I've Got A Secret: COVID Scientists Caught Working With the Chinese and Its Long Term Affects

We could talk about the latest Covid variant, Omicron,  or the fact that some scientists now predict as many as 82  new possible variants from Covid can be expected. Then there's the latest booster failure. I believe we're up to our fourth now. That should keep the pharmaceutical industry fat and happy for several years to come! It seems that for every change or update in vaccine, the Covid virus is at least one step ahead of the immunologists, which, like the flu, which mutates every year.  

Speaking of diseases, the former head of Harvard University's Chemistry Department, Professor Charles Lieber, has been busted for lying to federal investigators about his connections to China and the Wuhan Institute of Technology, the alleged "ground zero" for the Covid-19 virus. He was part of the Chinese "Thousand Talents Plan" (TTP) which was aimed at attracting the world's best and brightest to work on various projects. Dr. Lieber was required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest or sources of foreign income.

Dr. Lieber "forgot" to disclose information about his Chinese bank account, along with possible tax evasion, or mention his role as a "strategic scientist" at the infamous Chinese lab. Lieber has also received millions in funding from various U.S. agencies, including the Department of Defense and Dr. Fauci's old haunt, the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Given all the interest by the government and others into the origin of the Covid 19 virus and its relationship with the Wuhan labs, this is kind of a big deal.

Nevertheless, the government didn't "forget". Dr. Lieber was found guilty, following a six day trial, of two counts of filing false tax returns and two counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts with the IRS. According to Acting U.S. Attorney Nathan R. Mendell, Dr. Lieber lied to IRS about money he received from the Chinese and trying to hide the money from the IRS. 

Under the terms of Dr. Lieber's three year "Thousand Talents Plan" contract, Dr. Lieber was paid a monthly salary of approximately $50,000 and living expenses of $150,000. In addition, he was "awarded" a grant of $1.5 million dollars to help establish a research lab at Wuhan. Dr. Lieber is (or rather was) a chemist who specializes in nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the use of nanoelectronic devices in biology. I can only imagine the nefarious military applications.

Patrick J. Hegarty, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service of the Department of Defense added that Dr. Lieber lied to DCIS special agents about his relationship with the Chinese while working for the Department of Defense. Other federal agencies involved with the investigation, aside from the IRS and the DoD, included the U.S. Navy's NCIS, the FBI, and NIH.

There's no way one can't wonder if this was a one off situation or if there are others out there who were part of China's "Thousand Talent Plan".  There are those who claim that Dr. Fauci, President Biden's current "Covid Czar", was or is, in some way involved with the Chinese, or more specifically, Wuhan Libratory  and the development of the original Covid virus.

When I wrote about Dr. Fauci a few weeks ago, I found nothing in my research indicating his involvement with China, but as with this and similar cases, we don't always know. But, facts, one way or another, have a curious way of coming to the surface as it has with Dr. Lieber.

The Chinese "Thousand Talents Plan" involves a lot of people throughout the world. The idea grew out of the "Talent Superpower Strategy" put forth at the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2007.  Its purpose was to seek out and retain extremely bright and gifted individuals both inside and outside of China as a means to jumpstart China's reach and development sector in science, engineering, medicine, and technology. Within just ten years, it had attracted over 7000 of the world's best and brightest, including over 300 scientists and academics from Australia alone.

Nevertheless, many has accused the project as being nothing more than a front by the Chinese Communist Party to siphon off the whatever scientific and technological advantages the West has and exploit those advantages for the benefit of China, and all under the welcoming umbrella of academic fellowship and mutual cooperation. Others see it as way means to share knowledge and research and create a nonpolitical bridge between East and West.

Be that as it may, those within the intelligence communities of several Western nations, including the U.S., see it differently, as one might suspect. In addition to Dr. Lieber, the FBI arrested a former Chicago Clinic researcher, Dr. Qing Wang, in 2020 on similar charges as Dr. Lieber, in addition to wire fraud involving $3.6 million dollars in grant funding received from the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Dr. Wang failed to disclose his position as dean of the College of Life Sciences and technology as the Huazhong University of Science and Technology or multiple grants he and his research group had received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China for the same research material that was being pursued on behalf of the NIH.

