Guard Dog

Those rounds have not been fired. Not only do they feed us propaganda, they think we are stupid

I do not think what Hurlshot is saying is either crazy or post apocolyptic. He is correct in pointing out that if the illegals are all sent home it would create a change in the economic dynamic of many US marketplaces. Most noteably in agri-business. I'm saying the only way that change does not happen is if we do nothing (which we have been for over 20 years). But if we do nothing we are tacitly allowing the creation of a "slave" class which should also be unacceptable to everyone. The US needs to act in the best interests of the US. Not in the best interests on Mexico, or anyone else. IMO that means regaining control of the border because as Taks correctly points out, there is more than just Mexicans looking for work coming accross. Beyond lower prices of goods due to lower cost of labor, the US as a whole does not benefit from illegal workers at all. Quite the contrary, they are a tremendous drain on the social infrastructure. Their kids attend schools they do not pay taxes to support. They receive free medical care in emergency rooms that the taxpayers pay for becasue they simply cannot. Do not even get me started on crime. If we are facing an economic shift no matter what, i'd say we err on the side of security. As for Swedens immigration problems, it's all their own fault. If the women were not so good looking there would no be so many men lining up to move there.

One thing to note here. Hurlshot is making the argument that because illegal immigrants are willing to come here and work for below minimum wage they are helping to lift are economy by keeping agriculture prices lower. If they were to be deported and farming interests forced to pay higher wages (we'll say minimum wage for the sake of discussion) then that would push the price of produce up to the point where US farm products would be more expensive than imported products. The implications there would be self evident. Here is the thing, if all of the illegal workers were to be given legal status, they would then fall under the US labor laws concerning minimum wages, overtime pay, etc. Farms would then be forced to pay higher wages which would of course create the exact same scenario as if they were deported. Economically speaking. So we would be no better off and we would have millions of formerly illegal immigrants now living here. Now if we do nothing, then these same illegal immigrants will still be living and working here, earning less than minimum wage (which is still better than Mexico), with no legal status, rights, or even ability to help themselves. That option sounds a little like slavery to me. Incidently, the argument that the southern economy depended on free labor was the used by the southern states to defend slavery prior to 1862. So what is the answer? I do not have one. But it seems to me that waving a magic wand and giving legal status to ones here will have a lot on unintended bad consequences and few good ones. I am in favor of sealing the southern border and implementing a work visa that is regimented and enforced. And perfoming as complete a sweep as possible of the illegals living here now. Sand was right, the law may upset reason but reason may not upset the law. Or there is no law. Now this may ultimately lead to the demise of big "super farms" such as the ones that US Sugar runs here in S. Florida. But this land is sutible for nothing other than agriculture and as the "super farms" fail they will parcel and sell their land back to private owners. Agriclture works on a smaller scale because costs are more controlled. Plus the federal government has never been shy about bolstering US agriculture by imposing tariffs on imports and subsidising US production (which is constitutionally allowed so no complaints from me ). And you all know I have never been a fan of macro-economics anyway.

I hates the flaming moon! The sun is evil. It blinds you, darkens the skin and causes cancer. When it goes through its solar flares stage, it effects the climate of this planet. Plus solar flares disrupt microwave transmissios and that makes for long, headache filled, work days for me.

If you are looking for government waste and abuse you will be in the right place.

I'm with Sand and Taks.

You can call me a honkey. Hell, now that I'm a reasonably well-paid white-collar government worker, I'm essentially "the man." Speaking of which, I am currently working on my self-assessment for my 1-year performance review at my job. I hate this kind of stuff. Yeah, it is better that it is required (the alternative would have the squeaky wheel getting all the grease-- i.e., the people who are so ambitious/egotistical to ask for a raise every few months), but I just can't help but feeling as if I'm bragging while filling the thing out, and sounding boastful really grates on me. Humitlity is an honorable trait Enoch. But your preformance review is not the time for it.

I agree. Rep. Mike Pence from your home state has sponsered the Broadcaster Freedom Act which will prevent future presidents from interfering with the media via excecutive order, or the revival of the very un-American concept of the "Fairness Doctrine". The democrats are, of course, fighting tooth and nail against it. Typical. They oppose anything with "Freedom" in the title.

