From the Immigration Trenches

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (Border Patrol):
“Border Patrol

“Claim: E-mail reproduces letter from retired U.S. Border Patrol agent to Senator Bill Frist.

“Status: True.

“Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

“Dear Senator Frist:

“There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.

“1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship. Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their offspring. Their main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What illegal aliens want are benefits of American residence without paying the price.…”

No, Charlie Daniels Does NOT Need Sensitivity Lessons

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (Mexican Standoff):
“Mexican Standoff

“Claim: Country singer Charlie Daniels wrote an editorial about illegal immigration.

“Status: True.

“Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

“MEXICAN STANDOFF

“I don’t know how everybody else feels about it, but to me I think Hispanic people in this country, legally or illegally, made a huge public relations mistake with their recent demonstrations.

“I don’t blame anybody in the world for wanting to come to the United States of America, as it is a truly wonderful place. But when the first thing you do when you set foot on American soil is illegal it is flat out wrong and I don’t care how many lala land left heads come out of the woodwork and start trying to give me sensitivity lessons.

[Rest of article here.]…”

Il Papa’s Rose

GardenMessenger:



“Another important rose launched recently in the United States, just before I started this blog, is named for the late Pope John Paul II. It was raised by Jackson and Perkins, Medford, Oregon, who this year are celebrating 130 years in the nursery business. The rose, which was especially selected by the Vatican to honour the late pontiff, is a luminous white with refreshing, somewhat citrus-like fragrance. Ten percent of the net proceeds from the sale of each rose will be put at the disposal of the Vatican, who have indicated that it will be used for charitable work amongst the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa. This first year there are a limited number of 2,500 bushes available.”

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Now playing: Led Zeppelin - Hot Dog
via FoxyTunes

Not at all Politically Correct, Is He?

The Lazy Half S Ranch: Capitulate now

Or as my mom used to say, “The happy child is the child who shares.”

How *Does* CDDB Know All That Stuff About My CDs??

The Geomblog: Inadvertent Hashing and CDDB

Interesting…

What They Really Need Is a Good, Swift Kick in the Shorts

From mercurynews.com today:
Lakers like Jackson’s spin; coach says pressure might be on Suns:

“In the moments after the Los Angeles Lakers lost again Thursday night to ensure a Game 7 showcase would be set up Saturday night, a backstage pass indicated they were nowhere near ready to assume the spotlight again.

“In the quiet locker room, Kwame Brown described the scene this way: ‘A lot of guys are moping around.’ Luke Walton’s words of bewilderment were more befitting a confessional: ‘We just got mentally weak after that 3-1 lead. We stopped throwing it down, pounding it inside and talking on defense. We stopped working as hard.’

“Part of the profound dismay was that even Kobe Bryant had gotten rattled. That last shot in regulation fell so weakly short because Bryant ‘forgot’ Shawn Marion was guarding him.…”

(Kennedy) Politics as Usual?

From mercurynews.com this morning:
Police say they were prevented from giving Kennedy a sobriety test:

“WASHINGTON - Rep. Patrick Kennedy wrecked his car in an early morning accident on Capitol Hill Thursday, and police say supervisors stopped them from giving him a sobriety test.

“Two police union officials, who were not at the scene, complained that the Rhode Island congressman and son of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., looked like he’d been drinking after crashing into a barrier near the Capitol building at 2:45 a.m.

“‘The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering,’ Officer Greg Baird, the acting head of the Capitol police union, wrote in a letter to his boss, according to the newspaper Roll Call.

“Lou Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Kennedy looked intoxicated.…”

They’re So Close. Keep Your Fingers Crossed…

From The Australian’s Web site tomorrow:
Back to basics in final push to rescue pair:

“The last few hours of the Beaconsfield mine rescue will be an intimate, claustrophobic and almost archaic affair.

“Most likely armed with no more than a pick or small hand-held drill, a single miner working in a hole only 1m in diameter will have the job of safely breaking through the final metre of earth and rock separating him from his entombed workmates, Todd Russell and Brant Webb.…”