Raiha

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][left][FONT="Times New Roman"]I'm sure you've all heard by now about how Professor Gates tried to get into his own house but was too incompetent to do so. And thus began the debacle which resulted in him being arrested for disorderly conduct after telling a very distinguished and upright police officer (who was white) that he was a racist and calling him a variety of names which won't make it through the censor here. In short, a police officer responded to a neighbor's call of a break in, and since there had been a series of break-ins and other thefts in the area he simply asked Gates for an ID. When Gates didn't and got angry and cranky and acted like a toddler, the police officer responded as I would've on any dark night with an angry jerk calling me names and harassing me while I simply did my job. Then just when things could've died and been chalked up to a misunderstanding and Gates being an uppity self-righteous professor at any ivy league school, Obama gets out and says the police 'acted stupidly' in the manner. Then he had to back pedal and more people were called racist, and then the police union got upset and then it turned into Gates-Gate and so on and so forth. So it boils down to were the police out of line to even dare him to ask for an ID? Should we expect police to know the faces and names of every person who lives in an area that they patrol? Should they have simply not worried about two men trying to get into a house with limited success? I find our president saying because he knew Gates it was all the police's fault to be appalling and a complete abuse of his position. He should've stayed out of this and just let the situation resolve itself without feeling the need to jump out there and exacerbate the situation and piss off anyone who can think at least a little logically. Or at least not rush to condemnation before all the facts are in.[/font][/left][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]It's lunacy. While I will be the first to admit that there is always a precious youngster who is more than capable of handling himself or herself alone and with a gun, I wouldn't really trust anyone else out there alone. A well trained kid in the forest on a day hike with a pack and a map? Yes. Any kid, however well trained in the forest with a loaded gun? Hell no. Haven't any of you ever read Lord of the Flies?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1195008/Is-embarrassing-mugshot-Drug-dealer-arrested-nipping-barbershop-mid-visit-deal.html"]It's people like this, who remind me why drugs are bad.[/URL] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Also, while I support being quick to get out in front of your customers, I also support not doing it when the police are waiting to get your behind.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I support breast feeding but not while under the influence. Most everything a mother ingests is passed on to the child through breast milk, so if the mom eats mostly fatty foods, she'll end up with a baby that looks like the Pillsbury dough boy. If the mom boozes like a sailor, her baby will probably end up with severe damage to the internal organs before it can say 'Please don't drink and breast feed mommy.' Five years in prison? No. Parenting classes? ....If she's dumb enough to breast feed while intoxicated, is she smart enough to comprehend parenting class lectures/reading material/etc? IQ test before having children? Yes.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Having just returned to the states from overseas I can safely say that banning bottled water would be the death of most travelers of foreign countries. I spent two weeks in the Philippines obliged to brush my teeth with bottled water so I wouldn't get the amoeba and other bacterial infections from the entirely non potable water that comes out of the taps. In the shower, I had to keep my mouth firmly shut so no water could get in that way. After washing my hands I had to make sure I didn't use them to convey anything to my mouth before they were dry. And the story is the exact same in China, where I spent another week. Banning bottled water however as part of an unnecessary taxpayer burden at government meetings is an entirely different enchilada. Plus, as someone from California I can safely say that there are times in which the tap water Tastes. Like. ***. The algae in the water supply blooms out of control in the summer time which radically alters the taste of the tap water, even if you DO filter it at home through a tank. And while some people prefer to be screwed by the Britta water filter company, I find it's a great deal more convenient to buy cases of smart water and pile them up in the trunk of my car.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='taperson'][SIZE="1"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]But does he steal the Books of Mormon?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I don't think the Gideon Bible people have the same arrangement as the Mormon Bible people. Although that's a question for the Utah people. Do hotels in Utah have the book of Mormon instead of the Holy Bible? And btw, they want you to take the bibles, that's why they're there. How do I know this? At my former Christian private school, the Gideon Bible guy was invited to give a presentation on bible statistics. It was rather informative.