Misunderstanding Illegal Immigration

There are an estimated 11 million unauthorized (illegal, undocumented) immigrants in the United States as of 2022, a 5% increased from 2020, according to USA Facts. Most Americans agree that those convicted of violent crimes should be deported. It's important to note the difference between "convicted" and "arrested" though.

The National Institute for Justice, a federal government agency, produced a study asserting "undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes" than U.S.-born citizens. The new administration has hidden that report from the public. It doesn't fit their narrative on illegal immigrants.

There have been a few publicized incidents of undocumented immigrants committing heinous crimes. These events were horribly tragic. When they are highlighted, they give a statistically inaccurate impressive that violent crime among undocumented immigrants is a major issue in the country. These immigrants become scapegoats for the actual problems, such as an unfair tax code that leads to drastic income inequality.

It's important to note that the majority of undocumented immigrants overstayed their visas. A minority cross the border illegally. Thus, border security isn't even the main way to lower the amount of undocumented immigrants.

One area in which we must improve as a citizenry is being able to decipher information. A heart-tugging story like Laken Riley's can't be the basis of policy when the numbers suggest the tragedy was a sad anomaly. But we allow emotions to overtake facts and allow our leaders to distract us from the real issues.

Immigration is a net positive for the country, but undocumented immigrants are a problem. Not because they're here, but because they're undocumented. Opening up the process to immigrant legally will help mitigate the problem. It can be very difficult to make it here legally, so people come or stay illegally. Granting asylum more liberally to politic victims is another way to get people into the system. The problem isn't with the person immigrating, it's with the fact that their undocumented. As citizens, they wouldn't drive down wages because they'd be paid what's legal. 

Another solution is to provide aid to the country from which these people are emigrating. They won't come here if they don't want to leave home.

• Deport undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes
• Use facts, not emotions when voting and making policy decisions
• Make it easier to immigrate and receive political asylum
• Fix the tax code to cull income inequality
• Remember undocumented immigrants are human beings

The Banality of Jeffery Anoka's Evil

Jeffery Anoka is the acting Chief Human Capital Officer at HHS. On Friday, he sent a heartlessly cruel email to all those probationary workers at HHS who were callously fired regardless of their performance. In a form email, Anoka blanketly criticized the performance of all fired workers, disregarding their actual competence on the job. That critique may stay on their permanent government record even if their performance wasn't substandard in reality.

For the indiscriminate gutting of the federal workforce to actually work, there must be Jeffery Anokas, craven opportunists who stifle their integrity at the expense of their ambition. Perhaps if he stood up and said he wouldn't send the email, which is designed to gut the government's ability to fund health-related research, he would be replaced and someone else would send the email. But that's the point. If everyone stood up and refused to carry out these destructive requests, they wouldn't be carried out. Every evil system needs its order-takers to carry out the brunt work. It's the only way the leadership can assert its grip on power.

The Jeffery Anokas of the country should be named and shamed. It's the only way to hold them accountable and stop the internal implosion of the federal government.

The Makeup of the Federal Workforce

The current administration is attacking the federal workforce: firing vulnerable workers, shuttering agencies, and applying psychological pressure on those that remain. But it's important to take a look at just who makes up the federal workforce.

30% of the federal workforce is made up of veterans. Only 5% of the general workforce is made up of veterans. So the federal government is an important sector for those who have served our country. The largest agency in the government is Veterans Affairs, which makes up 21.3% of the federal workforce. 70.3% of the workforce is in national security related industries. The largest occupation is in the medical field, which boasts 15.5% of the federal workforce.

80% of the federal workforce is located outside the Washington D.C. area. There are more federal workers in California than in Maryland, which borders the nation's capital.

The federal workforce has a higher percentage of "people of color" than does the workforce at large (40% to 24%), but those jobs are more likely to be lower level on the GS scale. By the time you're at the GS 15 level or the SES level, the workforce represents the employed population at large.

Federal workers make up a tiny percentage of the population. Since 2010, they have made up between 0.57% and 0.61% of the population. Almost 50% of hires are at the entry level with a quarter unclassifiable.

While this administration has been trying to handcuff much of the federal workforce, there is one area that they could've made more efficient, if the people in charge knew what they were doing. The average hiring process takes three times longer in the public sector than in the private sector.

