If there is anything my Grandfather Callaio taught me, it is that the universe has a way to even out.
That thought, over my lifetime, has made me sit up and notice, he was correct.
One example he loved to use was the weather. He would tell me if the summer were super hot, the winter would be super cold. He said if the summer were dry, the winter would be snowy and wet.
The weather, of course, is one way to prove his theory correct, and if it holds true, maybe, just maybe, we will have an unusually hot summer.
You can apply the universe evening out in economics. In the past, we had extremely low interest rates that had a good run, but now not so much. As the saying goes, “What goes up must come down.”
Nearly six years ago, the world faced a crazy pandemic, but I knew it would eventually be figured out and we would get past it.
Today, there is a lot of political and social division, and I don’t see a change happening too soon, but if I believe my grandfather, a change will happen.
All we hear on the nightly news is about ICE, immigrants, unrest, and people dying. I grew up with tons of unrest over my lifetime, but it was over civil rights, rights of all kinds in general, protesting against wars like Vietnam and others, but I have never seen scenes like this where our federal government is taking on its own citizens.
Here is my opinion and personal solution on illegal immigrants: if someone has been in the U.S. for 10 years, earns an income, pays taxes, and contributes to society, put them on a fast track to citizenship.
If someone is in the country less than 10 years, earns a living, pays taxes, then issue them a green card and give them a required time to gain citizenship.
If they are here less than 10 years and have not contributed to our country or to society, then send them back to their country of origin, and of course, if they have been involved in criminal activity, then they should be handled through our legal system.
Unless I’m missing something, I think my solutions are better than what’s going on now. It’s a win-win situation, and nobody dies.
For as much as we are led to believe all immigrants are criminals is just hogwash. Sure, a few bad apples give everyone a bad name, and I know that’s not the case where everyone is clumped in one basket.
Having the military and Special Forces sent to major cities is a page out of a country under a military state. I like to think the United States is a democracy, but it’s looking less and less like it.
Now there are talks of the federal government overseeing elections? That too is not a democracy; it’s too much like a totalitarian state. It’s very unsettling.
Why is taking control of Venezuela better than Russia wanting to take over Ukraine? In all of my life, I don’t recall the U.S.A. seizing any other country as we have with Venezuela.
And the deal with Iceland — I don’t understand that one either.
The United States has played a role in the world police while defending democracy. We help other countries from aggression, and now we are the aggressor over the last 12 months.
I’ve stated before, I’m not into politics; I do not study current affairs regarding politics. If anything, I’m more of a political observer. Most of my close friends and family can’t understand when a name has been thrown at me, whether on the national scene or the world, I wouldn’t know who they were talking about.
All I know from my easy chair is, it doesn’t feel like we are going down the right path and yes, I’m allowed to give my opinion like the next person, so today, for as much as I don’t use this forum for politics, I wanted to speak my mind.
I thought 12 months ago and beyond we were a divided nation, but it is worse now than ever.
This is a case where I hope my Grandfather Callaio is correct and things will balance out and move in another direction than where we are now.
People always desire world peace; after all, who wants to see two or more nations engaged in strife and war? Not only do we desire that, but we also hunger for the day when Americans can get back to a quieter and gentler time.
Another thing I tell my friends, there is nothing I can do about what happens in our country regarding our politics, but twice a year — when I vote.
Moving on… are we seeing the last gasp of Old Man Winter? I say no, but something has to give. I’ve never experienced the grip of this refrigerator from Canada for as long as we have now.
In the past, the term Polar Vortex has been used, but I have not heard any of the weather experts call the deep freeze we’ve been experiencing.
Thankfully, this week aims to have near-average temperatures. Amen.
Quote of the week
“Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth.” —George Orwell
Thought of the week
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction no longer exists.” —Hannah Arendt
Bumper sticker
“A system that is based on lies is a system that is afraid of the truth.” —Vaclav Havel
