> had proof of having enough resources to pay for their upkeep in the US, or a US financial sponsor guaranteeing same
So you're saying that even in the good old days of (imaginary) unrestricted immigration, we only took in people who had access to enough money to avoid becoming a public burden?
> "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
This quote might not be what you wanted to use.
Everyone who entered at Ellis Island was a legal immigrant.
They didn't pay a coyote to help them jump a fence and elude border patrol.
Trespassing charges would be thrown out immediately if they were ever presented to a jury. The police exercised apparent authority when they ushered the crowd in, giving them permission and the right to enter.
Vandalism would only apply to those who stole or defaced something, certainly not the majority.
And neither of these charges justifies holding a political prisoner for 6+ months without trial, as the US government has done.
> You should really examine why people want to “defend” borders. It’s mostly racism and classism. The most effective way to defend your borders is to improve the lives of the people across the border. Yet… does anyone advocate for that? Nope… We undermine their governments and extract their resources to plunder from them instead. We create instability and allow violent regimes to be created and prosper.
You call your opponents racist and classist and then quickly change the subject to US foreign policy.
The burden of proof is on you to demonstrate that your opponents are motivated by race and class rather than peace and the rule of law.
I've examined my motives and have no trouble sleeping at night. What are your motives? Why do you need to calumniate people who disagree with you?
Ask yourself: Is someone a white supremacist simply because he thinks his country ought to defend its borders? That every citizen ought to be given the same opportunities but not be guaranteed the same outcomes? That true racism is the belief that some races are incapable without special help? That true racism is in discriminating against the Asians, Jews, and everyone else who studied hard to do well on their SATs? That all people are of equal dignity? That people ought to be judged by the content of their character and not according to the color of their skin?
What if a Black man thinks these things? Is that Black man a white supremacist?
If this sounds ridiculous to you, that means there's hope. The label "white supremacist" is used to smear and excommunicate anyone who believes in these fundamentally American values that are opposed to the foreign influences attempting to destroy American culture and ideals. It's false 99.99% of the time it's used.
Apart from their obligations under the law, AOL did not police content. In one example, AOL banned explicit discussions of homosexual activity but did not ban anti-homosexual hate speech. They policed the first type of speech because the CDA required them to prevent the transmission of explicit material to minors, but they did not police the second type of speech because it was not illegal.
Facebook and Twitter are actively policing speech that is not illegal.
Compuserve and a number of other credible alternatives to AOL existed during that time. Usenet and BBSes also existed. Myspace and Facebook (initially) were only for teenagers, college students, and people who never grew out of those phases. You might as well put Livejournal in this list, because none of those platforms (at those times) were as effective at corralling and suppressing wrongthink as Twitter and Facebook have been today.
The idea of allowing any kind of inbound connection into a secured network (other than to/via its DMZs) is anathema.
I don't even disagree with the logic, but the BigCorp Infosec Team heavy-handed approach to working with developers invites the developers to produce creative circumventions.
The last time I needed an x-ray for a broken bone, I asked the x-ray tech for a lead vest to protect my torso and groin area.
He told me that it was pointless because I would be exposed to more background radiation throughout the course of my normal life. He did not understand that ionizing radiation damage is cumulative and that there is no safe limit for exposure. Annoyed with my request, he gave me the vest anyway.
Is there a safe limit for exposure to PFAs? I would readily concede that the risk to an individual is probably negligible, but like in the case of x-rays, population-level risks probably do exist for even the smallest exposure.
That said, I would also support eliminating all sources of PFAs, just like we tried to do with CFCs and asbestos.
> The lowest temperature that has lead to bird deaths in a controlled laboratory setting is 280 deg C
"Did any birds die?" is an approach to this problem that I would expect from an undeveloped nation a hundred years ago. It is both excruciatingly short-term in focus and so imprecise that the results are useless for anyone who is not himself a rat or a canary.
Your data answers the question, "To what temperature must we heat PTFE in order to kill small animals?"
It does not answer the question, "What are the long-term effects on humans of short excursions outside of normal cooking temperatures?"
The idea that PTFE doesn't break down except at very high temperatures is not true.
Breakdown begins to occur at either 200 or 260 degrees Celsius (depending on what data you're looking at). These temperatures are well within the realm of temperatures that even a home chef might encounter.
Retirement, healthcare, and taxes eat up a significant portion of a US earner's pay.
The amount of money that actually gets delivered to a worker's bank account could be a little as 2/3 of their stated salary.
And many things cost more here.
It'd be a good idea to work the numbers and figure out what your take-home pay would be and how your expenses would change. There are some expat websites devoted to this.
https://github.com/bmrf/tron