Here's a crazy idea. For any of these Mexican immigrants caught illegally crossing the border into the US; instead of processing their information and shipping them home, the US should start processing them right into the Army. They are looking for work, right? Well, here's a job. The Army recruiting goals would exceede expectations. There would be additional troops to rotate into Iraq, Afghanistan and wherever else.
It could also drastically cut the # of illegals attempting to cross. There would now be a REAL RISK if they were caught. None of this manmsy-pamsy BS of sending them back, only for them to try again and again and again.
The reward to the new solider is of course the salary, but to sweeten the deal -full citizenship at the end of their 4 year duty. We already know that they can walk endless hours across the hot desert. Its a win-win.
It of course could morph into a whole basic policy change....Fast track to citizenship...join the army.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Friday, June 09, 2006
CAWD
Wensday was Commute Another Way Day and I decided to do something to participate. So Tuesay night I loaded the Turtle (Toyota Tercel) with my bike, put on the panniers and rear rack bag and prepared for the commute the next day. I started watching the weather closely at weatherunderground.com and saw that rain was forcasted. Damn!. But "to hell with it" I said.
"Im am MAN! A man who invented the wheel, and built the Eiffel Tower out of steel...and brawn!" So surely I could ride in the rain, plus it was going to be warm out.
I commute about 50 miles each way daily and frankly biking that far to get to work and back just isnt happening. So I drive my self to a Park n' Ride location a reasonable distacne to ride in from. I got my shit together and started in....it was a nice ride in. The weather was cloudy and rain was looming in the distance but I made it in...14.5 miles at 18.8 avg. mph. Pretty good actually.
Work was work, and it rained all day.
At 4pm, after seeing that a heavy batch of rain was comming, I decided to make a break for it while the rain was still somewhat light. No need to get caught in a downpour. I packed up, duct taped my riding shoes for some additional weather protection, donned my trusty LL Bean goretex jacket and headed out. The first 3 miles was pretty good. Feet were basically dry, and the going was good. At abour 4 miles my shoes started to fill with water. It seems the rain was comming down from my ankle and in. "There's no stopping now" I say to myself. At miles 5 I pass another group of riders but I just blow past them and keep on going....there is no time to chitchat today. The miles roll by.... I can tell im going much slower in the rain. But the ride was good. No complaints, the jacket kept the rain out, thou I got wet from sweat, the rain was warmish, so there were no numb fingers or toes and I learned that rain be damned I can ride anyday I choose. It just that the fine sand that gets EVERYWHERE could really be a problem for the bike. So CLEARLY I need another bike. Avg. speed returning was 15.5 mph.
I reached the car, changed back into my dry work clothes and drove home. What a good mini-during the week-adventure. I definately plan on doing this much more often, only Ill avoid the wet weather.
"Im am MAN! A man who invented the wheel, and built the Eiffel Tower out of steel...and brawn!" So surely I could ride in the rain, plus it was going to be warm out.
I commute about 50 miles each way daily and frankly biking that far to get to work and back just isnt happening. So I drive my self to a Park n' Ride location a reasonable distacne to ride in from. I got my shit together and started in....it was a nice ride in. The weather was cloudy and rain was looming in the distance but I made it in...14.5 miles at 18.8 avg. mph. Pretty good actually.
Work was work, and it rained all day.
At 4pm, after seeing that a heavy batch of rain was comming, I decided to make a break for it while the rain was still somewhat light. No need to get caught in a downpour. I packed up, duct taped my riding shoes for some additional weather protection, donned my trusty LL Bean goretex jacket and headed out. The first 3 miles was pretty good. Feet were basically dry, and the going was good. At abour 4 miles my shoes started to fill with water. It seems the rain was comming down from my ankle and in. "There's no stopping now" I say to myself. At miles 5 I pass another group of riders but I just blow past them and keep on going....there is no time to chitchat today. The miles roll by.... I can tell im going much slower in the rain. But the ride was good. No complaints, the jacket kept the rain out, thou I got wet from sweat, the rain was warmish, so there were no numb fingers or toes and I learned that rain be damned I can ride anyday I choose. It just that the fine sand that gets EVERYWHERE could really be a problem for the bike. So CLEARLY I need another bike. Avg. speed returning was 15.5 mph.