Source

When we talk about the federal government being bloated, we can see that critique really refers to the defense sector. The talk of "DEI" ruining the federal government is completely fabricated as higher levels of government, the decision makers, represent the same demographics as the workforce at large. The notion that DC is a swamp of bureaucrats also doesn't check out as 4/5th of the federal workforce don't work in the area.

This country has its share of problems, but the federal workforce isn't one of them.

Government Chaos

The new administration has ushered in a period of chaos within the federal government thanks to unclear and not well-thought out executive orders. One rescinded a an executive order issued by President Biden that capped the cost of prescription medication. Fortunately, some caps were written into the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, such as a $35 co-pay cap on insulin.

In American politics, voters are caught in an our side vs. their side mentality. We shouldn't base our policy positions on those of the politicians we support. It should be the other way around.  It's not that Trump or Biden are always right. It's up to us to learn the issues and hold politicians accountable. Unless you work for a pharmaceutical company that profits from high prescription medication prices, we're all in favor on reasonable prices for our medication.

Likewise, this administration has put a freeze on communication between the CDC and NIH and the public. Not only that, but many of their basic functions have been frozen. We all can support funding research that helps cure or manage diseases. The private sector often isn't willing to face the risks of investing in these type of grants that are designed to help the public. Workers now can't do their jobs that directly contribute to benefitting Americans' health. With the freeze, the public can't get the information these agencies collect.

Information is never bad unless you have an inflexible ideology and that information disproves your beliefs.

There's nothing wrong with having ideological differences, but we all want lower prices and cures for cancer to be researched. This is why it's so important to understand the issues and hold politicians accountable when they remove price caps for prescription medicine or halt the function of key agencies that contribute so much to the health of society.

Transgenderism and Fear

Transgenderism was a major issue this past presidential campaign with President Trump running a national ad on the subject. In reality, unless you're a transgender person, this is a minor issue that doesn't affect virtually all Americans.

Estimates by the Williams Institute place the percentage of transgender people at 0.6%, which is about a half a percent or 1 in every 200 people or so. I don't know about you, but I don't see anywhere near 200 people a week.

Conservatives have been worried about transgender women playing women's sports. It's good that they're concerned about women's sports, but this a non-issue. NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, estimated that there are fewer than ten transgender athletes in the NCAA. In 2022, Politico reported that there were only four transgender athletes competing in high school sports out of 85,000. Only one of the four competed in women's sports.

Regardless of which side you're on,  the question of transgender athletes is really only an issue for the tiniest fraction of Americans. The issue really only comes down to: is it fair one way or another? There are much bigger issues that the vast majority of Americans need to focus on.

Conservatives are also worried about transgender women going into women's bathrooms.  They see it as a safety issue. Of course, bad people don't need permission to do bad things. But let's look at the issue of violence and transgender people. While transgender people are not more likely to commit crimes, they are four times more like to be victims, according to the Williams Institute. According to Congress, the murder rate of transgender people has doubled in the last four years. So it's far more likely that the transgender woman in the bathroom will be a victim of a crime than will commit one.

While I wish we all had more compassion for one another, the reality is, for over 99% of Americans, the transgender issue doesn't impact them. It's a fear-mongering diversion tactic to avert our attention when the cap on our prescription medicine costs are lifted and our access to affordable disease therapy is removed.

The Fraught Issue of Abortion

Fundamentally, we need to understand that Americans of all political persuasions want what's best for America. We may not agree what that means or how to get there, but we want America to succeed.

On the issue of abortion, we all want the same thing: fewer abortions and lower infant mortality. We disagree on how to get there, whether it's a national ban, the decision of the states, or the individual's choice.

If we understand that we all want fewer abortions, we can then look at the data and see what works and what doesn't. Some of you might be yelling at your screen, "I don't want fewer abortions, I want no abortions!" Please understand that zero abortions equals fewer abortions, so we're all on the same page here.

In the 18 months after the Dobbs Supreme Court case that erased Roe v. Wade and sent the issue of abortion to the states, infant mortality has gone up 7% as compared to the previous 18 month period according to a paper published by the AMA. This doesn't feel right, but if we think about it logically, it makes sense. Most of the 7% of babies who died had congenital abnormalities or birth defects.

