What Is Your Type?

No, this isn't another one of those internet quizzes that everyone posts. When you're talking about dating, people ask "What's your type?" I've never had a good answer to that question; I don't think I have a 'type'.

It's not that I'm attracted to all women, it's just that there is no particular trait that matters. Tall, short, skinny, overweight, blonde, brunette, redhead, Hispanic, white, Asian, big boobs, small ones, blah, blah, blah... Doesn't matter.

Even when it comes to personalities, I don't have a particular type. There are definitely personality traits that are deal killers but in general terms, it doesn't matter. For example, if you have watched the TV show Flash Gordon, there are two prominent female characters. The first one is Dale. She's sweet, wholesome, down to earth and very feminine. Then there's Balin. She's a bounty hunter from another planet. She's rough around the edges, wild and not terribly civil, tough and really not at all girly (though she's not dykish either). They're both sexy for completely different reasons.

There is always someone "better" out there than the person you're with. If you're with a tall, busty, blonde, you might find yourself looking at petite redheads or Asians or whatever. If you're with someone that tends to be quiet and demure, women that are more gregarious are going to catch you attention. Even if you could think of your absolute, ultimate ideal in a mate, someone will always, eventually seem like a better option.

Why? Because we have a hard time being satisfied with what we have. Why was Hugh Grant soliciting a prostitute when he had a beauty like Liz Hurley? You hear all the time about one movie star cheating on the other. I'm sure you've had friends who broke up with a boyfriend or girlfriend and it seems like a really bad decision.

If you're always out chasing "the next best thing," you'll never be satisfied with what you have and you're only hurting yourself in the end. When you have a good thing going, cherish it, nurture it and keep it alive. I've been telling people for years, that just about any two people are are sufficiently committed to each other can make a relationship work.

Mexican President Makes Demands

Mexican President, Felipe Calderon is making demands of US Presidential candidates.

From this article:

En días pasados, el presidente de la República instruyó a su embajador y cónsules en la Unión Americana buscar contrarrestar ese clima antimexicano. Incluso, Calderón ha demandado de los aspirantes a la presidencia de Estados Unidos dejar de utilizar el tema de la migración como moneda política.

Translation: Lately, the President (of Mexico) has instructed his ambasadors and cabinet in the US to find a way to stop this anti-Mexican environment. Also, Calderon, has demanded that Presidential candidates in the United States stop using immigration as a campaign issue.

That is HILLARIOUS! The President of Mexico is placing demands on OUR presidential candidates? No, of course they shouldn't be using immigration as a debate topic!! How DARE they! Why bring attention to that? It's really an insignificant problem that no one is talking about.

The assumption here is that any attempt by Americans to cast aspersions on illegal immigrants means they are anti-Mexican or at the very least, anti-immigrant. Yes, there are some racists out there; xenophobes too. The majority of Americans however simply want our existing immigration laws enforced. There are supposed to be fines for employers who hire illegals. Sure, every once in a while, some company will be raided and it will make big news but compared to the vast numbers of illegal aliens employed by American businesses, it's statistically insignificant. It's good press, that's it.

Illegal aliens are a net drain on our economy. They (and their children, whether born here or not) consume more in tax dollars than they produce. This is especially true given the amount of money they send out of the country. That is money that does not get circulated back in to our economy and invested or taxed repeatedly.

Any legal immigrant should be furious about the illegal immigration debacle. The cheap labor provided by illegal immigrants reduces the wages of other workers purely on the supply and demand principle. All this nonsense that illegal immigrants are just doing the jobs that Americans won't do is completely illogical. It's true that we're generally not willing to do it for the same cost as illegal immigrants, it's not the same thing. Wages will rise to fill a gap in labor supply. Cheap labor also retards the use of more expensive technology that can replace the labor done by people.

Much of the cost of illegal immigration is hidden from the public. By way of example, let's consider public transportation. Here in Orange County, CA it costs $1.25 for any given trip or $3 for a day pass. I have been riding the bus quite a bit lately (my car is broken) and I have noticed that most of the people riding the bus are Hispanics who appear to speak little or no English and appear to be poor. We, the tax payers of Orange County subsidize the bus system and by extension, the transportation costs of illegal aliens.

I want to be very clear about something. I can understand why poor Mexicans want to leave Mexico and come and work here. I blame our own government for the policies that we have allowed them to create that not only allow this problem to grow, but actually encourage it. if I was poor and living in Mexico I'd be moving here too. It's not an excuse to break the law but our policies are actively harming both countries. By continuing to make illegal immigration attractive, it's prolonging what will amount to painful but necessary reforms in Mexico. If the poor in Mexico had no other alternative, they would demand more of their own government including an end to corruption and a other reforms that encouraged entrepreneurship, private property ownership, creation of capital, etc. As it stands, the Mexican government is getting off easy by continuing to drive more of their citizens north who will then send money back home. Politically speaking, it's a winning situation. For the governed, it's not so good. They continue to be mired in a socialist, corrupt system that all but the most ambitious can rise out of.

The Fossil Fuel Myth

This may be a startling new revelation for some of you. What I'm about to tell you isn't a new theory, I've heard bits and pieces of it for years and I've never really dug in to it too deeply.

The oil we've been sucking out of the ground for the past 100 years* is not the result of millions of millions of years of compressing dinosaurs and plants. I've always been suspicious of that theory anyway, even as a kid. How could there possibly have been enough biological (organic) material gathered in one place to produce the vast oil fields we have today? It's simple, there isn't.

While it's certainly possible that some fraction of the oil we pull out of the earth was generated this way, almost all of our oil is produced abiotically; meaning without a biological component.

The implications of this are quite staggering. First of all, it means that oil truly is a renewable resource if the earth is producing it of its own accord without regard to massive input of organic compounds.

Secondly, it means the doom-sayers should (but won't) shut up about running out of oil. It's been predicted for many years that we'd run out of oil in 10 years. That's ludicrous. There are vast reserves of oil right here in the US that remain untapped because of the ecofreaks.

We are NOT running out of oil, not even close. Granted some of it may be more expensive to access than previous reserves have been but it's not impossible or even impractical to do so. If it would truly end our dependence on foreign oil, I'd actually tolerate higher gas prices than we have now if we were in control of our own production, refining and distribution of oil and gas products.

If you'd like to do more research on this subject, start with this Google search.

Next time someone refers to petroleum as a fossil fuel, please take that opportunity to disabuse them of that fallacy.

*I understand that the use of oil has been around FAR longer but it wasn't until the rise of the industrial revolution that we began our efforts in earnest.

This Proves It

Lee Eisenberg, the man who took hostages at the campaign headquarters of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire made a call to CNN during the hostage 'crisis' and complained to them that he had tried to get mental health care but it would cost thousands of dollars. The private mental health clinics wouldn't help and Health & Human Services wouldn't help either so he resorted to storming Hillary's campaign headquarters and demanded to speak with her (which he never got to do).

To me, this just proves that anyone who expects the government to be there for them and take care of them truly is a lunatic.