MARTINEZ STATEMENT ON FAILURE OF IMMIGRATION BILL

June 28, 2007 -

Washington - U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today made comments following the Senate’s failure to invoke cloture on the immigration reform bill, S. 1639. Senator Martinez voted in favor invoking cloture. The vote failed 46 to 53.

The comment I’d like to explore: “I congratulate those who were successful; I also wish them well, as they now have a responsibility to tackle this problem.”

Dear Senator, I do not think your responsibility has ended - for example if you were to pull out of S.1639 those items that are truly in our National best interest and offer a new bill with just those items and leave out the Slave Labor / Amnesty clauses, you would not only look Republican again, you’d actually be doing a service to that country you love so much. Here are some “Keepers”:

TITLE I--BORDER ENFORCEMENT

Subtitle A--Assets for Controlling United States Borders

Sec. 101. Enforcement personnel.

Sec. 102. Technological assets.

Sec. 103. Infrastructure.

Sec. 104. Border Patrol checkpoints.

Sec. 105. Ports of entry.

Sec. 106. Construction of strategic border fencing and vehicle barriers.

Subtitle B--Border Security Plans, Strategies, and Reports

Sec. 111. Surveillance plan.

Sec. 112. National Strategy for Border Security.

Sec. 113. Reports on improving the exchange of information on North American security.

Sec. 114. Improving the security of Mexico's southern border.

Sec. 115. Combating human smuggling.

Sec. 116. Deaths at United States-Mexico border.

Sec. 117. Cooperation with the Government of Mexico.

Subtitle C--Other Border Security Initiatives

Sec. 121. Biometric data enhancements.

Sec. 122. Secure communication.

Sec. 123. Border Patrol training capacity review.

Sec. 124. US-VISIT System.

Sec. 125. Document fraud detection.

Sec. 126. Improved document integrity.

Sec. 127. Cancellation of visas.

Sec. 128. Biometric entry-exit system.

Sec. 129. Border study.

Sec. 130. Secure Border Initiative financial accountability.

Sec. 131. Mandatory detention for aliens apprehended at or between ports of entry.

Sec. 132. Evasion of inspection or violation of arrival, reporting, entry, or clearance requirements.

Sec. 133. Temporary National Guard support for securing the southern land border of the United States.

Sec. 134. Report on incentives to encourage certain members and former members of the Armed Forces to serve in United States Customs and Border Protection.

Sec. 135. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

Subtitle D--Border Law Enforcement Relief Act

Sec. 141. Short title.

Sec. 142. Findings.

Sec. 143. Border relief grant program.

Sec. 144. Enforcement of Federal immigration law.

Subtitle E--Rapid Response Measures

Sec. 151. Deployment of Border Patrol agents.

Sec. 152. Border Patrol major assets.

Sec. 153. Electronic equipment.

Sec. 154. Personal equipment.

Sec. 155. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE II--INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 201. Removal and denial of benefits to terrorist aliens.

Sec. 202. Detention and removal of aliens ordered removed.

Sec. 203. Aggravated felony.

Sec. 204. Terrorist bars.

Sec. 205. Increased criminal penalties related to gang violence, removal, and alien smuggling.

Sec. 206. Illegal entry.

Sec. 207. Illegal reentry.

Sec. 208. Reform of passport, visa, and Immigration fraud offenses.

Sec. 209. Inadmissibility and removal for passport and immigration fraud offenses.

Sec. 210. Incarceration of criminal aliens.

Sec. 211. Encouraging aliens to depart voluntarily.

Sec. 212. Deterring aliens ordered removed from remaining in the United States unlawfully.

Sec. 213. Prohibition of the sale of firearms to, or the possession of firearms by certain aliens.

Sec. 214. Uniform statute of limitations for certain immigration, naturalization, and peonage offenses.

Sec. 215. Diplomatic Security Service.

Sec. 216. Field agent allocation and background checks.

Sec. 217. Construction.

Sec. 218. State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

Sec. 219. Transportation and processing of illegal aliens apprehended by State and local law enforcement officers.

Sec. 220. Reducing illegal immigration and alien smuggling on tribal lands.

Sec. 221. Alternatives to detention.

Sec. 222. Conforming amendment.

Sec. 223. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 224. State and local enforcement of Federal immigration laws.

Sec. 225. Removal of drunk drivers.

Sec. 226. Medical services in underserved areas.

Sec. 227. Expedited removal.

