Fenced in

GOP candidate pledges to build border fence

Dear Friend,

By now, you know how I feel about illegal immigration. The Readers Digest version of my view: It's dangerous, it's ruining our country, and I don't like it. And based on the emails I've received on this topic, I'd say that most of you agree with me. And now - finally! - it appears that someone in the U.S. Congress agrees with me, too.

Common sense from a member of the United States Congress? I know it's hard to believe, but it's true! Read on!

Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter of California kicked off his presidential candidacy by pledging to begin construction of an 800-plus-mile stretch of fence along the U.S./Mexico border that was authorized in a 2006 bill that he sponsored. As you know, I'm a longtime advocate of a border fence. Even at the high-end price of $8 billion, it's still a damned sight cheaper than dealing with the atrocious negative impact that's caused by just 1.5 percent of the illegals already here in the States.

Hunter has faced the peril of the freeloading foreign hoard first hand - he represents a district in San Diego, a city that because of its proximity to Mexico is on the frontline of the illegal immigration debate. Better still, he's already had proven success with a security fence built in his district which he says "cut down on the smuggling of people and drugs by more than 90 percent."

It's a credit to him that he's already stood his ground and proven the politically correct naysayers wrong. A fence not only can work - it could be the last hope we have in stemming the tide of the Mexican Invasion - the "Reconquista" as the illegals themselves have termed it.

Hunter is a Vietnam veteran - one of the few presidential candidates to have served in the armed forces - so it's no wonder that he treats the concept of American rights and freedoms with more care than the standard politician. "I have worn the uniform … I've been the chairmen of the House Armed Services Committee … I understand what it takes to keep this country strong," Hunter says.

Unfortunately, both you and I know that Congressman Hunter has the proverbial snowball's chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination - let alone the presidency in the 2008 election. But at the very least, maybe his tough and determined stance can get some of the other dunderheads in Washington to treat the illegal immigration issue with the seriousness that it deserves. And maybe - just maybe - someone in Washington will finally do something about it.

Blogging granny takes on the Internet

Before you're ready to write off the younger generation - and who among us hasn't had a pen poised over that page for some time? - here's a heartening little item that shows there could be less of a generation gap than we'd always suspected. It turns out that the Greatest Generation can conquer more than just Nazis. Now they're taking on the Internet.

At the tender age of 95, a great grandmother has added "cyber celebrity" to her resume. Maria Amelia Lopez of Spain has a blog that's visited regularly by over 60,000 readers.

While any idiot can start a blog, very few garner such a massive readership. Maria calls herself "the world's oldest blogger" - and she's probably right. And since Maria is just shy of the century mark, it's a fair bet that the majority of her readers are several decades younger than she is. Which means that a good portion of today's uber-connected cyber youth actually appreciate that older generations have something important to say.

This shocked Maria, as well. "No one pays attention to old women any more. But I was surprised by the Internet, because young people who are as young as 14 years of age tell me about their lives, and ask my advice," she said.

Perhaps the problem isn't that different generations have little to say to one another - we're just speaking a different language, or, should I say, communicating through a different medium. And if it takes learning how to blog or text message to get through to our grandkids (or even our kids, for that matter), then I say have at it.

As a doctor, I suspect that the success of Maria's blog has given her something more valuable than Internet notoriety: It's given her a new purpose in life. That Maria has been able to use the web to shatter the sense of isolation that often comes with advanced age is something we can all learn from. The Internet can help those with less mobility maintain a social life through email, chat, or instant messaging. And this feeling of connectivity could keep Maria blogging well past her 100th birthday.