EckerNet.Com

Many others have blogged endless about the Newark murders and how the the suspects are likely illegals. And how this all could have been prevented if the feds had just enforced the law. I haven’t blogged on it because others, especially Michelle Malkin, have done an excellent job of following this story. And it’s a worth story to follow, it just demonstrates what happens when you let the worst of a lawless society (South/Central America) penetrates your borders at will.

However, there is another aspect that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone address.

Investigators and immigration officials are STILL unsure of the immigration status of suspect Melvin Jovel, despite several days of investigation. One might respond to this with “So what? It takes time”. That’s exactly my point. This is the exact same government agencies that claimed they could handle of flood of millions of illegal aliens in another amnesty. This is the exact same government agences that were expected to complete background checks in 24 hours or less. This is the exact same government we were trusting to enforce our border after the amnesty was rammed through.

Yet when this individual is suspected of committing perhaps our highest crime, after treason, after several days of having the entire federal government at their disposal, they are still unaware of the immigration status of this single individual. That is NOT a comforting thought.

Plus how were you expecting to enforce the border or legal employment. How did you expect employers, who know little of immigration law, to be able to determine the legal status of their employees, if even the “experts” are unable to do it?

If he is indeed guilty, Melvin Jovel, has committed a horrible crime for which he would deserve severe punishment. However, in the process, he has unwittingly proved what many of us have been saying all along. That our immigration system is severely broken, and that our federal government is unable (and possibly unwilling) to fix that. And to expect an amnesty to work is simply foolishly naive. Sure they’re here doing jobs Americans won’t do, but did we really want gangland style murders done in the first place??

Every time our federal government is tested on immigration, they come up severely lacking.

Side Note : Speaking of lacking, you should read this letter that Rep Duncan Hunter sent to President Bush regarding the border fence.

Look over the descriptions of the following two houses and see if you can tell which belongs to an environmentalist:HOUSE # 1:

A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern “snow belt,” either. It’s in the South.

HOUSE # 2:

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every “green” feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.

The results are after the jump….

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hehe, I can’t wait….

In the fight against the last immigration bill, I made a lot of contacts with other bloggers, organizations and various entities.  It helped to exchange information and combine resources.  I don’t begrudge their contributions, nor do I regret the contact.

But please, fellow immigrations allies, please oh please, think before you speak on the next issue.  It appears that issue, at least for some, is the North American Union.  Yeah, I know most of you haven’t heard of it, that’s because it doesn’t exist….except perhaps in the imaginations of some.

But with this recent summit of the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico, the claims have renewed themselves.  And honestly I have to say folks, you want to know why nobody else is marching to your fife and drum this time? Cause you sound like a bunch of kooks.  Let me be clear, there is no North American Union.  Nor is there any attempt to create one.

Yes, they are building a super-highway across the continent, so what???  Is there anything wrong with easing the ability of free trade? No of course not.  That’s really all this highway does, makes transportation of goods a little easier.

But let me be clear, there are NO plans to merge our three countries.  As you should well know that would take at the very least congressional approval, lots of legislation and most likely a constitutional amendment or twenty.  Have ANY of those happened?? Can you show me one single piece of legislation that even hints at it?  No.

Plus just imagine all that would have to happen before such a union could occur.  Actually let’s just consider one.  Currency.  A single currency would have to be adopted.  You think that can happen before 2009?? Exactly.

But heh, let’s say they are secretly throwing something to together.  Let’s pretend the entire Congress is behind him, which would be the first bi-partisan thing Congress has done since 9/11.  Let’s pretend the millions of logistical/organization things that would have to happen first will happen overnite, thanks to Pres. Bush’s brand new Acme Magical Fairy Wand©.  Let’s pretend Mexico and Canada’s government are gonna roll over on this.  Let’s pretend purple poo-flinging monkeys are running a secret shadow government….ok that one probably isn’t necessary but it’s equally plausible.