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Displaying just the proper amount of disdain, Lord Cynven glared at Lyfe, who was now glowing bright enough to cause the two men to turn their eyes away. The light hum of a sword being pushed through the air took Lyfe's attention and she turned to find Benwyck swinging down on her. In a reaction so smooth it was nearly like a dance, Lyfe flung up one hand and called forth raw energy. Immediately it struck the blade and wrenched it from the traitor's hands, sending it spinning backwards to lodge into the stone wall. Benwyck staggered back, his hands stinging from the sudden force. And as he angled himself to stand by Lord Cynven, perhaps trying to draw some strength from the lord who had been foolish enough to grant him temporary asylum. Lyfe smiled at this move, and immediately darted forward with her hands outstretched, the fingertips pulsing from opalescent white, to green, to blue and then back to silver again. Gravity temporarily releasing it's hold on Lyfe, she leapt upwards in a move so gentle it was almost as if she'd merely begun to float. Slapping her hands down in a smooth chopping motion, she touched both of their foreheads and then let her momentum carry her forward to land behind them. Touching her own forehead, she bowed her body forward slightly and hunched inward to herself, closing her eyes. [/i] "Let the light of lights burn within thee. Let the light purge that which is unclean." [i]At those words, her tattoos flared upwards in a brilliant surge of brightness and both men fell as if stricken with a sudden fever. Their eyes scrunched shut and they began to shiver with uncontrollable jerks and chills. Seizing up Benwyck she bound him ankle and foot, and dragged him out of the ring of the dun's earthworks. Then she returned to stand just outside of the dun, where it's lord was still lying in the thrall of her spell. She placed both hands on either side of the doors and let fire flicker from her arms to the wood of the walls. It caught quickly, as if the entire dun had been soaked in oil. Immediately the entire brooch flared up in a sheet of flames and Lyfe hauled Benwyck behind her to where Ulf was tied up and patiently waiting. Flinging him over the side of the saddle, she tied him to the bags with a length of hemp rope, and remounted. Turning Ulf's head to the north, she urged him forward, mindful that Benwyck wouldn't survive if she pushed forward into a proper traveling speed.[/i] "What a useless lump." [i]Two days later she had reached her father's lands. As she crossed the border, she felt a crackling popping sensation against her skin and knew that the wards that surrounded his demense had alerted him that she was on her way home. After she handed over the traitor to some of her father's riders, she urged Ulf forward into a full gallop and maintained the speed as he crossed the archways leading to her father's own dun. Dismounting in one smooth motion, a groom quickly led away Ulf and Lyfe tossed her cloak to the hovering handmaiden at the door. Stripping out of her leathers, she quickly covered the distance from the entryway to her own room, in the west wing of the house. A suite of rooms had been dedicated to the last of her father's wives. A woman named Berwyna had given him two children, one son and one daughter. Lyfe of course was the daughter, as faithful and filial as anyone could wish for. After her quick bath, Lyfe dressed in the pale linen gown that had been laid out for her, and kirtled it with the black, silver, and gold threaded sash that of her clan's colors. She knelt at his feet with her head bowed, the tattoos dark enough to appear through the thin material of the dress. Benwyck was in the same room, his iron chains clanking against the slate tile floors.[/i] "I see you were successful Lyfe. Littlest of my children." "Yes father. It was no trouble." "He is still in thrall. Will you release him for me?" "Yes. As you wish your Grace." [i]Lyfe crossed the dais to where Benwyck was chained, although quite unnecessarily. His eyes were closed and his body was slick with the sharp strongly scented sweat of a man in the throes of terror. Lyfe lowered one hand from where they were tucked into her sleeves and touched the tip of her forefinger to his forehead and willed power from her tattoo into him. Instantly his head jerked up and his eyes opened and he wailed aloud. A terrible strangled choking sound filled the air, and then he raised his head to see Lord Akanessler behind Lyfe and he fell silent.[/i] "Thank you beloved daughter. You may leave us now." "As your Grace pleases." [i]Her skirts flaring gently at her steps, Lyfe bowed to her father as she left the room, the guards at either sides of the entryway stiffening their stance as she crossed the threshold. As she returned to her suite of rooms to relax and undress and get some well deserved sleep, she could hear the echoing screams of Benwyck in the back of her mind.