Immigration Reform Proposal

Due to overwhelming factors in my life (mainly stemming from not having had a day off of work all month), I have not been blogging as much or reading as much news as I ought. That being said, I want to address the immigration reform bills being considered in Congress. The House passed a bill that would make the act of being in this country without authorization a felony. The Senate wants to drop the criminal sanctions component and grant some sort of amnesty, and provide a mechanism where immigrants can register with the federal government.

Critics of the Senate plan have pointed out that there is nothing to encourage illegal immigrants to do anything different under their plan. Might I suggest a compromise: All immigrants who are in this country illegally must report themselves to the appropriate government agency -- failure to do so will constitute a felony. At that point, all people with jobs will be allowed to stay for at least two more years, or even indefinitely if they are fluent and literate in English. Those who do not have jobs will be deported. This bill should also require a border fence. That might just pass the Senate. I think I will write my Senators tomorrow.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 7:13 PM | 1 comments |

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Happy Easter

Sorry I haven't been posting on this site lately. It's been a really busy month... and I had no idea it'd gone by so fast. I promise you that I have some really good material coming up... I just need to find time to organize it.

Does anyone else find it wrong that taxes should be collected around Easter? Of course, Jesus himself said that we should pay our taxes:

Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.(1)

On the other hand, God only ever required a tithe (or 1/10) to be given by the People.(2) Which begs the question, does the Federal Government think it is more worthy than God? We pay a lot more than 1/10.

I, of course, think that this should be even more of an encouragement for we the People to push the FairTax.(3) Of course, at 23%, this tax is still more than God would ask. But it's a start.

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(1) The Bible, Matt. 22:17-21.
(2) see The Bible, Lev. 27:30
(3) see the Web Site of Americans for Fair Taxation, http://fairtax.org.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 9:38 AM | 0 comments |

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China Has History of Ignoring Treaties -- Beijing Agents Blackmail Japanese Diplomat

In addition to not respecting basic human rights(1), the People's Republic of China (PRC) also seems to have a problem with following the treaties they enter into.(2) According to the facts, as uncovered by Japanese authorities, the PRC has violated the Vienna Convention governing the treatment of diplomats.(2) Specifically, "[o]ne of the convention's clauses says: 'The receiving state shall treat consular officers with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on their person, freedom or dignity.'"(3) Chinese intelligence officers were actively blackmailing a Japanese diplomat, and that eventually led to his suicide in 2004.(4)

And this is only one of such treaty violations. "During [violent protests in April of 2005], the Chinese police did not take measures to prevent the demonstrators carrying out such acts, in an abandonment of the country's duty to protect diplomatic establishments, as stipulated in the Vienna Convention."(5) The government of the PRC does not stop at just omission or covert blackmail when it comes to violating the convention; they are not shy about brazenly entering a consulate with armed forces in broad daylight. "In May 2002, Chinese armed police officers entered the Japanese Consulate General in Shenygang, China, to seize North Korean asylum seekers, in violation of diplomatic immunity at foreign establishment. The Chinese government has never apologized for the incident, and no settlement has been made between the two governments over the matter." (6) And why shouldn't they do this? The United States government keeps giving them what they want. What is their incentive to change their behavior?
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(1) See: Ho, Stephanie. "Zhao Ziyang Described as Reluctant Reformist Warrior," Voice of America, 2005 January 19, paragraphs 11 & 12, http://128.11.143.114/english/archive/2005-01/
2005-01-19-voa4.cfm?CFID=6610905&CFTOKEN=95051560 (last accessed 2006 April 01) [The PRC maintains that the military crackdown on the "counter-revolutionary rebellion" at Tiananmen Square was the correct policy]; Sky Staff Reporters. "Six Die In Rural Protest," Sky News, 2005 June 17, http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-13371337,00.html (last accessed 2006 April 01) [The PRC used armed enforcers to forcibly remove unarmed peasant farmers from their own land, 6 were murdered and 50 were injured in this fashion]; and Taylor, John. "Panchen Lama remembered," ABC Radio National: Correspondents Report (Australia), 2005 May 22, http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2004/s1373897.htm (last accessed 2006 April 01) [In 1995, PRC authorities kidnapped a six-year-old "boy endorsed by the Dalai Lama as the re-incarnation of Tibet's second highest spiritual leader, the Panchen Lama." Neither he, nor his family have been seen since; "[h]e's been called the youngest political prisoner in the world]."
(2) Yomiuri Staff Writers, "China threatened diplomat / Envoy's notes suggest Chinese agents pushed him to suicide," Yomiuri Shimbun, 2006 April 01, http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060401TDY03003.htm (last accessed 2006 April 01).
(3) Ibid. at paragraph 5.
(4) Ibid. at paragraphs 6-8, & 12.
(5) Ibid. at paragraphs 16-18.
(6) Ibid. at paragraph 21.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 10:05 AM | 1 comments |

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