ivan

in truth, in constructing the 2 poles, i threw in the exploitation thing off-handedly

we pretty much live in a 1 party land, so that's hardly suprising - rich folks have the power and always will, and thus will control the argument what concrete changes would you liek to see in immigration policy?

By accepting a frame of debate that suggests the only two poles that need to be accounted for in a discussion on American immigration are xenophobes and exploiters is giving them far more power to shape how we understand the issue than they deserve. feels like we're talking in circles - yes, of course all views on immigrants should be considered (let'em in and turn'em into soylent green - fawk yeah! salsa style!) - the reality is though, the 2 largest forces will tend to drown out the other - of course, immigrants can magnify and agitate to get thier narrative competitive, but usually by the time they've done that they've already merged with the mainstream, at which time they join one of the 2 large, pre-existing sides. is it ironic that so many descendants of immigrants want to build a siegfried line in the south? of course. but that's what it is.

i'm also hardly ignorant of the pejoratively described "revisionist" historians out there, and while i don't classify myself as a disciple of chomsky or his brethern, i don't dismiss his conclusions out of hand you might also recall that "immigrants" are hardly a static group, and that plenty of immigrant children went on to be the very writers of "mainstream" history you condemn

19th century immigrants views have been saved fairly well and are definetly part of a basic history class - their narrative is not lost -however, their views were often no more enlightened then the natives - i'm sure you're aware of the irish hatred of blacks in new york, for example? i am not paying tribute to the 2 poles i mentioned - i also would like to live in a compassionate land that makes up for its historical evils by continuing to welcome new people - nevertheless, i would be a great fool if i did not acknowledge that, historically, the vast population of our fair republic falls into 1 of the 2 camps i described, and thus we have a situation that is unlikely to change or get better

good i love this movie [video:youtube]

"What does that mean? Huh? "China is here." I don't even know what the hell that means."

historically, those were the 2 main responses - at no point in our history have new populations of immigrants been particurarily welcomed

indeed, and i can agree from 1st hand experience teaching in rural north carolina - maybe its a semantics game - call it a problem or an issue if you want - increasing the size of your population, legal or illegal, immigrant or native, comes w/ consequences i think our border should be more or less wide open - that doesn't appear to be the view of a big enough chunk of the population to make it a reality.

you seem to understand me better than i do meself tell me, what else do i think? how is this new law NOT a continuation of alabama's glorious history? were you thinking i'm in favor of the law? uh, no, nor of alabama or the south in general (that's why i left!) the problem, as i see it, is there are 2 classic polar views of "hey, immigrants are cool - you can exploit the shit out of them and they don't mouth off much - come on in if you can get here!" and "fuck immigrants - we should build a laser shield wall and murder every one of their little bitch babies that manage to crawl through it" - the problem then is some compromise is needed between the two groups, but there's little room to do that - meanwhile, the eternal pattern continues to unfold for all living things, including mexicans - life moves about the earth as a response to a host of factors - fighting immigration is like fighting gravity then - sure, it can be done for a time, but only with effort and expense, and ultimately gravity (or immigration, legal or otherwise) will win i am sympathetic to states though - the gridlock on the issue at the federal level leaves them having to clusterfuck their way through the associated problems - my old coach said "shit flows downhill" - the feds shit on the states shit on poor illegals - simple to understand?

i'm not so sure it wasn't germane to the subject, jon - alabama, historically, is intolerant of dark-skinned folks - a picture of a lynching explains that better than words, but hey, you da'boss mon 'round here

the guy pointing at the corpse is totally rawking the hitler 'stache hey chirp, you're not billcoe! part of becoming a citizen is learning about american history, no? aliens will get a quick handle on part of it from living in 'bama, and then either leave the country entirely or at least choose a more enlightened state to reside in

i would not refer to a mass of ice 20 x 40 feet as a "chunk" - that's a fucking iceberg and that said, i can't believe it was that size when it hit her or she'd be a ladybug on the windshield of life as such a monstrosity would weigh more than a ton.

one blond, one brunette please

i hear falcon fledgling stew is like sweet, sweet ambrosia ...

at least if they're all hopped up on oxycodone they won't have an appetite for big macs?

like any graveyard, best to enjoy on a warm day w/ a headn'belly-full of happiness and a picnic lunch - pretty much the best way to tackle talkeetna in general!

any business model focusing on me is admitedly fucked, though granted you have a better shot if its alcohol related - still, if they were bought out, the business would go on, no?

the unnamed aid route! love aiding the exit w/ mandatory sideways hook move - looks so nice n' casual for a fucking rock-baboon like this'un!

awanahe's at the top of 4, right? hindsight's stupid of course, but sounds like it'd have been groovier for ya'll to spend 2 nights there and just fix back down from the top of 6? not having to drag a portaledge up that fucking talus field and down the chimney would be a distinct plus i'd wager!

we need government solutions to redneck dating problems?

christ, have none of ya'll lived in the south? time-honored solutions possible there - why, i declare, in dixieland, it's practically a right of passage to climb a water-tower w/ a bucket of paint to defend your sister's good reputation!

wife n' family left for 6 weeks this morning - its not the time to fuck around on less than prem-o objectives

thanks - remember doing green dragon a few years back when the waterfall was going good and the wind was just right to keep us good n' wet probably not worth the drive then...