Let’s say ALL of that is true. At the very least it would still require at least one constitutional amendment.  Which requires 2/3rds of the states approval.  So in addition to the entire federal government being secretly behind all this, 34 of the state legislatures would also have to be behind it.  So all of these people are still behind it, yet it’s being held secret.  Forget anything else, just consider human nature, and tell me that is remotely possible.

Ok those of you still saying “yes” I want you to sit down and look in the mirror.  See that crazed look in your eyes?? Hear the irrational screech in your voice?? Notice the lack of friends behind you?? You sir, are a kook.  Please, stop trying to infest the rest of us with your strange irrational beliefs.

It’s been a long few years for conservatives activists. After working out tails off to get Republicans into office, we’ve had to contend with issue after issue of disappointment. So far the War on Terror and Supreme Court justices have been the lone brights spots, and even those took work and contain downsides.

Since 2006, in informal conversations with other conservative activists, I’ve sense a collective “blah” feeling. 30% Burnout 45% Disgust 28% suspicion 15% desperation 17% stubborn faith. Now there are some that would say that adds up to way more than 100%, but I would say it’s just indicative of the vast amounts of strong emotions running through the conservative base lately.

It has manifested itself in a number of ways. Outrage on the immigration. Cynicism on spending. Disinterest on the 2008 candidates. And general apathy on the part of many in general. And despite Rove’s apparent confidence, some look forward to 2008 with more of a sense of dread than optimism.

However, surprisingly enough, it appears as if the Democratic base is going through much of the same. Despite being dealt a pretty good hand in the last election, it appears as if the Democratic base is decidedly unhappy. From a study reporting that approval ratings for Congress are at historic lows, comes this telling bit of information.

Typically, partisans view Congress much more positively when their party is in control of the institution, so the fact that Democrats’ ratings are not materially better than Republicans’ is notable.

The nine-point drop in Congress’ job approval rating from last month to this month has come exclusively from Democrats and independents, with Democrats’ ratings dropping 11 points (from 32% to 21%) and independents’ ratings dropping 13 points (from 30% to 17%). Republicans’ 18% approval rating is unchanged from last month.

The Democrats got what they wanted in the 2006 elections, but then had to face the unhappy reality that when you’re in power you actually have to do stuff. Instead, they’ve been the “Do Nothing” Congress, and the left is not at all happy about it. You don’t have to dig very far at either the Daily Kos or the Democratic Underground to find signs of severe discontent.

Perhaps conservatives do have reason to be optimistic about 2008. After all, as one of our esteemed Democratic colleagues has pointed out, if things are positive for the US, that is “a real big problem for [Democrats]“. So if the Democratic base is unhappy, it can only mean good things are in store for the United States.

Ok so in the very immediate future, I plan on having the following things replace on my house siding, roof, fascia, gutters, etc.  I figured, hmmm, probably a good time to do windows too yeah?  And since I’m doing the siding as well, I can do new construction windows too! Great, they seal up better, it’s a whole new frame the whole works.

Call a few people in, they quote me prices.  I laugh at them and kick them out.  I call a few more people in, I laugh at most of them, one of them I like.  Oh joy!  Until the phone call today.

Yeah, turns out new construction isn’t gonna work.  See front of my house is the four windows for the four bedrooms.  Upper bedrooms have 30×46 and lower have 30×36 inch windows, all of them sliders.  My original plan would be put in new construction windows, sliders, and then do a happy dance because new windows are worth that…or at least they should be with as much as the frigging things cost!

Small problem though apparently as Minnesota, the state where nothing is allowed, intervened.  Apparently there is a rule, that for bedrooms you need to have egress windows.  Which are defined as having an openable area 5.7 square feet, with a minimum of 20 inches width and 24 inches height.  Unfortunately, sliders or double-hung, you’re cutting the window in half one direction so my windows no longer qualify.

