So, here's an article

This town in Nebraska is voting on whether or not it should be legal to hire illegal immigrants.

Now, there's a lot of racist commentary in the articles, and the comments are beyond help as always.

However, I do think that if you think taking a stand against illegal immigration is something that needs to be done (I tend to think that immigration has been going on a very, very long time and that the nation hasn't collapsed yet), this is the thing to do.

People aren't coming to the US illegally for fun, okay? They're not waking up and going "You know what? I see entirely too much of my family. I don't even LIKE my kids! I'm going to leave my home, make a dangerous and costly trip into another country where they don't even speak my language and where I'll be distrusted just for being me, and work long hours there while constantly worrying about being deported. JUST TO SCREW OVER THE AMERICAN WORKER."

They're not! Who does that?

No, instead they're doing all that and sending money home because they figure they can support their families better here than there.

Are they "stealing jobs from Americans"? Maybe? I don't know. But if they are, it's not really their fault. The blame lies on the people who knowingly hire illegal immigrants because they can take advantage of them, because they can get them to work longer hours for less money, because they can get away with ignoring basic safety measures since illegal immigrants, even if they KNOW better, aren't in any position to complain!

Out of the many, many people involved in this travesty, why do we say that the people at the BOTTOM of the chain, the people who are the ones getting hurt by this are the criminals? Clearly, the blame lies with the people who think it's cheaper to do this than to provide a safe and humane working environment for a decent wage.

Incidentally, I hear this said a lot, that illegal immigrants don't pay taxes. That's absolutely untrue. Many of them do pay taxes, thank you very much, and you can Google about it if you like. (Of course, the people hiring them also pay taxes... but funny thing, their taxes keep getting cut. And they're rich already!)

Most unintentionally hilarious Amazon review I've seen in a while!

This is a review of the book Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown. Now, I haven't seen much of the original illustrations. This book has been newly illustrated for the reprinting.

It's really a cute book except for one... little... problem. You see, when Brown wrote this book originally back in 1949, she saw nothing odd about mentioning at one point that the trains hear "a black man singing in the West". And not a few reviewers thought that was a little... well... weird. I did too, actually, and most of my review is taken up with discussing this issue. (And if anybody would care to comment, I'd love to hear it. Really.)

I was concerned enough that I actually posted two images of the spread in question, to help people decide.

This is what well-meaning E. Hoffer thinks:

A good book, but needs a little white out

I was shocked to find the phrase "...of a black man singing in the west" in this book. I realize it is an older book, but shouldn't it be edited to be P.C.?? I used some white out so our copy now reads "of a man singing in the West." A good book other than that.

I know her intentions were all for the best, and it's no different from everybody else just carefully not saying That Word, but... I can't help laughing over here. Too much "black man" in your book? Just use... white out!