Domo arigato ...

... Prime Minister Koizumi.

With so many things going on in the world, so caught up in life's complexities too often we forget the simple. Like how to smile.

The enjoyment you shared so openly today made MY day.

Thank you, very much, American people, for Love Me Tender.

Back atcha.

UN-Policed

"The UN refused to answer questions about vital details of its business under Oil-for-Food when the program was underway, on grounds these were "confidential," then refused to answer questions while Volcker was investigating, on grounds an investigation was underway, and has since refused to answer questions on grounds that the investigation is over," wrote [.pdf warning, 9 pages] Claudia Rosett in a statement she provided on June 20 to U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security, which was meeting on funding renovations of the UN's Headquarters.

Ms. Rosett describes the UN as an organization that's not accountable to anyone, even its own new and much-touted Ethics Office "which has already become part of the cover-up culture."

She is also covered yesterday's session of the Oil-for-Food trial of Tongsun Park in New York.

Alleging that “Cash by the bagful was sent from Iraq to the United States and doled out here by an Iraqi agent to Tongsun Park,” [federal prosecutor Michael] Farbiarz outlined a tale of secret swaps of messages and money in New York cafes and restaurants; night-time meetings at the Sutton Place official residence of former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali; a close encounter with longtime U.N. eminence Maurice Strong, who served as a top adviser to both Boutros-Ghali and then to Kofi Annan; and an episode in which Park in 1997 picked up cash from Saddam’s number two man in Iraq, Tariq Aziz, and “drove out of the Iraqi desert over the Jordanian border." (Boutros-Ghali, Strong, and Annan have all denied any wrong-doing in relation to Oil-for-Food.) -- The U.N.’s Day in Court (Oil-for-Food hits a New York courtroom.), Claudia Rosett

This is the first Oil-for-Food trial in the U.S., and just the first day of testimony.

A law unto themselves for far too long, obviously neither the "imperial secretariat" nor the "despotic" regime within the UN give a hoot.

They should. Perhaps consult with whoever arranges their worldwide travel for them, no round-trip ticket required.

I realize there aren't any of the 5-star hotels the UN has become so accustomed to, but I hear Gaza is lovely this time of year.

Yesssssssss!

On top of all the stuff going on with the maybe-house, Da Kid had also been gearing up for the tests at the end of his Firefighter II class. He felt comfortable with the practical part of the exams but was worried about the written portion.

Like his mother, Da Kid doesn't always test well. It doesn't matter how much studying has been done. We could know everything we're supposed to, but too often a sudden vacuum forms between our ears the instant we sit down to take it.

Herself and I had been giving Da Kid pep talks, not that he listened to a word we said. "I don't feel like I'm ready for it," he said Friday afternoon when he left for the final exam.

Between the two tests and work, Da Kid didn't get back home until late Sunday morning. He already knew he'd passed the practical but wouldn't know the results of the written test until it had been graded. Word came through this morning that he had, and with a rather spectacular grade.

Now, it's on to GSAR . . .

After he finished Firefighter II, Da Kid's plan was to sign up for E(mergency) M(edical) T(echnician) training. His Battalion Commander had no problem with approving that, but suggested he wait until later and take another class instead: Search and Rescue. This is the last time they'll have the funds (from FEMA I assume.) to pay for a slot in SAR training. If he wanted to take it later they'd give him the approval but he'd have to pay the $6,000 for it himself.

<CHOKE!>

So, now it's on to GSAR!

One of these days I'm going to remember not to ask questions. It's like . . . oh, several weeks ago when Da Kid was heading out to attend an all-day class and I asked what it was about and he told me that day's training was on flammable gas containers. Propane and such.

Ahh! Propane! I remember thinking. "Like the cans we have in the garage for the Coleman lanterns and the grill!

Da Kid got home hours and hours later absolutely filthy with his clothing soaked completely through with sweat. Before he dumped his clothes in the washing machine and took a much- needed shower, he pulled out his cell phone to show me a couple pictures he'd taken with it at that day's training. Not that you could see much.

A flame, like from a lighter, against a totally black background filled the screen. I noticed a couple of very tiny specs, and tried to wipe them away with my finger. I tried again, but the flecks where the foreground was remained.

"Mother," (I hate it when he calls me that) sayeth my son. "Those spots you see aren't going to wipe away. That's part of the shot. That's firefighters."

Oh geez.

"What are you going to learn in GSAR?" I asked him a few days ago.

"How to repel down buildings . . ."

I have got to stop asking questions.

Guard the Borders Blogburst

The following article is reprinted with permission via Minuteman HQ email.

An Update from the Minuteman Fence Project Manager

First, let me say thanks to the brave ranchers who are stepping up to put their lives on the line to stop the illegal invasion. They live and work within spitting distance of the Mexican border every day. These brave men and women are working side by side with Minutemen in this war zone they call home, allowing us to secure America.

Second, let’s be clear. Not every single mile of the border or every ranch or rancher is the same. The full-on Israeli-style Security Fence is our primary design and first choice for construction. However, when circumstances dictate adjustment to a Border Fence with barbed wire and a vehicle barrier or another design to meet local requirements, we will make the necessary adaptations—and keep building.

Our plan: Do the job until our government does its duty.

* Announce the need for the Minuteman Border Fence.
* Ask again that President Bush do his duty and secure the border.
* Schedule a groundbreaking to get the Border Fence launched.
* Begin raising the $55 million needed for 70 miles of fence in AZ.
* Work with ranchers to design fence to meet specific private landsite requirements.
* Get steel and contractors to manage the sites.
* Register and vet fencing volunteers.
* Build a Minuteman Fence Security Plan to patrol fencing.
* Set up Volunteer Crews administration and crew management
* Continue to build fence as fast as resources allow.
* Start more sites in TX, CA and NM as donations and volunteer capacity permit.
* Continue Border Watch and Fence Operations until the border is secure.

Click to view details of fence diagram.


A Comprehensive Design

Numerous fence design variations will be required to effectively deal with border crossings by illegal aliens, drug dealers and livestock. Derivation from the primary design is necessary to accommodate local ranchers’ specific terrain, topography, herds and other factors.

The important point to remember is that MCDC will not let Vincente Fox tell us or the US ranchers we are working with where or what we can build. No matter what the fence design, MCDC will erect a well-built fence—and fences work. We know they are effective, because we see the results; incursions reduced, and all of the opposition groups and open border supporters screaming to stop the fence.

