Could you pass the latest citizenship test?

A buddy/co-worker of mine is not a U.S. citizen and is in the process of applying for citizenship.  He found this article which has a sample of some of the harder questions on the test.  You can find the article and test here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25461301/

Now keep in mind this is a collection of the hardest questions so don’t kick yourself if you don’t get them all right or if you don’t pass.  Personally I got a 75% which I am ashamed of…

If you take it do yourself a favor and don’t cheat and look up anything while taking it.

Now for my opinion: Even though I do think all Americans should know all of this I really don’t think anyone should have to know all of this information to enter into our country.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want open borders and think we should put more money into protecting our borders with increased technology, more troops, etc.  I just don’t know why anyone should be required by law to know all of this before they enter into our country.  Do you disagree?  Let’s hear it.

The Fallacy of the “Wasted” Vote

I don’t support McCain or Obama and will not vote for either one.  So of course I regularly get asked “who are you voting for then?”  I will probably vote for Bob Barr who is running as the Libertarian nominee.  I don’t have any intention of arguing my case for him over the other two here but I want to focus on something else.

Recently I have been told, and I hear talk show hosts say, that a vote for someone other than McCain or Obama is a “wasted” vote.  I am told “your guy can’t win” or “but a vote for Bob Barr will only help Obama win, and I don’t want him to win.  I am even asked “don’t you like McCain more than Obama?”  And yes I do, but then I am told I must vote for McCain.  It seems as though most around me are not entirely happy with either McCain or Obama but almost all will vote for one of them due to the whole “I don’t want the other guy to win” argument.

These arguments never felt right to me and recently I found an article that helped me understand why I don’t agree with those arguments.  Here is the article.

Here’s a segment from the article:

“Suppose you, and people like you, almost always vote for candidates from one of the two major parties. If you do this, the optimal strategy for the parties is to IGNORE you completely. Since the candidate already knows that your vote is in hand, he can then concentrate on moving the platform AWAY from your wishes, in order to court the votes of people with beliefs far from your own.”

I would encourage everyone to read the article and then think about who you were planning on voting for.  I’m not saying everyone should vote for my guy.  I’m only saying that you should vote for the candidate whose principles are closest to what you want and the popularity of a candidate should not factor into who you vote for at all.  It’s only when you sacrifice your principles for popularity that your vote is wasted.

Dogs can vote?!?!

Duncan M. MacDonald sent in an absentee ballot in three separate elections.  The problem is Duncan is a dog! Jane Balogh put her phone bill in Duncan’s name, then used the phone bill as identification to register him as a voter.  Jane said she did it to protest a 2005 voter-registration law that she says makes it too easy for noncitizens to vote. (Newsmax Full Story.)

 Hear you go folks, our wonderful government at work.  Now I certainly don’t want to make it too difficult for anyone to vote (even though no one has a right to vote, but maybe more on that some other time.) but a Dog can vote?  Come on!  Do we want Russians to have a say in who we want our next President will be?  Do we want Iranians casting votes for the next senator representing Georgia?  And what about illegal immigrants?  They are not citizens of this country, so why would we want them to vote in our elections?  This is really getting out of hand and I can’t believe the politicians in Washington are so hungry for votes that they make it possible for noncitizens to vote.  One of the lessons to be learned here is that most politicians are greedy and care more about getting and staying in office than any thing else.  There are some exceptions as there are some politicians that truly care about this country but by and large if a politician can appear sympathetic to illegal immigrants and make it possible for them to vote they will do it.  Just remember that the next time you put your trust in any government body.

“Senate OKs major boost in fuel-economy standards” – what could be wrong with that?

“The Senate voted Thursday night for the first major increase in fuel-economy standards on cars, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in a generation as part of an energy bill that seeks to dramatically reduce the nation’s addiction to gasoline.”

“The measure would require automakers to raise fuel economy for cars, pickup trucks and SUVs to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, marking the first time pickups and SUVs would be subject to the same standards as cars.” (San Francisco Chronicle Full Story)

So, by the year 2020, if you want to purchase a new vehicle you will be guaranteed at least 35 miles per gallon. We won’t be stuck buying cars that only get 19 miles per gallon. Wow, think of how much gas and money we will all save. This will also reduce CO2 emissions and help the environment out, too. Isn’t it great? Or is it?….

Anytime the government messes with the free market something gets screwed up. If you force car manufacturers to produce all around higher fuel efficient cars, that’s more money they have to put into research, development, etc. Do you think they will just eat up these sudden increases in production costs? Of course not, they will do what any other company would do: pass the bill on to the consumers. This will translate into more expensive cars. So you may not have to buy as much gas but you will have to pay more for that new car anyway. So all the government has done is reduce one burden by increasing another.

But that’s just the beginning, it’s even worse than that. Think of what our government is saying with a bill like this:

“You the consumer, do not know what you should buy. You have been buying these inefficient cars that end up costing you too much money. I know what cars you should buy, not you. Because obviously you are not to be trusted in your choice of purchasing a car I am taking some of your choices away from you. I am not going to allow you to buy a car with a fuel economy of lower than 35 miles per gallon. I don’t care if you need a strong truck because your business hauls wood. I don’t care if you want a vehicle that can carry 8 people because you have a big family. I don’t care if a less fuel efficient car is seemingly better for you. You are wrong and I am right. I am taking away the choice of low efficient cars by force.”

I for one believe that every American should be free to buy any car they want, even a hideously inefficient one. If you buy an inefficient car, then you must buy more gas but that is the consequence of your choice. I also believe that the average consumer knows better what vehicle they need than any politician in Washington D.C. does.