Columns

    A central feature of the unfolding revolution in Egypt has been the use of the Internet, specifically, the use of “social media” outlets, such as Facebook, to organize meetings and protests.

    In our country, so far, the Internet is primarily used as a fundraising tool for candidates and campaigns. But if we ever had an upheaval such as the ones now circulating through the Arab world, the Internet would surely play a powerful role in organizing.

    I wasn’t able to listen to President Barack Obama’s speech, last week, when he explained his Libya policy. I was at the regular board of supervisors meeting that night.

Amazingly each year there is a national immigration ‘lottery’ by which approximately 50,000 foreign nationals receive green cards to become legal permanent residents of the U.S. Each successful applicant is chosen at random and given permanent resident status based on pure luck. The visa lottery program threatens national security, results in the unfair administration of our immigration laws, and encourages a cottage industry for fraudulent opportunists.