1) Security Fence - Illegal alien crossing design: A physical barrier capable of stopping people and vehicles has been designed to fit the general terrain. It is also a daunting psychological deterrent that cuts illegal crossings by 95% or more. The security fence will not be easy to compromise by climbing over with a ladder, cannot be cut with wire cutters, breached by ramming with a vehicle, or tunneling under undetected. While no fence can be a 100% impenetrable barrier—the Minuteman Border Fence is an excellent design and will prove time-consuming enough that Border Patrol agents can be alerted and respond before the incursion can be completed.

Our fence plan will keep costs near $150 per foot.

2) Border Fence – Halting drug dealers, illegal aliens and livestock: This style of fence is necessary where full Security Fencing cannot be installed. A physical barrier with a 5 wire barbed wire fence 5' 6" high, a vehicle barrier with a horizontal steel barrier in 12’ sections welded to steel post 30” high and razor wire on the ground between the wire fence and the vehicle barrier. This barrier will stop vehicles and cattle and slow down illegal aliens.

This design similar to Border Patrol designs is intended to accomplish the following: Mexican drugs are coming across the border in vehicles and on the backs of mules. The steel barrier stops drug vehicles and is high enough to stop mules from walking over and low enough to keep them from going under. The barbed wire fence keeps Mexican livestock in Mexico. Thousands of diseased Mexican cattle are presently allowed to walk freely into the US unchecked, and MCDC is working with our ranchers to stop the spread of disease. This design is cheaper and faster to erect where urgent conditions warrant, especially in cases of diseased cattle incursions.

Schedule Facts:

April 20, 2006 – Chris Simcox announces the Minuteman Border Fence is to be built if President Bush does not send armed troops to secure the US – Mexico border by Memorial Day 2006.

May 27, 2006 - Successful groundbreaking was held in Arizona on Memorial Day weekend. First 2.5 miles of 10 miles of Border Fence erected. Continue fence fundraising through direct mail, email, national radio affiliates and national speaking tours.

May 27 to June 30 – Finished the first 2.5 mile section of fence, applied for permission on next 7.5 miles, repaired vandalized fence, ordered steel, finalized fence design/civil engineering specifications, retained two local Arizona contractors who hire legally, started vetting volunteers for work crews, completed volunteer delivery of donated construction truck, continue next 7.5 miles, acquire vehicle barrier steel, install vehicle barrier, test/install fence camera technology, plan and implement 24x7 fence security.

June 27 - Second site layout to be finished.

July 6-15 – Security Fence at second location starts.

Peter Kunz
Project Manager
MinutemanHQ.com
Minuteman Border Fence

******************MINUTEMEN CONTINUE BUILDING BORDER FENCE

A Successful Start on a Security Fence

The successful groundbreaking was held in Arizona on Memorial Day weekend, as President Bush refused to immediately deploy National Guard and reserve troops to secure America’s out-of-control southern border with Mexico.

Hundreds of volunteers—along with Minuteman Founder Chris Simcox, Ambassador Alan Keyes, Congressman Steve King, AZ gubernatorial candidate Don Goldwater, WeNeedAFence.com founder Colin Hanna and AZ Congressional candidate Randy Graf—dug holes, mixed concrete, put up fencing while opposition groups jeered and skeptics said it could not be done. Now MCDC continues with dedicated volunteers, engineers and contractors using LEGAL crews to work with local Arizona land owners in building mile after mile of border security fencing on private land along the border with Mexico. The first site is 10 miles long and the first 2.5 miles of Minuteman Border Fence already has been completed.

How can You Help?

Build the Minuteman Border Fence by sending donations and volunteering to participate in making the US border secure.

Donate to Build the Minuteman Border Fence

VOLUNTEER to Build the Minuteman Border Fence

Sign up as a volunteer and get access to the “Minutemen Border Cams” an active web based surveillance link on the fencing project. The Minuteman Border Fence is placing cameras which will be monitored via computer over the Internet by registered Minutemen across the country, so that Minuteman volunteers can observe and report illegal crossings from the computer in their living rooms 24/7.

The Border Fence is already making a difference.

Local reports indicate that drug and human trafficking has already been reduced. There are fewer vehicles in the area where the fence is under construction—proving again that having a presence and taking positive steps to do SOMETHING to secure the border reduces the flow of illegal aliens, potential terrorists, drug and human traffickers, murderers, rapists and thieves in these areas.

More than 1,500 have volunteered to build the fence.

Planning and organization continues as volunteers, materials and contractors are being coordinated in an unprecedented alliance with over 1,500 Minuteman Border Fence volunteers. In the true spirit of the Minutemen of the American Revolution these patriots have joined together to form an army of volunteers to secure our borders and protect America’s sovereignty, security and prosperity.

“The undertaking is monumental and historic” says Chris Simcox.

MCDC is beginning construction of the Israeli-style border security fence at a second ranch location in early July and later throughout the year in TX, CA and NM as more resources are marshaled. Two fencing companies that hire legally have been retained to run the jobs sites and coordinate volunteer construction crews as Minutemen volunteers are scheduled to provide labor and security. Crews of four to ten volunteers under the guidance of professional fence installers can install as much as 3 miles of fence in a week.

The nay-sayers are wrong. The reality is the Minutemen are here to stay, and this mission will be completed. In April of 2005, over 800 volunteer men and women took action to secure the border. This year there are more than 200,000 Minuteman Civil Defense Corps activists not only guarding the border but building fence, faxing our elected representatives, making phone calls, voting open border politicians out of office, starting local chapters and contributing their time, money and expertise. MCDC is an explosive grassroots effort enjoying the energetic support of political Democrats, Republicans and Independents—all American patriots who have earned the trust of the public by keeping our word to remain vigilant until our borders are secure.

The fencing will be built on private land with privately donated funds, engineering and labor. Its construction at every step will serve as an example to educate the public about the feasibility and efficacy of fencing to secure America’s borders from illegal invasion by aliens and international criminal cartels. An IRS-authorized charitable non-profit organization is facilitating, administering and reporting tax-deductible donations specifically and solely for construction of this Minuteman Border Fence project. Monetary and in-kind contributions for this effort will go directly into meeting hard costs such as building materials for this private fencing operation.

We have a monumental challenge ahead to raise $55 million. We urgently need your help for this effort to succeed. With your help MCDC can make America more secure by continuing to urge citizen volunteers to support the Minuteman Border Fence.

Be sure to send this to EVERYONE you know who wants to help STOP illegal aliens at the border! Thank you!

Donate to Build the Minuteman Border Fence

VOLUNTEER to Build the Minuteman Border Fence

Go to www.minutemanborderfence.com and join with us TODAY .

