Life in Arizona

“I’m terrified,” said Norma Alvarado, a 47-year-old housekeeper who lives two doors down from the apartment. “I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’ve never heard of that (decapitation) happening, and it was so close to us … Maybe they’re copying what’s happening in Mexico.” Here (My Way). They’re pretty sure it’s the Mexican drug cartel; of course, on the brighter side, it could just be the Taliban passing through.

The case of the illegal alien penis pump…

”…Regardless, local officials said they are required by federal and state laws to provide welfare to illegals – from court costs to health care – including a penis pump...” Here.

Note: A penis pump is a little implanted helper for men, in this case illegal alien men,  whose erections are not strong enough, or not as strong as they would like, to fully enjoy sex.

Arizona at the battlements

Quoting now

…The federal government estimated that Arizona had one of the fastest growing illegal immigrant populations in the country, increasing from 330,000 in 2000 to 560,000 by 2008.¹Arizona has adopted other laws to deter the settlement of illegal immigrants in the state in recent years. The federal government estimates that the illegal immigrant population dropped by 18 percent in the state from 2008 to 2009, compared to a 7 percent drop for the nation as a whole. This may be evidence that the state enforcement efforts are having an impact.The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has found that 22 percent of felonies in the county are committed by illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are estimated to be 10 percent of the county’s adult population.4

Analysis of data from State Criminal Alien Assistance Program showed that illegal immigrants were 11 percent of the state’s prison population. Illegal immigrants were estimated to be 8 percent of state’s adult population at the time of the analysis.

Approximately 17 percent of those arrested by the Border Patrol in its Tucson Sector have criminal records in the United States.

In 2007, the Center for Immigration Studies estimated that 12 percent of workers in Arizona are illegal immigrants.

In 2007, the Center estimated that illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children (under 18) comprise one-fifth of those in the state living in poverty, one-third of those without health insurance, and one out of six students in the state’s schools.

In 2007, the Center estimated that one-third of households headed by illegal immigrants in Arizona used at least one major welfare program, primarily food-assistance programs or Medicaid. Benefits were typically received on behalf of U.S.-born children.

Statistics quoted above compiled by The Center for Immigration Studies.

After the hyperbolic hysteria reasoning emerges

1) From FAIR: “… Arizona’s law provides a carefully crafted set of rules that proscribe how Arizona law enforcement officers are to inquire about immigration status. First, an Arizona law enforcement officer must engage in lawful contact with the individual in question. (SB 1070, §2). That means that the stop or contact must survive any challenge with respect to the 4th Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Then, if an officer has conducted a lawful stop, the officer must also have “reasonable suspicion” that an individual is unlawfully present before inquiring about immigration status. (Id.). Importantly, the Arizona law expressly states that a law enforcement official “may not solely consider race, color, or national origin” in implementing this provision, including forming a reasonable suspicion. (Id.)…” Here.

2) From The NY Times: “Residents are unnerved by the violence in Mexico and the heavy drug trade and illegal immigrant trafficking in Arizona. Most studies have shown illegal immigrants do not commit crimes in a greater proportion than their share of the population, and Arizona’s violent crime rate has declined in recent years. But in this state any crime tied to illegal immigrants gets notice. Half of the drugs seized along the United States-Mexico border are confiscated in Arizona, and it is a major hub for human smuggling. Last month, Robert Krentz, 58, a member of a prominent ranching family, was killed on his property 20 miles from the border, and the police said the gunman was probably connected to smuggling. “People outside of Arizona are not living in this state and don’t understand the issue,” said Mona Stacey, a computer technician from Mesa. “Most of them coming across are mostly good, Catholic families getting over here. But you also have the drug lords and the smugglers. It makes the good guys look bad, and you don’t know who is who.” Here.

Roosting

I love this line: Los Angeles (AP): “The chickens have come home to roost for Los Angeles city dwellers who keep roosters.” Trying very had to avoid political incorrectness status by not mentioning who exactly is keeping roosters in the city, the line (god bless it) does its best to invite us to read between the words (after all, looks what’s happening to Lou Dobbs). Yes, I’m afraid LA is very near official third world status. The law will now allow only one rooster to a household (good luck!)…The law was given some impetus (finally) by complaints over noise and hygiene and concerns over illegal cockfighting. Look next for LA to be forced to ban bullfighting in its parks….Imagine LA in twenty years…er, on second thought, don’t. Read article here.

When is twittering in bad taste? It depends.

Yes, it’s a debatable subject. The crux of the stroy is based upon a tragic death:

“Rocky Mountain News reporter Berny Morson covered the Wednesday funeral of Marten Kudlis, who died last week when a pickup truck careered into a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop in Aurora, Colo. But instead of waiting until after the memorial service to publish a story, Morson sent real-time updates from his cell phone to the Rocky Mountain News’ Web site using a micro-blogging service called Twitter…” Read full stroy.

Here are some debatable entries– this view , for example, that it is appropriate (when not done for ghoulish reasons), and this view that it is a misguided media experiment.

Why would a reporter “twitter” such a story? From what I’ve read there was a point to be driven home, and he wanted to dramatise it with a description of the grief surrounding the boy’s family as it unfolded. The point being that the “driver who killed several people, including the young boy, was an illegal alien with a long arrest recrod who never even had a driver’s license. “Colorado is supposed to have some of the toughest immigration laws in the country. Yet an illegal immigrant managed to be arrested nearly 20 times over the past five years and remain free until he allegedly caused a car crash last week that killed two innocent women and a toddler…” Read full story.

I believe the point the reporter was driving home was this, that though of course the boy’s death would be horrible no matter who was responsible, the fact is that this particular case would not have come about if the law had be upheld and followed through at least one time during those 20 arrests.

The headless state of Mexico

“There’s a peaceful aura about the lifeless faces lined up on the video, death having drained the tension from their cheeks, their eyes wide shut above thick moustaches and square jaws. But as the shot pans out, the horror of their end is revealed: The dead men’s heads have been roughly hacked away from their torsos, which the camera finds hanging upside down across the room on meat hooks, their blood draining away onto white floor tiles…Decapitations have become as commonplace in the increasingly vicious narco turf battles as stabbings are in London. During August alone, gangsters hacked off 30 craniums across the country — adding to the total of almost 200 beheadings in 2008 so far. Heads have been stuck on crosses, shoved into iceboxes and left in car trunks along with snakes… ” Continue reading Time article.