So you have to be a lawyer and business owner to stay afloat. What a country!
You just said a mouthful there, Davdah. That's why I'm complaining about our government right now. It appears there's no room for the small guys anymore - only the well to do. That just stinks in my opinion. And I'm on the outside looking in at the situation. It bothers the hell out of me that our government doesn't do more to take care of its people. When I say this, I mean take care of the people who are trying to help themselves. All these mortgage foreclosures and people being forced to sleep in their cars or homeless shelters doesn't seem right happening in this country.
Was About 6-8 years Ago When i Saw my First Cardboard Sign in VA. A Regular Person Just Like everyone Else. Not The Homeless, Drug Addict, Whino of Yesterday! Educated!!!
Originally posted by MakeItRight!: Was About 6-8 years Ago When i Saw my First Cardboard Sign in VA. A Regular Person Just Like everyone Else. Not The Homeless, Drug Addict, Whino of Yesterday! Educated!!!
Now, Not not Uncommon To See 12 In Any Given Day.
Just signs of the times, MIR. And we are talking Northern Virginia which is a far cry from other parts of Virginia. We are normally pretty close to being immune from recession situations, but not this time - and I blame our government!
Originally posted by MakeItRight!: Was About 6-8 years Ago When i Saw my First Cardboard Sign in VA. A Regular Person Just Like everyone Else. Not The Homeless, Drug Addict, Whino of Yesterday! Educated!!!
Now, Not not Uncommon To See 12 In Any Given Day.
Just signs of the times, MIR. And we are talking Northern Virginia which is a far cry from other parts of Virginia. We are normally pretty close to being immune from recession situations, but not this time - and I blame our government!
They Are The #1 Blame!!! Nowhere Can Go To Escape The Affects!
That reminds me of something funny. The other day we were heading out to eat and a guy had a sign that read, "Why lie, I want money for beer". Had me rolling. If I had some cash on me I would have given him some.
Its true. We're in some trouble now. Part of it is the globalization of the economy. Ours is being lowered and others raised to create an even playing field. Its inevitable and will continue until we're no different than any other country.
You voted democrat. This country is not worth sneaking into any more.
Posts: 5791 | Location: San Antonio TX | Registered: 06-08-2007
Originally posted by davdah: That reminds me of something funny. The other day we were heading out to eat and a guy had a sign that read, "Why lie, I want money for beer". Had me rolling. If I had some cash on me I would have given him some.
Its true. We're in some trouble now. Part of it is the globalization of the economy. Ours is being lowered and others raised to create an even playing field. Its inevitable and will continue until we're no different than any other country.
Well, I'd rather give people money for other things myself. I just think it's real sad that our dollar has dropped to the point it's gotten. And our place in the world has sunk to such a low. And our government seems complacent with it. That's the real kick in the teeth.
What can the Gov do? We can raise tariffs to cut off foreign trade. The shoppers in Walmart won't have anywhere to graze. What will that accomplish when we can't resurrect any factories. Green peace will cause chaos in court with all the torts and reactionaries.
Comes down to one of two options. Either join in and find a way to profit or be dumb and succumb to the lose of it.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: davdah,
You voted democrat. This country is not worth sneaking into any more.
Posts: 5791 | Location: San Antonio TX | Registered: 06-08-2007
Personally, I'd hope after the thousands of years of man's existence it would be something better than a straight choice of:
a) Be a have or b) a have not
in this life and future lives.
Gene Roddenberry had the right idea with his Star Trek series. A positive view of man in a future where money, material gains and possessions have no place and it's all about improving one's self collectively. I think that would be the ultimate level playing field to aspire to.
We voted Democrat. They'll be no need to sneak in anymore
The Supreme Court was wrong to refuse to hear an appeal by environmental organizations to stop the construction of the wall along the United States-Mexico border. The high court was able to avoid giving its opinion this time. But, we hope that in future legal challenges, it will rule on the legality of the procedures being followed by the federal government.
In the first place, the wall is an offensive idea that violates the fundamental principle of integration across the North American region. Its construction reflects an anachronistic approach to the immigration issue in which the United States is using medieval and Cold War strategies like putting up walls instead of developing policies consistent with the globalized 21st Century.
More specifically, in this recent Arizona legal challenge against the wall, the constitutionality of the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to ignore 36 environmental laws during the wall’s construction is called into question.
The next chapter in the legal battle will be in Texas. Added to the environmentalists will be 400 landowners who charge the federal government with illegally confiscating portions of their land to build the wall.
Once again, as in the case of the "mismatch letters" and other similar actions, the Bush Administration is trying to improvise an immigration policy without taking into account the consequences triggered, the rights violated, or the injustices committed.
