David Schraub thinks that Jews should support Latinos in their “struggle” to immigrate to the U.S. In his post he points out that Samuel Freedman wrote: “this means creating a rational route to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants. They inhabit a netherworld, holding jobs that Americans cannot or will not take while having…
Author: marc
Marc is a software developer, writer, and part-time political know-it-all who currently resides in Texas in the good ol' U.S.A.
Back in Iraq
I didn’t catch Bush’s speech on tube, but reading it is undoubtedly better than watching him deliver it anyway. That said, it’s not the most informative piece of writing I’ve ever seen. To me this is the most important bit: It is in the interests of the United States to stand with the brave men…
Texas Executes Child Killer
The world is just that much better off tonight, I say, holding my thumb and index finger about a half-centimeter apart, now that Carlos Granados is no longer in it. In their usual fashion, the Houston Chronicle implies that this act is somehow wrong by using phraseology such as: “the nation’s busiest capital punishment state”…
Minimum Wage Increase? Bad Idea…
…unless you’re a Democrat fulfilling a campaign promise. Look, there’s this little think called the bottom line that most college grads have heard of. It’s the one that says, “Mr. Biz Owner, you can spend $X on labor and still make the type of profit that’s going to keep you in business.” An increase in…
Excessive Compensation Bad for Investors
Chuck Moore says “I think this is obscene. It is not just this one but hundreds like this case. Does this come from stockholder equity?” What’s got his goat? This: Pfizer Inc.’s former chief executive, Henry A. McKinnell’s “involuntary” retirement package, which the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday,…
Texas Legislature’s Hands Tied?
Peggy Fikac of the The Houston Chronicle writes that Texas lawmakers are in a quandry during this session because: Before a free hand with spending is a possibility, lawmakers must grapple with a constitutional spending cap. Unless the cap is bypassed (lawmakers can vote to waive it), it limits their ability to spend billions of…
Executions Down Nationally…
…but they’re up in Texas. The Houston Chronicle reports: The convicted killer of a 3-year-old boy is set to die this week, the first of five lethal injections scheduled this month as Texas bucks a national trend and bolsters its standing as the most active in carrying out capital punishment. Twenty-four condemned Texas killers were…
Certainty
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” — Bertrand Russell. Welcome to Black Shards, a continuation of my blogging from the last 4+ years. You will see a certain amount of certitude on this site along with many…
A Speech for the New Year
Senator Gordon Smith (who?) recently gave an excellent speech on the Iraq situation. MuckRaker.com has a transcript here. Many of the posts on this topic focus on the fact that Smith is Republican, that he’s broken ranks with Bush, that Ted Kennedy congratulated him on his speech, and other armchair gamesmanship. The preening, masturbatory nature…
Local Immigration Laws
The ACLU and Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund say: Farmers Branch’s ordinance prohibiting apartment landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants discriminates against Latinos… Yes, it does. So what? Latinos represent the overwhelming majority of illegals; it’s correct that the law should target them. Note that this isn’t because Americans are inherently anti-Mexican or that…