Irony is my favorite. Case in point. Everyone who drives a company vehicle must attend the Smith Safe Driver training. Well, our staff instructor/safety officer rear ended someone in traffic last month while talking on his cell phone. He was in his company truck too. I'm still laughing a month later. It's so funny on so many levels.

Sarcasm is my second favorite form of humor.

If someone were to give me an Xbox/Play Station/(Insert console name here) I would have it on ebay within an hour. I have no patience for those damned controllers (too many buttons, too little coordination). It's PC or nothing for me.

That is a great quote. I've got to remember that one.

They might, but I would be surprised. I think there will be a real effort by the Repubs to be Not Bush. I'd expect we will be seeing all new faces this time.

Sounds about right. He will be hidden deep behind whatever candidate he is working for though. His name is a real negative.

Casablanca had one of the best endings ever. Definitely a 4 star movie. I rented and watched What Dreams May Come. I liked the book a lot better.

On the whole, I agree with Tale. The news media is selling a product. Like it or not, that is how it is. Their product is their broadcast and they want you watching so they spin up and hype trivial stories into major events in the hopes that elevating the importance of BS will get people watching. Case in point, Paris Hilton going to jail. But when the chips are down , the media is important and when there is a major event or public safety issue it is the only way to get the word out to the people and it does that very well. Where I live we have had seven hurricanes hit in the last four years, the local news media is the only way to find out what is open where, what roads are closed, stuff like that.

I agree, no one is going to top Krookie's post! This thread is over!

I work with a dog rescue charity and it is a 501c organization (meaning donations are tax deductible in the US). The volunteers are unpaid and 100% of the donations go to operations. But it is very small believe me. Last year I think they took in about $40k. The only board member that gets anything close to a salary is the lawyer, and she is paid an annual fee for her services. Anyway, it has been my experience that the smaller groups like that one tend to be more cost efficient than others. For example, when I compare our cost/income ratio to the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League (a major force here in West Palm Beach) it is not even close. Peggy Adams takes in around a million dollars a year but only about 40% go to animal care and rescue. But, they have paid employees, a facility, an event staff, an army of lawyers, and a marketing firm on retainer. But inspite of their financial ineffecincy they do a lot more for animal rescue than we ever could. The point I'm getting at here is the bigger charities are usually cost/benefit inefficient but on the whole they do more good in the world than the smaller ones because they have a longer reach. 40% of a $1M is a lot better than 100% of $40k.

Two peanut butter and blackberry jam sandwiches on 1/2 inch thick sour dough bread, lightly toasted, with a big cup of black coffee. Mmmmm. I know what I'm making for breakfast tomorrow! Its probably a little hard to really enjoy your "last meal". I'd think I would be a little distracted.

Well, I am still working on one but with real world pressures I only put in a few hours a week. And as you know that produces a lot less progress than NWN1. But once it starts to pull together I imagine I'll spend more time on it. But remember, just because it took me a long time to make it does not mean it will be any good. You might want to check this site out Monte Carlo. It is the forum for the Forgotten Realms Weave, a builder group I sort of participate in...sometimes...when I'm not too busy with work, school, or dogs, that is. But it does count the best builders in the community as members The Forgotten Realms Weave

That was what I meant

WOW! How did I miss this? This is EXACTLY what the mod community needed! Hey Schazz, your wall is about to crumble! Link to story: NWN2 3dsMAX Granny plugin released

Well, actually you CAN modify the OC. There were a few mods that did in in NWN1. Like the one that made Mischa real henchman in SoU. But it is not a simple process compared to the IE games or the ES games. It would require making the hak with the mods, saving a copy of the OC modules, attaching the hak then the modified mod could be downloaded. In NWN2 the modules are so large it would not be practical. Actually I like the NWN 1 & 2 modding concept better because it is more flexible. If all that could be modded in NWN1 was the OC then we would not be talking about NWN2 today because NWN would have gone nowhere with just the out of box OC. The toolset made that game what it was.