What is Compassion?

I do not always like everything that Glenn Beck has to say, but this article is excellent. Enjoy...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Jobs Americans just won't do."

I can't stand that line, but more importantly, I don't even understand it.

Americans spend months at a time at sea fishing for crab or drilling for oil; two of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Americans clean bathrooms, subway stations and crime scenes. Americans man toll booths, pave roads, embalm bodies and inspect sewers. Yet people really expect us to believe that they won't pick strawberries or oranges?

It just doesn't add up.

Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal published a story about a shortage of H-2B visas, which are issued twice a year to nonagricultural seasonal employees. Because our government can't get out of its own way, they recently let an important "returning workers" provision expire resulting in thousands of foreign workers being shut out of the country this summer.

That's inexcusable. I know this will come as a huge shock to those who only like to hurl insults, but I think we should be issuing more work visas, more student visas, and more green cards. And I think we should cut the red tape and bureaucracy that's constantly blocking the front door.

But until that happens people are left looking for loopholes and excuses, and "jobs Americans won't do" is the gold standard.

The Journal article offered an example of a couple that sells food at fairs around California each summer. They say that because of the H-2B visa shortage most of their seasonal employees aren't able to enter the country.

So why don't they just hire Americans instead? Good question. Her answer? "This is a hard job."

I find it pretty hard to believe that there aren't a few college students who wouldn't want to drive around California and work outdoors all summer, but let's assume that's true. Let's even assume that none of the other 1.1 million Californians who were unemployed as of April are interested in the job either. Isn't anyone wondering why?

Well I'm not a labor consultant, but I am a thinker. Maybe the problem isn't that the job they're offering is "too hard," maybe it's that the wages they're offering are "too low."

No one paints the undersides of bridges for fun, they do it for the money. That's how capitalism works.

How capitalism does NOT work is when we collectively look the other way as companies exploit illegal labor for their own benefit.

The unspoken truth is that these businesses don't hire illegal aliens because they can't find American workers, they hire illegal aliens because they don't want American workers. And it has nothing to do with wages.

Illegal aliens mean no workers' comp claims, no age, race or sex discrimination lawsuits, no healthcare premiums, no unions, and no demands for raises, vacations or bigger offices. In fact, illegal immigrants are the perfect employees because they're not employees at all; they're corporate slaves.

Economist Dr. Thomas Sowell once said, "Blacks were not enslaved because they were black, but because they were available." Can't the exact same thing be said for illegal aliens? They're available and we're allowing them to be exploited in the name of cheap groceries.

Is the price of fruit really the standard we want to live up to as a country? Is that really who we've become?

Many Americans believe that cracking down on the businesses that hire illegal aliens (the current maximum federal fine was recently raised to a laughable $16,000) would hurt these hardworking people too much. A bad job is better than no job, we tell ourselves. But that's catalogue compassion. If you want to understand the real impact of these decisions you've got to get off the couch and go see it for yourself.

Don't Miss
Glenn Beck on Headline News
Beck's new book: 'An Inconvenient Book'
Back in 2005, Newsday did an investigation of the living conditions of immigrants in the New York area. In the city of Westbury (median income: $83,000/year) officials found twelve immigrants living in a basement flooded with sewage.

In Southampton (median income: $64,000/year) officials found immigrants living in sheds with no plumbing or heat.

In New Cassel (median income: $62,000/year) officials estimated there were dozens of "shift-bed houses" where immigrants literally rent mattresses for a few hours a day to catch some sleep.

Is compassion looking the other way while immigrants who come here for the dream end up living a nightmare smack dab in the middle of some of our wealthiest communities?

Is compassion ignoring stories that reveal the truth, like the recent raid of a squalid "drop house" in Los Angeles where 57 illegal aliens were being held against their will?

Is compassion not wanting to hear that a woman was raped in that drop house, or that many more would have been if not for the screams of their children disrupting the attackers?

If that's compassion, then I guess I'm happy to be accused of having none.

The problem with the debate over illegal immigration right now is that special interests have been successful in making us think with our hearts instead of our brains. We've been persuaded to believe that real compassion can only be achieved by following their agenda. But look where that's gotten us. And more importantly, look where that's gotten the people they're supposedly trying to help.

If you really want to be compassionate, then help immigrants get jobs here the right way. Help put crippling fines on the employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, help expand and simplify the visa process, and, most importantly, help get people to start thinking with their brains again.

After all, compassion without common sense may feel good but it doesn't achieve anything. If you need proof then go out and give $1,000 to every homeless person who asks you for change. I bet your heart would be full, but your wallet would soon be empty. And all those people would probably still be homeless.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/beck.immigrantworkers/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Myanmar Catastrophe

A thoughts...

Social...

So far the death toll is in the 10's of thousands but some are estimating that it will rise to 100 thousand as the rubble and water are cleared. Help is desperately needed. Please get your church's, social networks, clubs and coworkers together to do what you can. Often times people demand gov'ts to do more but beyond my beliefs that this is never effective, but in this case (see below) the Myranmar gov't is not letting gov't relief workers in. CNN has some charities that are working in the area already on their website...

Political...

Several governments and relief agencies are saying that the red tape to get into Myranmar is so extensive that they are not able to get visas to get in and deliver goods and supplies that they have waiting in Thailand ready to deliver. Gov't controls and regulations rarely help anything. Here they are actually killing people.