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Is a legend, was way past his expiration date, made a lot of mistakes and vain attempts to get public attention when he could've politely just not made a spectacle of himself, etc. It is difficult to mourn the passing of someone very contritely when the majority of people just wish he'd stayed the way he was in the 70s. If he'd done so, we'd all probably be a lot sadder.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Now don't get me wrong, I'm not wild about Michael Jackson. I preferred him when he was young, black, and not obsessed with little boys. But speaking ill of the dead is naughty, so I'll just invite your own thoughts on the issue of Jackson. Who apparently died of cardiac arrest, which is, incidentally, way less cool than how David Carradine died.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Lyfe Akanessler, youngest daughter of her father's many children lay suspended between wake and sleep. Perfumed smoke and incense whirled across her face while her aura spun slowly around her physical body. Her father, his face shrouded in shadows leaned over her, shards of silver light glistening in his hands. Her flesh felt seared to the bone as he chanted in a rhythmic roll of the tongue, pressing needles of both steel and magic into her. As the pain running down her spine and across her arms slowly died down to a nagging throb her eyes momentarily focused and she saw him smile down at her.[/i] "Dearest Lyfe, heart of my heart. You will be the last of your kind, perhaps the greatest of them. Swear to serve me for as long as you breathe." [i]She tried to speak, but felt herself pinned to the table she lay upon, her father's obsidian eyes boring into her mind. A terrible pain in her chest began to grow, like he had suddenly stabbed her through the heart. Unable to blink, unable to even pull together a coherent thought, she stared back, her amber eyes catching the flickering torchlight.[/i] "Yes father. As long as I breathe." [i]He smiled again and released her, looking away to a side table. Lyfe blinked rapidly, then relaxed herself and watched her father putting away the case of needles he'd used to score her skin with. She looked down and saw the skin of her arms, puffy and red around the spiraling interlaced lines of blue and black. Immediately her back began to itch and she resisted the urge to move, waiting until her father had left the chamber.[/i] [center]*******[/center] [i]The dull thud of hoof beats on a hard packed dirt road was the only sound besides that of a massive Shire gelding's even breathing. Clinging to his black mane with her spine hunched across his neck, Lyfe looked hardly larger than a child. The gelding ran, picking up speed as they coursed down a hill into a narrow valley and into the demense of a Lord Cynven. Checking her mount's speed as they neared the village that stood the closest to his dun and brooch Lyfe sat up a little straighter in the saddle as Ulf assumed a steady trot. Reaching behind her, she pulled her boots out of her left saddlebag and pulled them on and laced them up as Ulf slowed down to a steady walk. Pulling her hood up across her face, she slowly gathered her thoughts and reflected on the first mission her father had given her. Find Lord Cynven, demand that he turn over the fled traitor Benwyck to her father's justice. Failing his cooperation, she had orders to both take Benwyck by force and burn Lord Cynven's brooch to the ground with him in it. For his sake, Lyfe hoped Lord Cynven would prove tractable. Leaving Ulf tied up in front of a tavern in the village, Lyfe completed the short walk to the brooch on her own. Reaching the main gates in a very short amount of time, Lyfe strode forward boldly, the soldiers coming to attention at the sight of the family crest on her ring brooch. They parted automatically their spears, as if they'd had word of her coming, and she rode through the heavy iron gates into Lord Cynven's compound. He was waiting for her in the great hall, a glass goblet in one hand and an insolent smile on his face. Near him sat Benwyck, the man her father had deemed a traitor to their family. Lyfe dimly recalled Benwyck as being her cousin in some way, another noble born like her, but not marked the way she was.[/i] "Lady Lyfe Akanessler, welcome to the hospitality of my hall." "Lord Cynven. As the voice of the Akanessler clan, I demand that you turn over Benwyck to me as prisoner that he might return to my family's lands and stand trial in my father's court for crimes against his clan and the gods of our people." "Is that so?" "It is." "Brave words little girl. For a child barely into womanhood, you seem to be gifted with an inordinate amount of courage. But I doubt you have the means to take Benwyck by yourself." "Again I ask, please turn Benwyck over to me." "I do not think he desires to go with you, regardless of how pretty you may be under that cloak." [i]Lyfe watched as her cousin stood, drawing his sword as he did. Lord Cynven took an insolent sip of mead and watched Lyfe's reaction. To her credit, she didn't blanch. Instead she threw her hood back and called forth power from the massive spiraling tattoos across her arms and back. Light and fire blazed up at once, suffusing her skin with a pale silver glow. She took one step forward, her cloak billowing backwards in the breeze created by the energy she was pulling together.