Term Limit Ruling For Dummies
The state Supreme Court term limits ruling means that a many incumbents are not eligible for re-election. State law does not allow the changing the ballot within 40 days of a election, either. Hence, it appears that incumbents who are over the term limit are not eligible to serve if elected. What this means is that your vote still does not count.
Big Box Mart
Jibjab.com shows us the future in the hilarous Big Box Mart clip. Enjoy.
Another Take On Illegal Immigration
Manish at Damn Foreigner blog comments on illegal immigration from the viewpoint of a legal immigrant. As a legal immigrant myself, I thought I'd offer some counterpoints to his arguments:They should get in line like the legal immigrants did.
Manish: "Many illegal immigrants don't qualify for [immigration benefits], they have no line to stand in."
Appalachistan: "Most Americans don't qualify for free healthcare, and you don't see the Congress flocking to provide one. Most Americans don't qualify for free college education, either. Just because there are no certain benefits offered for a class of residents doesn't mean they have to be provided, especially for a class of residents that's breaking the law to obtain those benefits.
If the immigration reform bill passes, not only will undocumented aliens get in line; their immediate relatives -- spouses, children and parents -- will as well. The proposed bill contains restructuring of family based visa categories, meaning green card holders can (theoretically) bring in their families a lot faster. On the other hand, the proposed bill contains no increased appropriations for the immigrations benefits processing side of USCIS, meaning that the whole process will most likely halt to a standstill -- resulting in more illegal immigration."Illegal immigration is unfair to legal immigrants.
Manish: "Illegal immigrants aren't hurting me in any way shape or form. Illegal immigration is a victimless crime."
Appalachistan: "A study by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council (NRC) estimated that immigration was responsible for 44 percent of the decline in wages that people with little or no education experienced between 1980 to 1994. 13 million workers, a group that roughly corresponds to the poorest 11 percent of the labor force, are experiencing an immigration-induced reduction in wages of roughly 5 percent or $13 billion a year. We've already shipped well-paying manufacturing jobs abroad, now we're about to decimate the "living wage" job market altogether.
Ironically, illegal immigrants help to hide the huge deficits in the social security system with billions of dollars annually. Should this work force all of a sudden start withdrawing social security benefits, it would radically hasten the collapse of the American welfare system just as baby boomers attain retirement age."We should just kick all of them out.
Manish: "There are over 10 million illegal immigrants in this country. Even if we could find them all and deport them, then what? Who would work on the farms, restaurants and hotels? The impact on the US economy would be devastating."
Appalachistan: "I doubt that kicking illegals out would have any effect on the problem. Do illegal immigrants work on jobs that Americans do not want? Of course not! If American doctors were paid $5.00 an hour, they wouldn't be working those hospital jobs either. Illegals find work because employers are not willing to pay fair wages for those jobs. In addition, I contend that any undocumented alien that gets a green card will leave his or her slave labor job and seek better employment, competing for jobs that current legal residents do want. Wanna bet how many current workers would find themselves all of a sudden "overqualified" for their job? The impact on the U.S. economy would be equally devastating. The only reason illegals work on the farms, restaurants and hotels is provides the employers a means of making extra profit."Legalizing illegals is rewarding them.
Manish: "Good public policy is good public policy and shouldn't be looked at with exacting retribution. If you believe that illegal immigration shouldn't be rewarded, then stop eating American grown agriculture products."
Appalachistan: "Since CAFTA, most of the produce found in grocery stores around here already comes from Central America. The problem is not that legalizing illegal aliens is rewarding them, the issue is that it sends a message: Come on over illegally, if there are enough of you here, we'll yield and let you stay. Furthermore, legalizing a single illegal alien is a "foot in the door" for a dozen more (immediate relatives). I can't see how a policy that deflates wages of the general population and burdens the already strained social security system is good public policy. In the long run, it will hit the wallet of every one of us."America is the land of immigrants, and immigration is what has made America great. But the current "immigration reform" is nothing but an exploitation scheme that hurts both undocumented aliens and average U.S. citizens for a short term benefit of a few rich and powerful.(Kudos to Say Uncle for the link).
