Welcome To My Weed Farm

I may have to give up blogging for my new compulsory hobby: Weeding. Boy, those flower beds surrounding the house and covering the back yard sure looked nice in January, when we bought the house. And, from a distance, they still look OK.


But when you get up close... All those tall green spikes... Yep. Weeds:

Since I had no idea what was planted out there, I didn't know they were weeds when they first came up. I waited to see if they were intentional. Eventually, I had to acknowlegde two simple facts. They're weeds and they're everywhere.

Here's another mystery plant. Is that thing attacking my tea rose a weed? I should probably kill it, just to be on the safe side.


My mother tells me I should kill it all and replace it with landscaping fabric and a few bushes. Either that or rethink my position on illegal immigration because no one was ever in greater need of cheap gardeners.

Immigration Compromise

John McIntyre suggests this compromise in immigration:

Republicans need to craft a compromise that puts in place a program to shut down the illegal flow, which upon the proven success of dramatically halting illegal immigration will trigger a process that provides a pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegals who have been here for years. This is the type of broad-based compromise that the majority of the American people can support and it will put the onus on the Democrats to put up or shut up about whether they are serious about halting illegal immigration.

This has a lot of potential. If we could establish that the border was, for the most part, secure, Americans could stop worrying about criminals and terrorists and a flood of uneducated, poverty-stricken, non-English speaking immigrants. Then we could address the illegals who are already here. I suspect that a secure border would drain support from the "no amnesty" position.

I know there are a number of right-wing bloggers who would oppose this because they feel every last illegal should be deported. Those bloggers make a strong case about how unfair it is to legal immigrants to allow illegals to stay, but I have always felt that they just aren't being practical.

Here in Kansas City, we have two cases that illustrate the impracticality of their stance. Myrna Dick is accused of falsely claiming American citizenship at the Mexican border to enter the US. She has since married a citizen with whom she has an adorable citizen toddler. She is being deported, so every time there is a development in her case, we see this lovely middle-class family on the news. I'm sure we'll see the tearful departure when she leaves her baby and gets on the plane. I'm sure I'll be crying too.

We also periodically hear from a woman and two young boys whose husband/father was deported back to Jamaica, also for claiming citizenship at the border. They sold their house to pay an immigration lawyer to tell them there was nothing that could be done. Evil lawyer = bonus tears.

Perhaps Americans should be strong and boot all these law-breakers out of the country. It is our right. But I wouldn't bet the farm on our ability to withstand a few million tearful goodbyes.

(via Instapundit)

California's Prop. 82

I'm sure that after 2 weeks of neglecting my blog due to moving and continuous visitors, I have no readers from California (or anywhere else). But just in case, I'm linking to Bookworm's plea for Californians to vote "NO" on Proposition 82.

The Dubious Guest Worker Program

I have been meaning to work up a post on this, but my procrastination has paid off. Someone did the work for me. Here's Derb:

I'm baffled as to why anyone would want to hire these temporary workers. The entire point of illegal immigrant labor is that it's cheap B*E*C*A*U*S*E***I*T*S***I*L*L*E*G*A*L*. If you legalize it, it ain't cheap any more. You've got minimum wage laws, workmen's comp, benefits regulations, etc., etc. to comply with, and all sorts of litigation possibilities (harassment, discrimination, etc.) to hedge against. You might as well hire Americans.

Unless you think that Americans are crappy workers—lazy, shiftless, ignorant, ill-motivated, and unreliable. If our politicians actually do think this, will one of them please say it out loud?

This is why I'm so into border security and internal enforcement. If all the guest worker slots are filled, who would wait for one to open up when you can just cross the border, under bid the guest workers and get a job. Bush mentioned border security and cracking down on employers in his speech, but... I'll believe it when I see it. And I'd like to see it before we go passing out all kinds of new entitlements to illegals.

The Border Is Secure...

Well, secure from pesky American citizens, at least. I'm sure you've read all about it at Malkin's, but note our government's response to the latest border security lapse:

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants' rights are being observed.

"It's not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be," Mario Martinez said Monday.

"This ... simply makes two basic statements -- that we will not allow any lawlessness of any type, and that if an alien is encountered by a Minuteman or arrested by the Minuteman, then we will allow that government to interview the person."

"We will not allow any lawlessness of any type." Well, except illegal entry into the U.S. That type of lawlessness is heartily encouraged.

Update: Looks like the border is also secure from mad scientists. Derb informs us:

To plumb the depths of our current administration's stupidity, folly, and dereliction of responsibility in the matter of border security is probably beyond the ability of mere mortals. You can get a glimpse of them, though, by reading this editorial in Science magazine ...

Offer on the House

Well, we've had the house on the market for one day, we've had one showing, and we have an offer. I don't know what the offer is yet. It could be for $1.95 and a stick of gum. But here's hoping. I've had to keep the house spotless for one entire day now, and I'm exhausted.

Update: SOLD! Well, the deal could fall apart in the inspection period. It is an old house. But it's a start.

The Worst Thing About Moving

OK, all the parts of moving are the worst part. But the thing that is annoying me today... we're about to put the old house on the market and it looks GREAT. All those broken things I lived with for years -- the screen door, the door bell, the picture window, the spigot, the attic fan -- they all work now. And it's cleaner than it's ever been. And now I have to move to my new house, which is a total disaster. :(

Jobs Americans Won't Do

Having put myself through college by (among other things) cleaning houses, and having a sister who, although she's a teacher, makes ends meet by cleaning houses, and having spent most of the weekend doing yard work at our two houses, and having just changed a diaper, I was rather annoyed to turn on the NewsHour to hear Nativo Lopez tell me to clean my own toilet, cut my own grass, and take care of my own kid. What the heck does he think I do all day?