I reached the car, changed back into my dry work clothes and drove home. What a good mini-during the week-adventure. I definately plan on doing this much more often, only Ill avoid the wet weather.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Terrorism and the Media
Watching the news today (6.1.06) the thought occured to me about how, or more accruately, theTATIC, OBL and the network of terrorism may plan on winning for their cause. If I'm remembering correctly, and I have little intention here to research all this info but, didn't OBL basically state that we would never see it comming? or some words to that effect?
Anyway, could the plan be to defeat the USA by using our own freedoms against us? Use the media to create and inflate the scandls that ultimately occur during war. The two I'm thinking of are AubGrab Prision and the current Marine massacare scandal in Haditha. Kind of a like propaganda messages, but masking it into OUR news. the world news. the Iraqi news.
But dont let me miss lead you, if they (Marines ex.) broke our laws they they should do the time. But lets assume the benefit of doubt for a moment.
One other thing that still bothers me is I still dont have a sense that the general Iraqi people are standing up to the 'insurgents'. Dont they...in the famous words of Rodney King...want to all just get along?
I understand the religion aspect of this to some point but...shit, its 2006! Im starting to rant here but what if Jesus were to come back and say "yeah, i just saw god and it turns out Mohamad was just some carzy guy." Would they be pissed, or what? Ha.
And the same could happen I suppose if Mohamad came back from where ever her went to. "Yeah, that Jesus guy...turns out he was a preacher hippie with a good eye for a curve ball."
To bad the solution cant be to just put them under glass to live there own existance without the intrusion of the rest of the modern world.
done.
but as i have said before in this blog. if it comes down to religion, I side with the pope. ooo-another rant... Where is Pope Beneditict in all of this? Wouldnt have the old school popes from the middle ages have dispatched soldiers to wipe out all extremist muslims. Right now, he's just hanin' with the homies inside the Vatican...what does he do anymore? Its not the position it once was, that for sure.
ok now im done.
Anyway, could the plan be to defeat the USA by using our own freedoms against us? Use the media to create and inflate the scandls that ultimately occur during war. The two I'm thinking of are AubGrab Prision and the current Marine massacare scandal in Haditha. Kind of a like propaganda messages, but masking it into OUR news. the world news. the Iraqi news.
But dont let me miss lead you, if they (Marines ex.) broke our laws they they should do the time. But lets assume the benefit of doubt for a moment.
One other thing that still bothers me is I still dont have a sense that the general Iraqi people are standing up to the 'insurgents'. Dont they...in the famous words of Rodney King...want to all just get along?
I understand the religion aspect of this to some point but...shit, its 2006! Im starting to rant here but what if Jesus were to come back and say "yeah, i just saw god and it turns out Mohamad was just some carzy guy." Would they be pissed, or what? Ha.
And the same could happen I suppose if Mohamad came back from where ever her went to. "Yeah, that Jesus guy...turns out he was a preacher hippie with a good eye for a curve ball."
To bad the solution cant be to just put them under glass to live there own existance without the intrusion of the rest of the modern world.
done.
but as i have said before in this blog. if it comes down to religion, I side with the pope. ooo-another rant... Where is Pope Beneditict in all of this? Wouldnt have the old school popes from the middle ages have dispatched soldiers to wipe out all extremist muslims. Right now, he's just hanin' with the homies inside the Vatican...what does he do anymore? Its not the position it once was, that for sure.
ok now im done.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Vigilante Justice
Got this in an email from an acquantice today...
"and on the subject of revolting...I actually had a situation today. A punk asian/black kid on a backroad intersection who tailgaited me then ended up kissin' my bumper with the front grill of his Accord (no damage)...he was tailgaiting and couldn't control his vehicle at the stop sign. I got out to assess the damage and gave him an ominous finger gesture saying (get the fuck out of your car kid) but he didn't. I walked up to his window and again invited him to see the damage (although there was none but I wanted his information). He still didn't move but then threatened me saying he was gonna kick my ass and leave me in the ditch as he put it "like a total bitch." He then said "get the fuck out of the way before I run your punk ass over." He stepped on the gas and almost ran over my foot.