Sincerely for America,

Chris Simcox, President
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
_________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our Blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

Quotable Quotes

"'Redeployment' is ingenious. I'll bet the focus-group consultants were delirious: 'surrender, 'lose,','scram,' 'scuttle ignominiously,' 'head for the hills' all polled poorly, but 'redeploy' surveyed well with all parts of the base, except the base in Okinawa, where they preferred 'sayonara' -- that's 'redeploy' in any language. The Defeaticrats have a clear message for the American people. Read da ploy: No new quagmires.

"This is the most artful example of Leftspeak since they came up with 'undocumented immigrant.' In fact, if it catches on, I'll bet millions of fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community now start referring to themselves as Redeployed Mexicans." -- Mark Steyn

(Steyn at his best. Real it all)

"Nothing that's a deal breaker."

That's what Herself reported after today's inspection of the house. Yes, there are a few problems with it, but "Nothing that's a deal breaker."

ELECTRICAL:

The outlets in the living room. The top half on them works but the bottom half doesn't.

The exterior wiring is shielded and tacked down, but not in accordance with current building codes.

(Herself's brother-in-law is a master electrician.)

PLUMBING:

There's no emergency water cut-off under the bathroom sink.

(Herself's father is a plumber.)

ROOF:

It's fine (almost new, actually) but there's one tiny spot on one of the corners that should be . . . uh, resealed. (I think that's the phrase Herself used.)

HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING:

The duct work has . . . holes? (Rips?) Is damaged in a few locations which is causing it to bleed into the attic rather than fully and completely into certain rooms.

(The owner is calling the company who installed the new system a year ago. Not only because it's still under warranty, but according to the inspector the damage looks -- to him -- like it occurred during installation.)

EVERYTHING ELSE:

YES!

Except, apparently, for the owner's taste in interior paint.

Herself said when they got to the curb, the inspector turned to her and said, "Dear gawd . . . those colors! You are going to repaint, aren't you?"

What's cooking?

For my birthday a couple of years ago, Da Kid took me out to eat at a place he and Herself said they really liked.

I'd never eaten there before. To be truthful, I'd never even heard of the place. Then again I'm not into Yuppie Cuisine. It's way too expensive for what you get and dang it, when you look at an item on a menu I think you should be able to tell what heck it is.

"Hello! Our special today is Chicken Whoopsa-Doopsie."

The chicken part I get, but then you always have to ask what's Whoopsa-Doopsie? Then the server looks at like you're really dumb because, you know like, everybody in the whole entire world knows what it is, except you.

Not my kind of place.

The one thing Da Kid and Herself kept talking about — not that they could afford to eat there on a regular basis — was the places's potato cheese soup. So naturally when Da Kid took me there, I ordered it.

It was good. Not great but good. Except the amount I got might have filled a coffee mug half way . . . and it cost $5.

"That's nuts," I thought.

And it is.

A few weeks later I opened the refrigerator and once again it was filled with leftovers. A little of this and that but two items in particular caught my attention: leftover ham and leftover bacon.

I made a mad dash to the grocery store for one item.

(As I was leaving, Hubby came in and saw the empty soup pot waiting on the stove for my return and asked, "What are we having?" I replied with the answer he fears most: "I'm not sure.")

It's now been dubbed . . .

The Leftover Queen's Cheesy Potato Soup

(1) Pot, 2-gallon size.

Water (Like I know how much? You can always add more while you're working, so start with much less than you think you might need.)

While the water's heating to a boil, add in this order:

(5) large all-purpose white potatoes (with skins), chunk cut

(6) Strips of crisp bacon, crumbled

(6) oz. of smoked ham, diced. (If you don't have leftover ham, a package of the already cooked-and-diced ham from your grocery store works just fine.)

(1) medium onion, diced.

(1) rib of celery, sliced.

(1) carrot, sliced.

(1) cup diced bell pepper.

Salt and pepper to taste.

With me so far? Good! But this is where the recipe gets really complicated:

Once the potatoes have begun to dissolve (The Leftover Queen is sure there's a fancy cooking term for this but does not know what it is nor does she care.) and the soup has started to thicken, everything else should have had enough time to cook. Turn the heat down to a very low simmer and stir in:

(1) jar of Ragu Double Cheese® sauce.

This is why I, your beloved Queen of Leftovers, cautioned against putting too much water in the pot to start. Add water, not much, to what's left stuck in the jar, shake, and dump the contents in the soup. Repeat as needed.

If the soup is still too thick, add water. Too thin, stir in a handful of instant mashed potato flakes.

And instead of adding the crumbled bacon to the soup itself, if you want to be fancy do like the Yuppie Place: before serving top the soup with it.

Leftovers, if any, freeze well.

(Yes, I know Summer's just started. Normal people don't fix soup when it's hot outside but I never claimed to be normal. Besides, I wanted some.)

It's dead, Jim

What a difference two months make. Within days the love fest was over. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and his horde had a hissy fit when a few others in the senate disagreed with their plan to limit amendments and discussion of what was actually in their bill. Their plan, obviously, was to rush the 600+ page bill through so fast that the public wouldn't have time to read it.

Then when it came time to conference and reach a compromise with the even less well known House bill that had previously and very quietly been passed, no one would probably be paying attention.

Instead, the amendments were offered and discussed. Most of them were killed tabled, but by the time the Senate passed the bill, the public at least had had a chance to learn about its provisions.

Hubby and I agreed that the only hope of stopping it from becoming law lay with the House of Representatives.

As of this writing, the House still hasn't named anyone to a conference committee. Instead, starting next months it's going to have hearings in Washington "and across the country 'so we understand what the American people are saying," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois."

"We're going to listen to the American people," Hastert said. "The top thing is we need to secure the borders and we need to have the law enforcement to go along with that."

[ . . . ]

A House Republican staffer, however, told CNN that said the hearings would effectively be "a final nail in the coffin" of the Senate's legalization program.

"If it weren't already in the the ground, it's going there," the House aide said. -- CNN

Is the House really sticking its heels in, or is it just pre-election maneuvering? That's impossible to know but the amnesty for illegal aliens the Senate wants looks dead, at least for this year.

"[T]hey don't care."

"People need to wake up to this problem," said Richard Hamp, an assistant attorney general for the state of Utah who has prosecuted several cases involving stolen IDs and illegal immigrants. "They are destroying people's credit, Social Security benefits, and everything else. This problem has been ignored by the federal government, and it's enormous." -- chart and quote, MSNBC

As the MSNBC article also explains, an illegal using your Social Security Number could also wreck your chance for a job or credit history . . . and you'll never know it until it's too late.