Sec. 228. Protecting immigrants from convicted sex offenders.

Sec. 229. Law enforcement authority of States and political subdivisions and transfer to Federal custody.

Sec. 230. Laundering of monetary instruments.

Sec. 231. Listing of Immigration violators in the National Crime Information Center database.

Sec. 232. Cooperative enforcement programs.

Sec. 233. Increase of Federal detention space and the utilization of facilities identified for closures as a result of the Defense Base Closure Realignment Act of 1990.

Sec. 234. Determination of immigration status of individuals charged with Federal offenses.

Sec. 235. Expansion of the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transfer System.

TITLE III--UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS

Sec. 301. Unlawful employment of aliens.

Sec. 302. Employer Compliance Fund.

Sec. 303. Additional worksite enforcement and fraud detection agents.

Sec. 304. Clarification of ineligibility for misrepresentation.

Change SEC. 645. ADDRESSING POVERTY IN MEXICO to something that actually puts some pressure on Mexico to improve conditions instead of just giving them indirect Land Grants.

Of course if you do not continue your work with Border Security it will leave you that much more time to deal with the H-1B issues. I did note the subtle change in section SEC. 522. a.2.A “A) by striking `a United States institution of higher education (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))),' and inserting `an institution of higher education in a foreign country,’ “ - Wow that could have really picked up those H-1B Visas!

More to Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqGBIHmv7jo

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act

I blogged about this topic back on April 1, 2006 – yes April fools day because our government thinks its citizens are fools. Weeks before the Senate was about to vote on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (S. 1348) I wrote my Senator, the honorable senator Mel Martinez. He unfortunately did not write back until AFTER the Senate was unable to force this poor excuse of legislation down the collective throats of the American workforce. I’ll spare you the complete reply I received (as I’m sure lots of Floridian’s had a chance to read their own copy) but I would like to highlight just a few items from that reply:

1 - “Delaying comprehensive reform does a disservice to America”

2 - “To do this, we must secure the border first. The first section of S. 1348 mandates that border security and worksite-enforcement benchmarks must be met before other elements of the legislation are implemented.”

3 - “However, physically securing the border will not solve the entire problem.”

4 - “To address the labor shortage in industries with a demonstrated need such as, the Florida Citrus and Hospitality Industries, a guest worker program will be implemented.”

I’d like to take these salient points in order and offer comment:

1 – How? Since masses are streaming into America unabated, along with H-1B workers (more on that later), and the main focus of S. 1348 is to bring in Slave Labor, how could delaying this “slegislation” do a disservice. If the honorable senator is referring to delaying the border security, well I’m getting to that right now…

2 – Secure the border first then the “other” elements of the slegislation are implemented! Can someone please tell me why we are negotiating with ourselves in some kind of schizophrenic parliamentary salsa? Why can’t and more importantly WHY DIDN’T our Slegislators offer up S. 123EBS – “Enact Border Security”. That’s it – see how simple, just do it! While this country is spending Billions and the Blood of our finest to supposedly protect its people, our Slegislators can’t find the right formula to pass a bill securing our borders unless it includes a slave labor clause – pathetic! There are tons of articles about Hezbollah working in Mexico (Google-It), so why since 2002 when the Department of Homeland Security was establish have we been unable to simply and competently “lock our door”? Talk about a disservice to America!

3 – Excuse me but it is one hell of a start, don’t ya think!?!?!

4 – Ahhhh we saved the best for last. Unless you know me well you really can’t appreciate how the words “Jobs Americans won’t do” (or as the honorable Senator puts it “To address the labor shortage in industries with a demonstrated need…”) makes me want to Jihad. I would like to think I made all the common sense points in my Blog of April 1, 2006 along with some they still haven’t thought about on Capital Hill but let me end this rant with two easy questions for all of the Sleigslators supporting S. 1348:

Over the past 5 years I’ve seen layoffs and outsourcing of thousands of jobs reported across this country, if not hundreds of thousands; can you please show me ONE business that shut down because they could not find workers?

During those past 5 years and all of those layoffs and all of those outsourcings I can’t remember ONE time the House or the Senate worked this hard to keep jobs in the USA. I can’t even remember them trying to pass ONE piece of legislation to “Save Jobs Americans Will Do…”

In closing this Blog-Rant let me address an earlier comment about the H-1B visa program. My honorable Senator Mel Martinez is also in favor of raising this cap, obviously the more the merrier. You can read about that from the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE):

Senator Mel Martinez's (R-FL) office sent an inexperienced junior staffer who was less receptive, abruptly attempting to cut short the conversation several times. She responded by restating that the Senator was "in favor of raising the cap" and she was not eager to explore IEEE-USA's solutions.