In November of the same year, the FBI arrested Dr. Soog Guo Zheng on charges similar to Wang's, including his failure to disclose his ties to the Chinese government to his employer, the Ohio State University, which included his participation in the Thousand Talents Plan. Dr. Zheng was found guilty of using $4.1 million dollars in grants from the NIH to help enhance China's expertise in rheumatology and immunology.

As an aside, not all research and technology is medically related. In 2019, a U.S. Senate Subcommittee verified that one TTP participant stole critical military aircraft engine designs. Others were thought to have stolen plans pertaining to a variety of other military technology including airframe designs and stealth technology, missile research, space technology, and other cutting edge research.  All of which helped China to leapfrog ahead by 20 years or more.

It's also worth nothing that an internal investigation in 2020 by the National Institutes of Health indicated that there were possible violations of confidentiality and conflict of interests clauses by as many as 189 other scientists and researchers.

Under the circumstances, its appears moot whether Dr. Fauci was ever at any point involved with the Chinese (based on my own research, I don't think he was). Nevertheless, it's clear that there were and are others around the world who are; many of these our scientists and researchers regularly work and share information with.

The famous Chinese military strategist of the late sixth century B.C., Sun Tzu, encouraged espionage as a legitimate strategy to be used in defeating one's enemy in his highly acclaimed book "The Art of War".  He divided his use of spies into five classes, the local, the inward, the converted, the doomed, and the surviving.

The local is just what it means. The inward makes use of the enemies officials and experts. The converted is turning the enemy's spies to your cause by extortion or bribery. This can be done openly or covertly under the cloak of the greater good. The doomed is those who are open in their deception. These are often those who spy for revenge or some belief. Lastly, the surviving are those who go into the enemy encampment specifically to steal or obtain information and return with it.

We can see in these descriptions the motives of Drs. Lieber, Wang, or Zheng in the above descriptions, be it just for the money, ideology or loyalty to a cause, or simply out of scientific or academic fellowship who intended no harm, but whose actions may have been turned into blackmail.  It's also worth noting that Sun Tzu recommends using spies for every kind of business, and to reward them well.

There's no doubt that the West, and the U.S. in particular, are in a war with China, albeit asymmetrical or unconventional war. The West has become dependent on China for not just its cheap labor (which often is done by prisoners or in sweat shops) and mass produced/low cost finished products, but for key technology which must be mass produced cheaply and is vital for the West to continue to function (such as silicone chips, electronics, optics, and medical equipment).

China is the largest trading partner for not just the United States, but also for other technology dependent nations like South Korea, Japan, or the European Union (EU) which is also dependent on Russia's oil and gas.  

At the same time, the West, and especially the U.S., has become as debtor economy, meaning that we spend more than we take in. The country which owns the majority of our debt is China, which also seeks to replace the U.S. based petrodollar as the world's reserve currency with its own Renminbi.  How much of our debt does China own?

About 14%, which translates to roughly $1.065 trillion dollars of our total 28.9 trillion dollar national debt (only Japan owns more). Most of the debt China owns is in the form of U.S. Treasury bonds.  It's worth mentioning that while Japan owns the largest chunk of our national debt, China own about 8% of Japan's national debt, which is an increase of 3.6% from 2019.

While trade and balance of debt are intricate to both the performance of global economics, both are also key to this new form of warfare. The acquisition of technology, by whatever means, is essential. It allows a nation to know the capabilities of its enemy and provides the means to match or exceed them.

Competition has always driven the success of most countries ever since the Industrial Age. Military might has been used primarily to acquire resources and assets by those who don't have it from those who do, but can't defend it. Politics is warfare by other means to borrow from the great Prussian strategist, Carl von Clausewitz.

Today it is used by the globalist Oligarchs to threaten others into opening up markets or selling off their resources and assets. It's also used to force changes in foreign policy or even the government itself. Whether or not that change benefits the people of that nation as a whole is typically of little concern.

However, there have been to major changes which have influenced the balance of power in hereto unheard of ways. One is the mass transfer of populations from one region to another on a scale which has altered the ethnic composition of a given country or region to the point where it has negatively affected the economy and quality of life, as well as social values and traditions.

 We see that principally in Europe from immigrants coming from Africa and the Middle East. We also see it to a lesser degree in the US. in the form of illegal immigration coming mainly from Mexico and Latin America.

The other change is the introduction of viruses into a population. We have recently seen the introduction of diseases long eradicated such as mumps, measles, whooping cough, TB, chicken pox, as well as vaccine resistant diseases including new strains of AIDs, Bird flu and venereal diseases;  much of it coming from individuals entering the country unvaccinated and often illegally alongside terrorists embedded with these individuals.