You'd think somebody would notify the person the SSN belongs that information on someone with a different name is being added to their file. But . . . nah. And good luck trying to get it straightened out and get your good name back. Lotsa luck.

From Lou Dobbs Tonight:

DOBBS: Tonight, our nation's elected officials are ignoring a widening identity theft crisis that threatens all U.S. citizens. Illegal aliens are stealing the identities of American citizens so they can remain and work in this country illegally. One northern California woman says her identity was stolen more than 200 times by illegal aliens. Casey Wian has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Audra Schmierer has been a stay-at-home mom for six years. Now that her son is in school, she wants to return to work. So she applied to a temp agency.

AUDRA SCHMIERER, ID THEFT VICTIM: They called me three or for hours later and said, "Mrs. Schmierer, I don't understand why you're applying. You already work here."

WIAN: At a big tech company, a similar experience.

SCHMIERER: There's my driver's license, my passport, my Social Security card. I gave them everything. And she said, "Well, really, how can you actually prove you are you? What if those people have the same documentation you do?"

WIAN: Schmierer has discovered more than 200 illegal aliens throughout the United States are doing jobs Americans supposedly won't do by using her Social Security number. They work in fast-food chains, cosmetic companies, even receive dividends from Microsoft.

SCHMIERER: I started to gather all this information and really found out how extreme the situation was. It's scary.

WIAN: Her ordeal began last year with a bill from the IRS for nearly $16,000 in back taxes for a job in Texas. She lives in Dublin, California.

SCHMIERER: My husband was actually quite upset. He asked me when I had ever been to Texas.

WIAN: She tracked down the illegal alien whose phony tax return triggered the IRS bill. He told her he bought her Social Security number and a fake green card at this Texas flea market.

SCHMIERER: I don't under how illegal aliens can come across here and commit a felony -- identity theft is a felony -- and be excused from that felony to continue living their life when I cannot live my life.

WIAN: By January, Schmierer faced a $1 million IRS bill. She was temporarily detained by Customs, returning from a foreign business trip with her husband. And her Social Security account now shows a zero balance, erasing 14 years of work before her marriage.

SCHMIERER: Social Security right now sends me to IRS. IRS sends me to Social Security. Every now and then, they'll send me to the FTC, whom I have a case with.

No one wants to do anything about it. Right now, I have nowhere to go.

WIAN: Schmierer spends several hours a day trying to clear her name. The IRS has cancelled her bill, but Social Security won't give her a new number. She says all 35 employers she's contacted have refused to take action against the workers using her number.

SCHMIERER: It's cheap labor, and they don't care.

WIAN: Neither do most senators. John Ensign brought Schmierer's case to their attention, and they still approved Social Security benefits for illegal aliens using stolen identifies.

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: The crime of identity theft and Social Security fraud are not victimless crimes. The victims of these crimes are American citizens and legal immigrants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: And in this case, the victim is the granddaughter of a World War II veteran who emigrated legally to the United States from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration says it investigates reports of fraud but wouldn't say if it's investigating any of the cases related to Audra Schmierer. The IRS says it can't penalize employers who believe they are accepting legitimate Social Security numbers -- Lou.

DOBBS: Of course not. Not in the system that has been created by our elected officials.

Casey, we can only hope that every one of those senators who voted for amnesty so proudly are watching her story and your report here tonight. We thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Because Schmierer's Social Security records were such a mess, SSA finally broke down and issued her a new number. But look at that chart again and remember, hers is only one story.

"A creek runs through it."

"It's a three-two," Herself said to me over a late lunch. "Fifteen-hundred square feet," added Da Kid. Only a few years old, concrete block construction with a brick exterior, a "great kitchen," patio, central heat and air, on an acre . . . On and on they went about one of the houses they looked at. It has everything they've imagined and more.

Herself asked me to guess how much, a game we've been playing looking at other houses and gotten pretty good at. I replied and they shook their heads. When they told me what the owner was asking, I knew it was either an incredible steal or there was something big wrong with it.

"You want to know what's wrong with it?" they said.

The ad, the owner and that real estate agent had all described a small creek running through the back of the property. Herself and Da Kid had a slightly different description: a deep drainage ditch, currently dry, that completely bisects the property from side to side, less than ten feet from the patio's back edge.

"That over there is all yours, too," mimicked Da Kid.

Virgins no more, the two have become deadly. They've looked at probably fifteen houses in the last week or so and not even bothered with I don't have a clue how many more. Only one has earned a second look, an official one. Official meaning with "Sis" (Herself's older sister), "Mama" (their mother) and me along.

It's an older house built in the late 1950s, situated among other well-maintained homes of similar age in what seems a quiet neighborhood.

Nice front yard. Not fancy but cared for, and easy to maintain. No fancy garage, a two-car carport.

A tad over twelve-hundred square feet. Three bedrooms, one small bathroom. Central heat and air, ceiling fans overhead. The kitchen's a bit on the small side but not cramped. A decent-sized living room, a good-sized dining room and . . . a den? Family room? City water and sewage with a separate well and pump for the irrigation system.

An irrigation system?

The kitchen door leads to the back yard and a concrete patio. On the right is the door to a utility room big enough for the hot water heater, a full-sized washer and dryer, and once the back of it is cleaned out a danged freezer.

The back yard is decent-sized and fenced. Chain link except for the two sides with privacy fence shielding the in ground pool . . .

Say what?

The outside trim needs repainting, and the pool shows rust (well water) stains in some places. The interior walls (that aren't paneled) will HAVE to be repainted simply because of the owner's color choice in each of the rooms.

Those of us who ages ago grew up in Yankeeland are familiar with the color scheme: It's New York City Italian Ice. Sherbet pink walls with aqua window trim and a white ceiling. And that was just the living room. (The dining room was robin's egg blue with pink trim.)

The price the owner is asking is well within the loan amount the Deadly Duo has already been approved for. Although the price would have given me a heart attack a few months ago, with the way they are now I think it's a fair one. It might even be a steal because the owner is motivated to sell. She's all boxed up and ready to move out as soon as this one sells, so she can move into the house she bought that's closer to her daughters and grandchildren.

After consulting with the other two "officials," we told them to go for it.

Da Kid and Herself made an offer yesterday afternoon. If the owner accepts it and it goes to contract, next comes the Duo's building inspector to see if there's anything structurally wrong with the house. If not, THEN comes their bank's appraisers to do their thing.

IF everything does work out, a party is already quasi planned. Something like a barn raising, except this involves gallons of paint and brushes.

