The Wall Between Us and Them

Don't know if you've heard, but some lawmakers are proposing a wall that would run the entire length of the United States' southern border...from California to Texas...to help control the amount of illegal aliens crossing the border into the US. Today, I read an article in the Arizona Daily star the quotes the US Ambassador to Mexico as saying President Bush is against building such a wall. His response is such a wall would is be both "unrealistic and undesireable". Deflecting the reason for the wall to controlling immigration, the Ambassador said supporting President Bush' proposals for a guest worker program would do a much better job of regulating immigration. Here's an exact quote from the article...

He said building a wall also would not help the United States' relations with its Latin American neighbors, relations that appeared frayed in last week's summit of the Americas.

"Looking at the big picture, I believe we should, rather than retrenching into the isolationism that tempts some, build upon our relationships," he said.

Improving cooperation with Latin America would be the United States' best guarantee of security, Garza said, adding that the benefits of free trade needed to be conveyed more clearly to the millions of Latin Americans who live in poverty.

Ok to rebutt each point... "relations appeared frayed"... Of course they do. All of our international relationships have been set back decades thanks to our independant stance the we needed to go to war and to hell with the rest of you. We've abandoned the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, we've not agreed to the Kyoto Accord, we've gone to war with Iraq and destabilized the entire region.... do you think the world has reason to be pissed at us? I would say so...

"Retrenching into Isolationism"... how is protecting our borders a return to isolationism? We have military bases throughout the world, are actively assisting other countries with foreign aid packages, and are one of the most respected members of the United Nations... well, we were until we said "Screw You, we're going to war anyways!"

"Improving cooperation with Latin America would be the best guarantee of security"... No, a wall would. Cooperation with another country will only get you so far. The wall will not only block illegal immigrants from latin america, but will also help curb to influx of foreign terrorists from entering THROUGH another country. It's already been shown that TONS of people of literally walking across the border from Mexico into the United States. Would it not stand to reason that they need NOT be Hispanics?

Living in Arizona, I say build the wall. Those who cross the border for honest work will still have no problems at the official border crossings, but we'll drastically cut down on illegals coming across....AND we'll cut down on the threat of a terrorist sneaking across the border.

New....or is it?

To bring you up to date on the Apartment situation.... I was scheduled for move in on the 9th, but got a call from the management that they would need to back me up a day since new carpet wasn't down yet. This really wasn't a problem since I wasn't planning on moving stuff in right away anyway. I have until the end of the year to be out of my current apartment.

Well, I went to the office this morning to sign lease papers and was told the apartment still wasn't ready, but it should be by the end of the day. They had some issues they needed to take care of with the new carpet and a door needed to be replaced yet. It was explained to me that they were down 2 maintenance people and that's why they were a little slow in getting things done. Again, not a problem because I wasn't moving in right away. I did get the keys and went to the apartment to test them.

What I found there was utterly astonishing. The apartment door was wide open...with no one inside it. The "new" carpet has bleach stains in the middle of the living room, bedroom, and hall closet. In fact in the hall closet, there is a patch that's melted in the shape of an iron! My front door is missing a dead bolt, doesn't close all the way properly (moves back and forth 1/2"), and doesn't even have the apartment number on the door! My storage closet door is rotting off the hinges, the whole place reaked of cigarette smoke, and most of the door jams had scratches of paint missing indicating the walls were never painted!

I immediately went to the office and complained. They told me they will get on it as soon as they can but because they are down 2 maintenance guys it may not be ready to the middle of next week. The wait doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that I was told this apartment was ready...and they could only hold it for 2 weeks...so I HAD to be in it by November 9th. It wasn't my intention to get an new apartment until the 1st of December at the earliest! So why was I rushed into this apartment when it wasn't even ready for someone to occupy it yet?!

In-Stock!

CompUSA had it.... just got it. Also checked BestBuy on the way home...they said tomorrow. So CompUSA.... you win! Next time get it on time and you'll be champs! But now it's time to play!

Annoyed

Ok....it's now the day AFTER the official launch of "The Movies". Best Buy doesn't have it yet.... CompUSA says their shipment hasn't been unpacked yet.... and GameStop in the mall says I should have preordered, they've already used all their copies for PreOrders. Excuse me, but if you KNOW it's that popular (because you've already taken enough pre-orders to sell out), wouldn't you order more?!

Guess I'll check CompUSA tonight on the way home...

BUMMER!

"The Movies" was scheduled to be in stores today. I'm getting real tired of the software industry not taking "release dates" seriously. If movies and CDs can get out on time every Tuesday, why can't software titles!?

You can bet the XBOX 360 will be out at the stores on time...after all it's Microsoft...and it's the next big gaming system available....there will probably be a run on them!

It just doesn't pay to get it from local retail if they don't have it on time. Would be just as easy to get it from Amazon and have it shipped straight to my house! Oh well... maybe it will show up tomorrow...we'll see.