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Your Saturday RSS Feed – 07 July 2007

Friday, July 6th, 2007

EL PASO FBI CORRUPTION CASE UPDATE:
County Commissioner Dan Haggerty ponders the meaning of his existence and how said existence may have triggered the ongoing investigation. Haggerty recalls his contacts with the FBI back in the day, which seemingly started out as chit-chat sessions initiated by the FBI. Yeah, the FBI routinely calls up politicos to chit-chat because, you know, that’s how they like to spend taxpayers’ money. I wonder if any politician is so naive anymore and, after wondering, I doubt it.

Frank Apodaca, president and CEO of Access HealthSource Inc., got put on paid leave, likely due to the ongoing investigation. The parent company of Access HealthSource, Inc., Access Plans USA is reportedly conducting its own independent investigation.

Newspaper Tree notes that business goes on as usual inside the El Paso County Courthouse. NT seems like a decent enough online rag but, honestly, “spending the morning walking the halls and riding the elevators of the courthouse” isn’t exactly working towards establishing one’s superior journalistic bona fides.

Newspaper Tree also reports on the government’s attempt to disqualify El Paso attorney Mary Stillinger from representing three clients related to the ongoing corruption case.

Keeping the story hot, I guess, El Paso Times reports that County Commissioner Miguel TerÃ¡n will not resign. Because, you know, he’s not been charged or convicted of anything. OK.

CONTENTION IN EL PASO NOT ALL RELATED TO THE FBI CORRUPTION CASE: On 03 July, a Border Patrol agent was investigating a report of illegal migrants in the vicinity of Hill and Ninth Streets. Something happened down a manhole and the BP agent fired in self-defense, wounding one. The contention is the result of the involvement of the Border Network for Human Rights, a leftist group with an office down at 1101 E. Yandell in El Paso. A few first- and second-hand accounts by Barrio Segundo residents make an El Paso Times article, with Louie Gilot’s byline. To his credit, Gilot notes the number of attacks on BP agents in the area this year: 59. Generally, according to their website, Border Network for Human Rights agitates for “basic human rights” — which sounds good to college kids — like legalization, healthy communities and human mobility. But BNHR doesn’t talk about who funds the bill. Right now the bill is paid by Americans. BNHR does not agitate for reduced attacks on Border Patrol agents, for the fiscal responsibility of educating Mexican kids in El Paso public schools by the citizens of Juarez, for equal access to Juarez schools and health care by El Pasoans, or for that matter, the right to drive around Juarez shopping without fear of murder, kidnap or robbery, as happens right across the border. I guess that’s a POE Bridge Too Far for BNHR, and it telegraphs its Leftist agenda. I’d watch my wallet if a BNHR Guevarista walked up to me.

MORE CONTENTION: Illegals are getting uppity with more than hapless Border Patrol “rocking” victims these days. Michelle Malkin links to Elvira Arellano’s announcement of a “campaign of resistance” against the US government. Who is Elvira Arellano? She’s a Mexican activist, an illegal, and a sanctuary seeker since she’s been hiding out in a church in Chicago for who knows how long. I’d think that a threat to “bring the government to a halt” warrants a raid of that church by any law enforcement entity whose members swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Happy Fourth of July, Elvira “FOB” Arellano.

CHURCH LADY REPORTS: On a happier, errr, more sacreligious note, seems the Roman Cathloic Mass has gotten a bit more enlightened recently. What’s next, a smoking lamp, a Tiki statue and retro-cool Members Only jackets worn by parishoners?

SHE’S NOT GOING TO BE ELECTED ANYWAY: Hillary a felon? Say it ain’t so.

IN MEXICO: Was it a flying witch? Or merely a promo for the new Harry Potter movie?

ISLAMADMINISTRIVIA: A macho, woman-hating Muslim cleric tries to flee in a burka. He didn’t want to meet 72 virgins in Paradise, apparently: he wanted to be one. How fine it is to lay the smackdown on women in Islam, and then use their identity to escape justice. I’d ask BNHR about Muslim treatment of women, because I think Pakistan has borders, I’m sure I’d only hear crickets in response.

“OFFICER’S KID”: That was a slur among military kids back in the day, and maybe today, too. Military officers had the worst-behaved kids on any base or post, or so it seemed. It was a stereotype: the successful, well-paid, college-educated servicemember and his/her crap, sluggish, juvenile delinquent spawn. These days, I guess that stereotype transmogrifies nicely to politicians.

ABOUT THAT DINING OUT EXPERIENCE: Gotta love it. Not. Not when waiters and waitresses are morons. The most hit-or-miss part of a dining experience, besides whether you’re paying $50 for a burned filleted scallop with a stale chive on top because the chef is drunk, is the wait staff. They set the tone of the meal. Or don’t. They get tipped, or don’t, depending on your perception of how they perform. So there is Bitter Waitress, a site that argues for good tips for good service, and tells great tales along the way.

And then there’s this attitude. Rule #1: Never leave less than a 20% tip. It’s “tipping poorly” if you have a problem with anything, according to 86 Bad Tips. Including sluggish, forgetful, annoying, stumbling, snot-dripping, angry, failed, besotted wait staff. Well, I guess the red, black and yellow colors of the web page tip you to the militant attitude of its host.

