Hi, I've been out today. Holiday weekend sort of.

A few observations:


Romney will come out of the Republican Convention in Florida and make a hard left back to where he was as Governor in Massachusetts. He is going to expect the country to believe his mix of politics and Wall Street will correct the USA's path to an economic boom town. His rhetoric won't match his performance in either venues. He'll simply say, "Hey, look, I was the guy in Massachusetts with health care reform. I am the one, not the current President." 


Never expect Romney to be more than a politician. He is an extreme politician to date. He has a faux front and uses words to mask his ability and intentions. He sees his challenge this November as to MAKE people believe who he thinks they want him to be, not stand on policy that will be instituted when in office. He is a designer candidate.


Romney has nothing to lose. He is 65 years old, won't run again and won't have the freedom to spend money the way he can this year. He wants to win, not please the Republican Right Wing.


I think of it this way. The Tea Party has cost the RNC elections. Sarah Palin has had her run at history. The GOP wants to move the party back to the center. That is what will be the strategy after Florida. Chief Justice Roberts will be an icon to that change.


They don't need grassroots, they just need money.


On the Climate Crisis:

It is up to the cities. The cities are considered heat islands. When rock heats up, like in a sauna they don't cool down quickly. That it the plight of cities. They have to invite a method to cool their buildings and the air outside to fight stress on the infrastructure.

These are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. I think I might have mentioned this once before. 


While white roofs are a good idea, the problem of soot is the same on white roofs as it is on Arctic Snow. The soot darkens the reflective color. 


But, regardless of soot, plants will not only add enjoyment to the scenery, it will absorb incredible amount of heat from the sides of buildings. If the heat can be absorbed and shade is generated it will bring down the stress on the buildings themselves and will be easier to cool.

In city waterfalls will add water vapor to the air for plants to enjoy. It will also cool the air. If one recalls Southwest homes frequently have a water fountain in the courtyard and the rooms open onto it. The reason for that is the fountain and all the plants cool the air as it passes through the house.


The same can be true in cities where water vapor is added to the air. It will provide relief from the heat and cool the city. One won't be enough. A city waterfall like this would require guardrails, too. It is difficult to count on people to think safely. These are all projects to be considered in application in today and in the future.


Until later.

Immigration

The economic reasoning for mass deportation, if it were possible, is flawed.


Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Republican and co-architect of Arizona's controversial immigration statute, SB 1070, has stated if it possible to deport every illegal immigrant there would be replacement of the lost laborers with American laborers at higher wages. HIs basis that illegal immigrants depress the pay rates of Americans is inaccurate.

Two things really. 

The minimum wage has always been the deciding factor as to how much the American laborer is paid. As the minimum wage is raised the pay structure above minimum is adjusted to reflect the need to maintain laborers in their jobs.

The other issue surrounds inflation when higher paid laborers take the jobs of the illegal immigrant. To begin, what do under paid immigrants say about capitalism in the USA? Capitalists don't care about the human condition unless the government demands they do care. 

One state to look to in protection of the human condition is California where illegal immigrants actually have the right to safety in the agricultural fields where they work. Their rights include being protected from aircraft spraying of crops. Those laborers have a right to be safe in the field from being poisoned immediately or over time. Illegal immigrant children can have time from school to work with their families without penalty to their families. Schooling of those children can be taylored to keep them on track regardless of their work status. All illegal immigrants are granted health care where they can find it. 

If the government anywhere were to demand wages paid to any laborer, illegal or otherwise, be a federal minimum wage, the economic would uptick for the added spending in the cash economy. 


However, the products will also increase in cost to consumers. So, while there would be more spending the products to consumers would be higher, especially food.


The idea illegal immigrants have to be deported and their jobs filled with American labor to effect a better economy where minimum wage is required is somewhat nonsense.To increase the interest by American Labor and begin to fill a gap by deported illegal immigrants, equity in pay is the very best idea to prevent loss of labor in vital areas of work, namely agriculture. According to Secretary Kobach the absent workers would force the wages to increase to attract Americans. That is impossible without sending farmers or other businesses into bankruptcy with a complete implosion of labor when their crops are ready for market.

The very best way to institute a minimum wage requirement for all labor of any status, illegal or otherwise, is to make it gradual and allow the USA economy to adjust to the increased cost of the affected goods. A law requiring a minimum wage as a goal to illegal immigrants with episodic increases (let's say every year, but, more realistically at least every two years) to eventually match the federal minimum wage would result in a better dynamic for the country without causing inflation and increased bankruptcies.

The thing is this, if the USA is to seek to have Americans employed rather than illegals, it cannot be abrupt and it has to be realistic. The reality needs attention, because, it is a known fact the Obama policies are working and the migration of illegals over the USA border is slowing. So, if the USA economy is to survive the change brought by these policies as demanded by citizens without causing inflation or worse; that dynamic has to be addressed anyway.


My guess is there will be more mechanization in agriculture should labor costs increase. Keeping illegals from the USA will not cause in decrease in unemployment except for the few needed to operate machines in the absence of labor.

By the way, the agricultural worker is not unskilled. They know what they are doing with documentation of that standard of quality labor in the Department of Labor. There needs to be an official record of the qualify of labor these people provide for their contribution of work. These people are thinking folks and proud of their work. They deserved to be 'made human' in recognition of their contribution to the American Landscape, illegal or not. 


Somehow, farming/agriculture is considered to be a crude way of living which requires little to no education. That is not the case. Besides being physically fit, as the walking postmen are/were, it requires an understanding of how to treat the crop and when or not to harvest. Plants can be easy to grow, but, not necessarily easy to eek edible produce from that growth. Ask any orchard or vineyard manager or a produce farmer trying to achieve equity for his crops vs costs; the choices between production and harvest become interesting.

The illegal immigration problem is less a problem than anyone wants to admit. 


The farm worker is not a terrorist so much as a subsistence laborer. Dumping the issue of national security on illegal immigrants is not realistic. The men instituting the attacks of September 11, 2001 were not illegal immigrants. They didn't learn their skills outside the USA, come here as tomato harvesters and then make their way into airlines with tickets purchased from years of saving poor wages. The analogy is hideous to say the least and everyone needs to resist demonizing the illegal immigrant as a terrorist. That endangers their lives while they are harvesting the crops on the nation's dinner table.