Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Vinnie da Fox
That’s Mister Zorro to you, gringo...
ThanQ! Ron
And Still They Come . . .
and we’re “racist” ?!?
MEXICALI, Mexico, March 22, 05 - When United States Customs officials discovered the latest tunnel under the border here last month, they were stunned. With a cement floor and an intercom system, the passage ran nearly 200 yards from a house on one side of a rusty metal fence, under two streets and an apartment complex, to emerge in an unassuming tract home in California.
“They are poor people, fleeing horrible poverty. They are just coming here to work.”
the tunnel is not unlike the 13 others found during the 1990’s, built by drug cartels.
Who said, “follow the money.”
American officials fear the tunnels could be used just as easily to smuggle terrorists and explosives as cocaine or illegal immigrants. ...another line of investigation is that its builders might have intended to sell passage to terrorists.
Gee… ya think? [NYT catching on? but wait...]
This confluence of worries forms the backdrop for a meeting on Wednesday in Texas between President Bush, President Vicente Fox of Mexico and Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada. But where issues converge, the interests of the United States and its neighbors may not.
And this is mi problema how? eh?
For Mr. Bush and Congress, security tops the agenda.
Waiting to see. Thus far, not so much.
For Mexico, it is a freer flow of migrant workers
Read: protection of illegal workers whose money, sent back to Mexico, is a big part of the economy on which Fox has to expend no energy. [They even made their little comic book on How To Be an Illegal in the US into a DVD. ...more crust than a day old pot of refritos...]
. For Canada, it is the imperative of foreign and domestic policies that increasingly diverge from Washington’s conservative consensus.
I have it on some authority that there are Canadians who are actually afraid that the US will invade and occupy them. No really. Get up off the floor and wipe your eyes—I mean it. There are. But that’s another post....
A year ago, Mr. Bush proposed greatly expanding a guest-worker program for Mexican laborers. But to Mr. Fox’s great dismay, the idea has faded. In the last two weeks, American diplomats have made it clear that Congress is unlikely to act unless Mexico does more to tighten up the border and reduce the rampant crime on its side.
So on the agenda for this series of meetings is “letting more” workers cross the border ‘legally’ for jobs. Like the 2 million or so a year illegally ain’t enough? And with that proposition, Mister Bush, will you include health checks with provisions for refusal to people who are unhealthy and likely to spread disease? Hmmm? Or might that hurt their feeeeelings?
And lesse—I hear Jimmy the Greek is giving odds on Mexico ‘cleaning up’ the Federales. bwa. ha. ha.
Fox: “No country that is proud of itself should construct walls,” hesaidwhined.
No country that wishes to continue can afford not to regulate its borders.
In increasingly strident language, Mr. Fox has painted the anti-immigrant movement as the work of “minority, xenophobic, discriminatory groups” who do not recognize the contributions of the three million Mexicans who work illegally in the United States.
Let’s look a leedle more closely at that sentence… The NYT begins by calling Fox’s language “increasingly strident” and within 5 words uses the most inflammatory of terms, “anti-immigrant movement.”
Slick, fellas, but no. There is no “anti-immigrant movement” about it—there is a movement of American citizens who are tired of illegal, uncontrolled migration across porous borders burdening infrastructure and returning very little. See the difference there?
Fox’s use of the phrase “minority, xenophobic, discriminatory groups” is not only self-contradictory [implying as it does that a ‘minority group ought to be ignored] it is a page from the PC book. “When all reason fails, scream prejudice.”
We recognize the contributions, Mister Fox—we also recognize the burdens. The balance does not favor US.d
Here is where the NYT regains its ...er, “senses” and returns to its habitual strident facts-be-damned-for-our-opinion-is-more-important approach:
More alarming, a group of self-proclaimed patriots, calling themselves the Minuteman Project, are planning to set up a vigilante watch along the Arizona border in April to report illegal aliens.
“Alarming”—reporting law breakers to authorities. Not really the equivalent of throwing oneself under a bulldozer…
“self-proclaimed”—someone please tell me exactly what the hell is wrong with being “self proclaimed”! The NYT proclaims itself to be a newspaper, after all.
“vigilante”—now there’s a word fraught with the baggage of a thousand lynchings, innit? Nice objectivity.
For some Mexicans, the border here seems a cultural affront.
Nuff said.
A Leaky Rowboat Sinks • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Gotta Read . . .
Bullseye
From ShrinkWrapped:
The great “advance” in our speech codes came from the equivalence of words to actions. ...While I would strongly support elevating our level of discourse, I would even more strongly suggest that we are endangering our ability to think rationally when we censor ourselves of anything that might offend anyone.