Included with this has to be Covid-19, which isn't by any measure a "natural" occurring disease. Whether intentionally weaponized or not by the Chinese or some other power, there is no question that its introduction has resulted in modifying primarily democratic nations into more restricted and authoritarian governments, as well as negatively affecting economies.  That makes the actions of those caught and convicted, such as those mentioned earlier, that much more insidious.

 If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on Facebook or whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation.

 

Harvard professor convicted over China and Wuhan universityties

Harvard Professor Convicted of Making False Statements andTax Offenses

Harvard University: Charles Lieber Bio

Former Cleveland Clinic Employee Arrested

University Researcher Sentenced to Prison for Lying on GrantApplications to Develop Scientific Expertise for China

The Tax Man Cometh: How Much Longer Can We Sustain the Increasing National Debt?

With April 15th just around the corner, I thought now would be a good time to look at the state of our national finances. America is currently in debt to the tune of approximately $24 trillion dollars. That means each taxpayer owes about $161,000...plus interest. Our debt-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio is 106%. So, for every $100 dollars we take, we pay out $106. That's a recipe for disaster.

At present, 51% of our nation's taxes come from personal income tax---$1.65 billion dollars. Another 25% or $1.15 billion comes from Social Security taxes. Meanwhile corporations pay just $320 billion or about 6% of the federal revenue. Estate or inheritance tax, typically paid by the wealthy, makes up just $23 billion, while the balance, $260 billion, is paid through other forms of taxes and fees.

That represents our nation's revenue. Now, how about what we spend the money on? 26% goes to Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, CHIP, and marketplace subsidies; of this, Medicare gets three-fifths of the money. 24% or $940 billion goes to Social Security, while the military gets 15% or $611 billion dollars. Safety net programs such as unemployment , school meals, low income housing assistance get 9% or around $357 billion. 7% pays interest on the national debt. The balance goes to federal and veteran retirees (8%), transportation and infrastructure (2%), science and medical R&D (2%) with non-international security getting 1%. The remainder goes to miscellaneous programs including education related programs.

Think that's all there is to it? Consider that this doesn't include $125 trillion dollars is allocated for unfunded liabilities. It also doesn't cover the military's or various intelligence agencies' unreported "black budget" programs which are estimated to be over $80 billion. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, about 65% of the national debt is held by the public. By 2028 it will 100%. That means all of our taxes will go just to service the national debt.

Another interesting factoid is that only nine countries have worse debt-to-GDP ratios than we do. Unfortunately many are on the news and are tittering on economic collapse such as Greece, Italy, Bhutan, Mozambique, and Portugal. Worse still is that the United States ranks just above Djibouti in East Africa, Jamaica, Cyprus, Belgium (which has been overrun by the so-called "migrants"), and the Congo. It would take the combined economies of China, India, and Japan to pay off our national debt.

It might be worth noting that foreign governments currently own just under 30% of our national debt (the two largest are Japan and China which own 1.15 trillion and $1.11 trillion respectively or about 15% combined). Next is the U.K with about $334 billion in U.S. debt and Brazil which owns just under $300 billion. Ireland and Switzerland round out the top five with $285.6 and $263.3 billion.

You don't have to be a CPA, a political scientist or economist (which I was educated as) to understand that this is insane. There will be a breaking point. There's only so much road that the proverbial "can" can be kicked down, and we've about reached it. Most economists put the "end of the road" at around 2025 or 2030. As the "game" is now being played, the only solution is dramatically increase taxes, be it by increasing existing taxes or finding new and more "obscure" revenue streams.

The problem is that the middle class, which had historically been this nation's backbone and shouldered the bulk of the taxes is not just dead broke, it barely exists anymore. The middle class has been declining every year since 1970, from a high of 62% to a current low of about 45%. Adjusted for inflation, income for the middle class has remained nearly stagnate while the top 10% has seen exceptional growth. Of course, the American economy has transitioned from mainly middle class manufacturing jobs to lower income service jobs in the name of bigger profits.

We also have to remember that for the last 20+ years the U.S. economy has been on a defacto war footing, thanks to our involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria; a hollow stimulation of the economy. This has had the illusion of artificially reducing unemployment by draining off "excess" workers to the war effort while keeping the economy operating at a steady capacity.