Clogged Artery
Knox County Commissioner Mark Cawood writes in his blog how getting a permission from the state of Tennessee to replace the one lane bridge on Byington-Ball Camp Road took years of fighting against DOT bureaucrats. While I commend Commissioner Cawood for his effort, I think his energy in this matter has been misdirected; in fact, I see widening the bridge about as useful as changing a flat tire when the engine has blown up. Allow me to elaborate:State Route 131 along Byington-Beaver Ridge Rd to Byington-Ballcamp Rd is the main artery - the only major road - between the “Karns Red Light” intersection on Oak Ridge Highway in Karns and Middlebrook Pike/Hardin Valley Rd. Over 10,000 vehicles take the route daily. On the Karns side, the posted speed limit is 20mph, but the real vehicle speed is seldom under 45mph, and the narrow has to handle traffic going to and from the Karns Middle School along Garrison Rd., and coming from Byington-Solway Road towards Oak Ridge.At the one lane railway underpass, there are blind corners to both directions - certainly more dangerous than the one lane bridge. Furthermore, the road forks there to Westbridge Industrial Park, which due to some unfathomable idiocy of zoning planners also hosts the Karns High School. Every morning and afternoon, commuters and parents picking up their children are forced to play chicken with school buses, freight trains and semi-trucks getting in and out of the industrial park. Bridge construction on Byington-Ballcamp will direct traffic to the industrial park and make the situation even worse.As early as in 1997, the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization recommended building the "Karns Connector", a four-lane road from West Emory Road to Oak Ridge Highway to Harding Valley Road, bypassing the SR 131 in Karns entirely. In the Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission's 15 year transportation plan from the year 2002, improving the Ball Camp-Byington Road and Byington-Beaver Ridge Road connectors were deemed infeasible, and the recommended solution was to build the Karns Connector. In the Knox County Five Year Capital Improvement Plan, funding for Karns Connector was recommended for years 2005 and 2007. However, in the latest Knox County budget, completing the Karns Connector has been postponed until 2009!Meanwhile, I suppose one will have to be grateful for small favors.
Nature's Choice
In the battle between Creationism and Evolutionism, bird flu is a win-win situation for us Darwinistas: If the Evolution Theory is baloney and the bird flu virus does not mutate to be contageous between humans, then we'll all be safe. If the Evolution Theory works, well... then there's fixin to be a lot fewer Creationists around.
Meanwhile, In The Netherlands
Speaking of immigration reforms, those whacky Dutch have figured out a way to proactively prevent Muslim riots (say, over a cartoon) in their country. In order to be able to move to the Netherlands, the prospective immigrant will have to pass a "civic integration exam" that includes watching a movie of two men making out and women with bared breasts. The film is compulsory viewing for prospective immigrants, preparing them for new Dutch language and culture exams that require up to 375 hours of study in their home country. Luckily for any potential Dutchmen (and -women) from our beloved Appalachistan, only migrants from outside Europe, North America and Australasia (gee, I wonder who they mean, wink-wink) must buy the movie, which costs 350 euros ($417).
Buy A Voter, Pay Later
Supporters of the illegal immigrant amnesty program (so called "immigration reform") argue that the 12 plus million illegal immigrants already in the U.S. are a benefit to our economy. Naively, they claim that these illegals work in jobs that no U.S. citizen will accept. The truth is, the reason why no legal U.S. resident will accept these jobs is because they don't pay enough to make a living, and by employing illegal immigrants, the employer does not have to pay fees to the government that are required for legal workers. Surely no sane person thinks that Mexicans are so stupid that they happily toil in minimum wage (or less) jobs under dreadful conditions out of the goodness of their heart? Illegal immigrants are cheap labor precisely because they are illegal immigrants. Although they are protected by the same laws as legal residents, employers are able to exploit illegals, who fear for consequences (i.e. deportation) if they fight for their rights. If (when) the U.S. legalizes 12 million undocumented immigrants, we'll all of a sudden have 12 million workers who will not work for peanuts. These people will know their rights, and their rights will not come cheap for existing U.S. taxpayers. We'll see mass unionizations in previously black market industries. And worst of all, when the 12 million illegals get legalized and are able to move up on the social ladder, or join the ranks of the unemployed welfare recipients, we'll have a void left behind for an influx of another 12 million illegal immigrants.Supporters of immigration amnesty also conveniently ignore the fact that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations bureau (USCIS) is on the verge of a collapse. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just released a report accusing the USCIS of failed organizational infrastructure and massive mismanagement and corruption. The GAO reports that 33 percent of religious worker visas were issued fraudulently, including evidence that radical Islamists, with ties to terrorist organizations, have used the religious worker visa category to gain admission to the United States. The GAO concludes that the proposed Guest Worker Amnesty program will cause the bureau to implode under the increased work load, and will substantially increase the possibility that foreign terrorists will gain entry to the U.S.Any way you look at it, the illegal immigration amnesty is a short-sighted ploy driven by the greed of the Big Business. In the long run, it benefits neither the undocumented aliens in the U.S. today nor the legal U.S. taxpayers. For our congressmen, with 12 million new loyal votes in their pocket, do you think your vote counts anymore?
