Is globalization the key to peace?

Once long term mortal enemies, mainland China and Taiwan have signed a trade agreement. In spite of over 60 years of mutual hatred, they have recognized that it is in their best economic interests to remain at peace.

Some of you may feel guilty about buying products made in China. Yet all those cheap gadgets may have prevented a Sino-American war.

You Might Be A Drug Dealer If

You might be a drug dealer, pimp, or prostitute if the FWPD simply says you are.
Fort Wayne City Code prohibits landlords from knowingly allowing tenants to sell illegal drugs or run a brothel. Federal civil forfeiture statutes already give landlords a strong incentive to keep drugs out, but how are landlords supposed to know? Easy! The police simply tell the landlord that the tenant is selling drugs or turning tricks.

Here is what's wrong with the ordinance: If the police know that the tenant is breaking the law, why not just arrest him? Why have the landlord disturb a crime scene by throwing everything out on a curb? This law makes a mockery of due process. If the police are wrong, an innocent person loses his home. If the police are right, the guilty party can simply set up shop just outside of city limits or sublease from an accomplice.

It is also worth noting that while SUSPECTED drug dealers are forced to leave Fort Wayne, CONVICTED murderers and rapists are permitted to stay. Does that seem right to anyone?

Want to work on a farm?

If you are a US citizen who is tired of immigrants taking our jobs, now is your chance to take theirs.
http://www.takeourjobs.org/

Sarah Palin on Marijuana

Sarah Palin says that marijuana should be a lower priority for law enforcement.

“If somebody's gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems we have in society.”

But she is against legalization because she feels that it would send the signal to young people that smoking pot is okay.
Here is how I see it: Keeping pot illegal sends the message to pot smokers that breaking the law is ok. For example, former casual users Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all placed the same value on the Constitution as POTUS as they placed on drug laws while in college.

Two misleading labels

Labels can been convenient, but they can be misleading. Editorial pages have limited space, broadcasters have limited time, and people have limited attention spans.

"Un-American", like the f-word, usually means whatever the speaker wants it to mean. Unlike the f-word, it always has negative connotations and is still used on TV. Taken literally, it means "not American" or "foreign". Use of the term implies that the speaker is closed-minded by dismissing certain ideas as foreign.

"Anti-government" seems to be another word for "anarchist". It's not a fair term to describe those of us who acknowledge a role for government. Those who advocate dissolving all national, state, and local governments either don't understand what the consequences would be, or have a completely different value system than the rest of us.

So the next time you hear "un-American" or "anti-government", take what that person says with a grain of salt.

The part of "illegal" that I don't understand

You know those signs at anti-illegal immigration rallies that ask "What part of 'illegal' don't you understand?" A question like that deserves an answer.

George W. Bush has publicly admitted to committing a crime: ordering the torture of a criminal suspect. If he is not prosecuted for this, then Barack Obama is the President of a country that condones torture and ignores its own laws. We're Americans. Aren't we supposed to be the good guys?

If the Obama administration does not uphold the law, does the law matter? If Bush did not have to obey the law, why should anyone else have to?

The argument that the torture saved lives does not hold water. If such measures are needed for reasons of national security, why aren't the measures kept secret? Wouldn't terrorists prepare themselves if they knew what they would face in US custody? Why would a former president speak publicly about such a sensitive issue if it really was a matter of life and death? Waterboarding is not a means of gaining information; it is a form of extra-judicial punishment that has failed to deter further attacks. It only serves as fodder for enemy propaganda.

Idiotic lawsuit against Google

A woman is suing Google for bad directions.
She is suing because Google Maps allegedly told her to walk down a highway that had no sidewalk. She was hit by a car.
ATTENTION: If you use computer software in place of your own good judgement and do something obviously dangerous and stupid as a result, this not only calls into question your status as a competent adult, but also challenges your status as an organism capable of free will.