Ihre Papiere, Bitte

It's fascinating how the Tea Partiers can carry signs of Obama with a Hitler mustache or can accuse him of being a socialist while totally ignoring the fact that every time they celebrate passing a bill that discriminates against a select group of people, that they are creating the very future they are accusing Obama of desiring.

The Arizona "Papers, Please" law is a prime example.  The more laws that are passed because of fear, ignorance or racism, the closer the United States comes to replicating whichever totalitarian regime the conservatives and their right wing militants are most afraid of. It's either Nazism or Fascism, depending on which group you are talking to and what day of the week it is.

Many years ago, back when I was married, I lived in the Catskills and worked at the Granit Hotel as a busgirl and server.  Most of the servers were Colombian and a few were probably in the states illegally.  Every once in a while INS would make a sweep of all the workers who looked like they might be illegal and would lock them up until they could prove citizenship. 

My ex was of Sicilian descent and one time he was rounded up and had to have his parents come down with his birth certificate.  He was telling me about it and said that it is much harder to prove you are an American than most people realize.  Carrying around a birth certificate or passport to prove your identity is an invitation to disaster, especially if you lose them.

Since I grew up with a steady diet of science fiction books, I believe that there are other forms of intelligent life not located on the planet Earth.  How do I know they are intelligent?  Because they haven't revealed themselves to us.  It only takes  a brief scan of the news for one to realize that humans are a pretty violent species and at the same time we are afraid of our own shadows.  On the other hand, the majority of us would probably make good slaves.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.

Prof Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact.

He explained: "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."

Truer words were never spoken.

BBB