America is also experiencing the highest rate of income inequality in the last 50 years (if not longer). In 2012 for instance, the top 10% took home 50% of total income. The top 1% got 20% of that! The top 10% owns more than 1000% more than the middle class remnant. Meanwhile, the top 1% now owns more than the bottom 90%. Since 2000, the number of Americans living in poverty has continued to increase, mainly from the middle class (which has resulted in more Americans applying for aid through our economic safety net which only the fifth most funded portion of the budget).

From 2000 through 2006 for instance, worker salaries increased a total of just 15% while corporate profit increased 13% per year. From 1979 to 2007, the top 1% saw an increase in their household income of 275%. It rose 65% for the top 1/5. Yet for the bottom 1/5, their household income increased a mere 18%.

Breaking it down by states, those with the highest income inequality were the District of Columbia, New York, Louisiana, Connecticut, California, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Kentucky. The top states with the least income disparity? Utah, Alaska, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Hawaii, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Indiana was 15th while Ohio was 26th and Illinois was 40th.

Globally speaking, the United States ranked ninth among the countries with the highest income gap. Not what you'd expect from the "bastion of capitalism" is it? We were just behind (that is, worse than) South Korea, the UK, Russia, New Zealand, the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Some of the countries worse off than the U.S. included Turkey, Chile, Brazil, China, Mexico, Costa Rico, and India. The nation with the worse income gap in the world was South Africa.

So what does this mean for the United States and what, if anything, can we do to stave off disaster? Well, consider this. In 2016, U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett announced that he actually paid less in taxes than his secretary and other employees. He went on to say that his tax rate was just 17.4%. In 2018, U.S. billionaires paid, on average, at a tax rate of 23% while the bottom half paid an average tax rate of 24.2%. In 2018, the average CEO made 287 times more than the average employee. We have corporations whose profits are more than the GDP of many countries, but they pay little to no taxes.

The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy reported in 2019 sixty Fortune 500 companies which paid zero federal taxes on their collective profit of $79 billion dollars. We're talking Amazon, Goodyear, Eli Lilly, Chevron, Halliburton, Netflix, Delta Airlines, IBM, Gannet, Honeywell, Prudential Financial, Molson Coors, Apple, ATT, and Duke Energy as an example. Others, like Exxon, Pitney Bowes, U.S. Steel, Starbucks, and many other Wall Street corporations paid virtually nothing. Of note is that IBM, which paid no federal taxes, actually got a refund of $342 million. Amazon got back $182 million, while Molson Coors earned a "cold filtered" refund of $22.9 million.

Sound fair? Hardly. But that's how things function under an Oligarchy. Corporations, lobbyists, politicians, and professional bureaucrats all working hand-in-glove to serve each other's interests while taxpayers---you and me---get the bill. The government is living top dollar on our nickel and dime income. This has only one possible outcome. Perhaps that's the reason for the increase in government surveillance, the fake news, the increased militarization of the police, the manufactured conflicts between groups, the crackdown on owning guns as well as freedom of speech and assembly.

Those in the top 25% income bracket need to be taxed at a much higher fixed percentage so that a minimum tax is always paid. CEO's earning 287% more than the average employee? Great, let them pay at a 287% tax rate. In some countries, CEO's are capped at how much they can earn. In the UK it's 22% the amount of their lowest paid employee. In France, it's 15%, and in Germany it's 12%. Why can't we?

What we need is a complete tax code overhaul. We need to go to some form of consumption tax; a tax on which you pay only if you buy. You control your tax rate by controlling your purchases. You don't have to worry about keeping receipts, filling tax returns, or anything else. A tax code for ordinary citizens would be virtually obsolete.

Secondly, corporations need to pay a minimum tax equal to 15% of their gross profits. If U.S. manufacture products overseas and sent them back, then a special import tax needs to be added. It needs to be cheaper to manufacture here in the U.S. than to close an American plant, lay off workers, ship the job overseas, and then send it back here to be sold.

There was once more of an equilibrium between blue collar and white collar pay back when you had stronger unions. Unions, for all their flaws, at least gave employees a voice in the workplace and a means to fight back. That's all but gone. However, there needs to be the adoption of employee associations to pick up where unions left off. Employees need to be guaranteed a voice at the table---literally. Employees should be allowed to elected representatives to the board of directors on a rotating basis equal to 1/3 of the total board.