Trying to get an idea if anyone would be willing, Da Kid called a few of the firefighters he works with. RSVP's to the (maybe) Painting Party have been quite simple: "You'll feed us, right? Then just tell us where and when."

Miss 'im

Starbuck zoomed out the door this morning, as usual, pausing only to pee before running all over the yard looking to find a squirrel to chase. As usual, while he was busy I used the time looking for where the hell the newspaper person had thrown it this time.

Back inside, I slipped the protective cover off the paper . . . and the front page article and its accompanying photo blurred. And there came that throat-tightening feeling again.

When it comes to something that hurts, people sometimes thoughtlessly say you'll get over it. Not in so many words but that's the gist. Me? I disagree. I figure people learn to live with the pain, or do their best to.

Still, I'm getting caught unexpectedly. Da Kid left for work a few mornings ago and as usual once he was out the door, Starbuck came into the bedroom to sneak into bed with me. ("The Slut" can't sleep alone, and now that his preferred warm body was no longer around, it was my turn.) There was, however, no room between me and the edge of the bed for Starbuck to "sneak" on to, so he started grunting only inches from my face to let me know.

Still half asleep and knowing I could doze for a little while longer, I was comfortable and didn't want to move. So, I mumbled something and motioned with my hand, and as I was drifting back off Starbuck came up on the other side. He's never gone on that side of the bed.

He snuggled real close. That had always been Tank's side, and this was the first time since he's been gone that . . .

A minute or so later I got up, my throat tight and my eyes burning.

The newspaper article that got me going featured a photograph of a man lying on the floor next to his big yellow dog. The headline: A Fighting Chance. [Bugmenot]

I knew immediately what the article was about without having to read any of it. Someone else on the same journey Tank and I had been on, and Dr. LaDue.

Cheeseburger's person will be getting a package in the mail, I'm sure. And next year when Dr. LaDue opens her new facility, both of us will receive invitations.

The plans for the new building include an area for a garden. I doubt it will be very big, but I fairly sure it's intended as a quiet place for people who are worried and frightened, who aren't sure what's going on or what's coming up next. Or often what to do. It'll sure beat pacing the parking lot.

The invitation will be for us who've already been there in memory of our own pets, to help plant something in an area that will hopefully help someone else through.

Thanks for listening.

LATER: gekko writes Of Rainbows and Good Friends, and Beau Jingles.

Quotable Quotes

"It is now national policy to fail to guard borders, to fail to prosecute those who bear forged documents, to fail to arrest illegal aliens even when found. It is our government’s policy to fail to notice the illegal labor pools operating openly in every major city in America. It is doctrine to fail to deport illegal aliens even when they are arrested for other crimes, and to fail to investigate corporations openly claiming they cannot function without illegal labor. It is protocol to fail to notice when “temporary” visa holders never leave, and to fail to pursue court decisions against cities that actively provide sanctuary for immigration criminals." -- Mac Johnson.

I am issuing an official DRINK ALERT! on Mr. Johnson's piece. Please review the warning carefully before reading the linked-to piece.

You're welcome.

Geeky Goodness

After reading this from Rogers on Monday, I made a mental note NOT to wait until my standard Saturday check for Windoze updates and . . . well, I temporarily neglected to remember until just now.

So, if you're running Windoze, they've got critical updates out.

The Pineros

Looking for something else I stumbled across a series done a year ago (and recently updated) by California’s Sacramento Bee, on Latino guest workers known as Pineros. The decades-old program (this will sound familiar I'm sure) matches willing workers with companies looking for people to do the jobs American's won't, this one specifically in the pine forests across the country.

From cutting timber to reforestation, the hours are long and the work is dangerous. The hourly rate isn't bad for unskilled labor but from each paycheck the employee must reimburse the employer for the cost of their recruitment, plus ongoing expenses such as tools, lodging, food and transportation to and from the specific job site.

Indentured servitude? Slavery? I'd like to think those days are behind us but that's what the program is. The expansion of it into other areas to provide more companies with the cheapest (to them) labor is wrong.

Period.

Reading through the series I ended up with a major earworm. I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember Tennessee Ernie Ford much less one hit of his, Sixteen Tons. To me, one verse in particular typifies the way those promoting the guest-worker program view people in it.

Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man's made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's weak and a back that's strong

I recognize how slanted the Bee's series is. Hourly rates reported are derived from take-home after deductions including reimbursements and if they are being paid "on the books," Social Security, Medicare and other standard deductions. This leaves the worker with little especially if they send money back to family still in their country of origin.

What quickly becomes apparent, too, is the job sites are filled with illegal aliens. (Heck, one of the "employers" mentioned — a real entrepreneur — was himself "undocumented," hiring others who were likewise "undocumented.") The government agency in charge of the program says it's the responsibility of the employers they've contracted with to verify that their employees are working in the United States legally. The employers, on the other hand, say they have (or maybe they have) or blame the government for not weeding out the contractors who don't. It's often impossible to tell the difference, though, because of the widespread use of fraudulent identification.

And we are paying for this guest-worker program with our tax dollars, while those participating in it are also paying their employers for the privilege of working in it. Then, because the guest worker can't afford shelter, food or medical services, the taxpayer gets to pay again for the public services the guest worker consumes.

Now, Congress is considering whether to duplicate this wonderful, decades-old program in other areas.

A better way would be to secure the borders to stop the flow of illegal aliens into this country, and then begin enforcing the laws under which the Pineros guest-worker program is supposed to be operating.

Think of it as a test case. Call it a pilot program. I don't care.

If we truly need guest workers, lets clean up this program first. If it can be made to work and work properly, the practices can be duplicated for any future guest worker programs planned.

If it can't, then we most certainly don't need any new ones.

Please read the series.

TS Alberto: Hyping the News

The media has been hyping Alberto since . . . since it first began forming LONG before it even reached sustained winds of 39 miles per hour tagging it with a name. The shilling for advertisement revenue continued throughout. Today, I gotta tell you, was hyserical.

Fox's Orlando Selinis (sp?) is standing there on a beach on Florida's west coast in a rain slicker. The sun's out now, he says, but it was raining.

Bill Hemmer, another similarly dressed Fox correspondent, reporting live from another Florida beach, is dry, too. So, having to tell the viewers that somebody in Florida is probably about to die because of Alberto's fury, he starts yammering about other Florida cities than Alberto was now battering, naming mine as one of them.

Outside, the sun was shining. Yeah, we were still getting bands through periodically and probably will until midnight or so tonight. It's no big deal. Last night it rained (Yes!) steadily but except for a few gusts of maybe . . . 30 m.p.h., that's it. I'm guessing, if we were lucky, we might have gotten 2 inches of rain.