Be you a Senator or a working American I ask you to watch this short clip from a real American Hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsp2V3ifZjM

And this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU&NR=1

Global Warming

It is time my blog is heard on this topic. When I first started hearing the term Global Warming I ran a report on the highest temperatures in US recorded history. I found that many still had not been reached in the last 5 years. I also remembered from my days in Ham Radio that Sunspot activity was going to hit peak cycles in the coming years. If you remember it made news a few years back when we were expecting interruption of radio and cell phone communications.

Now what surprised me was with all this talk of CO2 emissions causing Global Warming, I couldn’t find a single person talking about, referencing, or even questioning sunspot activity. I’ve yet to hear Al Gore comment on sunspots – with all of his knowledge of the sciences does he know they exist?

Well my wait is over and the facts are very interesting. National Geographic News is reporting a new study that shows both Earth and Mars are experiencing a warming. In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the "carbon dioxide ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row. Now it could be these “Man Made Probes” are also causing increased CO2 emissions on Mars – I think they are powered by Diesel!

The National Geographic article goes on to state:

“Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.”

"Man-made greenhouse warming has made a small contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years, but it cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance," Abdussamatov said.”

Now what is even more interesting is a period in history known as the “Maunder Minimum”. What is it? Surely Al Gore told you about this in his Award Winning movie… The Maunder Minimum is the name given to the period roughly from 1645 to 1715 A.D. when sunspots became exceedingly rare. What is also interesting about this time is that the Maunder Minimum coincided with the middle — and coldest part — of the so-called Little Ice Age, during which Europe and North America, and perhaps much of the rest of the world, were subjected to bitterly cold winters.

So just what am I saying? Should we rape the land and pollute the air? Should we not consider the effects of man on our planet? Of course not! But to have a “Scientific” debate about "Global Warming” and not consider that really big bright “Hot” ball in the sky that sometimes throws heated fast balls at us like an MLB pitcher on steroids seems to me to be at best dim and at worst disingenuous.

Feds cut off phone tax after 108 years

 

A tax imposed in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War was finally terminated this year (2006!). This is old news now as the event passed with little fan fair. Instead it should have been greeted with parades and fireworks. This 108 year old tax should give us some idea of taxes ratcheting effect. They go up but they rarely go down and that is why every American should be concerned with taxes and how they are used. Does anyone reading this think Governments (both local and federal) are running at their most efficient, stretching every procurement, stretching technology and otherwise making sure every dollar spent is maximized? Almost all tax payers have to do these tasks daily but this is not true of Government. There is no incentive for Government to save money or maximize its use of money. If a Government spends millions on a project they tout the accomplishment but how often are Governments praised for innovation that saves money and reduces your taxes? The system is so configured that if a Government decides to save ‘real’ dollars, not those fake ROI dollars, they inherit all the risk with little reward. A prime example is Open Source software. Some Governments are taking on this challenge yet while they will save real money, they inherit with it all the risk involved and fake ROI studies. But I digress, back to taxes…

 

The 1898 tax was designed as a tax on wealthy Americans, back when phone service was considered a luxury. (This is another example why ‘tax the wealthy’ is not a good idea but a consumption tax will provided a ‘natural’ way to obtain this desire.) Another like luxury tax was imposed on those wealthy enough to own cellular phones not long past. Of course today almost everyone owns one and everyone is paying those luxury type taxes. I live in Florida and our tax rate for cell services breaks down like this - State & Local 16.10%; Federal 6.05% making for a total tax rate of 22.15%! (Also applying in every state is a 6.05% federal levy composed of an excise tax and a fee that subsidizes service to low-income homes and remote areas).

 

Of course this high taxing does not just happen on Cellular phones, it happens on long distance services. I recently reviewed my land line long distance service fees and here is the break down:

 

Florida Communications Serv. Tax (Gross Receipts) [2.37%]

Local Communications Services Tax [6.32%]

FCC Common Carrier Regulatory Fee [0.26%]

Network Access Charge [17.9%]

Federal Universal Service Fund Charge [10.5%]

 

That totals 36.85%!!