Top 4

I know this is starting to look like an Idol blog, I promise more meaningful posts will be returning I just have had a few writing projects that needed to be turned in only to the persons they were written for. More on that later (hopefully). Between that and some household projects, vacation and JC learning how to break expensive things I have just not gotten to anything substantial lately. So, lets see how they all do tonite.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is such a huge and broad category. So many artist whom have made it into the Hall would not be considered rock by many. This should be David Cook's night.

David Cook. Hungry Like the Wolf. He was flat several times and his timing was a bit off on the doo doo doo's. It was a great SOUNDING arrangement (adding distortion without changing anything else does not make for a great arrangement) though and could be a great studio track, just was not a fantastic performance.
Certainly a let down given he is the rocker on rock night.

Syesha Mercado. Proud Mary. Of course Syesha would choose another powerhouse song. Regardless of what the judges say she just keeps choosing songs beyond her quite substantial capabilities making her seem less talented than she really is. It ended up coming off like a decent impersonation. She shouted alot of the big notes during the dancing. It was a fun performance, not the best vocals but certainly a lot of fun. She has a very good voice and if someone else was calling the shots (as in the theater) she will be great.

Jason Castro. I Shot the Sherrif. It sounded a lot like the band was playing the version everyone knows of this song (Eric Clapton's) while he was singing Bob Marley's version. The timing was bad and the vocals were average. Anyone who argues with the judge always sounds bad as well. Lets hope song 2 saves him.

David Archuleta. Stand by Me. A perfect song choice for his voice and style. Anytime he can get one of these vocalists R&B tracks with simple music where can do lots of runs he nails it. Sounded a bit strained on some of the high notes, perhaps too much practice this week but really did fantastic. Adding the contemporary flair by throwing in the Sean Kingston stanza really was smart in terms of the competition. Best performance of the first set of songs.

David Cook. Teenage Wasteland. The other David also has his zone that everytime he steps into it he does well. Dynamic songs with the crescendos and decrescendos with the indie rock feel to it. And he did. Not sure how this song showed us his soul (as Paula said) but he gave a great performance with solid vocals.

Syesha Mercado. A Change is Going to Come. An interesting time to do this song as it was the theme of the NAACP's annual meeting where Reverend Jeremiah Wright delivered his controversial address. She said she thought it was a good analogy for her being on AI. The song was written in the midst of the Civil Rights movement. A bit pompous to compare the two I think. She then went on to perform the song pretty poorly. Could not hit a lot of the notes she tried for. Again she picked a song that was too big for her and it really was not fantastic. Randy was right on though.

Jason Castro. Mr. Tamborine Man. A perfect song for his voice and style. A simple arrangement that suited well the song and his fan base I would imagine. Couple the forgotten lyrics with the bad first performance and this is probably his night to go. I really did like the second song, it just isn't enough at this stage of the competition. He cannot sail thru with those dreamy eyes and goofy smile anymore.

David Archuleta. Elvis Presley. Love Me Tender. Again, a perfect arrangement that allowed him to showcase his voice. He was number one for the night no doubt. He is the ballad king. If things go the way I think they will, when the David's face off in the final whatever the final song is will determine the winner like the Blake vs. Jordin final of last season.

Top 5

A short entry....

Syesha or Brooke will go home. Neither one of them gave a great performance nor do they have the huge fan base that votes inspite of a lackluster song.

Syesha has now shown she is not a pop star but a theater diva. That is fine but will not connect with a lot of the AI fans,

Brooke is now out of her league. She will go on to make a greaqt singer song writer album and have a fine career but she will not win.

David and David both did pretty well. Jason was just ok but he has such a following he will be fine for now.

Top 6

So the biggest news here, and the news I will never live down now that it is immortalized online, is that I am a big musical fan so I was excited to hear that Andrew Lloyd Webber would be mentoring. That being said these songs are hard and do not sound like pop songs. It will be interesting to see who can make it contemporary and do a good job. For many of the contestants whom have already show they cannot come up with original arrangements this maybe the night that seals their fate. Texting 13 year old girls are not going to text a million times for a typical broadway performance. And a Kristy Lee Cook style bad arrangment will not be much better.

Syesha Mercado. One Rock and Roll Too Many. She missed a couple notes but it was a very fun and sassy performance. Dancing with the conductor and guitar player may have verged on cheesy. It was a good piece of theater but not a great American Idol performance.

Jason Castro. Memory. Really tapped into the emotional core of the song which is funny given that is largely about growing old and he is the second youngest contestant. He hit most of the notes so the "trainwreck" comment from Randy seemed unfair. He probably could have found a better song for his style but I do not think he bombed just was not his best.

Brooke White. You Must Love Me. Messed up and started over. Thats not cool. Had trouble on a few of the low notes. Did manage to capture the emotional component that Webber talked about in the begining and because of house powerful that is, it may save her. But really, wow messing up and starting over is hard to recover from.

David Archuleta. Think Of Me. This is tough for me because its one of my favorite songs. I think he did a good job bring it a bit more pop like. Sounded like an older R&B song to me. He was also too stationary to a song that had a bit of a beat to it. Was a little boring. Should have really had fun on the build up parts.

Carly Smithson. Jesus Christ Superstar. This is a song that is already pretty fun and modern. A great fit for her voice and personality. She performed it very well catching the breaks and solos and moving around the stage well. Song could be a bit irreverant for some but watch the whole play and get over it to them.

David Cook. I have been looking forward to seeing what David would do and how Webber reacted all week long. I just knew it would be very interesting. It was not. He did it like every high school and college performance of the Phantom I have ever seen. He did fine. But for someone who has seen Michael Crawford perform at the Pantages and loves Cook's ability to make songs his own, it was a letdown.