[/i] "This is the third and last time I'll ask. Surrender Benwyck at once, or I will call down fire and destroy your dun and end your life."[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Lady A, I hope you're not implying that the only white supremacists are republicans. Because to be quite honest, I don't think that sentiment is fair. Furthermore, it demonstrates a prejudice of the sort that is simply a weaker form of the same hate practiced by said white supremacists.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Oh Nerdsy, can I feel to my death too? I suppose the reason I liked this movie more than Wall-E is because there was no contentiousness in the form of a big message of "Consumerism is bad and this is where it leads." Don't get me wrong, I liked the characters in Wall-E and felt they were well pulled off, but the underlying message of 'THIS IS THE FUTURE YOU FAT AMERICANS' to me wasn't really necessary for a kid's movie. But this isn't about that. This is about loving to death a movie that was simple at its core and didn't have an overarching theme that was rooted in a socio-political message. At least overtly. And no, I saw it in 2-D. My boyfriend and I both get disoriented with 3-D. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]It was the same holy bible that motivated a lot of Christians to become abolitionists to work against the slave system. So before you decide to uphold the bible as a symbol for all that's wrong with the world, remember that religion in the hands of man and subject to man's interpretation can be twisted any number of ways depending on who is speaking. Which is why you have Christians who are for gay rights and Christians who aren't. And why you have Muslims who blow up buildings and kill protesters and Muslims who don't. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Sabrina'][FONT="Tahoma"]The more stunts corporations pull like that, the more they prove that stricter [b]legislation[/b] really is necessary.[/FONT][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Yes. That's a good idea. Make a law. Do not appoint an unelected person to a position of unprecedented executive power for an indeterminable length of time and give him the ability to determine such things when a law would do just fine. And have no personal, physical, human emotion fueled stake in any of these matters.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well the fact that nobody has mentioned this must mean that nobody actually knows. A fact that doesn't surprise me, but somehow leads me to believe that like Aaryanna says, nobody really knows how the damn thing works. A Pay Czar. [quote]The Obama administration recently appointed Kenneth Feinberg, "Special Master for Compensation" to ensure that companies receiving federal bailout funds are abiding by executive-pay guidelines, according to people familiar with the matter.[/quote] Now this begs the question, [b]Why didn't someone think of attaching strings like that BEFORE we threw money at the problem?[/b] I don't know, I'm not the bloated, ponderous, overarching, self-protecting and propagating, top-down management federal government. The fact that they've appointed such a position, which I will henceforth refer to as "Massuh" means that the original bailout money had no specific requirements for usage attached to it. They just assumed, like morons, that the people receiving it wouldn't just use it to upgrade the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's a great idea, in theory. But I don't believe there's a constitutional argument for bailouts any more than I believe there's one for a car czar, pay czar, weather czar, or any other appointed position from the Obama administration that levies all reasonable executive control to a person. That isn't the president.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Most of that was gallows humor. I don't seriously think my boyfriend is going to hire a stripper to cheer himself up any more than I think he's tired of me, and that's the reason he hasn't called me for now.. ...er... Five days.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[FONT="Times New Roman"][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]*checks frantically for any threads of more serious import to comment on before stooping to taking this one seriously* I agree with him entirely. I never had a problem with Simon, believing him to be an important foil to the cow faced mooing of Paula and whoever else was up there spouting lines like: "Oh honey that was just incredible. Fabulous! You're such a star." As far as children? Don't let them on the show for chrissake. I have young siblings that are 11 and as of today 9. When they're standing up in front of their peers at a BASEBALL game and the coach yells at them, they cry. When they're swimming at practice and another coach yells at them to tighten up their form, if they've had a stressful or tiring day, they cry. Children are emotionally all over the place at that age, and I think it's