 

Why is this happening? Many state and local governments consider new cell phone taxes necessary to recoup money lost from a drop in the number of standard wired phones. The number of wired phone lines nationwide fell from 167 million in 2000 to 132 million in 2004, the Federal Communications Commission reports cell phone subscribers rose from 109 million to 182 million during that time.

 

My state is in the “Top 10 Worst Wireless Taxed States”. In fact we are number 2! Now that’s something to be proud of… I wish there were a “Top 10 Most Innovative States to Lower Taxes” chart. I’d be proud to live in a state that was number 2 on that list! To learn more: http://www.stopaddingtomybill.com

 

To be fair my State doesn’t have a State Income tax and that would make one think Florida is probably one of the least taxed places to live. In fact we are 39 out of 50 in State taxes which is good but our federal tax burden is 16 out of 50. Our total combined State and Federal tax burden is 31%, compared to a national average of 31.5% - surprising isn’t it!

 

Florida
State-Local Tax Burden Compared to U.S. Average
(1970-2006)
Year	Total Tax Burden*		State Rank (1 is highest)
1970	0.298413		13
1971	0.293694		11
1972	0.302767		15
1973	0.294379		22
1974	0.291698		37
1975	0.274298		37
1976	0.283521		34
1977	0.28714		31
1978	0.291721		27
1979	0.294052		29
1980	0.290432		38
1981	0.294805		41
1982	0.293503		35
1983	0.282158		34
1984	0.285112		28
1985	0.291357		21
1986	0.295816		19
1987	0.305325		19
1988	0.304423		20
1989	0.301594		26
1990	0.297859		28
1991	0.296499		30
1992	0.29953		24
1993	0.302047		23
1994	0.309458		16
1995	0.311962		17
1996	0.319368		14
1997	0.327188		12
1998	0.331169		15
1999	0.329254		15
2000	0.3341		16
2001	0.323182		17
2002	0.295938		18
2003	0.288135		18
2004	0.288127		17
2005	0.303189		21
2006	0.309937		21
* May not add to total due to rounding.

 

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce, and Tax Foundation Calculations.

 

 

Care to see where your state ranks? Click HERE

 

Immigration Idiocy

Immigration Idiocy

 

Undocumented workers, Guest Worker Program, Jobs Americans Won’t Do… Stop, Stop, just Stop It!  If I hear one more obtuse phrase about this important issue I’m going to BlogOut.  Ok let’s get on with this current rant…

 

First the disclaimer – this posting and the thoughts contained in it have nothing to do with the Mexican people (with the exception of Vicente Fox).  I am fortunate to live across from land that is farmed and I know, and I see, just how hard “undocumented workers”…well work.  If I was in their shoes I too would be working my way to America (of course I’d leave the flag of the dismal county I’m fleeing behind).

 

There are so many things wrong with this debate, and the people waging the verbal war on this topic, it is hard to know where to start.  I’ll start with two people who simply don’t get it... for if they did each would be so embarrassed they’d be doing a “Permanent Presidential Perp Walk “; a coat over their heads every day.  First we have Vicente Fox, President of Mexico.  He is President of a country where the people are leaving in droves, risking death and incarceration, yet he apparently sees no problem.  When asked about these illegal immigrants he responds with “they are not illegals!” … Umm, Ok Mr. President.  Next we have Presidente El Bush, he is President of a country spending over 300 billion dollars in Iraq to secure us from terror (which includes trying to secure “their” border by the way), while guys in lawn chairs with binoculars have to protect our borders.   When he is asked about illegal immigrants he responds with “they are doing jobs American’s won’t do!” … Ummm, Ok Mr. President.  Why aren’t these guys embarrassed? 

 

Do you remember NAFTA?  It has been over ten years since NAFTA was signed and do you remember the promise?  It wouldn’t hurt American jobs and it would help the economy of our neighbors…especially Mexico.  Can we finally say NAFTA is a miserable failure or are 10-20 million Mexican’s fleeing their country a sign of success?  I already noted that Mexican people are hard workers but Mexico itself is a fertile country.  Some of its natural resources are petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, and timber.  It has a free market economy that recently entered the trillion dollar class.  Its Oil Proven Reserves are over 46 billion barrels of oil (if my math is right that equals over 1.9 trillion gallons of gas), its Natural Gas Proven Reserves are over 420 billion cu m, it has over 66 billion in reserves of foreign exchange and gold, and it has 65,000 sq km of irrigated land… you know where you can grow crops that Americans won’t pick.  The one resource Mexico lacks is the same one America needs – Leadership that cares about its own people. 