Greta was reporting live around 8 last night from one of the barrier islands on the west coast, telling viewers how bad it was going to be there . . . while waiting for the rain to start. It hadn't really started yet, she kept saying, but it was coming.

Somebody else interviewed a mayor asking if he felt confident FEMA had make sufficient preparations. Without missing a beat, the mayor replied that Florida leads the way when it comes to preparing for hurricanes, and that his city and state were ready.

Hubby watched CNN's coverage for a bit this morning, to confirm what both of us knew thanks to the media's expert and totally professional coverage of Alberto we'd been watching for days: Because of this horrible storm, we're all already dead. Or if not, we're about to be. Or something.

When there really isn't any news, the media has a desperate need to pretend that there is or try to create it. (Create? Remember all Katrina horror stories in New Orleans that turned out to be bogus?)

"This is the first storm of the seaon," wrote Florida Cracker, "and we've got to make it all the way through December. Let's pace ourselves. At this rate, everyone's going to have strokes and heart attacks before they get a chance to die from a hurricane."

"I have some mixed emotions about the media hooplah over the storm. I am all for the public being warned that there is a big blow on the way and telling us to get prepared," GuyK notes. "But some times the media just overblows it. There was this story see, about the little boy who cried WOLF just one time too many?"

I wonder who the media will be howling at when that occurs. And it will.

I doubt it will be themselves.

TS Alberto: Local Report

Blogger's not behaving itself but here goes.

It was darker than it should have been when I woke up this morning. Oh, that's right! I thought foggily. Alberto's coming.

When I flipped on the radio I discovered that Alberto — that despite the predictions by many forecasters that the storm would probably deteriorate — had gotten stronger. It wasn't hurricane force, yet, but close and might be before it makes landfall. It's path had also changed.

Instead of coming straight over me, Alberto would pass to the west of me, then curve so that it was northwest and finally somewhere north. When I took Starbuck out for the first time this morning it was overcast and the air was still. That feeling of a storm coming in and the atmosphere is just holding its breathe waiting to exhale.

The overcast increased during the day, then the clouds started layering in beneath it. I took these shots around 3 this afternoon. The first is to the southeast; the second, the southwest where Alberto's churning off the other coast.

An hour later when Starbuck "said," Out!, the sky had grown darker with clouds. Fifteen minutes later the first rain began falling.

We're now under a Tropical Storm warning and will be probably through sometime tomorrow. The only thing I'm worried about is the possibility of Alberto-spawned tornadoes, and there's not a darned thing I can do about that.

I'm in Northeast Florida and, as always, there are other bloggers in the state reporting on Alberto and conditions local to them. If you're interested in seeing what they have to say, this map done by Boudicca last year (scroll down, then click to enlarge) will help you identify some of them. Many of them are linked to in my sidebar.

Company's coming?

The sky is blue but it's not a clear blue. And the air's a little hazy because of, as the weatherjerk explained, fires. A week ago Da Kid worked one (on his day off) for the VFD he's with that started out only an acre or so but consumed 50 acres before it was contained.

A few days later working overtime at one station, his regular one got ten calls in one 24-hour shift because of fires started by lightning strikes.

We've had some rain since the last time I bitched how little we've gotten so far this year, but not much. That may be about to change.

Looking at the projections, early next week we could be receiving a visit from a mixed blessing that's now referred to as Tropic Depression One.

The media's talking heads have been breaking in regularly since yesterday with ominous music, to report the same thing they did twenty minutes before. The earth-shattering news just broadcast is that the sky's in Clearwater are clear <cue the ominous music> but that could change in the next few days.

We need the rain, folks, and after four hurricanes in six weeks two years ago and Wilma last year, this isn't much and even if it becomes Tropical Storm Alberto, won't be by the time it gets to this part of the state.

Heavy rain (four to six inches projected) might cause flooding in areas that usually flood after extended rainfall, but based on the current information even with its projected path, I'm not getting all wound up about this.

I'll probably do some extra cooking on Sunday, though. Da Kid's on duty Monday and he can take it with him. If they're busy — which I'm sure they will be — there's no telling when or if he'll get home Tuesday.

LATER: Linked to by The Florida Masochist and Brendan Loy, and carnivalized at Hurricane!.

Picture this?

Ripped of from this Guy.

LATER: Oye Vey!

UN-Fund

Thaddeus G. McCotter represents the 11th District of Michigan in the U.S. House. I was never great with geography but I think Michigan is kinda somewhere in the middle of America. If so, that means Mr. McCotter's constituents are . . . uh, Middle Americans? Some of the folks United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown thinks of as idiots.

That would explain why Mr. McCotter is, to put it diplomatically, perturbed by Mr. Brown's remarks about Middle America, which resulted in Mr. McCotter analyzing the situation as follows:

• First, one can sense he disdains the "stereotyping over too many years" of anything, except Middle America.


• Second, one can tell he is no fan of Middle America's unsophisticated attachment to "unchecked" freedom of speech.


• Third, one can admire his compassionate dedication to defending a "victim," so long as they are whining and dining UN bureaucrats and not, one fears, an African.


• Fourth, from his tone, one can discern UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is standing firmly in his Gucci shoes behind his man, despite pressure from America's Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, whose unbecoming, Middle American vice of moral clarity has made even senators weep.


• Fifth, one can be sure Ambassador Bolton and the U.S. House Republicans demands U.S. funding be tied to UN reform is being put at the top of his and Secretary-General Annan's long list of U.S. crimes against bureaucracy.


• Sixth, one can hope he doesn't visit Middle America.


• And, finally, one can wretch at the UN's sense of entitlement to Americans' money.

That's only part of what Mr. McCotter had to say. You can read the rest here.

The editorial writers at the Washington Times weren't quite as -- I think Kofi Annan might use the word "cheeky" -- as Mr. McCotter. Instead, they gently pointed out that it's not the UN that's misunderstood by Middle America. It's Mr. Brown and the UN who truly don't understand:

The Bush administration has "fail[ed] to stand up for [the United Nations] against its domestic critics," [Mr. Brown] said. The message: If the government would only silence the media, then the United Nations could get along with its business as it has grown accustomed to. -- Washington Times

Instead of receiving its usual two-year budget, six months ago the UN was advised by a group of countries led by the United States, Japan and the European Union that only six months worth of funding would be made available. Additional funding would be contingent on progress made by the United Nations in reforming its practices. The funds run out June 30, and after Mr. Brown's comments the other day, a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would accomplish that.

