Immigration reform

The report of Americans favoring Arizona’s new immigration law in polls by McClatchy-Ipsos and the Pew Research Center is a breath of fresh air. We constantly hear and see immigration-rights activists railing against the racist unfairness of virtually any type of control being exercised by the United States over our borders. Enforcing immigration law is seen as draconian and inhumane by these activists. Thankfully we can see that the vast majority of Americans support some action at long last on an issue that has commanded bipartisan neglect for decades from our elected leaders. Democrats looking for new constituents and Republicans looking for cheap labor have left us completely adrift in addressing this issue.

So many analogies seem to make this problem clear, that it is one of legal administrative control of our country and not some pogrom against Hispanics. People are not offended by seeing so many immigrant faces, they are offended by knowing there are 12 million illegal immigrants in this county; driving without licenses or insurance, using services that should go to citizens first, using other people’s social security numbers and identities to obtain work—ruining the credit histories of untold Americans. Some of these aliens are involved in other illegal activities no doubt, and their unknown presence here and lack of identification makes them very hard to apprehend or prosecute.

Do the activists know what the penalties would be for an American being in Mexico illegally? They are harsher than ours! Mexico deports more illegal immigrants than we do, and their immigration law could very well be a model to use for our own country. See www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=14632 for illustrations.

With good conscience, can immigration-rights activists think that Mexico would stand by if millions of illegal American immigrants were to clamor for rights, services and government accommodations? How would the Mexican populace react to Americans taking to the streets of Mexico City on the Fourth of July, waving American flags, shouting pro-American slogans, and generally making a nuisance of themselves? They would have every reason to be appalled and outraged.

Lets look at other scenarios that deflate the racist aspect of this issue: Take 12 million illegal French Quebec immigrants swarming across the Great Lakes states and New England, demanding school programs about French history, bilingual services, and respect for their culture. How about 12 million illegal Russian immigrants flooding into Alaska, demanding school books about the “re-conquest” of that part of the United States. Demanding government programs for Russian-speaking people, and the waiving of any penalties for their illegal entry into this county. I can tell you it would not matter one bit that these were people of Anglo-European origin; Americans would want our laws obeyed and our borders secured.

This neglect of our immigration problems has led this county to the brink of yet another catastrophe, following the Federal Government’s myopic response to disasters in the housing market, the Banking industry, Wall Street, energy policies, etc. I ask that immigration-rights activists really think about the analogous situations I have described and ask themselves to be honest as to what is their real and true aim in legalizing 12 million illegal immigrants?

Wallmarkz

Whew; you would think with the slow economy it would be an employer's market and the pool of potential employees would be above average. Apparently Walmart manages to screen out those better qualified types, and really seeks out folks who will blend in with the status quo.

I'm in there today buying a bunch of stuff including a heavy-duty weed eater blade attachment and a pack of replacement blades. Well, the attachment rings up fine but the extra blades, a total no-go. The cashier tells me she can't do a thing, and she'll need to wait for someone to come help. Of course the massive queue behind me (in the fast lane) is lookin' pretty surly, so I say "Why don't I just take the item over to customer service and they can deal with it?" So off I go...

The customer service lady is not the dullest spoon in the drawer, (I'll meet that person next), but she is close to it. "I can't ring this up, it's not in our system" she tells me, "and I certainly can't sell it to you" (!) (me; stunned incredulity) "Really", I say, so what can be done?", "There's nothing I can do", states the 'customer-service' lady, who has to ask several times to be sure if I am purchasing or returning the item. Purchasing, I tell her, blah, blah, etc.

O.K., seriously, I have just bought this weed eater attachment, and I really need the replacement blades for it--otherwise it is not of much use to me. Then we go through the accusations: "Where did you get it? (back in Lawn & Garden). "Were there others like it"? and so on. "Could a manager be able to ring this up?", I ask.

Well the supervisor who comes over is an absolute hoot (unintentionally of course). "What store did this come from?" "Huh?" from me. "Where did this come from" she demands to know. More dumb-fish looks from me since I realize I must speak a different dialect than her or something. From in this store I tell her. It becomes obvious that she thinks I have brought this item in from somewhere else to purchase here, at her store, of all the nerve!!

"You mean, did I find it laying in the parking lot outside or something?", I ask. Well, now I have her really confused as she thinks maybe there is merchandise being sold in the parking lot. "Was it on a shelf?" Well yeah, I tell her. This goes on for a while and I ask her, "Do you have a lot of problems with people bringing items in from other stores and trying to buy them here?" More dialect issues ensue.