 

Jobs American’s won’t do…. Since I was a little boy I’ve been told America was great because of capitalism, free market forces and the law of supply and demand.  Those words are sacrosanct in the Republican Party (of which I am a former member) and yet on this one issue they are not content to let market forces prevail.  If market forces were allowed to work (instead of illegal immigrants) then the price of a tomato would rise because you have to pay people more to harvest them and thus the labor force would benefit or people would stop eating tomatoes because of cost.  The other option is someone invents a better way to grow and harvest tomatoes, just like we did for hay and cotton.  But no, on this one issue market forces can not be trusted.  When high paying jobs like automotive manufacturing and electronic manufacturing, two technologies America invented, were being lost then it was fine to let market forces work their magic.  If it hurt American’s they would just have to retool, relearn and remake themselves; after all you don’t tangle with a free market – that is unless you are talking about saving the production of tomatoes.  No, on this one produce item we simply must save an America resource… even if we have to bring in people to work at slave labor rates.  Of course we aren’t simply talking about tomato picking jobs (does anyone really think we have 10-20 million people picking tomatoes and lettuce) but hotel workers, lawn care workers, and construction workers.  I’m not sure where my President has been but I have to believe people do want these jobs!  And even if people didn’t want these jobs, why isn’t the free market allowed to work – you know like it did for auto, electronic, and call center industries.  Why now do we make a stand to keep an industry active in America?  Why is Vicente given a pass by the press?  Why has our President been trying to legalize illegal immigrants since his first year in office?  When you can answer those questions for yourself you will have the key to this debate. (Hint: cheap labor and votes)

 

There are so many other issues involved like Security, Health Concerns, Over Burdened Hospitals, and Culture Shifts due to lack of Assimilation but I must close.  The final irony is this, if you legalize illegal immigrants it means they will have to get minimum wage, and that is the first increase.  If they are working hard, legal and living in this country as a citizen, it won’t be long before they will want more for their hard work.  In effect legalized illegal immigrants will become the new American’s that won’t do these jobs!

 

An Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh

An Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh

By Martin Zinaich; Tampa, Fl

 

Dear Rush,

 

In my humble opinion you are to be credited with the Conservative Coup that happened several years ago when the Republican Party gained control of the House, Senate and Presidency.  You broadcasted out the marching orders from behind the “Golden EIB Microphone” and millions of loyal listeners executed those orders in hopes of a better America.  The hope of a Reagan Republic was steeped in the hearts of millions.

 

What none of the loyal masses could see was that the Conservative Coup was a Liberal Trojan Horse, headed up by Neoconservatives whose very backgrounds are based and formed from liberal ideals.  Worse yet the Doctor of Democracy, the Truth Detector and yes the Dean of the College for Advance Conservative Studies remains silent about this infiltration of the Conservative party.  Not only do you remain silent about this departure from the Reagan Republic, you endorse, support and are an apologist for these Neoconservative ideas.  In Bush’s first term you called Karl Rove a political genius.  You promised your loyal listeners that if they stood the course there would be some sort of unexplained “reverse” of direction in the second term.  That of course did not happen because the Bush philosophy is not unlike Bush the Elder, that of a “New World Order” Neoconservative.

 

Rush you have lost your intellectual honesty and sold it for tee time with the powerful.  In years past you were often fond of saying that a Military is only used for two purposes; “…to kill people and to break things”.  I have not heard those words depart from the “Golden EIB Microphone” in many years now.  You may be tempted to respond at this point with the normal “...but that was pre 9/11”.  I have to ask myself how Ronald Reagan would have responded to 9/11.  While no one can know for sure, a logical guess would be much like he responded to Khadafi’s agents blowing up a Berlin discotheque.  It was a measured response of cruise missiles aimed at the problem.  Reagan did not respond with “Nation Building”.  Which again begs the question, if our major Iraq problem was Saddam not complying with UN inspectors; I have to wonder why measured cruise missile attacks were not employed until compliancy was obtained.  Clearly the Iraq war was a “Nation Building” Neoconservative goal, not a measured Conservative response.