unfair of critics to have to soft-pedal and give special treatment to children who may simply not have appeared as good as the slightly less brittle adults. For the Susan Boyle thing? She was emotionally fragile, but at least didn't make an enormous scene on camera. I think the media had an unreasonably enormous festival with her and the way the show handled it was the best they could do at the time. For all the people saying "Simon is a big fat meanie head?" Well duh. He's a critic. It's what he does. If he turned tricks on the street corner he'd be a prostitute. If he took money from people, he'd be working for the IRS. A show can't have all three judges looking at the performers with stars in their eyes going: "Duaaaaaaaawwwwwwww...." Those who proclaim that Simon was just treating them horribly either was not hugged enough by mommy, or simply do not have the emotional wherewithal to appear on television in a TALENT show. A show designed specifically to pick out good from bad and elevate the good to the status it 'deserves.' So if you weren't so amazing, or you think you were exploited, it's probably just you annoyed that you didn't turn out to be the latest ... ...yeah I neither know or care who won these things.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Okay, it's been out for awhile, time to talk about UP. My new most favorite Pixar movie. Evar. More than the Incredibles. More than Toy Story 2. It has a Japanese voice actor, and the man who did the voices of Mr. Ray from Finding Nemo and Roz from Monsters Inc. as well as other characters who weren't quite as cool. Coincidentally he's the writer of the entire story, so I figure he was onto something when the best character in the entire movie was created. That character being Dug the Dog. [IMG]http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/updoug-440x247.jpg[/IMG][/FONT] Anyway the movie. I won't use the spoiler tags to tell you the main thing about the film aside from the part where some bits of it were so hilarious I cried laughing. The thing that was the most wonderful for me was the way it was so compelling and emotional, even though it was entirely animated. If you have a soul, you will cry. More than once. I warned you.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]My boyfriend is a Lieutenant in the Army Reserves and he disappears on the first weekend of every month, and twice a year for two to three week training. We've been dating for nearly a year, but at the moment he's in San Diego doing...something. Whatever it is he's been so busy he hasn't had the time to call me for four days straight and when I did try to reach him he was preoccupied and the conversation just went nowhere. And he's been gone for a week now. And the day he's back is the day I'm shipping out to the Phillipines as part of a medical team. So we'll miss each other the entire summer. My advice? As ridiculous as it is, is to simply not worry. Not worry that he'll wander off base and find some hot young skinny attractive large breasted non nagging exotic woman to give him a lap dance. [Yes, that's what I'm paranoid about]. Not think that no news means he stepped on a grenade and is now on his way home in multiple pieces. It's difficult, because like any woman with an over active imagination I'm afraid that every little thing that was in our last, unsatisfactory, conversation is just a sign of something much more serious. But sometimes no news really is good news. I know it's difficult to be separated from someone, especially when you don't have the prior additional dealbreaker commitment of a marriage, but if I can pull my mangled hyper-emotional insane brain through it, you can. Also, consider sending him a love letter. The kind his Commanding Officer will make him do pushups for. Plaster it with lipstick kisses and on the back write "Love Larry." [just kidding][/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well the bailout and stimulus money has been 'spent' and on the off chance that nobody here reads news cycles, you might be shocked to learn that absolutely nothing has changed except the amount of zeros on the end of the national debt. And Obama's solution? Print money. Inflate the economy. Devalue the dollar and millions of dollars people have stored in their savings accounts. That's the ticket! I'll agree that sometimes you have to spend money to earn money, but if you have no accountability [because you're the government] then you'll just spend money and not give a crap if you earn money later or not. I hate to be cynical, but I never thought bailout money would work. Ever. The few honest people that wanted it to work were just that. Too few, too late.