Uncle Ken Needs Help

The more I think about it, I think that Uncle Ken needs to get more people involved in this effort.  I previously said something about a hundred people showing up at a meeting but, as Uncle Ken pointed out, that's probably an unrealistic expectation.  Any number of people, though, would be more effective than one.  Those who don't want to attend meetings could write letters or emails to the board members.  I have heard that individual messages like that have more impact than names on a petition.  Not that the petition was a bad idea, but it didn't go far enough.  Didn't one of the board members say that they would have taken it more seriously if it had 200 names on it?  That's also something the new recruits could help with, circulating additional petitions.  This whole thing could be organized on line, like the "Clean Slate" campaign was.

Meanwhile, back at the border:  I wouldn't object to letting more immigrants, or even all of them, into the country if there was some kind of plan.  I think the asylum system is beyond redemption and should be scrapped and replaced with something that has a snowball's chance in hell of working.  The reason that hasn't been done yet is there is no clear consensus about either letting them in or keeping them out.  The people who want to keep them out will never agree to anything that lets them in more efficiently, and the people who want to let them in won't agree to anything that keeps them out more efficiently.  I don't know how to fix that, I'm just trying to identify the problem.

Some time ago, there was an article in National Geographic about a refugee camp in Africa that has evolved into a permanent settlement.  It has streets, wells, shops, and schools.  Last I heard, somebody was surveying and mapping it so that the growth could be more deliberate.  I don't remember how much government involvement there is, I think the refugees have mostly done it themselves.  There are regions in the US that have been losing population for years and would likely welcome a development like this in their neighborhood.  Somebody should do a study about that.