 

The words “Tax and Spend” were also heard quiet often in days of old, coming from the “Golden EIB Microphone”.  I now have to wonder which is worse; “Tax and Spend” or “Debit and Spend”.  Logic would seem to dictate “Debit and Spend” to be worse because there is no pain involved during the process.  You seem to be very silent on the current Administration’s big government spending.  A recent CATO report based on revised data released during the summer by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), making a side-by-side comparison of the spending habits of each president during the last 40 years, shows that “George W. Bush is one of the biggest spenders of them all.  In fact, he is an even bigger spender than Lyndon B. Johnson in terms of discretionary spending”.  The report goes on to say “The increase in discretionary spending—that is, all non-entitlement programs—in Bush’s first term was 48.5 percent in nominal terms. That’s more than twice as large as the increase in discretionary spending during Clinton’s entire two terms (21.6 percent).  [Bush] has presided over massive increases in almost every category…”   Despite all of these facts, the “Golden EIB Microphone” remains silent.

 

I have to ask myself just what true Conservatives gained from this massive coup of government.   Lets see... the biggest education bill in history, a 100 Billion (with a B) farm bill, $15 Billion (with a B) African Aid package, a $400 billion (with a B) Medicare prescription drug bill, and let’s not forget federalizing all airport screeners, creating huge new ineffective government agencies (when just fixing what was in place would have worked), trying to legalize all illegal aliens, and the never ending Iraq war!  A recent report noted that “Corruption in Iraq under US-led CPA may dwarf UN oil-for-food scandal.”  Reagan vetoed 23 bills in the first 3 years in office, Bush to date - zero!  Worst of all, our republic goals have been transformed into imperialistic goals under these Neoconservatives and still the “Golden EIB Microphone” remains silent.

 

When confronted with some of these facts on your radio show your reply is always the same “…but where can we go?”  That’s it?  That is all from the “Dean of Advance Conservative Studies”?    The masses of Reagan Republican’s do not have a “Golden EIB Microphone”; they rely on you to preach the values they believe in because it is what you once did in a past life.   With your intellectual honesty almost depleted, our party being hijacked by Neoconservatives and our county being flown into the ground at super sonic speed; I think the time has come, yes even long past, for you to once again speak the truth.  Reagan Conservatives and Reagan Democrats deserve better!

 

They sweat, we think

I've been saying this for the past 10 years, when at the start of the Internet bubble everyone seemed to be "fine" with the US moving away from manufacturing and toward a "service" economy. I wasn't and I'm still not!

But Bill Bonner of the The Daily Reckoning said it better this week:

"Occasionally, the devil slips his leash and all hell breaks loose. It happened in the 14th century. It happened again in the 20th. For Europeans and Asians rarely was there a more dangerous or disagreeable time to be alive than during long stretches of the last century. They suffered the worst wars, the most deadly (at least in total numbers killed, the Spanish flu was the worst ever) epidemic, the worst famines (self-induced by the public officials in China and the Soviet Union), the most lethal governments (Nazi Germany, Communist China and the Soviet Union, Pol Pot's Cambodia...etc.), and arguably the worst art and architecture in history. Americans were spared the worst of these abominations and ended the century as the world's Alpha Race...its lead dog...its imperial people, taking over from the British after WWI and consolidating their position in the following decades. Like an ambitious undertaker, America practically rigged the traffic lights to cause accidents. But now something has fundamentally changed. The Anglo-Saxon Empire is, and always was, based on commerce. It succeeded by taking raw materials from the colonies, adding value by manufacturing, and reselling the products to the world. But the Aanglo-Saxons no longer make what the world wants to buy. Turn over any object at home or at the office and you are likely to find a "made in China," or "made in Malaysia," or "assembled in India," notice. Increasingly, America's old industries - such as G.M. and Kodak are going bust, unable to compete with Asian labor rates. Is this really a cause for worry? Many say it is not. They say that the real money is not made in manufacturing anyway, but in design, branding and marketing...or better yet, in finance! Mommas and papas throughout the developed world know this is true. They want their babies to grow up to work on Wall Street, not on assembly lines, so keenly that they sign the poor tots up for the right nursery schools, the right secondary schools and push them to get into the right universities...so they may take their places among the masters of the universe, rather than the wage slaves. We have spent the week wondering what magic these "sophisticated" businesses bring us. We wonder what they actually do that is of value, and how it can liberate a whole nation from the grind of having to get its hands dirty? "They sweat, we think," is now our national motto. We wonder, too, what magic makes it possible for us alone to do all the thinking? Is it merely the last conceit of an imperial people? Surely the Asians have had a thought or two. We are witnessing something remarkable; a great empire is rolling over. It is an opportunity for the devil; we wonder when he will show up."