To reclaim our Republic from the Oligarchy we need to eliminate the nefarious "Citizens United" which gave corporations "personhood" and unlimited financial "free speech", thus eliminating the impact of the voters. We need to impose term limits and end partisan gerrymandering in order to give back some of the elective power to the people. We need to implement voter referendums too. Lastly, citizens must have the final say in any tax or rate increase. Regulatory boards and governments can and should advise; they can even recommend, but we--the taxpayers---must have the final say. We know what's at stake. It's up to us to incur that risk, be it increase in property tax, school tax, sewer rate hike, or increasing the salary of elected officials...or not.

We need to reevaluate whether those with no children in public schools should have to pay school tax at the same rate as those with children in school...or any tax at all. We need to reconsider whether those on fix incomes should have to pay a property tax or whether those who use bikes on public roads should be required to buy a license and pay a tax like anyone else who uses public roads.

Too often elected officials think the only option is to increase the tax burden on its citizens. They fail to take into consideration the accumulative effect of the increases, along with the increases in other services such as cable, water, gas, or electricity. It's always "just a few pennies" to hear them tell it, but it never is. Politicians, like water, will always take the path of least resistance. Right now that's you and me. We need to change that, and quickly, while there's still time.




18 Facts on the U.S. National Debt That Are Almost Too Hard to Believe

Trading Economics: Government Debt to GDP

Fiscal Indicatiors

Who Owns the U.S. National Debt?


These 15 countries have the widest gaps between rich and poor

Coming to Terms with Immigration, DACA, and Illegal Immigration

There's been so much in the news lately about so-called "Dreamers" and DACA, illegal immigration and so forth (DACA stands for "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" and was aimed at buying them additional time to become citizens and to make the process easier). Some even want to hold the US federal budget hostage over it'; delaying government payments to disabled and retired veterans, people on Social Security disability, low income families or individuals getting their WIC payments, not to mention no unemployment benefits, funding for school meals and other programs.

Of course, no payment for the US Military or funding for active duty or veterans needing surgery or medicine, which may be the worse slight of all. Imagine these men and women fighting and risking their lives, and not getting the near poverty level wages they earn the hard way. All this over individuals who are here illegally, either as the result of their own self-interest and disregard for our laws, or was it because they were too lazy to take the steps necessary to become legal? These individuals, somehow, seem to believe that although they've known for decades about their status, seemed to think that if they did nothing; took no steps whatsoever, not even the baby steps provided for in Obama's DACA program, they would just be waved through with a wink and a nod. I guess they were hoping that Hillary Clinton would be coroneted as planned, and they would be rubber stamped.

Now we're seeing protests, often with their faux-indignation, as if they all happened suddenly; a big ole surprise. I love some of the signs that are manufactured for these organized spontaneous events such as "No Person Is Illegal" or simply "I Support Immigration" among others which all essentially say the same thing. What is so interesting about these signs is they're lies of omission, aimed at getting people to accept them at face value in order to (hopefully) persuade people to change their minds or think (even for a moment), "hey, I agree with that". So, let's think about these signs for a moment.

First off, they are, at least on the surface, correct. Let's take the first one---"No Person is Illegal". Well, that's actually pretty true. No human being, at least in the West, is "illegal". Perhaps the closest thing to being "illegal" was slavery, which officially ended in the West close to 200 years ago (1820/1864 in the US, 126 in France, 1833 in the UK, 1818 by Spain, Holland, and Portugal). So, no person is illegal. However, an individual's actions may be illegal if they don't comply with existing laws. That's why we have a legal system, complete with law enforcement, courts, judges, bailiffs, and a jail or prison system. It's also why we have legislatures at the state and national level---to create laws.

When someone violates one or more of those laws, it's a crime, and crimes come with various forms of punishment such as fines or incarceration. In the case of immigration, it includes deportation. Every country has immigration laws, which are designed to protect and secure their borders for a wide range of reasons. Borders are part of what establishes a country's sovereignty. There are, of course, exceptions, such as escaping political, racial, ethnic, or religious persecution. Occasionally, exemptions are given for economic or health reasons. But regardless, the reasons must be compelling and irrefutable; that is, there must be external proof.

