This was a beautiful thing to watch. Fifty or so village residents filled meeting room and they were allowed to express their opinions. The result was that board voted to delay their decision until September so that they might be allowed to review information that was presented.

At first I was elated. Then reality set in. I began to realize that to fight power you need power. Money equals power. What if Rommy Lopat and John Drummond could not afford to bring in expert witnesses? I think citizens would have been quickly rolled over and buried. This is way, I realized, that government works. You must have power to be heard.

The awful truth is that I leave meetings feeling that we had just done battle with opposition. We always lost. I felt that outcome was predetermined, that board attitude is a bit condescending. I do believe that, generally, boards feel they have a duty to public to help public, but I think they also think that we citizens are uneducated and bothersome, like mosquitoes which must be squashed to be quieted.

Maybe your local boards DO listen to you. Maybe Richmond's boards are rare exception. But I think not. I think that most boards around entire country reflect attitudes of Richmond boards: citizens are nuisances to be endured because law says they must endure us.

Why are boards so adversarial in nature? Does it have to be that way? Do we not, as taxpaying citizens, deserve to be listened to CAREFULLY and HONESTLY?

It's time to stand up and be counted, folks. Do go to your local board meetings, if only to show them that you are watching!

Greg Cryns

Greg Cryns is the owner of Domain Country and many other websites. Over the years he has learned how to obtain high rankings in the major search engines.

Immigrants are one of best sources of foreign aid U.S. has ever had. Poverty stricken immigrants work hard and long for low wages, continue to live simply and send a large part of their pay to families that did not come with them. This serves as a check on increased immigration. At same time, their relatively cheap labor helps U.S. industry remain competitive in global market. All of which means, these immigrants have value and add value to U.S. society. We need to respect and reward that value, not frustrate and block it.

Over past one hundred years, we have ignored opportunity to export economic prosperity to our Southern brothers and sisters. We could have invited those of talent and ability to come and learn business, trade and skills that would raise standard of living in their homelands. These people would agree after a five year program, to return to their homelands and teach others what they have learned about creating prosperity at local level. After such a program had been in place for twenty or thirty years, pressure to cross border would be substantially relieved. Instead, welfare of entire Southern Hemisphere has been largely ignored unless U.S. government had some pressing strategic interest.

Not only has U.S. government created immigration problem, they now insist Border States and now many others, pay all associated costs for medical care, criminal behaviors, and general welfare. This is way National Government says to states and citizens, you have no more sovereignty. We are boss of all we see. We tell everyone what they will do and we pick pockets of every man, woman and child as we see fit. The states and once sovereign people say Amen.

Let once sovereign states rebel. Let them forbid collection of Federal taxes within their borders. Then their citizens will be able to support effective state and local government. We only have Federal tyranny over citizens and states because we pay tyrants. Since Federal War against States in 1860s, power and money has increasingly flowed to Washington, D.C. from people's pockets. It is time to build a dam and stop this bleeding into a bottomless pit that buys nothing but empty promises, from people who refuse to obey law and do their jobs. It is time for citizens and states to grow a backbone.