Several phone-pages later (to God knows who), still nothing is cooking. I walk out onto the floor and find someone who is doing nothing (but in a more egregious fashion than most), whom I thus assume is a management person. "Could you please come over to the Lawn & Garden" department to help me buy this item?" I ask her. Of course, a repeat of all the previous question and answers ensues, but I am finally able to prove that the the big honkin display of this brand of yard crap does exist, and right there is my item with a bar code and price on it and everything!

I am happy to say that after 30 minutes, I was the proud purchaser of replacement weed-cutter blades. Once I got home and opened the package with the main attachment unit, I see that extra blades are included! I wonder if it will be as fun returning the replacement blades as it was to buy them...

Big Jon

Here's the link to the Jon Stewart 'dancing machine' number(the last minute or so of the video) The first part is good background on the issue, and the fun they poke at all religions a hoot too! http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-22-2010/south-park-death-threats

valcover

Wow!! The "Go F**K Yourself" number on the Daily show tonight was off the hizizzle! ...and for those who didn't see it--it was a double header--Stewart was commenting on the South Park (!) episode where Mohammed was (not even) seen! and New York extemists have threatened to kill everyone!!(pretty much) so anyway, these exremeists received the soul-choir led dancing "go f**k yourself" salute!! It was hysterical--and well choreographed!

John Dillinger's old fellow

When I was on a Fairfax Public Schools field trip to Washington DC in the late 1960's, THE place to visit (for the boys at least) was the Army Pathological Museum which was on or near the National Mall. My personal recollections are of the giant elephantiasis leg in a jar of formaldehyde, deformed skeletons, and a half-cast (maybe plaster), of a penis with a syphilitic canker on it--which was the purpose of that display.
For whatever reason, I thought this penis belonged to John Dillinger, but my memory may have been shaped by other people saying that it was his. Whether this was actually the case, after more than 40 years, the issue will be hard to lay to rest, but it is certainly peculiar that so many people have a recollection of some version of the Dillinger display.

Blizzard

So it's been 7 years since the 2003 blizzard that dumped 4 feet of snow here in Ken Caryl Ranch; and like 8 feet up in Evergreen and parts of the foothills. Big fun that kept on giving for days! My wife had a compound fracture of both right leg bones from a few weeks before that snow, and she was a real trooper out in the drifts shoveling away with a garbage bag tied up to her butt to keep her cast dry!

Now we're looking at another blizzard here in the next couple of days, and the news dudes keep referring to that storm. They refer to it as the 'blizzard of 2003'. Hey, it happened on St Patrick's Day! Why isn't it called the St Paddy's blizzard?! Is it like there are so many blizzards on St Paddy's that they can't keep track of them all? I smell some anti-Irish, storm-naming shenanigans here! Let's give the old boy's day his due, and start calling it the "Saint Patrick's Day Blizzard"!

'Nuff said...

Windows Live Hotmail

Hey McSlaphead fans!  New feed from Live Writer—let’s see if it works!

Windows Live Hotmail

Great Service from Quaker Oats

Now here is a company with GREAT customer service. I called the Quaker Oats Co. to check on the expiration date of a package of Aunt Jemima corn meal, (which wasn't printed on this particular package), and they sent me a certificate for a new box! Without my even asking for it!

What's the deal with credit card companies lately? They don't have enough business, yet they treat their customers like stones that they can squeeze blood out of! (not an easy task, mind you) Mastercard, and specifically Kroger Mastercard, has so little interest in representing you, the card user, in dispute situations, that they come across not just as pro-business-crooks, but actively hostile to your complaints.

They will tell you that they cannot contest a charge for reasons of customer dissatisfaction. Well, what else is there?! Contest a charge because you're slap-happy with the service? I had Payless Car Rental hold my family virtually hostage while they attempted to scam us out of thousands of dollars for a 'wrecked' car that wasn't even scratched! (another story) This was in Mexico, and we felt lucky to get home with our good health.

Even though we didn't sign any final charge statement with Payless, Mastercard says our initial rental agreement is enough, and tough toenails if the thugs running the place should be behind bars. Makes you wonder what kind of business agreement these companies have with each other...

I have other bad-service examples of late as well, but sufficient to say, beware this attitude with Mastercard and look into using a different credit provider. My Discover account is always very helpful with customer's complaints against merchants--just FYI!