Confusingly, the number of abortions has risen 11% from 2020 (the last time there was comprehension statistics before the Dobbs decision) and 2023, according to the the Guttmacher Institute. It's at its highest since 2011. Dobbs may or may not be a reason for the increase, but importantly, the ruling, which has resulted in reduced access to abortion, hasn't had the desired effect on reducing the amount of abortions.

Sadly, the maternal mortality rate is 7% higher in states that have restricted abortion access, according to a Tulane University study. The more restrictive the policy, the chances the mother dies increases dramatically.

So the current policy of states determining abortion rights has caused a higher death rate for babies and mothers and resulted in more abortions. We certainly don't want the government to police our morals, so let's take a look at better ways to get what we all want: fewer abortions,

We need to address the root causes for why abortions take place. Increased access to contraception and better sex education are two practical and obvious ways. More fundamental is to address the pervasive issue of poverty. An increased standard of living and improved safety net will make abortions less necessary. Reducing poverty is a giant issue, but it's one that will have the consequence of reducing abortion, something our post-Dobbs reality has failed to do.

The Department of Government Efficiency Instantly Kills Promise

The advisory committee, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is a good idea led by successful businesspeople Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Unfortunately, the pair is hellbent on haranguing federal workers and committed to blanket policies of rolling back "federal regulations," buzzwords that could mean anything.

The government has some inefficient regulations. At NIH, HR decides which scientists are qualified to be certified instead of the scientists who actually know the science. That's inefficient and the kid of stuff that should be changed. 

Most federal workers take pay cuts to work for the government out of duty to country and belief in a noble cause. Some do take advantage of the job security and don't carry their weight. It can be hard to get rid of them. The president, however, shouldn't have that authority, but their apolitical direct bosses should. The government, of course, doesn't want to be tied up in ongoing litigation, but empowering those managers is one way to make the government more efficient.

Instead, Musk and Ramaswamy have called for federal workers to go back to the office five days a week. This is the opposite of the supposed innovative ideas one would believe they'd bring to the table. A recent study by Nicholas Bloom argues that a hybrid system is far more effective and efficient than forcing workers into the office five days a week. The report states, "[H]ybrid working improved job satisfaction and reduced quit rates by one-third. The reduction in quit rates was significant for non-managers, female employees and those with long commutes."

Musk and Ramaswamy don't seem to be interested in actually making government more efficient. They want to force essential workers out by making their jobs more difficult and less enjoyable. The problem is the U.S. government, despite its faults and bad reputation, does a tremendous amount for its citizens. Michael Lewis, in his book The Fifth Risk, explains what different agencies actually do and how that helps Americans and saves lives.

DOGE, which is not an actual government agency, seems set up to be a missed opportunity. The workers themselves should be surveyed for the inefficiencies with which they have to deal and those inefficient regulations can then addressed, not a heavy-handed approach from a couple of ideological outsiders. 

Trump and an Uninformed Electorate

A twenty year old, mostly dormant blog isn't going to slow Trump's march towards turning this country into his own personal fiefdom at the expense of all Americans, including his supporters. But it might help me process what has happened.

Why did Donald Trump win, even after inciting an insurrection, being convicted of felonies, facing two impeachments, and all his other excesses? It was combination of factors with one that stands out above all the rest.

There is a segment of voters who would've voted for a Democrat who wasn't a woman or of black and Indian descent. It might have been large enough to swing the election. Kamala Harris was also at a significant disadvantage jumping in the race three months before the election. Trump has been running for nine years, which makes it harder for others to define him. Harris, who ran as a centrist, was more easily defined as a radical leftist by Trump. Both points suggest it would've been wiser for the Democrats to stay with Biden, who actually won the primary, than to switch to Harris. Biden may not have won, but he wouldn't have done any worse.

The biggest issue is with the electorate. There are far too many low information voters. That allows Trump to get away his constantly lying. Voters don't know enough not to believe him. It enabled Trump to define Harris as a radical leftist despite all evidence to the contrary. Trump can play on people's fears about trans athletes and illegal immigrants, who don't have any impact on the lives of almost every American. Rural and suburban dwellers fear cities even though crime is way down.

Most Americans don't even know how the government or the economy works. So if the price of eggs rises, they believe the president is at fault. Yet, when policy makers work to deregulate water safety and people develop diseases and die as a result, they can't comprehend the government's impact.