Most people who come to the US illegally exhibit none of these prequalifications. They just simply don't want to wait in line with those who are doing it legally. Of course, most of these individuals aren't coming here illegally in order to become American citizens. In fact, their illegal status precludes their ability to do so. So why are they here? Basically, for a job. Where many of these people come from, there are few good paying jobs, and competition is often stiff due to the large populations (not to mention subsequent corruption needed in getting and keeping a job). As an aside, the countries where many of these people come from lack a large or stable middle class. Why you wonder?

While the reasons are numerous, the primary reason stems from the early upper class and church authorities (mainly Roman Catholic in Latin America and parts of Asia and Europe) desire to keep the lower classes essentially poor and uneducated, and thus easier to control while leaving them in charge (historically, the middle class has come from the more successful lower merchant class, which also became more educated, and elevated their family's circumstances). Those who decide to violate the law, as I previously said, mainly come for a job. However, they again don't go through the process of obtaining a work permit. They, therefore, seek to work "under-the-table", either using a stolen or forged Social Security Number when necessary, or simply taking jobs which pay cash. While this is illegal from the employer's side too, some are more than willing to take advantage of these individual's situation.

They can lie about withholding taxes (and possibly pocketing the money), force them to work long hours without a break, avoid clean, safe, or healthy working conditions, and pay them next to nothing, not to mention treat them as near serfs. What are they going to do? Go to the police or other authorities? Where many of them come from the cops are worse than the crooks; as often as not, they're one in the same! Of course, if caught and convicted, employers can be fined and even arrested, although this rarely happens; many times, especially in some industries like hospitality, construction, and horse-racing, its gets by with wink and smile from the politicians, employers, unions, and the police.

Another part of this conspiracies of lies, are various social (and often religious oriented ) groups who believe they have a right or duty to ignore laws, and provide temporary shelter, clothing, food, and even help with finding them jobs, housing, and showing them how to violate laws, and guidelines in order to get taxpayer funded social services. Of course, this is illegal too and carries its own punishment. So, while no one is "illegal", their actions are, and often those actions affect others who are dragged down in the widening web of lies, from those attempting to do the right thing and are forced to wait even longer, to shady employers and misguided social zealots.

Now, what about the other signs like "I Support Immigration"? On the face of it, signs like these makes perfect sense. America is a nation of immigrants; we are a country built on immigrants. Perhaps no nation on earth has had such diversity other than ancient Rome. One could argue quite convincingly that every nation, ethnic group, race, and religion is represented in America. In 2016, there were 43.7 million first generation immigrants living in the US. If you include their US born children, that number increases to 86.4 million, or 27% of the total US population. Most came from India, followed by China and Hong Kong. Mexico and Cuba round out the top five according to the Migration Population Institute's February 8, 2018 report.

Of course, these are individuals who did it the right way, so there's obviously no bias against immigration, and certainly not any based on religion or skin color. However, like every nation, the US operates on a quota system (PEW Research has an interesting article on the history of US immigration which I've linked below). Now, what about illegal immigration? The two best sources of information are the Department of Homeland Security and FAIR (Federation For American Immigration Reform). Best estimates place the number of illegal immigrants at around 13.5 million (this is in addition to the numbers above, which represents legal immigrants). That number doesn't include the approximate 4.2 million "anchor babies" or children born in the US by illegal immigrants, but does include some 800,000 DACA recipients). The reason why the number isn't more precise is simply because those here illegally don't want to counted! So, what does this cost us? You'd be surprised.

In terms of our tax dollars, illegal immigration costs US taxpayers an estimated $134.9 billion dollars (federal, state, and local money). Also, bear in mind that the average American pays 30% of their income to taxes. Here's another factor to look at, crime. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, just over 1/4 of all prisoners being house in federal prisons are here illegally, with just under 300,000 incarcerated on state and local jails. That's about $1.6 billion for their upkeep at the federal level and $8.6 billion at the state and local levels. Most are held on violent crime charges by the way.

Let's also not forget that unlike legal immigration, where immigrants undergo a health screening, illegals do not. Therefore, we have many entering this country who are infected with diseases and illnesses which we haven't seen in decades, such as various infectious diseases (like tuberculosis, measles, typhoid fever), plus HIV/AIDS, STDs, severe drug and alcohol addiction, and mental illnesses. Simply put, illegal immigrants put ordinary Americans, especially seniors and our aging Babyboomers, children, and those with compromised immune systems at high risk (I've included a really interesting article from Psychology Today on the topic below).

