Texsox

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 11:35 AM) Tex, we are just gonna disagree on this. You think they are all helpless people just looking for a leg up, and I think that some of them very well could be dangerous. if they are willing to break the law to come into this country, what is to prevent them from breaking one more to get away? And with the larger number of them, firearms aren't needed if the rancher is also unarmed. Of course some could be dangerous. So are ex-military living in this country. Oklahoma City, DC sniper, for example. And so too are some of the people walking in your neighborhood. What this country does not need are vigilantes. I know dozens of people who came to this country illegally to find work. I have met many, many, more. As a group they are a hell of a lot more peaceful than any of the projects in the city. But perhaps the ones you know are dangerous. This Sheriff was allowing someone to hold a rifle on the group. Then watched as the guy kicked a woman. Perhaps that is acceptable in Chicago, but I doubt it.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 11:19 AM) Why do you scoff at the idea that he has every reason to believe that he could be in danger? The tresspassers have vandalized his property, tore up pumps, killed calves destroyed fences, stole trucks, broken into his home and he has found garbage that could be from drugs. Being outnumbered 10 - 1, without a weapon, what is to stop them from committing harm to him? Or are all illegal immigrants just peacefull people only looking for the land of milk and honey? No criminals in them at all? None? Perhaps the dirty diapers tipped you off to the danger? These are people looking to walk 300 miles for a minimum wage job at some restaurant or farm. Don't worry about the drug supply for Illinois, that arrives in semi's and on airplanes. Remember they are walking, they aren't carrying massive quantities of drugs. And you believe everything he says? Come on. There are coyotes and other wild animals that kill calves. Maybe there was some drug stuff, but that would be rare. Again they are walking hundreds of miles. They aren't carrying 6 pounds of worthless firearms. The danger will be from these guys slaughtering humans like the Iraqi's did.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 11:07 AM) Then maybe they should try to have the guy arrested for assauly instead of 'violating their civil rights'. Again, your comparrison doesn't quite hold. To pass from a neighbor ranch to his, you first have to be on the neighbor ranch. So they tresspassed there first. Does the guy have a right to set up hidden pits with punji sticks in them? No. He did set up some sensors to tell him people are there which is fine, and taking his dog and gun with him is also fine. Since he was outnumbered, there is every expectation of danger on his part. However, if you are injured while committing a crime, your avenues for restitution are severly limited. break into my house and slip and fall on a wet floor, oh well. What happened after the authorities got there seems to me to be a problem with the authorities. Maybe they should be the ones being sued. And by 'having his gun still trained on them', does that mean he was aiming it at them, or simply still holding it? His word agains a bunch of people who probably can't speak the language and are merely following the instructions from the advocasy group that is representing them. I have no explination for the kick, but fail to see how that would violate any rights they have, especially $32 million dollares worth of them. Whoa, every expectation of danger? It just isn't worth discussing.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 10:13 AM) Not oblivious that there was a battle, oblivious to why. "I'm clean, I'm old, I did a completely mediocre job, what's wrong with me taking the seat from a criminal the entire state is waiting with baited breath to leave?" Oblivious. Stupid. Mediocre. Burris '10 I thought he had to be confirmed? Blago got to pick and that was the only step?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) Slight difference in the locals, Tex. In my neighborhood, easy for someone to 'accidentaly' walk on my lawn. Out there in the middle of nowhere, not very likely the people he finds got their by accident while looking for the local TexMex restaurant. And he isn't roaming the neighborhood, he is on his own land. Also not like they just stepped over the border a little bit, he finds them all throughout his land on thier way to destinations unknown. Your comparison doesn't work. And I am not gonna get into the wall debate with you on this thread, maybe elsewhere. Wall or no wall, this man has every right to keep illegals and others off his land. Actually, you must not hike or backpack. Out here it is really easy to get lost. Depending on his ranch, it may be easy to to pass from a neighbor ranch to his. I've done it. We thought we were leaving one area of a ranch to another area of the same ranch. Instead it was the neighbor's place. Good thing he was a ask questions first type of guy. Again, there are limits to what people can do to protect their property. For example, booby traps are illegal. You have the same right to keep trespassers off your property. Do you want your neighbor in his backyard pointing a gun at your kids when a ball falls over the fence? Remember he has rights. If your house was broken into three times in a week, would you be justified to sit on your porch and point a gun at everyone who steps on your lawn? And what about the Sheriff who stood there while this man kicked women and continued to train a rifle on these people? You don't have a problem with that?

Happy Birthday!!

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 05:27 PM) Then what is the proper response for frivolous lawsuits? I still believe that the group representing them should be sued for at least court costs, even if the case ends up being dropped or dismissed. A judge already ruled there was enough merit for the case to move forward. That is the gate that was put in to stop frivolous lawsuits.

