This article says that a crackdown on illegal immigrants stirs fears of a labor shortage. What they really mean is it stirs fears of a shortage of artificially cheap labor: labor which is paid in cash, does not have to pay taxes, and doesn't have to be paid benefits, etc.
The article cites shortages in "hospitality, agriculture, and construction" labor--three fields which have come to be dominated by illegal immigrants. "Hospitality"? Di$ney charges you $70 to get into Di$neyWorld for one day; I find it hard to see how a shortage of cheap hospitality workers could make that any more expensive.
BTW Disney need not hire illegals itself to take advantage of the price of illegal labor. All they need to do is hire a contractor. So-and-so Maintenance hires illegals and can bid lower for cleaning contracts at DisneyWorld than Perfectly Legal Maintenance can--and so Disney has no legal liability for employing illegal immigrants. Disney can ask So-and-so: "Are all your workers legal?" And So-and-so can say, "Yes, sir, they sure are!" And as long as the right forms are filled out, Disney need not know the difference.
And I would wager the same is true for many such situations, not just Disney. I bet a bunch of large corporations benefit from illegal labor, whether they actually know they are doing so, or not. And since there is a rather large (and old) network of people who support illegals--people who make fake IDs and such--the employers can even say, "Hey, we thought they were legal--they showed us all the right paperwork! It's not our fault these are such good fakes!"
And I am just cynical enough to expect that in many cases the corporations which benefit from illegal labor wink at it: "Our asses are covered, and we're saving money!"
* * *
A Chinese sculptor is making the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. monument for the Mall in Washington DC, and some blacks are upset.
Some say the statue should be created by a black artist. (Sure. How about Ofili? He's pretty popular, isn't he?)
"They keep saying King was for everyone. I keep telling people, 'No, King wasn't for everyone,'" says a black painter from Atlanta, Gilbert Young.
Dr. Martin Luther King's efforts were meant to help America move into being a color-blind society--one in which people were judged not by the color of their skins but by the content of their characters. (In fact I think I just paraphrased one of his speeches, there.)
China has a bad record on human rights; therefore a Chinese man should not be allowed to create the statue of King? Do I understand that? How freaking racist is that?
* * *
Democrats are "upset" that a Republican who owns a nudist colony has been named to the Arizona GOP's finance commitee.
Democrats were quick to criticize the appointment.The only time Democrats are ever worried about "family vaules" is when:
“If this doesn’t tell you what the Arizona Republican Party really thinks about family values, I don’t know what does,” said Emily Bittner, communications director of the Arizona Democratic Party.
The Republican Party countered the Democrats have little standing on family values, considering former President Bill Clinton is an admitted adulterer.”
1) They are trying to get elected
2) They are trying to make Republicans look bad
I thought the entire point behind modern liberalism was "freedom of choice"? That you should be free to do whatever the hell you want to as long as it doesn't hurt anybody? That ideal seemed to be the driving force behind all sorts of things:
1) the Sexual Revolution
2) abortion on demand
3) no-fault divorce
4) the elimination of "blue" laws
5) loose broadcast standards
6) anything to do with "gay pride"
7) readily available birth control
...and I could go on and on about a bunch more stuff, too. The point is, nudism isn't about being naked and having sex with a bunch of other people around. People who think it is are the ones who are screwed up.
If I understand correctly, the mindset is basically this: there is nothing ugly or shameful about the human body, regardless of age or health. There is nothing morally wrong with being naked around other people, particularly when you are swimming and enjoying other outdoor activities. (Heinlein always said that when you're going swimming, it makes little sense to wear special clothing for it.)
Looking at nudists and reading prurient motives into their activities is exactly the kind of bigoted, prejudicial behavior Democrats are always accusing Republicans of engaging in. If liberals are so damned non-judgemental, why the hell are they always yelling at everyone?
Nudism is not about sex. I'm not a nudist or a naturist. I'm not interested in becoming one, either. But at least I understand what they are about--better, apparently, than Arizona Democrats do.