The American and Mexican Presidents Read Me
Apparently, President Bush (America…duh) and President Fox (Mexico) read my blog. Why? Read this.
Does that remind you of a little post over… here?
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You might be interested to know that there's two different kind of posts on this blog: "Thought of the Day" and "Normal". The "Thought of the Day" category is a once-a-day random tidbit, usually a funny video or picture, and the "Normal" is just what you'd expect from a blog like this:
Unicorn-Butterfly Soup.
--Kyle
p.s. the subscription options to the left (psst! <---- that way) reflect the same content options
Galactic Currency? Yes, Please!
Engadget had a writeup of a Travelex press release on a new currency…
I only have one thing to say: Uh, YES!
Ok, that was a lie. I have more to say than that.
Looks cool, doesn’t it?
People are saying this is stupid, a waste of time, or unnecessary… but there are some things to consider before passing judgment.
- The Euro
- Space
- Star Wars
The Euro
Remember when Europe had a different currency in every country? Aren’t things a little better now? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I find it easier to carry one currency across a plethora of locations than having to change it out everytime you go 8 miles in any direction. Another small item for consideration: if memory serves me, the Euro stabilized the European economy a little bit… right?
Space
It’s a big place. And the arguments for why credit cards (as they work currently) won’t be acceptable are very true and compelling… think of space as one giant magnet scanner you can’t put your credit card on. For that matter, how easy is it going to be to pay for things using whatever currency you normally use… when there’s going to be more than a handful of currency options from all of the different countries?
The luxury apartments of the future…
Star Wars
I’m assuming you’ve seen Star Wars? Then you’ve realized they pay in a generic form of currency… Galactic Credits. That seems to work out for them doesn’t it?
The Bring-Together
Long story short, I think that not only is a “galactic currency” a good idea… but it’s much needed. If America were to use the same currency as China and Europe (although Europe might be upset about having to change again), things would be much different. There’d be no more talk of “the dollar is falling!” and China trying to have the Yen take over the world.
It would also potentially unite the world, to a certain extent, which is a necessary item for humanity to be successful and thriving in space. We can’t have our planetary problems carry over into space or other planets… do you really want to have to worry about suicide bombers proclaiming Jihad on the moon? How about the Chinese and Russians working together to take over some new planet, name it a Communist property, and then declare war on the non-Communists?
What we’re really trying to avoid…
Do you really think that each country can reach space independently? No. The American government is having a hard enough time as it is, how can third world countries (or even places like Germany, for that matter) make it? This is why the business sector has stepped in. But for the business sector of space to be fully functional and realized, the world economy and populace has to be behind the idea of colonizing space as a race and as a people…
Not in the name of their homeland, nation, religion, race, or otherwise social affiliation.
American Illiteracy. Yeh, seyz hoo?
Some people apparently think American illiteracy is growing by millions every year…
You know, I’m not realy clear on the statistics of how many people are born in the country every year, nor am I fully aware of the success/failure rate of the public (and private) school system on educating American children. But I do know this:
If those statistics are, in fact, true… they’re highly misguided.
Books. I love them. Why don’t you?
Anyone want to sit down and consider this problem for a second? How many people legally emigrate into this country yearly? Out of that number, how many are literate, or at least at a level of certain expected proficiency? I’d be willing to bet a large majority. Why? If memory serves me correctly, to become a US citizen you have to take (and pass) a class that involves learning history, and memorizing things like the Pledge of Allegiance. It would be difficult to pass a US history class if you couldn’t read… wouldn’t you think?So, we know that the legal immigration isn’t the cause of this. Could it be the public school system? It’s widely decried as an utter failure, but something tells me that this is blow a little out of proportion. Again, why? Because it gives the mainstream media something to focus on and complain about when there’s nothing else for them to get people upset over. Also, they tend to focus on the absolute poorest sections of the country. Do you think all public schools are dilapidated buildings, where kids have to walk 45 minutes to get to school, only to find out they get a piece of celery for lunch?
Right. Next?
Here’s my opinion on the supposed “giant illiteracy rate”: illegal immigrants. Most people inside the American borders agree that illegal immigration is a huge problem. Maybe not everyone, but it’s not something you can really argue. I’m in San Jose, CA … about 6-8 hours north of L.A. … and yet everytime I go to Home Depot, a car wash, or other such stereotyped places, there are very large groups of Mexican immigrants looking for, or working, low-paying manual labor jobs.
Anyways, I’m going to assume that everyone agrees that illegal immigration is real, and accounts for a large influx of people into the country every year. The question then becomes: are they literate? Are they educated? They may not speak English, but does that mean they are poor and unintelligent? No. I’m not suggesting that.
The heavily defended Southern Border.
However, statistics show that Mexico is a very poor country, and that large numbers of the population are not only poor, but also uneducated. Statistics also show that the average illegal immigrant from Mexico to America falls in the “poor” category, because they wish to find a better life for themselves and their family. (I even happen to think this is an acceptable ideal… you do anything you can to better your life as you see fit. I just am of the opinion that it should be for legal matters…)
Connect the dots that I’ve plotted for you on a very simple graph. If those numbers on illiteracy are real, and if they consider the America population to be those within the borders of the country, and not those legally present… then the answer is most likely that a large portion of the illegal immigrants are illiterate, and they are falsely inflating the “failure” of the American public school system.
Chew on that, Bill O’Reilly.