First of all, let's put this situation in your neighborhood instead of mine. If your neighborhood is 90% white, have the illegals be white as well. You have guy that sits in your neighborhood with a rifle and handgun ready to point it at anyone on his front lawn. His dog is menacing and he threatens to have the dog attack anyone, man, woman, or child, that steps on his lawn. Then he stops your neighbor, and while the sheriff is standing there, kicks the woman and continues to hold everyone at rifle point. Most stretches of the border are 80% or greater people of Hispanic origins. Those are often times US Citizens that are harassed by some of these guys. Would you want rifles pointed at you? This time they happened to be illegals. But soon, there will be a bloodbath out there. Cases like this, help to define the lines that will be drawn. The Border Patrol is doing the best job they can. But again, let's look at your neighborhood. How about armed men roaming the streets of Downers Grove detaining every white person they see? Every once in a while they catch a criminal, is that justification to have them pointing rifles and handguns, threatening with attack dogs, and kicking women? I don't know what y'all think the border looks like. For most of us it is our backyard. And another great border wall update. Twenty water districts will be bisected by the wall. Each of them need access to the river. So there will be gates all up and down the wall so the communities can continue to have water. All this to stop humans from working minimum wage jobs we want to save for Americans to work for the foreign born Doctors etc. This is so f***ed up.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 05:42 PM) *tosses bait* No, I went to college to take real classes. /runs

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 07:53 PM) I took world cinema and history of the silent films as humanities classes. I enjoyed the films and the subject matter of both classes but my silent film prof was a douche — gave me a crappy grade on a paper that was, naturally, quite stellar. B) Why did they call it history of the silent films when that was all that existed when you were an undergrad?

Michael Phelps for NORML

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 03:48 PM) You guys were all against a special election. Until a Democrat proposes it. Hilarious. continue. I'd be in favor of changing the system before, not during, it being used.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 04:21 PM) But we also have the opposite Tex, where people are afraid to speak up for fear of being sued. Maybe the rancher next door thinks twice before reporting on the 50 Mexicans running across his back 40 for fear of being sued for violating their civil rights to steal healthcare and other public services from Americans. You already have that now where people who speak up about things that may be wrong on airplanes being sued for violating someones 'rights'. I agree. Which is why I would not want to see a retaliation suite brought against the Mexican nationals. Then we go back to frontier justice and survival of the fittest.

I'm taking Lit and Fil Studies in the English Dept. I was assuming different Dept would have a different approach to the topic.

I think there should be some positive aspect of him admitting it and avoiding the circus. That should be the expectation, but it is not. Still we should encourage this and discourage the Clemens, Bonds, and Rose type denials

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 01:37 PM) but what does this mean for jeans? Substitute jeans for anything you buy. The store tacks on margin, we just do not see it. With a surcharge and fees, we see it. So I really don't know if 36% is fair or not.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 03:25 PM) fine line between courage and obliviousness Burris was not oblivious to the potential battle he was getting into. I go with courage on this one. And I really don't think he enhances Blago's legacy in any way.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 04:14 PM) Isn't that considered making a deal for a Senate seat? I'd be in favor of state laws where the person being nominated has to be from the same party as the person leaving.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) How can they claim a violation of civil rights? They aren't even American citizens. That makes no sense to me at all. Not certain, but I assume you can't just kill an illegal, you probably can't rob an illegal, so there is some understanding of human decency. What is troubling in the article is after the Sheriff arrived, the guy was allowed (according to the article) to kick one of the people and continued to point his rifle at them. That seems wrong. Once the Sheriff arrives, he should have put down his weapon and gotten out of the way. Also, it would be very rare that drug smugglers and illegals are using the same area.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 02:17 PM) Are you kidding? If he wanted it so bad, and his years as a mediocre AG who killed innocent people on death row were so great and attractive to become a senator, why not wait for Blago to be impeached then ask PQ for the nomination. But instead he gave this gov. that we all hated, had embarrassed the state, by accepting, gave that gov. more of a platform, more of a voice, and more of a legacy. It isn't that hard to figure out. Interesting point of view. Obviously here in Texas I do not get the gory details. Didn't he have to be confirmed by the same group that impeached the Governor? I thought he showed a lot of courage to face that group as Blago's pick.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 02:41 PM) I hope the rancher countersues the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund for his legal bills and for anthing else that they can make up, including cleanup costs for any trash they may have left or repair of anything that they may have broken. They were illegaly in this country on his land he did nothing wrong. And $32 million for ACTUAL and punitive damages? I wonder what they think the actual damages were? I hope we never have a society where people were afraid to exercise their right to access our legal system. There is no proof these were the same people that did any damage to his property, so he can sue all he wants. The danger here is how can you tell if someone is an illegal or not? Maybe some people have this amazing ability to look at someone and know, but I've never been able to develop that. I do a lot of camping on the border, most of my friends are Hispanic. I could easily see myself running onto someone like this. Perhaps it would be fun for some people to sit on their front porch and pull a gun and dog on anyone who dares steps on their front lawn. There is a point when something could be wrong. We'll see how this plays out. What I always feared was these guys basically hunting down humans like animals and killing them. Hopefully cases like this will help establish a line that should not be crossed.

God I hope they lose. You have to be able to protect your property. I know there is a line somewhere, but when someone is breaking the law, I give the person being broken on, a huge benefit of the doubt. Now if he started hunting them like deer and shooting, I'd have a different opinion. But making a citizens arrest seems within reason. And just to expose myself as a potential hypocrite in all this, I have been camping along the border and have had hikers come by in need of food and water, which I did provide. Perhaps they may have been illegals, perhaps not. I don't see any reason for someone to die for lack of water.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 02:02 PM) Yep, and now it's probably going to be twice as bad, especially when he's next to Jeter. They will boo because he stopped juicing when he got there.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 01:47 PM) I like ARod, but he's upset because he was caught. That is always my first reaction as well. But I've been saying for years I'd respect the guy that stands up early and says Yes I did. He did, and I do have some respect for that. I really dislike what it is doing to baseball.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 01:14 PM) A-Rod just admitted that he knowingly used steroids, to Peter Gammons This should be interesting I'm impressed.