Come on people, my house doesn’t have that now!!  I’m trying to make improvements here (read: higher property value (read: higher taxes (read: more money for you jackasses to spend))), to hell with your silly rules!!   And honestly, let’s examine this law.  Ok I understand the need for feel-good legislation, but I’m afraid I have to revoke the need for this on the grounds of stupiditititty*.

Have you visited the American public lately?? Tell you what, let’s go into a restaurant, or a store, any one, you name the place.  Now are you telling me even half of the people in that place would fit through a 21 inch opening??  Yeah, I thought so.  If you’re gonna go and declare sizes like this with the interest of saving lives, you may as well dictate that every house needs a friggin garage door on the side of every bedroom.

Grumble grumble grumble.  Okay I’m only slightly annoyed at this point.  Then the magical windows guys try to cheer me up by telling me all is not lost.  If I just do replacement windows instead, the laws no longer apply.

WHAT?!?  So the state is only interested in saving the life of people who put in new construction windows?? If your focus is to try to make houses safe in a fire, isn’t that a rather stupid loophole.  I understand it’s probably not a loophole, it was probably meant to only apply to newly constructed houses, and you’re letting existing houses get by on the old rules….except you f-ed it up.  Your loophole sucks.  And NO I am no encouraging you to close said loophole (because I’m gonna have to use it!).  But it just further cements the fact that there was really no good reason for this rule to begin with, other than to annoy me and generally force me to write a rather rambling and idiotic post to compensate for the fact that I didn’t really feel like bitching about immigration tonite and didn’t have the heart to giggle at Vick.

* Yes this is a word I just made up but I like it.  Originally it was just a mistype, but then I noticed it had “titty” in it so I’m keeping it.  You don’t like it? Tough. 

Negotiations have broken down, hostilities are imminent. Blogs Wars II is less than a week away, and all forces are at DEFCON 2. I’ve got a list of interested parties, many of which will be returning parties but also a few new entries. And it’s not too late for new participants to register and declare war on their fellow bloggers, blog readers, or just barely innocent civilians. In fact there are already a few rather interesting pair-ups in participants which should bring some rather interesting on-field dynamics to the already hectic action.

If you’re interested, here are some of the details:

Sunday, August 26th at 1:30 pm, at the Adventure Zone fields in Rosemount, will be the 2007 Blogosphere Battle Royale, also known as Blog Wars II : Attack of the Cockleburr. Address is

13410 Court House Blvd
Rosemount, MN

Cost varies but I would say you can count on spending $50 at least….it all depends on how much paint you want to buy and how generous you want to be to charity.

Also….

I’ve had a few questions on equipment, Adventure Zone rents the Tippman Custom 98s, which is a decent baseline gun. They are famous for being rugged and reliable. The old saying is you can run it over with a truck, pick it up and it’ll shoot. Hence the reason fields love ‘em. Individuals tend to like them because they are very customizable.

Some have questioned if they should be buying their own guns, which if you plan on playing alot is always a good question. I will never discourage that, but the best gun will not make you a good player. However, if you do want to invest money in something, I would suggest your first option should be a mask. It’s always nice to be able to put on a mask that fits me and I have adjusted to fit me without the little pinches that can irritate on the field.

But Adventure Zone has done a decent job of keeping up their equipment which is why I’m staying with them this year. And if you don’t want to invest lots of money in paintball equipment, you can get along just fine without.

Awesome editing job.

Don’t tell me you couldn’t see this press conference actually happening

Today, I happened to stumble across another Minnesota blogger I’ve never heard of before. Apparently he’s heard of us (the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers) because he’s got a listing of quite a few of us on his sidebar. Fair enough, but what really caught my attention was the post he had up on the front page, entitled Minnesota Deer Hunting.

Everyone remembers their first time shooting a Buck. Please share your stories and pictures of your first Deer.

