Bigotry is the issue, not immigration

I have long argued the position that so-called illegal immigration is an issue that the United States has had to deal with in the past and will have to continue to deal with in the future. In a series of ionic twists, again reminding me how little Americans really know about what is going on in their own country, much less the rest of the world, I have discovered that not only am I right, but that the memory of many Americans is subjective at best and revisionist at worst.

According to Michele Wucker's book Lockout, it was not until World War II that the United States even began keeping serious track of immigrants in the United States. Up until the early 1900's they were encouraged to vote! It was in the early 1980's that it became a crime to knowingly hire an illegal alien, but (and there is a huge one here) immigration officials could not raid outdoor agricultural operations without a warrant (and one assumes they still cannot). So the party line about "assimilating like my grandparents did" (and according to history - the facts, not what is remembered - this is also not the case, more than 50% of immigrants actually never naturalized, sent money back home [to countries in Europe rather than Central and South America] and eventually returned to their home countries themselves) is little more than romantic hogwash at best and shrouded bigotry at worst.

The current debate in the United States is being lead by a small, vocal group of old white men who are more afraid of the growth of the Latino/Hispanic minority than they are about the so-called costs of "illegal" immigration and their racist attempts to deny services will only result in increases in tax burdens and continued decreases in real revenues.

Fear Obesity before Terror

Two items crossed my desk this morning that deserve a moment of thought. The first is the battle between Congress and the White House over SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program). I can understand the White House's reluctance to "increase" spending on anything. After all, there is not a lot of money left after their last request for Iraq spending, but in this case, the funds seem to be self-generating (as much as any can be) in the form of a sin tax on cigarettes. Of course, here in the United States, the idea of the sin tax is not as well documented as it is in Canada, but they are starting to catch on. Heck, I would be willing to pay an increased alcohol tax as well if it went to keeping children healthy.

It is the part about keeping children healthy that I am most in favor of. After all, a healthy child will eventually become a healthy adult and a healthy adult will not need as much in the way of medical coverage and costs. This is a key issue and one that is lost on a number of people (but not the drug or insurance industries). Bill Maher, on his HBO program the other night, commented on a Duke study that showed regular exercise and proper diet was as effective in battling depression as Paxil and Zoloft (two highly proscribed anti-depression drugs). Now, I am not belittling depression in and of itself, even though I have a note pad that says something to the effect of "Prozac? Haven't they ever heard of a martini?" I am sure there are some forms of depression that can only be treated medically, but I have to wonder how many of those people currently taking depression medications really need them.

This is a similar argument about ADD and other childhood "diseases" that practically did not exist even a dozen years ago. The reasons for this are pretty easy to document. First, children, generally, received routine, in depth physicals and the doctors that saw them knew their patients. Secondly, the children got a lot more exercise than they do today. Even elementary school students today are coddled to the extent that you would think they were made of fine china. Yet their parents grew up in a age where bicycles were ridden without helmets, playground equipment was often mounted over asphalt and dodge ball, tag and other "socially demeaning" games were routine. Yet we now feel we need to put our children in protective gear to be bused across the street where they are supposed to wait quietly in rows, inside, for school to start. And when was the last time you saw six kids playing a pick up game of any sort? Certainly not in most communities where you need a permit from the jurisdiction to even be on the fields.

We are doing ourselves and the next generation a disservice. We are over medicating, under exercising and generally coddling away any self-esteem or desire to succeed in these kids. Further, we are showing them that, as adults, reacting to irrational fears is perfectly acceptable behavior.

Which brings me to my next point. Tom Toles, the OpEd cartoonist for the Washington Post, had this cartoon in his corner yesterday. At what point are we, the voter, going to actually stop being afraid of our shadow and the shadow of September 11 and get on with our life? In a number of posts around the Internet, those of us that hold the view that being afraid is no way to live are shouted down by the lame argument that "you wouldn't say that if you lost a loved one." Well, frankly, yes, I would. And I tell you this because I have a very pragmatic outlook on life. If it is your time, then there is not a thing you can do about it. This is not to say I do not take the necessary precautions. I lock my doors, I drive defensively and I avoid dark places at night when I am alone. But I have also walked at night in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and a dozen other cities and not felt the least bit scared.

If terrorists want to blow up a building, they will find a way to do it. Ironically, terrorism is all about terror (go figure) and the more press they get about the plots they do not execute, the more effective the campaign is. But I really am not about to surrender my liberties and freedoms just to prevent them from blowing up a building or bringing down an airliner. As Americans, we seem to be able to do a pretty good job of that ourselves just through general neglect, yet that does not generate the same degree of fear that a guy with explosives in his shoe does (which would do little more than punch a hole in the plane and force a rapid decent by the way). In some ways, I could almost support the argument of every person carries a gun onto the plane. Almost. I would be more worried about the drunk in 8D shooting me than I am about some nut job hijacking us to Cuba, or Aruba or the White House lawn.

I am not immortal or invulnerable. However, I am not afraid of my shadow or of the boogie man, whoever he might be. When my ticket is punched, that is it, game over. As the comic once said, if I die in debt, I win!

SCO: Put a fork in it.