Building a wall along the border is bad policy. As long as it continues, the courts have the responsibility to stop the abuse of authority that stems from its implementation.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The steel fence that the U.S. government wants to build along the Mexican border would do more than slice through the University of Texas' Brownsville campus and cut off the golf course from the rest of the school.
School officials say it would make a mockery of the very mission of the university: promoting close ties between the U.S. and Mexico.
The university — built close to the Rio Grande on land where the United States and Mexico traded cannon blasts during the Mexican-American War 160 years ago — recruits Mexican students, offers government and business classes in English and Spanish and turns out sorely needed bilingual teachers. It has a biological field station in Mexico and hosts educators at a Binational Conference every spring. About 400 of the 17,000 students are from Mexico, and more than half of them commute across the river to class.
The fence, if built as envisioned by the U.S. Border Patrol, would run a mile north of the Rio Grande, the international boundary, cutting off about 180 acres of the 465-acre campus. University officials say it would also thwart its hopes of expanding someday toward the river, and send the wrong message across the border.
"To slice off and fence off the `bi' part of `binational' violates the essence of this university," said university President Juliet V. Garcia, whose office is situated in what was once the thick-walled, tan-brick hospital at Fort Brown, built shortly after the Civil War.
On Monday, university officials will ask a federal judge to force government officials to work with the school on alternatives to the fence, continuing a long-running legal fight that began when the Department of Homeland Security sued the school for refusing to allow surveyors onto its property.
In March, a federal judge ordered Homeland Security to consider the school's "unique status as an institution of higher learning" in minimizing the impact on the "environment, culture, commerce and quality of life" at the university. But the two sides have been unable to agree on some kind of alternative to a fence.
In a May 27 letter to the university, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that in place of a fence, it would have to station Border Patrol agents every 50 yards along the 3.4 mile-stretch around campus, and the salaries alone would amount to $71 million.
A Border Patrol spokesman said the matter would be addressed in court and refused further comment.
The fence is being erected away from the Rio Grande for fear it could alter the flow of floodwaters and illegally change the international border.
People will still be able to reach the university from Mexico by way of the three international bridges that connect Brownsville to Matamoros, Mexico.
The Bush administration is hurrying to build 670 miles of the border fence by the end of the year.
The school's architecture reflects the twin influences on the region: Its older buildings are 19th-century remnants of Fort Brown, with tan brick walls, galvanized steel roofs and shaded arcades. Other buildings are Spanish-influenced, with tile, towers and terra cotta roofs.
The school, a part of the University of Texas system since 1991, said it cannot get a firm answer from the government on whether there will be a gate or some other opening that will enable students to reach the 165-acre golf course, which generates revenue for the university.
Also left in the no-man's land south of the fence would be the ruins of old Fort Texas, which was built during the Mexican-American War in 1846 and now consists of little more than earthen mounds.
"Of course, we believe in protecting our borders," the university president wrote in an open letter to students in January. "Of course, we believe in strong immigration policy. But we also understand that a fence, no matter how high or how wide, is no substitute for either."
In court papers, the university said that at a meeting earlier this month between Border Patrol Sector Chief Ron Vitiello and school officials, a conversation about alternatives ended abruptly when Vitiello told them their efforts were a "waste of time."
"He wanted to stop the conversation instantly," said Michael Putegnat, a consultant hired by the university.
Post-Sept. 11 border security measures have already reduced the number of Mexicans who legally cross the border for English classes at the campus, said John Robey, a political science professor. The fence, he said, just adds insult to inconvenience.
"They think that it's xenophobia run amok," he said.
Some students said they fear the fence will send the wrong message about them.
"You're trying to divide the world," said Omar Diaz, 20, a government major from Victoria, Mexico.
Allison Valles, an accounting major from Texas and a member of the golf team, said that the fence does more than pose a threat to her favorite activity.
"UTB is trying to portray an image of bringing everybody together, but we would have this wall between us," Valles said.
BROWNSVILLE – A federal judge ordered a Texas university and the government Monday to continue meeting in search of alternatives to building a border fence across campus.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen said the government had not complied with his March order to work with the University of Texas at Brownsville to come up with a better plan than the one that puts more than a quarter of the school's acreage – including the golf course – behind the U.S.-Mexico border fence.
Judge Hanen's order dealt the Department of Homeland Security a rare setback in its rush to meet a congressional deadline to have 670 miles of fencing built along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of the year.
In documents filed with the court before Monday's hearing, the government said it had concluded that the fence through the campus was the only viable alternative and indicated that it could file a condemnation lawsuit against the university as early as today.
Judge Hanen told both sides to get the necessary expertise and authority in the same room to come up with a solution.
