Feb. 28, 2003 - 20:45 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

High Five

When we have a busy Friday like today it is nice to lay back and answer the Friday Five and go with the flow.

1. - What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazines, newspapers, novels, non-fiction, poetry etc.)?

A. - I don't have a favorite. It depends on what I want at any given moment. A ten pound hammer is not good to drive tacks and poetry doesn't help researching something other than poetry. I like them all.

2. - What is your favorite novel ?

A. - The Lord of The Rings trilogy, Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe a close second.

3. - Do you have a favorite poem ? Name it.

A. - It is by Maya Angelou, "Phenomenal Woman."

4. - What is one thing you've always wanted to read or wish you had more time to read ?

A. - Wealth Of Nations by Adam Smith -- I would like to finish it.

5. - What are you currently reading ?

A. - The Book Of Ruth by Jane Hamilton, Denver Square by Ed Stein, Wisdom Of The Dream, The World Of C. G. Jung by Stephen Segaller and Merrill Berger.

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Many of us pensioners get our pension on the first of the month - - - - some of us are lucky and if the first is on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday it is deposited to our accounts EFT. It did, however make for a busy Friday. On the good side however we got a little exercise pushing grocery buggies etc. Then our Social In-Security checks are EFT'd to our account on the 3rd of the month. That works about the same, Saturday, Sunday or holiday it is deposited on the last business day before. Then comes more running around. Am I complaining ? No. Just tired around the first few days of the month.

In the news, some truth and some old truth known by most of us for years. Article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News by Deborah Frazier says, "Arrests Skyrocket For Illegal Aliens," and it quotes figures which might possibly be right. In 1999 there were 920 INS arrests here, gradually escalating to 12,183 arrests in 2002. Then the old truths brought up to date. Among other things Tony Ruco, supervisory agent for the Denver Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said, "Those headed for Colorado either had friends who told them there were jobs or were recruited by industries -- construction, agriculture and ski area restaurants and hotels," he said. Ruco also said that 94 people were prosecuted last year for smuggling undocumented workers into the country and three Denver-based asbestos removal firms were convicted of hiring illegal aliens.

"One of the reasons that people come to this country is that they know they will find unscrupulous employers who will hire them," Ruco said. Remarkable that someone with our goverment had the the guts to say that. Oh yes, since before Heather and I were born aliens were brought up from the south to work in the beet fields and sugar factory. Nothing new, something that the authorities have turned their backs on for many, many years. And I expect that big money will continue to see to it that cheap, labor, people who will accept miserable housing come up from our south. There is some discussion on "guest workers," and a plan is something like this. "The guest worker visas would be good for one or two years, but could be renewed for many years. The workers would be subject to federal labor laws -- including wage and hour rules. Might be a bit better than what we have now if the big boys don't figure out how to cheat the system and keep 'em comin'.

An article by Leslie Miller of the Associated Press, headlined, "Passengers May Be Assigned Risk Codes," seems to be a new method of profiling and gathering unnecessary information about people who intend to fly. "The government is getting ready to test a new risk-detection system that would check background information and assign a level of threat to everyone who buys a ticket for a commercial flight." "The system, ordered by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks, will gather much more information on passengers." "A contractor will be picked soon to build the nationwide computer system, which will check such things as credit reports and bank account activity and compare passenger names with those on government watch lists." WHAT watch lists ? ? ? ? ? Something hard for me to accept as a true explanation, "Advocates say the system will weed out dangerous people while ensuring law-abiding citizens aren't given unnecessary scrutiny."

What the billy damn, they will have been computer checked seven ways from hell already.

"There is concern that the government is developing the system without revealing how information will be gathered and how long it will be kept. "We may be creating a massive surveillance system without public discussion," said Barry Steinhardt, an American Civil Liberties Union director.

Transportation officials say, "The Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System or CAPPS II, will use databases that already operate in line with privacy laws and won't profile based on race, religion or ethnicity. What it does is have very fast access to existing databases so we can quickly validate the person's identity," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said.

Then comes the kicker, "The majority of passengers will be rated green and won't be subjected to anything more than normal checks, while yellow will get extra screening and red won't fly."

I don't have much faith in all this data base stuff. What data base ? Could it possibly be legal if it is already being used for civil business affairs ? Who decides who is going to be on the watch list ? By what honorable and legal means can they do it ? I remember some time ago a man who had concluded a business deal and was carrying a large amount of cash with him went through hell because some overeager yahoo decided, "Oh, that's gotta be drug money." Seems to me that I also read he had a heck of a time getting his money back. Will that sort of stuff keep us off airplanes ? If we buy or sell involving a large amount of money will that put us on a watch list ? ? ? ? ?

Guess no one will do it after this rant, so think the thing for me to do before retiring is to give myself a High Five . . . . . . . . . .

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