Fundamentally, the electorate needs to become more knowledgeable at the very moment it's becoming much less so. This is the main issue that needs to be solved.

Top 10 NBA Players

Top 10 NBA Players 1

 Top 10 NBA Players Now

While this list consists of the top 10 players now, the past is taken to account, but it is not a list of the best players who happen to be active. Previous ranks posted on June 27, 2023.

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#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Jokic (2)	Jokic (1)
2	Antetokounmpo (1)	Embiid (2)
3	Embiid (3)	Doncic (6)
4	Doncic (4)	Antetokounmpo (3)
5	Tatum (7)	Gilgeous-Alexander (10)
6	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)	Durant (8)
7	Brunson (NR)	LeBron (7)
8	A. Davis (NR)	Tatum (4)
9	LeBron (8)	Curry (NR)
10	Durant (10)	Brunson (NR)

Top 10 NBA Careers Among Active Players
You're making a list of the ten best players in NBA history, but there's one caveat; you can only include players who played during the 2021-22 season (injuries excepted). These are our choices, taking the players' entire careers into account. Previous ranks posted on June 27, 2023.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	LeBron (1)	LeBron (1)
2	Curry (2)	Durant (2)
3	Durant (3)	Curry (4)
4	Antetokounmpo (6)	Paul (3)
5	Jokic (7)	Harden (5)
6	Westbrook (4)	Antetokounmpo (6)
7	Harden  (5)	Jokic (7)
8	Paul (8)	Westbrook (8)
9	A. Davis (NR)	A. Davis (9)
10	Kawhi (9)	Kawhi (10)

Top 10 NBA Franchise Players
This list is about which players you would pick to start a franchise right now. They must have played in an NBA game. Previous ranks posted on June 27, 2023.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Doncic (1)	Wemby (NR)
2	Wemby (NR)	Doncic (1)
3	Gilgeous-Alexander (3)	Gilgeous-Alexander (6)
4	Antetokounmpo (4)	Jokic (2)
5	Jokic (5)	Antetokounmpo  (4)
6	Tatum (2)	Embiid  (5)
7	A. Edwards (NR)	Tatum (3)
8	Haliburton (6)	Brunson (NR)
9	Maxey (NR)	Haliburton (7)
10	Jalen Williams (NR)	Sabonis (NR)

Top 10 NBA Players

 Top 10 NBA Players Now

While this list consists of the top 10 players now, the past is taken to account, but it is not a list of the best players who happen to be active. Previous ranks posted on June 28, 2022.

.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Antetokounmpo (1)	Jokic (5)
2	Jokic (2)	Embiid (3)
3	Embiid (7)	Antetokounmpo (2)
4	Doncic (5)	Tatum (4)
5	J. Butler (10)	Harden (NR)
6	Curry (2)	Doncic (4)
7	Tatum (NR)	LeBron (5)
8	LeBron (3)	Durant (8)
9	Do. Mitchell (NR)	J. Butler(NR)
10	Durant (6)	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)

Top 10 NBA Careers Among Active Players
You're making a list of the ten best players in NBA history, but there's one caveat; you can only include players who played during the 2021-22 season (injuries excepted). These are our choices, taking the players' entire careers into account. Previous ranks posted on June 28, 2022.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	LeBron (1)	LeBron (1)
2	Curry (2)	Durant (2)
3	Durant (3)	Paul (3)
4	Westbrook (4)	Curry (4)
5	Harden (5)	Harden (5)
6	Antetokounmpo (6)	Antetokounmpo (NR)
7	Jokic (10)	Jokic (NR)
8	Paul (7)	Westbrook (6)
9	Kawhi (9)	A. Davis (8)
10	J. Butler (NR)	Kawhi (9)

Top 10 NBA Franchise Players
This list is about which players you would pick to start a franchise right now. They must have played in an NBA game. Previous ranks posted on June 28, 2022.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Doncic (1)	Doncic (1)
2	Tatum (6)	Jokic (2)
3	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)	Tatum (4)
4	Antetokounmpo (2)	Antetokounmpo  (3)
5	Jokic (3)	Embiid  (5)
6	Haliburton  (NR)	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)
7	Adebayo (7)	Haliburton (NR)
8	E. Mobley (NR)	Do. Mitchell (9)
9	D. Fox (NR)	E. Mobley (NR)
10	La. Ball (8)	Zion (NR)