That was enough for me. I reached in his window and maced the ever living shit out of him. All I heard was freakish screaming, punching noises, the horn getting pounded and some disturbing lung busting cries as I walked back to my truck with a grin on my face. As I pulled away I looked in the rear view mirror and watched his car roll into the stop sign.
I called the po-po and filed a complaint. They ran his plates for me and said he was a recognized 'troublemaker.' I told them not to press any charges and let the situation go as there was no real damage to my truck. I totally "forgot" to mention the mace part to them. On my way home I swung by the same intersection - he was gone except for the tire tracks and his t-shirt along with a few other clothing items. Heck his face is probably still melting off.
Fox Labs 5.3 - powerful shit man....very powerful shit. I recommend you keep a canister in the vehicle at all times. Seriously - it's awesome. Use cautiously but it's safe, biodegradable, and drops shitstain assholes like a loaf of bread soaked in tobasco sauce. "
YES!!
"and on the subject of revolting...I actually had a situation today. A punk asian/black kid on a backroad intersection who tailgaited me then ended up kissin' my bumper with the front grill of his Accord (no damage)...he was tailgaiting and couldn't control his vehicle at the stop sign. I got out to assess the damage and gave him an ominous finger gesture saying (get the fuck out of your car kid) but he didn't. I walked up to his window and again invited him to see the damage (although there was none but I wanted his information). He still didn't move but then threatened me saying he was gonna kick my ass and leave me in the ditch as he put it "like a total bitch." He then said "get the fuck out of the way before I run your punk ass over." He stepped on the gas and almost ran over my foot.
That was enough for me. I reached in his window and maced the ever living shit out of him. All I heard was freakish screaming, punching noises, the horn getting pounded and some disturbing lung busting cries as I walked back to my truck with a grin on my face. As I pulled away I looked in the rear view mirror and watched his car roll into the stop sign.
I called the po-po and filed a complaint. They ran his plates for me and said he was a recognized 'troublemaker.' I told them not to press any charges and let the situation go as there was no real damage to my truck. I totally "forgot" to mention the mace part to them. On my way home I swung by the same intersection - he was gone except for the tire tracks and his t-shirt along with a few other clothing items. Heck his face is probably still melting off.
Fox Labs 5.3 - powerful shit man....very powerful shit. I recommend you keep a canister in the vehicle at all times. Seriously - it's awesome. Use cautiously but it's safe, biodegradable, and drops shitstain assholes like a loaf of bread soaked in tobasco sauce. "
YES!!
Monday, May 22, 2006
Wedding and Wood
So on saturday wife and I attened a wedding. An old fraternity buddy. It was a pretty good time. I saw a few other of 'the brothers' whom I also haven't seen in quite a while. Guys I like, but just dont get to seeing anymore. Perhaps that will change. Anyway, the wedding was nice and short.
There was a fairly good live band, Dirty McGurdy. Ive never heard of them. All guys in their late 40's plus. The lead wore a full scottish kilted outfit.
The recorded music was comprised of what seemed to mostly be Neil Diamond. But I remember hearing Metallica and that wedding classic...Short Dick Man. Ya. Seemed out of place to me too, but hey, whatever.
The following day I was too hungover to ride. So I did yard work instead, which has been suffering at the expense of my riding. Oh well, you must have priorities. So I got the lawn mowed and started splitting and stacking some cord wood for the upcomming winter. Sometimes it seems like every spring, summer and fall is all preparation for the next winter. Like Im some demented squirrel, gathering wood so I can keep the house at 80 degrees from November to March.
Only about a cord to go and Ill be done for this year.
There was a fairly good live band, Dirty McGurdy. Ive never heard of them. All guys in their late 40's plus. The lead wore a full scottish kilted outfit.