Mr. Annan and Mr. Brown explain that they've done the bestest job they could accomplishing the agency reforms they touted last year. Other than changing the name of the Human Rights Council, none of them have been done. The fault, of course, is not theirs. It's the undeveloped countries that are blocking their efforts, they say.

The same countries, I'm sure, that Mr. Brown was thinking of when he mentioned that unlike "Middle America" others have a favorable opinion of the UN and its operations.

I'm sure they do.

During his remarks Mr. Brown also reminded his audience that the UN is suffering daily as it's forced to operate out of a real dump.

Rather than giving any further consideration to the renovation project with its latest cost estimate of $2 billion, once again I suggest Kelo v New London to encourage the UN's relocation to another city.

I've heard Mogadishu's lovely this time of year.

"We're not virgins anymore."

Herself and Da Kid aren't getting married for nine months yet. Still, they've been looking at houses for a while getting ideas of what they want when they build one. (She already has the lot.) After much looking and searching and counting of pennies, they realized it's going to be a while before they can afford to.

Neither wants to rent an apartment because it's "throwing money away." They don't want to build a smaller home and then add on to it later. Besides, they told me, they've learned getting a mortgage for building a home requires a much larger down payment than buying an existing one. And no mobile home, either, ‘cause like a vehicle all they do is depreciate.

So, they've been looking at houses for sale and to put it mildly, what they like they can't afford. Donald Trump might be able to but not them.

Herself's been going batshit, "We're gonna be married and homeless!" Da Kid hasn't been exactly the most pleasant to be around, either.

Complicating the matter further is their work schedules. When he's off she's working; when she's off he's working. And trying to sock money away neither one has been off much.

Adding to the complications, and I admit it, has been the reaction they've gotten from her parents and Hubby and me every time they mentioned the price tag of any of the houses they've looked at.

Shock. Horror? We knew housing prices had gone through the roof but there's a major difference between reading about it in the paper and looking at an actual house and being told an utterly ridiculous price. And then slowly coming to the realization that based on the current market, it's the new norm.

Since Da Kid was working Tuesday Herself asked if I'd go with her and "Sis," her sister, to look at another one.

With a crib in one bedroom and two kids' beds in the second of the three, it was easy to see that the seller's had badly outgrown the "starter home" they'd bought new nine years ago. Not a huge yard but a decent one and nicely kept. Two-car garage. Two bathrooms, with one off the large master owner's bedroom . . . and a dining room, kitchen and living room that combined, could fit in the garage with room to spare.

As soon as I walked in the door I felt so closed in . . . and I'm not claustrophobic. I have this funny thing, too, about houses (or apartments) where the kitchen's right there in front of you the instant you step through the front door.

But hey. It's not my decision. It's theirs so I kept my mouth shut . . . except about getting whupped in the face by the kitchen as soon as we walked in, which Herself already knew makes me hinky.

For a change both Da Kid and Herself were (FINALLY!) off from work the same day yesterday. She want back to the "starter home" for a second time; him for his first. Aaaaaand, when they got back they told me they'd made a formal offer on it, just a few thousand under the asking price, and the house-price good-faith estimated monthly-mortgage-payment thingie they'd already set up with their bank. (Or whut.ever it's called.)

The real estate agent called Herself today saying that their offer had been rejected, and the owner was "going into contract" with someone else.

They're disappointed but far more upbeat than I thought they'd be. They'd survived their first attempt and with what they'd learned with just this single house are better prepared for the next time.

From the looks on their faces they really didn't mean to phrase it this way, but as they so eloquently put it, "We're not virgins anymore."

UN-Predictably

"[T]he prevailing practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up for it against its domestic critics is simply not sustainable. You will lose the UN one way or another." said United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown yesterday. Mr. Brown, Numero Dos at Turtle Bay, was commenting on “Power and Super-Power: Global Leadership in the Twenty-First Century.”

What's that? Hey, folks. It's the UN, remember? It's a US-bashing symposium sponsored by the Century Foundation and George Soros The Center for American Progress.

Mr. Brown says he really likes the United States, though, and took every opportunity in his address to say so. He even admitted that the UN has had a few problems here and there over the years . . . none of which are the fault of "arguably the UN’s best-ever Secretary-General, Kofi Annan" or the "misunderstood" UN.

It's <gasp> the US's fault for not providing more leadership. (Huh?)

According to Mr. Brown, this is the way it works:

When John Bolton, our ambassador to the UN, tried to get the UN to reform its Human Rights Commission and after the only change to its decades of pathetic performance was changing Commission to Council and the US walked away and said we don't want any part of that joke, the US should have laughed right along with everyone else and said, "This is great!" and participated anyway!

And that business about only funding the UN for six months instead of two years unless and until it got its act together and stopped practices like the corruption in the Oil for Blood Program? Well, the UN hasn't gotten around to that but with money running out June 30, the US should laugh right along with everyone else and say, "No problem!" and here's the money anyway.

That hell hole of a building the UN is in, too. Renovating it shouldn't be controversial "[b]ut the only Government not fully supporting the project is the US."

Too much unchecked UN-bashing and stereotyping over too many years -- manifest in a fear by politicians to be seen to be supporting better premises for overpaid, corrupt UN bureaucrats -- makes even refurbishing a building a political hot potato.

According to Mr. Brown, the people living under repressive regimes in developing countries member states have a far more favorble image of the UN than the poor, deluded saps in "Middle America," whose only information on the wonderful things the great and generous UN is doing and has done is denied them by FoxNews and Rush Limbaugh.

Not pleased with Mr. Brown's remarks that Americans are dumb, John Bolton went to Kofi asking him to separate himself from and repudiate the remarks:

"I spoke to the secretary-general this morning. I said, 'I've known you since 1989, and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior U.N. official that I have seen in that entire time,'" Mr. Bolton told reporters today. -- [source]

Cricket churping.

Guard the Borders Blogburst

Foreword by Heidi at Euphoric Reality

From Spanish-speaking illegal workers, to angry tenured professors and arrogant politicians, we are hearing more and more tenets and demands from a movement called Reconquista. The movement, once dismissed as extreme racist rhetoric, has rapidly gained traction and momentum among millions of ill-educated illegal aliens and well-established Mexicans alike. Reconquista gives voice to the angry demands of present-day Mexicans who mistakenly think they have indigenous rights to the land of the Southwestern United States - which they claim was "stolen" by an imperialist American government. The centerpiece of their agenda is the mythical Aztlan.

In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal "gringo" invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlan from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny.

