar array: solar panels to cut our dependence on fossil fuels, solar panels to help save the environment. 

Pursuant to a law passed by the governor and legislature in 2023, utilities will have to get 80% of their power from clean energy sources by 2035. That's going to be a stretch.

State representatives say they don't like the idea of killing wildlife and trees to set up solar panels.

from The Detroit News

Rape gangs 3

(cont'd from last Friday's post)

Yes, authorities knew about the rape gangs and chose to ignore them. Many acknowledge it.

For decades in the West in general, students have been taught that no society or culture is any better than any other (multicultularism) as I saw for myself in my son's history text book. In Britain, many don't dare to complain or even mention that the gangs are largely immigrants from Pakistan who prey on white, working-class girls. They, including police, are silenced and terrified of being called "racist."

All this is open now because a few outraged people are talking about it. Elon Musk has been posting evidence on X (former Twitter) to his enormous global audience:

 

Well-known psychologist Jordan Peterson is outspoken (48.00-49.30) in this interview. It's sickening, he says, to watch the UK ignore these crimes and then gaslight people who try to tell the truth.

Disparity

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Must all racial disparity (variance or difference) in any context be understood as the result of hostile, hidden racism? It should be easy to see through such an extremely over-simplified generalization. Here's some data from the address. and it may not be comfortable to hear. (The data is not documented. If you question it, do research of your own.)

In 2019, half of all black 12th graders had not mastered basic reading, and two-thirds had not mastered arithmetic and how to read a graph." According to the ACT, a standardized college admissions test, only three percent of black high school seniors were college ready in 2023." These are serious concerns - but they don't mean that college exams are racist.

Politicians (like our current president) may say that being a black person is much more dangerous than being white. Actually, that's true. "Blacks between the ages of ten and 24 are killed in drive by shootings at nearly 25 times the rate of whites in that same age cohort. Dozens of blacks are murdered every day, more than all white and Hispanic homicide victims combined . . "

But it's because of black-on-black crime, not the implied reason that white people (especially police) are always on the attack. 

There's a skills gap between races and a behavior gap. The solution is to deal with and to close those gaps, not to vilify the whole white race.

from Hillsdale

Europe burns 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Overwhelming waves of immigrants/refugees have been crashing into Europe for years. 

In a report from 2015, five times the normal limit were daily coming over the borders between Slovenia (map) and Croatia. Slovenian interior secretary of state said, "If this continues we will have extreme problems. Slovenia is already in dire straits, an impossible situation."

European countries were still trying to handle the crisis in 2018, combining humanitarian aid with new border laws, all strategies provoking controversy and argument.

Illegal immigrants still flood into Germany, which expects more of them in 2024 than in any year since 2016. Citizens who object (called "far right") are gaining political success, to the point that the establishment government is paying attention. 

They hope to speed up deportation of failed asylum seekers, and to enlist the help of other countries (like Turkey or Nigeria) in restraining them from making the journey across the Mediterranean.

from BBC

Europe burns 1

Ireland's population as of 2024 is 5.2 million (for comparison, U.S. population is 336 million). Their government imported 140,000 immigrants into Ireland over the year ending April 2023. For comparison, that would be, percentage-wise, as if the U.S. government imported 9 million into our country in just one year. It took the last three years for that number to come across our borders.

It's too much to assimilate and too fast. The "powder keg" that is the immigration issue blew up in November when an Algerian immigrant who had been supported at public expense for 23 years stabbed 4-5 people including kids in front of a school. Frustration and anger broke out in violent riots on the streets of Dublin.

photo

Native Irish don't like being replaced with non-benevolent foreigners whom they must support, but they are told by the people in power that they are lunatics. "Police blamed 'a lunatic faction driven by a right-wing ideology' for the riot in Dublin."

from "Ireland's pro-immigration elites are driving the country to the brink."

(cont'd tomorrow)

Affirmative 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Subsequent to that 1954 Supreme Court decision, "affirmative action" began in the 1960's as a way to counter the discrimination of the past against African Americans, to bring their opportunities up to the normal level of other racial groups in America. 

That's sixty years of favor for one race over other races in college admissions: the same discriminating racial policy that gave rise to Jim Crow laws, but with the favor (on a smaller scale) going to the black race instead of the white race. 

Giving special favors to one race means that other races are excluded from those favors. What if your race is disfavored in the future? It was wrong in 1896, and it's still wrong. Racial favor/disfavor was pronounced unlawful in 1954. It took til last week, til 2023, for the Court to specify that, yes, Harvard University's admissions must fall under that decision.

photo

"Having prohibited the government from using racial references in any other sector, [the Court] closed the only exception remaining – higher education. Even Harvard is no longer above the law." 

One of the judges voiced strong agreement. You might be surprised at which one it is.

from AEI

(cont'd tomorrow)

Affirmative 1

It sounds good, the word "affirm." So the term "affirmative action" should be entirely good and uncontroversial, right? 

Unfortunately the term is used in the U.S. for racial discrimination practiced by many college-level schools. Harvard University has used it for decades to favor black applicants over Asian and white applicants. But a decision of the Supreme Court may mean that will have to stop.

Back in 1896, SCOTUS (the Supreme Court of the United States) made a decision (Plessy v. Ferguson) that started the Jim Crow era of racial laws that favored white Americans. By today's standards, it was a truly wrong decision.

photo

Only one justice dissented from the Court's majority opinion. He was a former slave-owner from Kentucky who saw the injustice, saying "Our Constitution is color-blind." On that basis, laws which restrict the rights of black citizens are wrong, unlawful, unconstitutional.

Finally that bad decision was overturned. In 1954, SCOTUS decided (Brown v. Board of Education) to forbid racial favoritism in schools. Since then we've been trying for decades to enforce a non-race-based policy everywhere . . because it's unfair to favor a certain race.

from AEI

(cont'd tomorrow)

Green Finland

Nuclear plants are expensive to build. Once they're built, they require a long time to test and certify. There haven't been many new ones lately, but Europe has one that just went into daily production of energy. 

Finland's new nuclear (very low carbon emissions) power plant started up just last month, while Germany was shutting down its last three and increasing their coal mining. 

map

Europe's "most powerful reactor" will help Finland reach the European Union's goals toward  renewable energy. Back in 2021, renewable sources provided only 22% of the 27-member EU's power consumption. They are talking about setting a new, ambitious goal 0f 42.5% by the year 2030.

Fossil fuels (oil and natural gas) have long been imported from Russia, which became even more of a problem for the EU when Russia started its war with Ukraine. They would very much like to eliminate that energy source, and hope to do so by 2027.

EV charging 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

U.S. government policy at this time is all-in with electric vehicles. Last year the president, the Dept. of Transportation, and the Dept. of Energy announced that $5B - five billion dollars - is going toward a national electric vehicle charging network.

States will use the money to build the charging network, subject to their federally-approved plan, primarily along the Interstate Highway System. It seems drivers will pay a fee to use it, so that 1956 law against selling products at the rest stops will have to be changed.

The new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation was formed to facilitate the joint function of the two departments. Their website, Drive Electric, describes what they're creating:

"A modernized and interagency approach to support the deployment of zero-emission, convenient, accessible, equitable transportation infrastructure"

photo

from Dept. of Energy