Snowballing?
O’Reilly really knows how to run out front of a movement, so....
We the undersigned, being citizens of the United States, respectfully ask that you and your administration provide more resources to protecting the borders of the USA. By all accounts, the situation regarding undocumented alien crossings and illegal narcotics smuggling remains dangerous and troubling. In the post 9/11 era, our country simply cannot tolerate illegal immigration chaos.
Therefore we request, Mr. President, that you use your Executive Authority to immediately bolster border defenses by increasing the federal law enforcement presence and, possibly, by allocating the military to assist the Border Patrol and other federal agencies in charge of controlling the borders.
We submit our names with the appreciation of your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bill O’Reilly
New York, New York
ThanQ! Drink This
*snork*
LETTER FROM A FARM KID,
NOW AT SAN DIEGO MARINE CORPS RECRUIT TRAINING.
Dear Ma and Pa,
I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. but I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing. Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there’s warm water.
Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc. but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you til noon when you get fed again. It’s no wonder these city boys can’t walk much.
We go on “route marches”, which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it’s not my place to tell him different. A “route march” is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.
The country is nice but awful flat The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don’t bother you none.
This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don’t know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don’t move, and it ain’t shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don’t even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.
Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain’t like fighting with that ole bull at home. I’m about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake. I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I’m only 5’6” and 130 pounds and he’s 6’8” and near 300 pounds dry.
Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.
Your loving daughter,
Carol
ThanQ! Ron
AirAmerikaka - Irritating? or...
ZZzzzzzzz
As you may recall, I wandered far afield last week to go to lunch with my pal. On the drive I decided to sample AirAmerica Raadio. It was Saturday am, so it was “best of” replays.
Bwahahahahahahahahha!
First, the Al “maybe I’m not good enough” Franken show. I expected to be irritated. Really irritated. I was bored to tears. Whadda maroon.
Then Randi Rhodes—the first day back from her hysterectomy, and she was hilarious! No politics, just a rant on her experience in hospital and at home—with the ex and the mother. Soooo Brooklyn girl - perfect.
So I am not greatly surprised that the HBO special shows them to be as buncha whiney, incompetent, self-involved, incompetent, naive, dumbass, incompetent dorks.
ThanQ! Tom v G
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
yep.
s’true....
Steve H. said it:
Lawyers are taught that the courts do not exist to deliver justice. The courts exist to resolve disputes, to preserve order in society. They try to deliver justice along the way, but the system is set up so that you only get so many chances to make your case, and then you go home, and if the result is completely unjust, that’s tough.
Thanks for the reality check.
Nose Thumbed at Congress?
I thought that law that Congress and President stayed up late to pass required the new court to have a de novo trial—meaning a whole new trial. Doesn’t that include discovery and everything?
So what gives?
Rather more?
Thanks, I’d Rather not....
In Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant, author Humberto Fontova reveals for the first time how Dan Rather’s “60 Minutes” interview with Juan Miguel (Elian Gonzalez’s father) was stage-managed by former Clinton lawyer and friend, Gregory Craig.
According to a Cuban-American translator from the U.S. Treasury Department: “The questions for Juan Miguel were actually fed to Dan Rather by Gregory Craig. After a taping session, Craig would call Dan over, give him some more instructions and exchange papers with him. Then Dan would come back on the set and ask those."
Given time and sufficient info, everything makes sense…
Dog Bloggery
It's all about 'Academic Freeeedom'!!!
freedom to indoctrinate?
At Santa Rosa Junior College, Molly MacPherson and her friends decided to take a stand. They taped 8 x 11 pages quoting a part of the education code which forbids teaching communism. To wit:
“No teacher giving instruction in any school ... shall advocate or teach communism with the intent to indoctrinate or to inculcate in the mind of any pupil a preference for communism."
They added a nice red star and signed it anonymously. That was a mistake.
The response was… predictable:
“It makes me a little anxious,’’ philosophy instructor [weenie]
“Attack on academic freedom...” “Attack on freedom of speech” [thank you, Ward] “return of McCarthyism” “shameless / malicious media stunt” [to what end?] “thugs” “a regrettable contempt for the college’s principled commitments to free and fair academic inquiry” [roflmao] “Here, we believe, is the real issue raised by last week’s events: that the goal of such tactics, at SRJC and nationally, is not to start but to stop genuine dialogue, in all its critical difficulty, its ethical constraints and its challenging pluralism, in favor of unprincipled efforts to enforce a party line.” [**shifting sands alert**]
And my fave? The most telling quote:
German instructor Sylvia Wasson, said her colleagues were “overreacting’’ ...Wasson, who had McPherson in four German classes, described her as an A student, a ``very bright woman’’ and a “critical thinker who happens to belong to the wrong party on campus.’’
