Great day on Sidewinder trail with the guys from OAUSA.net and SoCalFJ

Jumping ahead to more recent stuff, we got screwed by Engine Pros in Corona Ca.  The short of the story is they “rebuilt” the motor in our Camry.  Originally it was supposed to be $1400  and a week to 10 days, we ended up over $3600, an additional $400 in outside diagnostic, 4 months, and the car does not run .  The State Bureau of Automotive Repairs is involved along with the Better Business Bureau, and we are getting prepared for court.  If you want all the details, I would be more then happy to share.

We got one snow shoe trip in this winter, Paige got a bad sprain at work not long after, and is just able to put a little pressure on it now so we have not been back yet.  I am going to try and get in at least one solo trip before we lose all the snow this year.

I have to Backpacking Hammock to try out, one is the BlackBird Hammock from WarBonnet Outdoors, and one is a DIY Gathered end hammock.  I have had them both out to the park for a little test, but it is not the same as spending a night in the woods.  I also have an awesome new fishing rod from St Croix.  I am just waiting for the reel to come in.  They were  rod and the WBBB were both Christmas presents.

and now we are up at the Lodge watching the Superbowl

Well, I did a horrible job of posting today, partly because of how much time was spent on the dealer floor.  We have covered about half of it which is surprising. I normally barely finish on Sunday.  Not much is catching my attention so we are moving pretty fast.

Got in to see Danny Elfman this morning.  Good panel, mostly audience questions which can be hit or miss but it went well. He was rather nervous but did fine.

I will try and finish of the rest of this in line in the morning, for now it is off to bed. 

Just testing the phone getting ready for comic con next week .  I will be blogging again, and trying to get some photos along with the posts.

Cm  

My syndicated column today responds to Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s demagoguery on Arizona’s immigration enforcement law. Calderon has a long history of bashing the U.S. — and then getting rewarded for it with billions of dollars in foreign aid (see here, here, and here).

I reported on Calderon’s aggressive meddling on behalf of illegal aliens through his government consulate offices in America here. Heather Mac Donald published a thorough investigation of the Mexican government meddle-crats here. Allan Wall has reported on it for years. Mike Sweeney, an Arizona Republic letter-writer underscores my column theme today:

“Having traveled into Mexico last year to various cities on the Baja Peninsula, a distance of more than 1,000 miles round-trip, we were stopped more than 20 times at various checkpoints. At most of those stops, we were told to exit the vehicle and we were subjected to rigorous inspections. Where does Mexican President Felipe Calderón get off with his hypocritical outrage at our Senate Bill 1070?”

Where indeed?

***

How Mexico treats illegal aliens
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2010

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has accused Arizona of opening the door “to intolerance, hate, discrimination and abuse in law enforcement.” But Arizona has nothing on Mexico when it comes to cracking down on illegal aliens. While open-borders activists decry new enforcement measures signed into law in “Nazi-zona” last week, they remain deaf, dumb or willfully blind to the unapologetically restrictionist policies of our neighbors to the south.

The Arizona law bans sanctuary cities that refuse to enforce immigration laws, stiffens penalties against illegal alien day laborers and their employers, makes it a misdemeanor for immigrants to fail to complete and carry an alien registration document, and allows the police to arrest immigrants unable to show documents proving they are in the U.S. legally. If those rules constitute the racist, fascist, xenophobic, inhumane regime that the National Council of La Raza, Al Sharpton, Catholic bishops and their grievance-mongering followers claim, then what about these regulations and restrictions imposed on foreigners?

– The Mexican government will bar foreigners if they upset “the equilibrium of the national demographics.” How’s that for racial and ethnic profiling?

– If outsiders do not enhance the country’s “economic or national interests” or are “not found to be physically or mentally healthy,” they are not welcome. Neither are those who show “contempt against national sovereignty or security.” They must not be economic burdens on society and must have clean criminal histories. Those seeking to obtain Mexican citizenship must show a birth certificate, provide a bank statement proving economic independence, pass an exam and prove they can provide their own health care.

– Illegal entry into the country is equivalent to a felony punishable by two years’ imprisonment. Document fraud is subject to fine and imprisonment; so is alien marriage fraud. Evading deportation is a serious crime; illegal re-entry after deportation is punishable by ten years’ imprisonment. Foreigners may be kicked out of the country without due process and the endless bites at the litigation apple that illegal aliens are afforded in our country (see, for example, President Obama’s illegal alien aunt — a fugitive from deportation for eight years who is awaiting a second decision on her previously rejected asylum claim).

– Law enforcement officials at all levels — by national mandate — must cooperate to enforce immigration laws, including illegal alien arrests and deportations. The Mexican military is also required to assist in immigration enforcement operations. Native-born Mexicans are empowered to make citizens’ arrests of illegal aliens and turn them in to authorities.

– Ready to show your papers? Mexico’s National Catalog of Foreigners tracks all outside tourists and foreign nationals. A National Population Registry tracks and verifies the identity of every member of the population, who must carry a citizens’ identity card. Visitors who do not possess proper documents and identification are subject to arrest as illegal aliens.

All of these provisions are enshrined in Mexico’s Ley General de Población (General Law of the Population) and were spotlighted in a 2006 research paper published by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy. There’s been no public clamor for “comprehensive immigration reform” in Mexico, however, because pro-illegal alien speech by outsiders is prohibited.

Consider: Open-borders protesters marched freely at the Capitol building in Arizona, comparing GOP Gov. Jan Brewer to Hitler, waving Mexican flags, advocating that demonstrators “Smash the State,” and holding signs that proclaimed “No human is illegal” and “We have rights.”

But under the Mexican constitution, such political speech by foreigners is banned. Noncitizens cannot “in any way participate in the political affairs of the country.” In fact, a plethora of Mexican statutes enacted by its congress limit the participation of foreign nationals and companies in everything from investment, education, mining and civil aviation to electric energy and firearms. Foreigners have severely limited private property and employment rights (if any).

As for abuse, the Mexican government is notorious for its abuse of Central American illegal aliens who attempt to violate Mexico’s southern border. The Red Cross has protested rampant Mexican police corruption, intimidation and bribery schemes targeting illegal aliens there for years. Mexico didn’t respond by granting mass amnesty to illegal aliens, as it is demanding that we do. It clamped down on its borders even further. In late 2008, the Mexican government launched an aggressive deportation plan to curtain illegal Cuban immigration and human trafficking through Cancun.

Meanwhile, Mexican consular offices in the United States have coordinated with left-wing social justice groups and the Catholic Church leadership to demand a moratorium on all deportations and a freeze on all employment raids across America.

Mexico is doing the job Arizona is now doing — a job the U.S. government has failed miserably to do: putting its people first. Here’s the proper rejoinder to all the hysterical demagogues in Mexico (and their sympathizers here on American soil) now calling for boycotts and invoking Jim Crow laws, apartheid and the Holocaust because Arizona has taken its sovereignty into its own hands:

Hipócritas.

a link to the original posting at MichelleMalkin.com

Hi everyone,

It has been a VERY long 5 weeks, but he made it.  Here’s Brandon’s timeline.

Nice day of snowboarding with Dad and Jerry.

On second run, was doing a jump, caught an edge, and went face down into ice.

Instantly knocked out.

Found by ski patrol within 5 minutes of the accident, brought down the ski run, and air lifted to the hospital.

Admitted to the hospital as a John Doe.

Tube was surgically inserted into his brain as a precautionary measure to relieve pressure.

Remained in a coma for 9 days.

After he awoke, we were then told they never expected him to survive.

Was taken off the ventilator a couple of days after waking.

On day 14 was moved to CCU, then to rehab.

By day 16, he was walking with assistance.

Each day after than was another day of improvement.

On March 6th, Brandon was released to go home.

He will be in out-patient therapy for awhile, but he’s home.

Gary and I want to thank each and everyone of you (including everyone not on this list) for your prayers, kind words, and support through this ordeal.

Caryn