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]So while perusing through the usual headlines, I found articles about the release of Milk, Bruno, and Obama not extending the same health care benefits to gay and lesbian federal employees. So in an effort to not prioritize at all, I have the following questions for all of you, who must solemnly swear to not go straight for the gay jokes. [b]Milk:[/b] Do you think this movie was helpful or harmful for raising awareness of the gay rights movement of San Francisco in the 70s? Over the past couple of days I've found articles by gay and lesbian writers stating that the movie was totally whitewashed and weakly put out as a terrible portrayal of Harvey Milk's last few years of life. Others are claiming that it's the best thing to happen to the gay rights movement since... ...Obama? [b]Bruno:[/b] Is this going to be funny? Or is it going to do more harm than good? As a gay/lesbian/transgendered are you offended by this film? As a straight person does this movie make you more homophobic or less homophobic? Again, I've read articles with mixed reviews, although strangely the right wing thinks this only reinforces gay stereotypes and is as anti-gay as Borat was anti-Semetic. [b]Obama And Federal LGBT employees:[/b] [URL="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090617/D98SM6BO0.html"]Informative Article[/URL] [quote]"When a president tells you he's going to be different, you believe him," said John Aravosis, a Washington-based gay activist. "It's not that he didn't follow through on his promises, he stabbed us in the back."[/quote] Do you agree? Do you think this activist is a fool for believing Obama was going to give us more of the same? Does this make Obama just another political hack?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Sabrina'][FONT="Tahoma"]I recall seeing a post somewhere where Gavin said he was in league with Basement Cat. So pledging that is the same as offering up your soul. o_O So you're still in trouble. All joking aside, I'm not entirely sure how the thread got off on the tangent of [I]I'd never buy a GM[/I]. I have plenty of friends who own vehicles by them and have nothing more than normal upkeep issues. [/FONT][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I believe the sentiment was that the cars currently being produced by GM are of a quality and strain that does not quite match up to the foreign models that function better for cheaper with less issues. If your friend's cars were bought a few years ago or more, they probably don't have the same issues they have now. A friend bought one of their SUVs and had to practically give it back. Lemon.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Drizzt Do'urden'] But saying that GM's quality is subpar to anything else is a little harsh.[/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Except for the fact that their quality these days IS sub par and judging by their success as a company, nobody wants to buy their products. There really is no comparison between them and a Japanese company as far as fuel economy, safety, and price go. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]When a state is in debt how long, precisely, do you think such a subsidy will hold out? Perhaps it might seem all cut and dried and simple to someone who doesn't live in California and has actually attended the public schools, but I assure you, it is anything but. My mother substitute teaches and I volunteer as a TA and that's still not enough to defray the fact that teachers for grades K through 6 are expected to deal with 35 plus students per class. There ARE too many students for the teachers to give enough time and attention to and as such this merely results in a substandard education for everyone involved. For a smart child, it's easy enough to get by with only a cursory check over their work, but for a child who doesn't pick things up quickly and perhaps has English as a second language, it's extremely difficult. That [b]premium[/b] you speak of is the tax that everyone pays as part of their typical adventure as a [b]citizen[/b] that has to pay their income taxes. As far as that goes, a rather large majority of the 15 million illegal immigrants in California pay no such tax and are not citizens. Thank you for pointing out how superior foreign countries' systems of education are to US education, but I never claimed our education system was great, or good, or even vaguely useful at teaching children how to read. We consistently rank extremely low compared to other countries, but California is in the bottom 10 for the whole of the United States.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]While I have my own personal stance on illegal immigration, I live in California, where illegal immigration does in fact negatively impact the health care system and the education system. How does that happen? Illegal immigrants of a certain strain use the ER as their own personal doctor and the taxpayer is compelled to pay the bills at risk of being called a racist for telling them to pay their own damn bills. The education system is flooded with students from parents who do not pay their income and education taxes and there are too many students for already packed classrooms. I'm not saying we should deny education to any child, but unless you're paying for the subject, it's really difficult to compensate while still being capable of sustaining a good education for everyone. Too many students, too little money spread too thinly, and then everyone suffers. And California is so far into debt the light at the end of the tunnel may as well be the light of the surgeon standing over you with a scalpel ready to extract your wallet.[/FONT][/COLOR]