Immigration and a ghost town

onceyougetstartedyoucannotstop
03 June, 2007 11:07:32 AM
A frightening thing is happening.
I edited the 5000+ words from yesterday, formatted it, and picked out the pictures to go with it.
Also, to the vindication of Dan Quayle, the plural form of potatoes has an e.
I start to load them into blogger.
And I want to write about it. This is starting to be habit forming.
Am I a 21st century redneck samuel pepys?
I am even enjoying the sappy Neil Young acoustic songs.
11:37:41
I am finished loading this affair into blogger. It is time to get a life
3:02:56 PM
The day is going smoothly enough. I sort of feel like a nap, but that would have me waking up at 5 or so in a bad mood, so I might not.
I finished the model. At this point, I just need to put it in a window and look at it a bit, and not worry about any changes for a few days. It doesn't suck too bad at this point, and may indeed be a good pic when I am done with it.
I had my sunday phone call with uzi. I try to make it before noon, lest anyone think that I am slack. Well, by my clock it was 1159, by his clock it was 1201, and by his dvd player it was 1200. Since that was not the flashing 1200 that we all know from unset VCRs, that may be accurate.
I saw a new trail near where I worked, and I may go help him walk his dog there later.

5:41:27 PM
The day is trooping on.
I went out on the bike, and found this place behind the airport where they cleared out the residents because of the noise from the planes. There is a stretch of asphalt next to a fence, and the airport property is on the other side. I decided to stay there for a few minutes and take a shot of a plane taking off.
As luck would have it, there were no planes taking off for a few minutes. The abandoned road was strangely quiet, and not unpleasant just to wait on some action. I found a flowering weed that was the site of a honeybee feast. First a prop plane flew by, then a couple of small jets, and then back to the stillness. As I abandoned the search and climbed the hill leaving the road, a big WW2 era military plane flew by, but my camera was in the bag, and useless.
I went home by way of a side street, where the mcmansion craze is running wild. The yard of a departed friend was a stop, where the builders are sparing the oak in the front yard. The house belonged to my first grade teacher, before she died in 1967.
There is a mack truck in the driveway, which I suspect would please my friend. As if a man dead 14 years would know the difference.



dollypleaseeatwhatcanbedonetosavelindsay
6/4/2007 8:28:57 PM
Twenty seven hours later and the world is cranking on. A day at the job goes by without incident, and the only chore I really had to do tonight...buy groceries...is in the trunk of my car.
The Kroger on Buford Hiway is going to have Mexicans, whatever time you go. The whole immigration controversy is raging again, and I don't have much to say either way.
I really don't know what can be done. If I were a poor mexican, I would probably come up here to make money that can never be made at home. Many of the Mexicans I have met are great people...friendly, hard working, and a credit to our community.
Immigration is an issue that makes hypocrites out of so many. There are a few rabble rousers working the crowd on this issue, screaming nonstop about a mexican invasion of criminals. Many of these are self styled conservatives and libertarians, who denounce big government and call for unfettered free enterprise to solve our problems. And yet, it is unfettered free enterprise which brought us this wave of illegal labor, and many are now screaming for big government solutions.
Of course, I don't want an undocumented worker to take my job, or present a low wage alternative to my employer. If we are going to have laws, then they should be enforced, evenly and "fairly". The thought that terrorists are entering the country is troubling.
One solution is to build up the mexican economy, so that their people can work there. And yet, many manufacturing jobs are already leaving the country, to low wage third world countries. If the mexican economy is built up, will it be at our expense.
At least the illegals in this country spend some of their money here, and help our economy. This advantage is lost when a job is exported over the border, or over the internet to India. (It is funny how the radio loudmouths don't have much to say about the jobs going to India. I guess their focus groups don't show much interest in this)
Immigration is a tough issue for "liberals" or "progressives". I like to think of myself as kind hearted, and I have enjoyed many of the mexicans I have known. And yet, I see a great danger in the present situation. One of these dangers is the threat of government action to solve it. If only unfettered free enterprise could take care of this issue.

On Saturday, I got five CDs at the library. Jeff Beck "Blow by Blow" is a disappointment, and Bix Beiderbecke is ok, but old time jazz really doesn't do much for me. "Broken English" by Marianne Faithful was a vinyl favorite, and the dance music singles...well I might wind up enjoying it. It is from the early eighties, when music was in decline and I was working all the time and seldom went out.
Which leaves the last one, which is on my stereo now..."Cowgirl Prayer" by Emmy Lou Harris. The woman is a goddess; I have never heard anything by her that I didn't like. She is letting her long hair go gray, without dye, and she still looks great.
Does the first commandment forbid listening to the music of a goddess? I may to have to sin.
While I was at the store, I saw a scandal magazine while waiting to pay. It seems like Emmy Lou's friend Dolly Parton is getting dangerously skinny, and her friends are worried. Now, there are two things Miss Parton is known for, and neither works well with skinny. That, and the continuing story of Lindsay Lohan, were all I saw in the scandal sheets before it was time to check out.