Well I regret that I don’t have a picture of my first deer (and buck!). I know somebody does, and they had promised to get me a copy. But without going into the drama, said person doesn’t hunt with us anymore. But I do definitely remember how I got it. I got it my second year of hunting….although I can’t remember the year.

I hunt in western Minnesota, in the heart of the “shotgun” zone. Yes, it’s rural, but not rural enough that using rifles is allowed. Lots of farmsteads and farmers are active during this time, so we use shotguns shooting slugs. Our style/method of hunting and the tactics we use is 180 degrees different than the northern rifle territory. We don’t have big woods, we have groves of trees around farm houses, ditches, trenches, fencelines, and fields of crop. If you’re lucky the crop (corn or soybean) is out, if not…it’s a normal year. And we don’t hunt for weeks at a time. You get to pick first weekend or second….you get two days. That’s it.

I hunt with a group of guys, who I met through my dad. They have all hunted together for an untold number of years. The size of the group varies, anywhere from six to twelve of us, but mostly towards six. All good guys, despite most being staunch DFLers, which makes for interesting conversations over a beer later at night.

Most of our hunting day consists of doing “drives”. Which basically consists of most of the group (the posters) surrounding a grove, ditch, fenceline, field, etc, and then a couple guys (the walkers) go in one side making lots of noise and hopefully scaring the deer out towards the other hunters. There is a very imprecise science to this as there are infinite variables involved. More often than not the wind works against us. Lay of the land can too, because you have limited people and the deer have lots of options. Typically we’re just trying to plug the most likely holes, but it’s very very very common for deer to get out between two posters, often unseen by them.

On this particular drive, it was Saturday morning, and we were doing a drive on an abandoned farm place (Sidenote to MN Militia : You’ve hunted this property before). Big overgrown grove of trees. Lots of ditches coming in and out of the grove, lots of tall grass in these ditches, and the ditches themselves are deep. Surrounding fields are still farmed, and they are very hilly. Lots of valleys between these hills where deer can run unseen.

Two of our guys were going to walk in the north end of the property and push it south. I had been positioned in the southeast corner of the property. I’m behind a hill so I can’t even see the grove. My back is to a small thatch of trees at the edge of the road. To my left is a small valley between the hill in front of me and what used to be the driveway to my left. To my right is a valley on the other side of that hill, but also the end of one of the ditches. It’s a ditch that comes east out of the property then turns south and empties into the thatch of trees behind me. Beyond the ditch to my right, the field slopes up sharply to the road.

It’s an interesting spot, you got a perfect backdrop for shots everywhere. But you can’t see nothing. If you see something, it’ll be well within range to shoot, but sure as hell it’s gonna come out of nowhere and surprise the crap outta you.

The one exception to that is my dad. He’s positioned on the east road (ahead and to my right). There is a hill between us but I’m still new at the time so I think he’s still keeping an eye on me, because I can see his upper torso above the hill. However, I was smart enough to know what he could see. For him he is on high ground, he can see everything and everyone. Sure any shot he’s gonna have to take is gonna be a long one, but that’s why we put him there. He’s a good shot, and he uses a scope on his shotgun. Me, I like my iron sights.

So there I am standing for probably 20 minutes, I’m pretty sure they’ve started the drive so I’m waiting for something to happen. When it does, right behind me a pheasant hen finally decides to get up, and scares the crap outta me. I’ve been standing there for 20 minutes already!!! What the hell?? I’m pretty sure I have to change my shorts.

I’m just getting my breath back, when I see my dad lift his shotgun to his shoulder. Something must have come out of the grove!!! Where is it?? Is it coming my way?? Is it close?? Is it big?!?! I’m watching my dad as he tracks the thing through his scope. I’m straining to tell which way his gun is moving so I know if it’s coming towards me.

Dear God, what is taking so long!?!?

Finally I can tell, the deer must have spotted (or winded) my father, it’s turned south!!! I can see my dad turning.

BANG!!

A shot!!!

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