So, are Americans opposed to immigration? Clearly not; at least not based on government or independent statistics and research at least. I think it's obvious that most of us support immigration too, as long as it's legal. Race, religion, or ethnic group are rarely a factor for most Americans. However, we do have an issue with those who willfully decide to ignore our laws; we have a real concern with supporting those who pay little or no money back into our social safety net; and we have a serious problem with those who commit crimes.

This country was intended to be a "melting pot" where all cultures blend together in order to create something new---"E Pluribus Unum" or "Out of Many, One" as it says on our National Seal. However, it is language which binds us together; it's the thread which binds the nation, and that thread is English. Without it, we become a hodgepodge of disunited peoples. In no country will you find the native population purposefully surrendering its identity to a new culture, religion, or language. In no country will you find a country willingly default on its sovereignty. America is no different.



Timeline of the abolition of slavery and serfdom



MPI: Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States


PEW: How U.S. immigration laws and rules have changed through history



Psychology Today: Do Illegal Immigrants Pose a Health Risk to Us All?



DHS: Immigration Data & Statistics


Federation of American Immigration Reform

We Interrupt this National Decline...

It was once said that that all roads led to Rome. It was true figuratively and as well as literally. With some 100,000 miles of road, it provided direct access for the Roman legions to any hotspot within the empire. It established trade routes throughout the empire and eventually even connected to the Silk Road to the Near Eastern nations, India, and finally to China. But, as goes another old saying, as Rome's roads went, so went the Roman Empire and its ability to defend the empire and its trade routes, and with that, along with the decline in political stability thanks to the ineptitude and corruption of the political class and the financial elites, taxes, decline of the water systems, agriculture, decline in innovations, quality of the fight forces, increases in pirates and illegal immigration who didn't integrate, the rise of the poor amid the decline of middle and business class, ever more successful foreign invasions, devaluation of its currency, and a host of other factors---some major but most subtle, the glory and the might that was Rome gradually faded over the course of about 300 years until it became but it memory.

Much the same has been said America. Certainly, we face many of the same factors. Like Rome, we went from rule by a monarchy to a Republic and now to an oligarchy; controlled by transnational corporations which have no loyalty to either a nation or national ideals. Wealth--- economic and political control---is the hands of the top 1%. Our Middle Class is all but nonexistent while not the ranks of the poor increase, some communities and cities look like they belong to some third world nation, as social services decrease due to expense. We too experience a debt that not only can we never hope to pay, but is actually unsustainable. We too are being invaded by illegal immigrants looking for a better life, but few are finding it. They too are refusing to assimilate. While are military remains strong (though, like Rome, there is talking about incorporating illegal immigrants as an avenue to citizenship), it is ever more dependent on technology, which makes it vulnerable to shortages of those able to operate and maintain it as our educational system continues to decline.

Like Rome, we face a decline in social morals and a sense of community values in the name of "inclusion", or as we would say, "political correctness". Our roads, dams, electrical grids, bridges, and highways are crumbling too, and again, like Rome, a public reluctance to paying for repairs through higher taxes (they often did so out of the pocket of a government official, usually seeking higher office). Trade and often innovation has steadily shifted overseas, not for lack of resources, but avoidance of labor costs or in some cases taxes, and then reshipped back into America by these stateless corporations. Meanwhile, public funds are often diverted to pay costs they incurred or for poor management while local businesses struggle or are forced to close.

I could go on and on, but we all get the picture. It doesn't matter if you lean politically Right, Left, or like the majority of Americas, to the center and increasingly independent. We've all witnessed the rise of the Occupy Movement which opposes the economic and political control of Corporate America and the 1% while others, such as the Tea Party, opposed to over reach and intrusion of a growing federal government clamber for a return to the original intent of the Founders. Therefore, it seems to me that it's time that we refocus the discussion. We see what's wrong with America, though we may have different solutions. Perhaps it's time for changing America and move away from mere criticisms. The powers that be hold power largely because they've been successful in dividing us, which is ironic if you accept that we largely want many of the same things. We---as individuals and communities---have allowed ourselves to be pitted against each other across artificial divides. As long as we argue and fight each other we fail to see those who are not just the source of our misery, but profiting off of it.

