Where Do The Killers Really Come From?

Since 2001, the United States has admitted 859,629 refugees into its borders.  Over the same time period, we welcomed over 12 million immigrants.  All told, almost 3,000 people each and every single day move from a foreign country and into the US for one reason or another – either from fleeing an oppressive regime or seeking employment and a better life for themselves and their families.

But this number ignores another, far greater source of entry - one that adds over 11,000 people per day.  What’s more alarming is that these 11,000 people were subjected to no background checks, have not had any vaccines, and have no prior work history or official documentation, and yet for some reason we welcome these people with open arms.  Further, these people do not speak English at all, instead preferring to speak some form of garbled gibberish that not even our top intelligence offices, code breakers, and psychologists have been able to decipher.  Because of this, these people have a difficult time finding employment, typically taking over a decade to find even a minimum wage job.  During this time, they are nothing but a drain on the American taxpayer – a taxpayer who is already being asked to pay far too much.  Efforts to prevent this form of entry have stymied legislators for generations, with a large percentage of the population believing that to do so would be an affront to God or even outright murder.  What group is this?

Newborn children.

Every day, 11,000 newborns enter this country, becoming full citizens who are able to live, learn, love, and labor in this country without fear of being sent away.  If we look at crime statistics, one out of every 22,541 of these newborns will commit murder, meaning that on average, one murderer enters the United States through birth every two days. 

If we contrast that to the rate of terrorist attacks carried out by refugees, we find that since 2001 there have been three refugees convicted of planning terrorist attacks (outside the US) and exactly zero domestic attacks planned by refugees.  In other words, one out of every 286,543 refugees has been convicted of planning a terrorist attack.  This means that on average, one terrorist enters the United States as a refugee every 1,705 days.  In other words, newborn children are 852 times more likely to commit murder during their lives than a refugee is to commit terrorism.

If it’s foolish to be afraid of allowing newborns into the United States because they might commit crimes, it’s even more foolish to be afraid of allowing refugees to enter the country.

Politicians Can't Say No? Give Me A Break...

My latest op-ed at The Hill tackles the question of whether corporations have too much power and are able to force politicians to do things against their will.  Here's a snippet.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that the federal government, which has the power to topple regimes around the world, somehow lacks the power to say no to corporations.  And yet somehow corporations are able to boss around politicians and force them to do something against their will?  Give me a break.  While I’m certainly not suggesting that the federal government use its military strength against corporations, the idea that anyone can force the federal government to do something against its will is patently absurd.  So if the federal government currently has the power to just say no to corporations, why are they saying yes? 

Because saying yes pays big money.

The rest of the article can be found here.

Silver or Chocolate?

Earlier in the semester, I posed a question to my class about whether they would rather have a gallon of water or a "gallon" of diamonds in an attempt to illustrate the water-diamond paradox.  Almost everyone chose the gallon of diamonds, reasoning that they could sell the diamonds and buy a gallon of water, among other things.

But here's an interesting thing: someone actually offered people a deal very similar to this.  Would you rather have a ten ounce bar of pure silver or a king size bar of chocolate?  Shockingly, everyone picked the chocolate!  Check out the video below: