Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Immigration
Wired: "In the wee hours on April 25, a Predator B drone crashed into the desert floor near Tucson, Arizona, temporarily grounding one of the most expensive high-tech programs yet deployed in a burgeoning "virtual wall" that's taking shape on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Since its launch in September 2005, the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, had helped the U.S. Border Patrol capture 1,700 illegal immigrants attempting a crossing in the area, according to the agency, which is eager to replace the $14 million aircraft.

"It won't have long to wait.

"On Monday, President Bush vowed to bolster efforts to stem illegal immigration, including calling up some 6,000 National Guardsmen to assist the Border Patrol along the Mexico border. In addition, he signaled increased spending on technological measures aimed at monitoring high-traffic crossings like the one in Tucson."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

9:00:31 PM

Immigration
Here's a story about President Bush's immigration speech last night from the Denver Post. They write, "Acknowledging that the United States has failed to stem illegal immigration, President Bush on Monday advocated deploying the National Guard to help secure the southern border. During a 17-minute televised speech, Bush detailed a program in which governors could ask for Guard troops to work alongside Border Patrol agents. Bush also promised increases in both technology and manpower to defend U.S. borders as he pushed anew for an overhaul of immigration laws...

"Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., who opposes the Senate bill because it grants legal status to many illegal immigrants, doubted Bush's speech would convert Republicans opposed to the bill...Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., who supports many aspects of the Senate's immigration bill, said the border needs permanent solutions, not a 'short-term fix...'

The Denver Post editorial staff weighs in. They write, "Illegal immigration has probably doubled since President Bush entered the White House. Interlopers, now as many as 12 million, have created an inexpensive labor supply for large parts of the nation's business base - but while the president has been emphasizing a guest worker initiative, their increasing ranks have provoked opponents to demand tough steps to seal the Mexican border. Seeking to satisfy immigration opponents in his own party, President Bush has roused himself from his Rip Van Winkle nap. Last night he introduced a border security plan that will enlist as many as 6,000 members of the National Guard."

Diana DeGette (via the Rocky Mountain News): "I still disagree with the president on the use of the National Guard, but I completely agreed with him on the other things he was saying. It may be the first time I agreed with the president since he was elected. We need to have a strong enforcement of the border, and I think we need to increase funding for the Border Patrol and surveillance. I think it's important to have a guest worker program. I think we have to have some road to citizenship for people who have been here a long time."

Mike Littwin: "Bush is facing a crisis, all right. It's not immigration, though. Whatever Lou Dobbs says, illegal immigration is not anything like a crisis. The possibility of civil war in Iraq - now, that's a crisis. The devastation in New Orleans - that's a crisis. People risking their lives to cross a desert to clean our toilets - that's a tragedy. Bush's personal crisis is that most of the country has all but given up on him. He needs to get somebody, somehow, back on his side."

Captains Quarters: "It really seems as if the White House wrote a speech to just pacify their critics instead of actually responding to their concerns. If this is how seriously the administration takes border security, then we need to bring a screeching halt to the immigration reform bill until that attitude changes."

Bull Moose: "The base must be appeased. But, they will not be. Short of sending an army of Jack Bauers to round up and deport illegals, the right will not be satisfied. They will continue on the immigration rampage. The speech will not quell the conservative revolt. It will likely intensify it. The Moose actually supports the thrust of the President's plan - it is a sensible and balanced approach to the problem. And his speech was a judicious and reasoned presentation. Yet, rational proposals on this issue are not the order of the day within the GOP."

Jesus' General weighs in (warning: profanity) on immigration.

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

6:45:06 AM

Nature's Sponges

Here's an article about American Wetlands Month from the Mountain Mail. They write, "May is American Wetlands Month, a few weeks in late spring when Americans celebrate ways wetlands enrich our environment. Colorado's wetlands are among the most valuable of our natural resources. They are transition zones where land, water, nutrients and the energy of the sun interact to produce highly productive ecosystems. Wetlands are diverse - they may be classic cattail areas with a few feet of standing water, temporary habitats and depressions that only occasionally have standing water, or areas beside streams that are subject to periodic flooding. Here in the arid West, wetlands play a vital role in supporting mountain, plains and urban ecosystems. Although wetlands comprise just a precious 2 percent of the Colorado landscape, they provide benefits to more than 75 percent of our living organisms, including many species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, crustaceans, spiders and insects...

"One of the most obvious is the contribution wetlands make to our state's recreational economy by supporting the fishing, hunting and wildlife-watching opportunities millions enjoy each year. Many of the benefits wetlands provide are overlooked. Perhaps the most basic of these are the physical roles wetlands play in managing water. Wetlands are nature's sponges - places that capture, store and slowly release water. These sponges make water available to support ecosystems and provide stable surface water flow and recharge areas for groundwater. Wetlands act as filters removing excess sediments and pollutants, cleaning our streams and lakes and reducing the cost of treating our drinking water. In Colorado, where snowmelt and downpours can violently swell rivers and streams, wetlands provide a vital role in flood control, acting as buffers to slow and absorb water and reduce damage...

"Unfortunately, these benefits have historically not been fully appreciated. As a consequence, wetland acreage in Colorado has been reduced by about one-half during the past two centuries. Most have been lost because of conversion to crop land, dewatering for irrigation purposes, overgrazing by livestock, residential and commercial development, stream channelization, dewatering for municipal and industrial use, contamination from sewage and industrial waste and other activities. The good news is, the tide is turning. Today, wetlands are much better understood and as Americans have become more aware, the rate of wetland loss has declined dramatically."

Here's the link to the EPA's Wetlands website.

Category: Colorado Water

6:27:13 AM

Reconquista
Here's an article about immigration from the Technology Commerce Society Daily. They write, "In one week, three news items helped clarify the intertwined issues of illegal immigration, poverty south of the Rio Grande, and how the fortuitous course of U.S. history generated opportunity and prosperity that remain elusive for our southern neighbors. Mexicans working legally and illegally in the United States send more than $25 billion a year back to their families, says Professor Luis Pazos of the Mexican think tank CISLE. That's twice what Mexico gets from tourism, and second only to petroleum production revenue. The poor fisherman who discovered Mexico's vast offshore oil fields got a little medal, but never a peso, for alerting the government to resources that have earned his country tens of billions of dollars. The oil might belong to 'the people,' but the bonanza revenues go to the rich and corrupt, leaving the country's poor to eke out a living on less than $5 a day. A growing 'reconquista' movement demands the return of 'Aztlan,' as radicals call southwestern states that were 'stolen' from Mexico, causing it to remain impoverished, they claim. 'Atzlan is California. Atzlan is this country,' a student ranted to Sean Hannity of Fox News. 'This country was ours, and we want it back.' A brief review of history and economics is in order."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

6:11:58 AM

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