Rob Cheng’s Blog

The entire immigration debate in the United States is bordering on ridiculous. It is almost unbelievable that legislation has been passed to build a wall along a small portion of the border between Texas and Mexico. On top of this, the more strident Republican legislators feel that hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars should be spent to expel all the illegal immigrants from the country. A witch hunt of a magnitude unparalleled since the Spanish Inquisition.

All of this defies logic for one and simple reason - economics. Here in Myrtle Beach, there is a large and vibrant population of immigrants. Where ever I go, it is just as common to hear Spanish spoken than English. But that is my point. The immigrants are out doing the things that consumers do. They are at Walmart and Best Buy. One observation. Unlike me, immigrants almost always seem to pay cash. Walmart and Best Buy must love that. One day I went to the dentist, and I was the only English speaking patient in the whole place. My humble dentist is raking it in. More »

February 29th, 2008 | Category: Politics | Leave a comment

Before I start this blog, I want it to be known that I do not support the war in Iraq. I never have. I have always felt that there was a cheaper and more peaceful way to achieve the same objectives. Aside from the colossal waste of money, I am finding this war in Iraq annoying for another reason. Let’s face the fact that this war is dragging on endlessly because we are LOSING. This is what bothers me. Whether I agree with this war or not, we should not be losing.

We are a large country, right around 300 million people give or take a few illegal immigrants. And Iraq is a small country, latest census puts them a tad shy of 27 million. They are less than 1/10th the size of us. More »

October 13th, 2007 | Category: Politics | Leave a comment

I love Brazil in so many ways. It is an amazing country with an over abundance of natural resources. They have it all. Abundant forests, amazing fruits and vegetables. Plenty of rain. On top of all of this, Brazil has no natural disasters. No hurricanes, earthquakes or tornados. It covers a huge area in South America. 8.5 million square kms to be exact. In comparison, the United States marks the map at 9.6 millions square kms. Put it another way. Pull out Alaska, and Brazil is actually larger than the United States.

Then on top of all of this, Brazil has the best energy strategy. I just bought a new car in Brazil and it has a flex engine, which burns both alcohol and normal gas. On top of this, alcohol is dispensed at all gas stations in Rio de Janeiro. More »

October 7th, 2007 | Category: Brazil, Politics | Leave a comment

As much as we had already been through with the Woman’s Wellness Clinic, the story just kept getting weirder. Solange had one more visit with the Woman’s Wellness Clinic for her post natal examination. The date was set shortly after we left the hospital. A week before the scheduled date, we received a phone call to delay the examination for one week. Then, another call to cancel the examination all together. I asked to reschedule and they informed me that someone else would be calling to reschedule. A couple of weeks go by, and no one called, and Solange was getting a little upset. More »

August 19th, 2007 | Category: Health, Politics | Comments (2)

It has been close to a year since this happened, but I found some of the letters that I sent to a few lawyers regarding my and Solange’s experience with the American Consulate. After the event, I sent this letter to several lawyers for help. No help was forthcoming, although their fees were growing. I finally ignored all of the lawyers advice and got Solange a tourist visa on my own. More »

June 16th, 2007 | Category: Brazil, Politics | Leave a comment

I have felt the Religious Right in American politics has been wrong for a long time, but I have never been able to fully articulate why. It is the middle of the night on January 11, 2006, and I had the strangest dream about my pastor Greg, and somehow, the thoughts have come together and I am typing as fast as I can to get them down. I hope it works. More »

January 11th, 2006 | Category: Politics, Religion | Comments (3)

In April 2004, America was in the thick of the Iraqi war. Plenty of casualties on both sides, with both sides proclaiming their efforts were in the name of “God”. It shocked me to see the insurgents screaming “Death to the Americans Zionist Pigs” in the name of their God. Worse yet, our own president, Bush, confessed that he prayed to God mightily before entering our nation into war. If you listened to all the rhetoric, it seems that God was playing both sides of the fence. More »

May 30th, 2005 | Category: Politics, Religion | Comments (44)

Introduction
Check out this article, The Long Emergency. The article focuses on one basic fact - this year marks when 50% of the world’s oil reserves have been depleted. The article goes on to speculate on what our world would look like without inexepensive and plentiful oil. Have you ever thought about how fundamentally our life styles, our economy, and even the way we think, our intertwined with the basic assumption of free and inexpensive energy? It colors and touches every facet of American existence. So much so that when the world’s oil reserves are depleted, life will change so drastically, that people will reflect back on our lifestyle as a product of the Oil Age. More »

May 25th, 2005 | Category: Politics, Technology | Leave a comment