The recorded music was comprised of what seemed to mostly be Neil Diamond. But I remember hearing Metallica and that wedding classic...Short Dick Man. Ya. Seemed out of place to me too, but hey, whatever.
The following day I was too hungover to ride. So I did yard work instead, which has been suffering at the expense of my riding. Oh well, you must have priorities. So I got the lawn mowed and started splitting and stacking some cord wood for the upcomming winter. Sometimes it seems like every spring, summer and fall is all preparation for the next winter. Like Im some demented squirrel, gathering wood so I can keep the house at 80 degrees from November to March.
Only about a cord to go and Ill be done for this year.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Mt. Passaconway May 6, 2006
Saturday turned into a one heck of a hike for the Half-Ork, his wife theHalf-Orc Queen (HOQ) and my self. Our plan was to yo-yo up Mt. Passaconway (4060') and back.
We made it to the peak in about 3 hrs. (5.1 miles). Then during lunch I was looking at the map and saw that we could loop around the lower south side of the peak and reconnect with the trail we came up. Which we did just fine. Then we reached a second trail jct. and turned, thinking we were turning at a different spot. And actually we all agreed because the trail went up at this point so we were all like "lets just turn down". Well it turns out that was our mistake (if you want to call it that). We ended up adding about 4 miles to the day by doing that, thus making the trip more memorable.
But Ill tell you this trip had it all....The first 1.9 miles are very flat (and actually the final 4.5). There are very steep ups', very steep downs, we had sun, we had rain, we had muddy trail, snowy trail, icy trail and nice clean trail. There were at least 4 stream crossings. We found a supreme camp site which we will return to this winter. Crazy big and deformed trees. Craggy in some sections. Zen like in others.
By the end of the day you feet were sore. We knew that our legs would surely suffer tommrow. We ran out of water, hiked for 7-ish hours (9:30am-6:15pm) not included stop time (1.5 hrs) and really pushed it the whole way. We tested out selves physically and mentaly this day. I would say we all passed with an A.
Once I got home I reviewed the trail map and book to calculate the mileage and it turns out we did just about 14 miles +/- 0.5
Not bad, not bad at all.
BTW the Camp Rich shelter....either isnt there or we didnt find it. We found a nice big open place with lots of chared wood but no shelter.
We made it to the peak in about 3 hrs. (5.1 miles). Then during lunch I was looking at the map and saw that we could loop around the lower south side of the peak and reconnect with the trail we came up. Which we did just fine. Then we reached a second trail jct. and turned, thinking we were turning at a different spot. And actually we all agreed because the trail went up at this point so we were all like "lets just turn down". Well it turns out that was our mistake (if you want to call it that). We ended up adding about 4 miles to the day by doing that, thus making the trip more memorable.
But Ill tell you this trip had it all....The first 1.9 miles are very flat (and actually the final 4.5). There are very steep ups', very steep downs, we had sun, we had rain, we had muddy trail, snowy trail, icy trail and nice clean trail. There were at least 4 stream crossings. We found a supreme camp site which we will return to this winter. Crazy big and deformed trees. Craggy in some sections. Zen like in others.
By the end of the day you feet were sore. We knew that our legs would surely suffer tommrow. We ran out of water, hiked for 7-ish hours (9:30am-6:15pm) not included stop time (1.5 hrs) and really pushed it the whole way. We tested out selves physically and mentaly this day. I would say we all passed with an A.
Once I got home I reviewed the trail map and book to calculate the mileage and it turns out we did just about 14 miles +/- 0.5
Not bad, not bad at all.
BTW the Camp Rich shelter....either isnt there or we didnt find it. We found a nice big open place with lots of chared wood but no shelter.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
First riding of the season
March 26, 2006 Sunday bike ride. it was very cool and windy.
On Saturday I rode and my feet got very cold from the wind blowing through my riding shoe. As it is designed this way. So instead of paying 40-someodd bucks for the neoprene overboot I just slapped on two pieces of duct tape to block the wind. and it worked great.
Is there anything duct tape can't fix?
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