Act of War, Part 2

Of course, the Mexican government (and some in the American government) are denying that it was really Mexican soldiers involved in the standoff on Monday with Border Patrol, local deuputies and Texas DPS cops. Let's stipulate that it's true for a sentence. That means that Mexico is so screwed up that drug running gangs have (military) Humvees with machine guns mounted on them.

So, we have 2 options:

• The Mexcian army is helping drug runners
  
• Mexico is so lawless that their drug gangs just drive around in Humvees with machineguns
  

In either case, it's time to build the wall, militarize the border and start taking it seriously.

And don't believe the bleatings of Mike Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security that these are accidental incursions. Remember that in Texas, the border with Mexico is a friggin RIVER. Not some invisible line in the sand. The RIO GRANDE.

Here are a bunch of stories from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, a paper in California that broke this story.
Story
Another story
Interview with Sara Carter, the reporter that broke the story on the incursion on Monday and TJ Bonner, the head of the BP union. This is from Monday.

Act of War

In any other reality, and with any other country, armed soldiers crossing a border into a neighboring country would be an act of war. But not the US. No, we've been letting Mexican soldiers cross the border (while assisting drug and people smugglers) for years. But, this time it's different.

When is George Bush going to get serious about the border with Mexico?

As soon as he gets off his knees in front of Vicente Fox. And as soon as agribusiness lets him.

What's next? Aliens?

Yesterday, I miss a sign getting hit by a truck yesterday by 5 min.

Then, a police chase ends on the freeway I take home. Fortunately, it was over and cleared up by the time I got there.

Today, a plane crashes at the commuter airport near my training place.

Oh..and today's trivia - the place that sells more cups of coffee per day than anyone else in the US? Dunkin Donuts. The crazy part? They only service 10% of the population of the US.

There's a sucker born every minute

And this time, it's the mayor of Shaker Heights, OH. She's declared a "caffeine awareness" month because caffeine is EVIL. Oh, and the person that duped this idiot mayor? She sells a soy-based "coffee" and has a book out in the evils of caffeine. Read the whole thing here.

How to kill a Welshman in 1 easy step

The BBC is reporting that Cardiff has a new way to kill off people who can only read Welsh - tell pedestrians to look right (in English, which is the right way) and then translate the sign into Welsh telling them to look left.

In other news, someone actually reads enough Welsh to understand the sign was wrong.

Driving the Jeep

First off, it's still a Jeep. There's no questioning this. The ride isn't harsh, but the suspension is definitely intended for off-road use. The whole thing is still very utilitarian. There's nothing fancy anywhere. Manual window-winders, manual locks, manual seats, manual mirrors, steel bumpers, massive tow-hooks on both bumpers. The carpets come out and there are drain plugs in the floor. The windshield still folds down and they included a tie-down strap (there are loops on the hood & windshield for the strap). The've definitely done stuff right, too. The controls are easy to use (turn signal, etc). The seats are very good and did well on the ride back from LV. There is TONS of room inside for the driver/passenger. I have a hand-span of headroom (approx 8in!) and tons of room to stretch my legs out. With seat adjustment, Noreen has a decent driving position, too. Driving back, we got approx 18mpg, which is killer considering the engine (4.0L 6-cyl) is brand new and the EPA on the freeway is 18. Mind you, I kept to 65mph most of the time; I'm not sure I'd want to do 75 or 80 in it.

Picking up the Jeep

I'm doing 2 posts, one about getting the Jeep and the other one on the Jeep itself.

We flew into the Las Vegas airport and grabbed a cab to the Jeep dealer. After we signed the paperwork (which was relatively painless) and took a look at the Jeep, we had to rent a car and drive to the Nevada DMV to get a 15-day drive away permit. Since our dealer in LV hadn't sold us the Jeep (just delivered it), they couldn't do this for us. Without the permit or other registration, you can't drive it on the road, technically. So, we drove to DMV and waited in line for a total of 30min or so and got the $8.25, 15 day permit to drive the Jeep. Then, we drove back to the dealer and took possession and drove away. This part wasn't too hard, really. Just a pain in the nads.

Tomorrow, I get to register the Jeep in CA. This means getting a smog check and then going over to DMV to register it and paying the taxes. Whee!

Update:
Got the Jeep smogged (passed with flying colors, in fact, the numbers were so low, you'd swear the Jeep wasn't even started. The guy at the smog place asked if I was a member of AAA and if I was going over to them to do the DMV paperwork. Of course I was.....uh...yeah. So, I went to AAA and they handled all of the DMV paperwork & stuff flawlessly. I walked out with plates and everything. I'm so glad I'm a member of AAA.

Pic of the jeep

Here is the wifey with our (her?) new Jeep.

Iran and WMD

How long has Iran been working on nukes? Since at least 2000, says the Guardian, reporting from Risen's Bush-bashing book. This story tells of a Keystone-Cop like attempt to derail the Iranian nuke program in 2000 (while Clinton was in office.) Keep this in mind when the Bushies talk about Iran's WMD program and then the usual party organs start up on bashing Bush about it.

Amusing war "poster"

Found this elsewhere, don't know the author, but it's great...