Maybe it's time we reconsider if we want this to remain a single nation? Perhaps we time we go our separate ways. Or, as some contend, the Constitution (largely usurped already) is outdated; made obsolete by technology and societal changes unforeseen by our Founding ancestors? Perhaps a democratic socialist state which serves the needs of all equally is what we should strive for (and no, we aren't "socialist" now despite the talking heads on the Right. We are, however, increasingly fascist---corporation rule per its creator Benito Mussolini) or should we rely on our innate abilities embrace libertarianism as espoused by Jefferson? Some would argue that we've advance to far as society for that---an ideology best suited for small agrarian societies.

The demise of the oligarchy and restoration of the Middle Class are givens I think. How about freedom? How much do we want? How much can we stand? What kind of freedom to we want? China calls itself "free" and so does Holland. What form of government do we want now that we no longer have a democratic republic? Do we return to a democratic republic but with greater restrictions? Certainly ending gerrymandering, adding term limits, real finance reform and reversing "Citizens United" I hope; perhaps too, revising federal judicial appointments, including federal judgeships and the often out-of-touch Supreme Court. What about proportional representation like the other limited democracies have or mandating voting? Regardless, let's consider the America we want and not the one Washington is giving us.

The elites control us by controlling our ability to communicate. Did you know that only six corporations control our public media?

They attempt to mold and manipulate what we think and how we act. Mao Tse-tung once said that power came from the barrel of gun. Nowadays, it's more likely to come from the click of mouse. Within little more than a decade, we've witnessed how social networking and the Internet has brought down military dictatorships, theocracies and other corrupt governments. It's little wonder nations, including the United States, have banded together in an attempt to control, regulate, or monitor the Internet. The idea of people exchanging ideas and find a commonality brings fear to those who try to inspire fear and intimidation to their people. This may yet prove to be more powerful than Mao's bullets. This then is our best tool to molding a nation or perhaps a world into what we want. As has been said, people don't want wars. Governments and banks do.

And speaking of the world, we, as Americans, must understand and accept that we have no obligation or even right to impose our values, beliefs, or even our form of government on any nation or any people. All individuals have a natural right as human beings, to chose freely the form of government they want irrespective of what their neighbors desire them to have. Though not alone, America has interfered and attempt to impose its concept of Americanized government or worse, violent militarized juntas on people for the sake of economic profit and corporate control. If we demand freedom for ourselves, they we should do less than allowing others the right to chose their own governments whether we agree with it or not.

In our present military situation, our response to 9/11 was to find and bring to justice those responsible (and accepting, however painfully, the reasons why 9/11 took place). Beyond that, we proceeded for the sake of economic---corporate greed--while claiming the virtues of "freedom". Kuwait was not liberated for "freedom of Kuwaiti People" or even Royal promises of social, political or "gender" equality---none of which never materialized, but for influence and control of assets. The invasion of Iraq wasn't required. Saddam Hussein's Iraq was already impotent militarily and politically. It wasn't done for the sake of the Kurdish People who we've promised much and delivered little. It was for the sake of controlling Iraqi oil and gas. What it did, thanks to an incomplete and unrealistic occupational plan, was open an Pandora's Box that has costs the lives of thousands of brave military personnel while at the same time providing a gold mine for lobbyists, contractors, the WTO, the IMF, and others, not to mention a perfect sandbox for testing the military's latest toys.

The adoption of the never-ending "war on terror" and a terrorist or potential terrorist behind every tree mentality has also provided

a perfect excuse to impose restrictions on our freedoms which we never would have previously tolerated; surveillance of all/threat by few/denial for your own good is our new mantra, and a way to cover-up a weak economy racked by unsustainable debt and greed through a never ending supply of recruits to keep the employment numbers down and keeping the economy running on a artificially inflated "war economy". This too is something we must address since this conspiracy, which is not of the making of a few extremist crack pots, but adopted by both parties as cover for the oligarchs who now run our country. Meanwhile, endure those who have a visceral hatred of this country; who attempt to make profane the American Ideal and its symbols while pursuing every recourse to weaken and belittle this nation.

These are things we each see and mostly agree on. The powers that be will continue to obfuscate, distract, divide, frighten, or if necessary, threaten. It is also quite capable deceit, lies, of manufacturing evidence or worse. The question I repeat, is not to continue to debate the merits of what we all see, but to agree that we must begin to find ways of addressing them. Whether the status quo agrees is irrelevant. Ultimately the only real power it has is the power we cede to it.