Here’s another waiter blog.

And another.

Here’s an article that will make you end your dining-out experience and just cook at home.

LOL THIS: You’ve heard of LOL Cats. Now get ready for LOL terrorists. My entries are here.

Posted in Border Insecurity, Border Patrol, Border Security, Border Violence, CBP, Democrat, El Paso, FBI, Food, Juarez, Law Enforcement, Media, Mexico, MSM, Politics, Restaurants, Southwest Border, Terrorists | Comments Off

On Horses, Jockeys and Pecans, Illegal or Otherwise

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

The Houston Chronicle reports that a DOJ memo from 2005 indicates that the Department of Justice noted that federal prosecutors working in Texas generally declined to bring charges against illegal immigrants until they were caught the 6th time.

As we stand here at the hitching post, watching those sweet New Mexico thoroughbreds being taken through their paces by Mexican jockeys, no one bats an eye.

‘Cause that ain’t news.

What ought to be news to ace Chronicle reporters Susan Carroll and Michael Hedges is that DOJ isn’t the right place to be looking at this whole thing. Guess the Gonzales memos got their attention as they work on new clippings to attach to their resumes.

What ought to be news is the strain on the Department of Homeland Security, which incidentally, and unrelatedly, is fairly arrogant about asserting its ownership over Customs & Border Protection, which owns the US Border Patrol, whose agents are on the line getting “rocked,” shot at and overrun.

That’s a chain-of-command thing, for those who never served.

And the usual interdepartmental politicking and Byzantinean bureaucratic boobs are to blame. DHS apprehends, DOJ prosecutes. Or ought to.

We all know how well government departments work together. About as well as booting that Mexican jockey back across the border and replacing him with a six foot ten Maasai warrior.

Nonetheless, right now, DOJ is left picking up the detritus of DHS’ noble efforts on the border and hauling it into court like a sack of New Mexico pecans. The pecans taste sweet, but no one wants to buy the bag.

Which means, usually, nothing happens at all. At least, for the first five times.

Six Strikes Law, anyone? Government subsidies for pecan growers?

The DHS/DOJ relationship doesn’t work well right now. It’s kind of like when New Mexico thoroughbreds go up against them horses from Kentucky. I just can’t tell who the Massai works for.

Just like down at Sunland Park Racetrack, I usually can’t pick the winner.

I’d just like DHS and DOJ to “show.”

Posted in Border Insecurity, Southwest Border | Comments Off

The Southwest Border Fence and Frontpagemag

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

Paul Kengor is a little bit late to the game, but accurate nonetheless. Mexico’s condemnation of fencing the Southwest Border by calling it a new Berlin Wall is inaccurate.

Bonus points: Mexico continues to struggle with illegal immigration on its southern border. It is attempting to construct its own fence of sorts, by sending military forces, technical equipment and police officers south, all the while attempting to network with (primarily) Guatemalan military forces, all in order to stop migrants moving into Mexico and taking the jobs that, well, Mexicans won’t do.

Posted in Border Insecurity, Mexico, Southwest Border | Comments Off

Reason’s Angle on Illegal Immigration on the Southwest Border

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

Malia Politzer writes on illegal migration in Reason Online. It’s a feature story, so there is the obligatory human-interest intro, but it gets better.

Posted in Border Insecurity, Border Security, Border Violence, Migration, Southwest Border | Comments Off

Aldrete Davila Case — Three Other USBP Agents Taking One in the Buttocks, Too

Monday, February 19th, 2007

The El Paso Times reports that two Border Patrol agents in the 2005 shooting incident of suspected drug smuggler Aldrete Davila have been given notification of termination. A third resigned before being fired.

4 Borders Pundit will have more to say about this case later. We’re in a “discovery phase” of reviewing case transcripts, DHS positions, and possible political positioning by bureaucrat “playas.”

For now, it appears that the sentences of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were quite harsh, although some punishment was due for procedural violations and evidence tampering.

It’s the kind of case that will inspire the Government of Mexico to continue (through its US consulates) ridiculous, overblown assertions of legal and human rights for the dregs of Mexican society — drug and alien smugglers, in the main — who commit crimes on US soil. Everyone knows what GOM’s aim is — it needs to deflect attention from its failed-state potential in some parts of Mexico.

Posted in Border Insecurity, Border Security, Drugs, Smuggling | Comments Off

San Diego Rube: Ruben Navarette Junior

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

San Diego Union-Tribune editor and CNN columnist Ruben Navarrette asserts that healthy local Mexican economies near the US border curb illegal immigration. Of course they do, Rube! Thank NAFTA for that.

Unfortunately, the scribe — who spends two paragraphs establishing his American bona fides (although he still calls himself Mexican-American), is as off-base as a Guatemalan without papers in Oaxaca (being an undocumented migrant in Mexico is a felony offense that gets one up to two years in prison).