Conclusion? Try telling a fish he’s wet.
On the Up-Side
MinuteMan Project Up and Running!
Jim Gilchrist now has 1,022 volunteers. Further volunteers are put on a waiting list with the exception of people with particular skills:
--current/former law enforcement
--veterans with LRRP experience
--Attorneys [to keep the ACLU dweebs occupied]
--HAM operators
--Pilots with aircraft and/or turbine chopper experience
--Anyone committing for 15 or more days from 4.10 - 30
There will also be public rallys and events.
Volunteers are coming from a wide variety of backgrounds.
PhDs, university professors, several dozen career members of law enforcement, free-lance journalists and photographers, teachers, engineers, truck drivers, construction tradesmen, firemen, EMTs, geologists, chemists, surgeons and physicians, attorneys, labor union members, students of divinity, taxi drivers, aircraft pilots, three former state-level politicians, long range reconnaissance specialists, computer scientists, and combat veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.
Pretty accomplished bunch of folks.
Our policy of passive activity will be to OBSERVE with the aid of binoculars - telescopes - night vision scopes, and inform the U.S. Border Patrol of the location of illegal activity so that border patrol agents can investigate.
We will not be confrontational with anyone. Each volunteer will be solely acountable for his or her actions and will be required to complete and sign a “hold harmless” waiver before participating in field activities.
Clear Mission Statement, too.
I’m still looking for a volunteer who will email updates from the scene for posting. I know readers both here and at Knowledge is Power will be very interested in on-the-spot reports. Drop me an email if you qualify, eh?
Say whaaaaa?!?
Game in Mexico = Game Over
[The NFL] announced its first regular-season game outside the United States on Oct. 2 when the Arizona Cardinals play the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City.
Mexico Freakin’ City?!? Now, it’s not like I follow football. Hell, it’s not like I would care noitice if it fell off the planet. But I know a whoooole buncha people do care. Middle America people. Not particularly political. Their time is mostly taken up with their families and jobs. Watching football for some entertainment. Following their teams out of Place Loyalty. [remember that—“Place Loyalty"]
What is this telling them/US—dropped so casually amongst the announcements of other games and dates? It’s telling us that Mexico is part of the US.
“Hell, Marjorie—we even have football down ‘ere! They’re just like us… Wonder how their team is...”
I think the Powers That Be are tellings US, “Hang it up, y’all. That border thing—never existed. Get over it.”
Monday, March 21, 2005
Excellent Question
If Michael Schiavo waltzed into Terri’s hospital room, calmly drew a concealed .45 ACP, and popped all 8 rounds into her forehead, would he be charged by the State of Florida with first degree capital premeditated murder?
If so, how is my hypothetical different from walking into her room and turning off the food and water?
Gotta love that Gullyborg
More Terri Info
hungry for facts?
CSI MEDBLOGS: CODEBLUEBLOG ANALYZES TERRI SCHIAVO’S CT OF THE BRAIN: First, I contest the theory that Terri’s brain actively continues to degenerate as implied by the above statement. How could they gage serial brain degeneration without serial follow-up? And by what mechanism would her brain CONTINUE to atrophy? Second, Terri’s cerebral cortex has not been replaced by fluid. That is inaccurate. The cortex is thinned and the sulci are enlarged. There is a difference.
Third, and most importantly, given the amount of atrophy on this image I disagree with the court’s inadequately considered conclusion.
Many medical questions are answered—and more raised. As well as bioethical arguments.
They insist she is in no pain and has neither the mental capacity to feel or understand pain or emotional grief or discomfort.
Therefore, by the Democrat’s own argument Terri has no comprehension about what is happening, or whether or not her wishes are being fulfilled. Terri will experience nothing adverse, physically or mentally, as a result of letting her live and letting her loving parents take care of her as they wish.
Can’t beat his logic, eh?
.
Yet more…
...In the course of my conversation with Dr. Morin, he made reference to the standard use of MRI and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to diagnose the extent of brain injuries. He seemed to assume that these had been done for Terri. I stopped him and told him that these tests have never been done for her; that Michael had refused them.
There was a moment of dead silence.
“That’s criminal,” he said, and then asked, in a tone of utter incredulity: “How can he continue as guardian? People are deliberating over this woman’s life and death and there’s been no MRI or PET?” He drew a reasonable conclusion: “These people [Michael Schiavo, George Felos, and Judge Greer] don’t want the information.” ...
Affidavits I’ve run across:
Tom Broderson, Pat Anderson’s husband
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{/if}