SCO says there is 'substantial doubt' it will survive: In SEC filing, company cites cash Chapter 11, legal setbacks By Robert McMillan September 18, 2007 (Computerworld) -- With its cash reserves running out and its legal case against IBM Corp. unraveling, The SCO Group Inc. says there is doubt that it will remain afloat. SCO made the statement in its most recent quarterly U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission statement, filed today. The company cited its recent motion for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as well as a recent court setback relating to its intellectual-property claims as reasons for worry. (ComputerWorld)

Woohoo! Put the Champagne on ice and tell the fat lady to start warming up. One of the nastiest, most backward cases of FUD is about over and it could not happen to a nice bunch of morons. I do not know what is in the water in the SCO building, but clearly, they lost their way and a good company became the epitome of what bad corporations can do to the reputation, not only of themselves but almost an entire industry.

Almost single handedly, SCO has set back the ability of the consumer to choose and that is a pity. Fortunately, the European Union has slapped the mighty Microsoft's wrist and the International Standards Organization went thumbs down on a restrictive Microsoft "standard" too, so this is turning into a banner month. Since Apple has announced it does not want to go after the corporate desktop (which is probably a good decision) more work needs to be done in the Open Source community to show that there is an alternative to putting a file server under every user's desktop.

MySpace, Again: Bang Head, Repeat Step 1

MySpace Finds 29,000 Sex Offenders July 25, 2007 - 4:32am By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press Writer RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - MySpace.com has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on the popular social networking Web site _ more than four times the number cited by the company two months ago, officials in two states Tuesday. (WTOP)

This is not the first time I have written about MySpace and I am sure it will not be the last. So there are sex offenders on MySpace. So what? This is an issue how? Other than getting some press by spreading more FUD around, AG Cooper really does not have a point that I can see. AG Blumenthal may be "astonished and appalled," but again, so what?

There were sex offenders on the Internet long before MySpace and they will be there long after MySpace is a distant memory. If you are concerned (and as a parent you should be) then you need to be monitoring your child's Internet usage. Just like you monitor the phone calls, their TV viewing and who their friends are. Nothing has changed. To expect MySpace or the government to act as nanny or gatekeeper to keep them from harm is an unfulfillable dream.

What these AGs should be doing is reinforcing the lessons that were taught by our parents and their parents before them. You do not talk to strangers and you do not trust what you read on the Internet, especially on something like MySpace. I have talked about the futility of laws preventing children from creating these sorts of sites. If they do not create them on MySpace or where ever, then they will do it on their own personal web site, something that most 10 year-olds with a copy of HTML for Dummies can do without a lot of effort.

Cooper's argument "All we're doing is giving parents the right to make a choice whether their children can go online" does not hold any water. Parents already have that right. It is called the right of parenthood and comes with the ability to turn the computer OFF for as long as needed. No right to appeal. No need for more government red tape. And certainly, no extra work for the engineers at MySpace and other organizations who have enough real work to keep them busy.

Label Definition: FUD

FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is a sales or marketing strategy of disseminating negative (and vague) information on a competitor's product. The term originated to describe disinformation tactics in the computer hardware industry and has since been used more broadly. FUD is a manifestation of the appeal to fear. (Wikipedia)

This term has been around a long time, but not since September 11, 2001, has the United States been gripped by it at almost every level of society from the most basic (we are all going to be blown up in our beds if we do not catch the bad guys!) to the most ridiculous (Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and they are selling them to grandmothers in Iowa - that was the pitch to invade Iraq wasn't?).

President George W. Bush, who will go down as the worst President the United States has ever seen, uses FUD on a daily basis to distract and obfusticate the illegal actions his administration continues to execute. Whether it is in speeches he makes or are made on his behalf, never before has there been so much, sprinkled before so many and consumed with such zeal as there is right now.

Remember, the only thing you have to fear, is fear itself. Way back, Frank Herbert wrote this about fear in the book Dune:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

First, Take Off All Your Clothes...

Airports Warned About Terror Dry Runs July 24, 2007 - 9:35pm By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September. (WTOP)

TSA to the rescue. I certainly applaud them for confiscating those items that could be in just about any technician's bag or little old lady's shopping list, but why stop there? Let's face it. If the TSA wants to rule out any possible threat, the solution is simple.

1) Do not permit ANY item on the aircraft that has not undergone a thorough inspection. By this I mean the chairs, and other components of the airframe.

2) Do not permit ANY luggage, parcels or personal items to be taken on an aircraft.

3) Do not permit ANY passengers, staff or crew to access the aircraft without undergoing a full body cavity search, and changing into approved clothing AFTER decontamination/security check.

Essentially, if you are going to fly, it will be in all the luxury of a steel cage in a tyvek suit (that you will have to pay extra for). Expect that you will not be permitted to leave your seat for the duration of the flight and do not expect to receive any food or drink. Think 1970s Aeroflot without the frills of seat cushions.

This of course, is the same level of absurdity that is applied to computer security whenever there is some sort of outbreak. Essentially, pull the connections from the PC, put it a vault, encase the vault in concrete and bury the concrete to a depth of over 100 feet.

This makes the system unusable, but that is rapidly where the airline industry, with a big shove by the United States Federal Government is heading, rather than attempting to manage risk. Already, the casual travelers are looking at alternate means of getting where they are going, or are just not going. Business travelers, long the backbone of the airline industry are taking fewer flights as both costs for tickets and the hassle factor begins to take its toll. The trained person can do as much or more damage with a pen and a set of keys as they can with some form of explosive. This is not science fiction, this is fact. As a result, the United States is becoming immobile with fear and doubt while the terrorist continues to move around at his will. And that is a truly sad state of affairs.