Well, that “I’m blood and so I know” crap puts a chill on Ruben’s transnational flag-waving. On account of you can’t tell which flag he’s waving right now. Perhaps a Stars and Stripes but with red and green stripes. Maybe the Flag of Mexico with a bald eagle with the sustentation plumage downwards touching the tail whose feathers are arranged in the natural fan indicating migration routes north. I don’t know.

Or maybe I do:

Navarette doesn’t write like he’s sophisticated enough to understand how his US experience influenced his “Mexican-American” thought processes.

Hey, Rube, if you’re going to pay into Social Security, maybe you ought to identify yourself as American. Helps a lot when you turn 62. Although I understand it keeps doors open when you need them: affirmative action lawsuits, political positioning, speaking engagements at universities, and taking advantage of offered tokenist positions at regional newspapers.

Tokenista Junior argues that illegal immigration can be slowed by “rooting for the economies of Mexican border cities.” That’s hogwash. The overwhelming majority of illegals don’t come from the border states. They come from Central America and the Mexican interior where, in the case of the latter, Mexican politics, corruption, poor infrastructure, and damning agricultural policies drive able-bodied persons north. Why till the rich soil of Michoacan when working the rich soil of America pays so much better? Why are the rich fields of Michoacan fallow, anyway? That’s a problem Navarette hasn’t wrapped his Mexican-American noggin around, perhaps because he can’t or won’t travel much further south than TJ.

Navarrette compares illegal immigrants to drugs when he describes American labor requirements as an “addiction.” Equating drugs and labor is illogical, dumb and useless, because it won’t flow in the halls of Congress. Migration and drugs remain two separate (and unequal) topics. He ought to know better.

The SDUT editor really screws the pooch in his final paragraph: “It also shows why Americans will never be able to find the solution — because we’re the problem.” This is a dumb summation, possibly (but not bloody likely) wrapped up by some CNN editor. It is trite and disappointing. The Rube is without hope that “we” will every find “the” solution — whatever that is (he didn’t propose one) — to whatever the issue is (he muddled that by talking about his roots, illegal immigration, Congress, Governor Perry, border fences, en el otro lado, Bush, political honesty, high-speed rail lines and labor, in 500 words. I won’t even comment on his “people are hurting me” opening paragraph.

Who at CNN decides what bleeds and leads, anyway? College interns? Hispanics? They populate the best kitchens, you know. Perhaps their influence is far greater than Tipsy and George ever imagined.

4 Borders Pundit really didn’t know magical realism appeared in anything other than fiction. So I’m throwing away all those years of grad school in favor of CNN columns. There is far more magical realism here than in any college course.

So we are the problem, eh? Us in the US — you and me? Not the corruption in Mexico the Rube dared mention? Not failed Mexican economic policies? Not the all-but-implemented “safety valve” of migration Mexican politicians understand and plan for? Not the economic benefits of remittances? Not the automatic US citizenship granted to the children of illegal migrants? Not the fact that life in Mexico is shit for most Mexicans? Surely a “Mexican-American” would show some heart for the problems in the land of his ancestors, or at least more than a two words: corruption and desperation.

Rest assured Navarette, benefitting from his ancestors’ foresight, is not desperate.

Too bad he’s too busy asserting his Mexican-American identity, all the while sucking at the teat of an America that white immigrants largely produced, and he sucks as hard as his illegal cultural brethren do.

Good luck with the SDUT and CNN gigs, Rube. I hear they pay well.

Addendum: Heh. Note the caution from CNN on his latest piece, CNN being better at minding its bottom line than the Rube: The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. I don’t agree: they are approved by some convention of CNN editors, and they are their responsibility as well.

Posted in Border Insecurity, Humor, Mexico, Parody, Satire, Southwest Border | Comments Off

Operation WRANGLER: All You Need to Know About a State Response to Border Security

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

Howdy ho! Let the money flow! West Texans will soon have showered upon their heads the amount of 400,000 US dollahs in support of Operation WRANGLER.

WRANGLER, you say, wassat? Why, it’s an initiative by the Texas Guv to combat crime along the border with you-know-who. NO, not New Mexico. That other Mexico.

Perry better hope the armed thugs who did this don’t move east.

On account of our Southwest border will be shown to be the terrorist-inviting empty expanse that it is.

I’m gonna have an Operation WRANGLER this weekend, too. Need some new boot-cut jeans, since the board shorts are wearing out and it’s darn cold here.

Posted in Border Insecurity, Border Patrol, Border Violence, Law Enforcement, Migration, Southwest Border | Comments Off

Another Incursion Along the SWB

Sunday, January 7th, 2007

Euphoric Reality is hopping mad over this report of a group of foreigners (presumably Mexican) “overrunning” a US National Guard observation post on the Mexico border near Lukeville, AZ.

I wouldn’t be so irate. Happens all the time, armed incursions. Politically, the call to withdraw from the post was astute, as anyone who recalls this incident can attest.

Nevermind that Hernandez was likely involved in drug smuggling. Nevermind that these assault rifle-toting bandits were likely also involved in smuggling — probably drugs, gauging by the number of weapons and the aggressiveness they displayed.

Fact is, the border is almost wide open. That’s why 4 Borders Pundit is blogging.