"From whence came our forefathers...?" Nothing could be further from the truth - not that the facts matter much in their efforts to further "La Raza" - or The Race. Using racially-charged arguments to batter at the traditional guilt mentality of Americans, proponents of Aztlan aim to "reconquer" the Southwestern United States as their due. Apparently, they fail to understand that the tribes of present-day Mexico never inhabited the Southwest U.S., nor for the most part did Mexicans themselves - it was mostly open land [frontier] except for northern Native Americans (as you will see below).

A manifest destiny has been embraced by many within mainstreamed advocacy groups in America such as La Raza, LULAC, and most commonly MECHa, the radical student organization which has specifically embraced the tenets of Atzlan. "Por La Raza todo, Fuera de La Raza nada," is translated as "For the Race, everything, for those outside of the Race, nothing." Though that singular statement seems to sum up the demands of today's angry illegal Mexican aliens, there is much more to their Plan to restore Aztlan:

Aztlan belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans. We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continent

Love for our brothers makes us a people whose time has come and who struggles against the foreigner "gabacho" who exploits our riches and destroys our culture ... Economic control of our lives and our communities can only come about by driving the exploiter out of our communities, our pueblos, and our lands and by controlling and developing our own talents, sweat, and resources.

Education must be relative to our people, i.e., history, culture, bilingual education, contributions, etc.
Self-defense of the community must rely on the combined strength of the people ... For the very young there will no longer be acts of juvenile delinquency, but revolutionary acts.

A nation autonomous and free - culturally, socially, economically, and politically- will make its own decisions on the usage of our lands, the taxation of our goods, the utilization of our bodies for war, the determination of justice (reward and punishment), and the profit of our sweat.

So there is a Plan for Reconquista. But do these emotional and racial claims have any historical basis?

Clearing Up A Misconception About Reconquista by Loma Alta

Introduction.

Spain conquered what was to become modern Mexico and part of the southwestern United States in 1521. Spanish rule lasted 300 years until 1821 when Mexico gained independence. Mexico ruled what is now part of the southwestern United States for a very, very short time. Mexico ruled Texas from 1821 until 1836, some 16 years. Mexico ruled California from 1821 until 1846, 26 years. Mexico ruled most of New Mexico from 1821 until 1848, 28 years, and the southern most portions of Arizona and New Mexico until purchased by the United States in 1853, 33 years. The United States began ownership of these territories in 1845 (Texas), 1846 (California), and 1848-1853 (New Mexico and Arizona). Thus the United States has owned this land since 1845-1853, 153-162 years.

The ownership has thus been: Spanish 1521-1821 or 300 years; Mexican 1821-36 to 1853 or 16 to 33 years; and American 1845-1853 or 154 to 162 years. Almost all development and modernization came under United States ownership. Please see Spain, Mexico, Texas, California, and New Mexico-Arizona for more details.

Comparison of Ownership Time and Development.

Spain owned the area for 300 years and operated it as a colony. The central area, and most developed part was around Mexico City with much of the current southwestern United States being the frontier, relatively undeveloped, and subject to Indian raids and predations. The situation was much the same in the very, very short period, 16-33 years, of Mexican ownership. With the United States ownership, 154 to 162 years, beginning as territories, exploration and development proceeded rapidly and modern civilization came with, or shortly after, statehood.

The Absurdity of Reconquista.

Whether by time of ownership or degree of development and civilization, Mexico had virtually no temporal or civil weight of authority in the southwestern United States. Mexico never really established military or civil control over the area and it was never really a normal part of Mexico, but was always the frontier with vast expanses of nearly unexplored and lightly inhabited regions far from Mexican rule and authority. So tenuous, unpopular, and corrupt was Mexico’s presence and claim to the areas, and the Mexican government so hated by American and Mexican pioneers alike, that they only lasted from 16 to 33 years.

Thus, Reconquista is another myth, promulgated for racist reasons (it is the spawn of Mexican supremacist groups such as La Raza - literally “the Race”) much as the Germans’ “Lebensraum”, or living space, was for the master race. And, Reconquista is equally racist and equally the deranged product of irrational hate groups.

Therefore, we can dismiss the concept of “Reconquista” as a racist, hate group concept that has no place in America, or in any other just and tolerant society or country. There is no need to give any credence whatsoever to the false and meritless claims of any moral attachment to territory by radical, racist groups. They are as phony as last year's bird's nest.
__________________________________________
This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It is syndicated by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration in our country, join the Blogburst! Send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

Quotable Quotes

"[W]hy, oh why, doesn't the Senate put the same kind of teeth in the enforcement of the IRS codes as they do immigration law. I, for one, would love voluntary compliance applied here." -- Mahone Dunbar

Cursed?

I can't fix biscuits. Never have been able to not that I haven't tried. Repeatedly. Repeatedly for many years until finally Hubby and Da Kid convinced me to stop and just buy the phoney ones in the refrigerator case. They might not be as tasty as homemade scratch biscuits but they most definitely are tastier than the lethal, tooth-breaking hockey pucks I've made. Repeatedly, over the years.

Still, in secret I continued trying when neither one was home so that I could hide the evidence of my latest failure in the bottom of the trash before they returned, until I finally accepted the truth. I can't fix biscuits.

Herself does not accept that. Easy for her to say. She's been fixing scratch biscuits since she was tall enough to reach the counter top in her parents' kitchen. The way her mother taught her, and her father, too. The way both of their mothers taught them.

"Flour, lard and buttermilk! That's all!"

Ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha and ha!

Herself called the other night. After a bad day at work she needed some comfort food and asked if maybe I might fix some Chicken Parmesan for her in the next few days.

"You want a pan or . . ."

"Just a square . . . a portion. A little bit. My family doesn't cook food like that and . . . and I need some. Bad."

When I reminded her that I'd given her the recipe, she reminded me that she can't cook. I reminded her that she can to. Not that, she said. It's too complicated.

Ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha and ha!

I reminded her that I can't fix biscuits, and so the deal was struck. She'd try to teach me how to fix biscuits; I teach her how to fix Chicken Parmesan.

Herself's mother seemed impressed when she finished eating. "That's good," she said then looking at her daughter asked, "You did this?" Herself was pleased, thrilled even. She'd done it! Herself!!!

The biscuits? Well . . .

While the sauce was simmering for the Parmesan, I watched Herself fix a batch of biscuits. Then it was my turn to do the exact same thing she had as step by step, she talked me through it, her mother supervising both of us.

"What the heck happened?" Herself asked when they were done.

Instead of two pans of fluffy, golden brown biscuits we had two identical batches of lethal, tooth- breaking hockey pucks.