"It's important enough for the security of the country and important enough to the integrity of the college to try to do this," Judge Hanen said.
They are scheduled to report back to the judge by July 31.
While Homeland Security has met isolated opposition at various points along the fence's route, the university and its two-year sister school Texas Southmost College may be its most challenging opponent. The university – with 17,000 students, projected to double by 2050 – argues that the fence would crush expansion plans and make a mockery of the university's mission to offer a binational education. The colleges are part of the nation's second-largest university system.
During the hourlong hearing, Judge Hanen asked – and in some cases received answers to – questions that property owners in the path of the fence have been asking for months.
"One of the problems this community faces is that the border fence isn't on the border," Judge Hanen said. Why couldn't the fence run closer to the Rio Grande rather than a mile north of it?
Homeland Security is trying to follow the levee because the path is already clear and because boundary treaties with Mexico do not allow the placement of any barrier in the floodplain that could deflect floodwater toward Mexico, said Justice Department attorney David Hu.
The land the golf course is on belongs to the International Boundary and Water Commission, but the university holds a 99-year license on it.
Judge Hanen suggested both sides study the possibility of the fence being built along a levee closer to the river that is no longer certified but perhaps could be repaired.
He also asked about the construction of the fence.
The "temporary" fence for the campus proposed as a compromise by Homeland Security would consist of concrete jersey barriers with the necessary fencing to reach 18 feet.
___________________________________________________________________ "The letter of the law is a sword that killeth; its intent is a spirit that giveth life."
Minutemen leader laments path of anti-illegal immigration groups
Founder of Minuteman Project said he worries about people instigating violence in connection with his group's name.
By AMY TAXIN The Orange County Register
When Jim Gilchrist headed to the U.S.-Mexico border three years ago to press for tougher immigration enforcement, he carried binoculars.
Today, Gilchrist is worried that a few self-proclaimed patriots might be carrying a gun.
After seeing online videos that encouraged border violence amid calls to crack down on illegal immigration, the 59-year-old Aliso Viejo resident said he feels responsible for what started out as a publicity campaign and has since fallen prey to internal divisions and to influence by people he believed had "Saddam Hussein mentalities."
"In retrospect, had I seen this, had I had a crystal ball to see what is going to happen… Am I happy? No," Gilchrist said in a phone conversation late last week. "Am I happy at the outcome of this whole movement? I am very, very sad, very disappointed."
A retired accountant, Gilchrist rose to the national scene when he led civilians on a border-watching mission in 2005. He appeared on countless TV interviews and news programs and took the issue of illegal immigration one step further when, several months later, he ran and lost a race against Rep. John Campbell, R-Irvine, to represent California's 48th Congressional district.
Last year, Gilchrist had a falling out with several of his former Minuteman Project collaborators, who accuse him of mismanaging the organization's funds. The dispute landed the group in court and splintered the anti-illegal immigration movement, which had been gathering steam amid several attempts in Congress to pass an overhaul of the immigration system.
Looking back, Gilchrist said he wished he had done more to root out troublemakers in the organization – both those who opposed him politically and those who instigate violence.
"There's all kinds of organizations that have spawned from the Minuteman Project and I have to say, some of the people who have gotten into this movement have sinister intentions," he said.
"It's an 'invasion'," Gilchrist said of illegal immigration across the border between the United States and Mexico, "but it's not a war. It is a covert 'Trojan Horse invasion'."
THEN AND NOW
That's a marked difference from the Gilchrist who led supporters on a caravan across the country two years ago to President Bush's ranch in Crawford, TX, shouting at critics before leaving from Los Angeles: "Minutemen, stand your ground!… If it's a war he wants, then let it begin here."
The year before, just back from the border trip, he told a group of 150 supporters at an anti-illegal immigration group meeting: ``I'm ****ed proud to be a vigilante.''
Last year, a coalition of human rights and labor groups labeled Gilchrist a "voice of intolerance" in the debate over immigration reform. In 2005, the Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center reported that neo-Nazis had joined the border-watching event led by Gilchrist.
The Minuteman Project was successful at tapping into core concerns among moderate Republicans and galvanizing them on the issue of immigration reform, said Louis DeSipio, a UC Irvine political science professor. But over the last year, immigration reform has slipped from the top of the national agenda, displaced by economic woes such as gas prices and the housing slump.
"At its peak, the group had a range of people," DeSipio said. "The sort of core of the movement was always people who took the metaphor of an invasion seriously and it's those (people) who have the potential to violence and are willing to use the web at least as a way of seeing if they can stir something up."
"As public opinion has moved away from immigration as being a highly salient issue and other things have come to the fore, the suburban patriot has moved in other directions," he said.
ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY
Now, Gilchrist continues to run his group with a web site that carries his name. He has adopted a two-mile stretch of Route 133 under California's Adopt-A-Highway program, planning to pick up litter and keep the roadway clean in exchange for the right to a promotional sign.
His former collaborators, including Barbara Coe of the California Coalition of Immigration Reform, continue to lobby for immigration enforcement on their own. Coe said she hasn't seen Gilchrist at rallies or on the border for some time.
Coe, an anti-illegal immigration activist since 1991, said she hasn't come across any instigators in her group. "Because that is rule number 1," she said. "You do not use inflammatory language and you never, never get violent – obviously, unless it is in the case of self-defense."
Gilchrist readily admits the movement has splintered over the last year. He said he still has ties to about 20 Minuteman Project chapters around the country – but used to have more.
Sometimes, Gilchrist said he thinks about leaving the debate over illegal immigration and taking on a new issue like urban blight or tax reform. For now, he said he will continue to lobby for more border patrol agents but not from a perch on the border, watching for people trying to cross.
"I have found, after four years in this movement (…) I very well may have been fighting for people with less character and less integrity than the 'open border fanatics' I have been fighting against," he said. "And that is a phenomenal indictment of something I have created."
Contact the writer: 714-796-7722 or ataxin@ocregister.com
___________________________________________________________________ "The letter of the law is a sword that killeth; its intent is a spirit that giveth life."
Originally posted by davdah: It all boils down to dinero. If you have it you can buy better justice. If the legal system were made to work like medical where you can get the same care free there would surely be overnight changes. As if the lawyers would allow that!
The gas issue has little to do with Bush. As much as everyone would like to find someone to point the finger at, he ain't the guy. To many people with open gas caps around the world bidding up the price.
Bush and Congress are in charge of running this country according to the Constitution, Davdah. They are accountable for the well-being of the USA and they have done a poor-a$s job. I may be generalizing, but I think they have let things get so far out of hand, it will take years for us to rebuild. I'm so tired of us being the laughing stock of the world and you know the other countries (i.e., specifically China) are working behind the scenes to bring us down because they all hate us. So, what is the solution???? You think 4 more years of Republican rule will be the answer? See, I've never voted Democrat in my life, but switched over this time because something just ain't working right anymore.
Proud, I strongly disagree with you about China, India, etc. Yes, there are groups around the world, within every country, that dislike, even hate the United States. There are even groups within the United States that act the same, but it is not a major political party or eithnic, religious, or other subgroup. Economically, China and the US are on par, equals, and in agreement with most US economic policy. Politically, and for very obvious reasons, they oppose most US foreign policy agendas. However, they have agreed, on occasion, with the US. One was in 1997 when the Far East market crash happened. Second was with NK and the mulit lateral talks. They did oppose Iraq War and abstained from the Yugoslave War. From my perspective, and from living there, I have found that most Chinese are well mannered, courteous, hard working, pragmatic, and talented. Educaiton is their religion now. Most see coming to the US as a mark of making into the world. If you truly want to understand China, the Discovery Channel will have a program called, "Peoples Republic of Capitalism." I encourage you to watch it.
Davdah, gas prices are going up because of the commodity market, not because of tree luggers. What we need is alternative fuel, specifically hydrogen powered or fuel cell. Drilling in the arctic will not lower the gas prices all that much, maybe 10 cents to 30 cents a gallon. Drilling in the Gulf requires gas prices to be $5 per barrel in order for it to be profitable. And what we do not have in the alt fuel business is a Henry Ford or Steve Jobs that can revolutionize the industry. But alas, they all gone to Europe.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams on Defense of the boston Massacre
The above lists are web sites that offer products for import or export. If you click on the first link, you will see that the US makes products that are economically advantageous to the country.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams on Defense of the boston Massacre
"The border fence project has faced embarrassments - illegal immigrants employed to build the wall, a "Virtual Fence" project that cannot distinguish humans and vehicles from livestock and bushes - but those setbacks pale in comparison to its fundamental flaws. [Here are] six simple reasons a fence spanning the U.S.-Mexico border is bad policy." Melanie Mason, June 30, 2008.
"The Homeland Security Department has awarded Boeing more than $1 billion — an amount higher than what was previously disclosed — for work on the Secure Border Initiative system that the company is installing along the Mexican border in Arizona, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office." Federal Computer Week, July 2, 2008.
"There is a long list of things to do to make the immigration system correspond to American values and economic realities, and the country is doing just about none of them. We’re paying a huge price to pay for an ineffective fence and some symbolic victories on the border." New York Times Editorial, July 5, 2008.
___________________________________________________________________ "The letter of the law is a sword that killeth; its intent is a spirit that giveth life."
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