Sunday, July 30, 2006

Despite cleanups, trash along smuggling routes piles up faster than everBy Tony Davis Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona Published: 07.30.2006After three years of cleanups, the federal government has achieved no better than a 1 percent solution for the problem of trash left in Southern Arizona by illegal border-crossers. Cleanup crews from various agencies, volunteer groups and the Tohono O'odham Nation hauled about 250,000 pounds of trash from thousands of acres of federal, state and private land across Southern Arizona in 2002 to 2005, says the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. But that's only a fraction of the nearly 25 million pounds of trash thought to be out there. Authorities estimate the 3.2 million-plus entrants caught by the Border Patrol dropped that much garbage in the Southern Arizona desert from July 1999 through June 2005. The figure assumes that each illegal entrant discards 8 pounds of trash, the weight of some abandoned backpacks found in the desert. The trash is piling up faster than it can be cleaned up. Considering that the Border Patrol apprehended more than 577,000 entrants in 2004-05 alone, the BLM figures that those people left almost 4 million pounds of trash in that same year. That's 16 times what was picked up in three years. And that doesn't include the unknown amounts of garbage left by border-crossers who don't get caught. Diverse trash found all over "We're keeping up with the trash only in certain locations, in areas that we've hit as many as three times," said Shela McFarlin, BLM's special assistant for international programs. The trash includes water bottles, sweaters, jeans, razors, soap, medications, food, ropes, batteries, cell phones, radios, homemade weapons and human waste. It has been found in large quantities as high as Miller Peak, towering more than 9,400 feet in the Huachuca Mountains, as well as in low desert such as Organ Pipe National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. It's even started turning up in smaller amounts in hiking areas closer to Tucson, such as Josephine Saddle in the Santa Rita Mountains on the route to Mount Wrightson, says the Southern Arizona Hiking Club. "In the Huachucas, you are almost wading through empty gallon water jugs," said Steve Singkofer, the Hiking Club's president. "There's literally thousands of water jugs, clothes, shoes. You could send 1,000 people out there and they could each pick up a dozen water jugs, and they couldn't get it all." Cleanup not cheap, easy While nobody has an exact cost estimate for removing all the garbage, it's clearly not cheap. But McFarlin agrees with several advocacy groups that without a tightening of controls on illegal immigration, a guest-worker program or other reform of federal border policy, the trash will just keep coming regardless of what's spent. The financial details: ● In 2002, the U.S. estimated that removing all litter from lands just in Southeast Arizona — east of the Tohono Reservation — would cost about $4.5 million over five years. This count didn't include such trash hotbeds as Ironwood Forest National Monument, the Altar Valley, Organ Pipe and Cabeza Prieta. ● Since then, Congress appropriated about $3.4 million for a wide range of environmental remediation measures in all of Southern Arizona. This includes repairing roads, building fences and removing abandoned cars. ● The five-year tab is $62.9 million for all forms of environmental remediation for immigration-related damage across Southeast Arizona, including $23 million for the first year. Waste unhealthy, unsightly Most of the garbage is left at areas where entrants wait to be picked up by smugglers. The accumulation of disintegrating toilet paper, human feces and rotting food is a health and safety issue for residents of these areas and visitors to public lands, a new BLM report says. "It's particularly serious in areas where there are livestock," said Robin Hoover, pastor of the First Christian Church in Tucson and president of Humane Borders, a group that puts water tanks in the desert for the entrants and coordinates monthly cleanups of Ironwood Monument and other sites. "I've even found injectable drugs in the desert," he said. "It's rare when we find that kind of stuff, but there's tons of over-the-counter medication out there. If some cow comes along and eats a bunch of pills, that would be a real sick cow." The trash also isn't good for wildlife, said Arizona Game and Fish spokesman Dana Yost. Birds and mammals can get tangled up in it or eat it, causing digestive problems, Yost said. It's not at all uncommon to find the trash in bears' stomachs, he said. Plastic bags, foil wrappers and certain foods are all problems. Remote areas need more help But clear inroads are being made into the trash problem, said BLM's McFarlin. Using the U.S. money, various local and federal agencies, the Tohono O'odham Tribe, the conservationist Malpais Borderlands Group and student youth corps remove trash from the most obvious and accessible areas, she said. What needs tackling now are more remote areas such as wilderness, mountains and deserts far from major roads, she said. A couple of times, authorities have had to use helicopters or mules to haul stuff out of such areas. This summer, with Border Patrol apprehensions of entrants down, the Tohono O'odham Tribe is seeing less trash on the ground than usual, said Gary Olson, the tribe's solid-waste administrator. "I don't know whether they're hiding their trash or whether they are just not coming," Olson said. But only six weeks ago, No More Deaths, an advocacy group that looks for injured, sick and lost entrants, came across a 10,000-square-foot area five miles west of Arivaca littered with hundreds and hundreds of backpacks. "I've never seen anything that size. It's unbelievable," said Steve Johnston, who coordinates the group's camp near Arivaca

Saturday, July 29, 2006

How Long has Islam been at war with us?

November 1979: Muslim extremists (Iranian variety) seized the U.S. embassy in Iran and held 52 American hostages for 444 days, following Democrat Jimmy Carter's masterful foreign policy granting Islamic fanaticism its first real foothold in the Middle East. —

1982: Muslim extremists (mostly Hezbollah) began a nearly decade-long habit of taking Americans and Europeans hostage in Lebanon, killing William Buckley and holding Terry Anderson for 6 1/2 years. —

April 1983: Muslim extremists (Islamic Jihad or possibly Hezbollah) bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 16 Americans. —

October 1983: Muslim extremists (Hezbollah) blew up the U.S. Marine barracks at the Beirut airport, killing 241 Marines. —

December 1983: Muslim extremists (al-Dawa) blew up the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, killing five and injuring 80. —

September 1984: Muslim extremists (Hezbollah) exploded a truck bomb at the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, killing 24 people, including two U.S. servicemen. —

December 1984: Muslim extremists (probably Hezbollah) hijacked a Kuwait Airways airplane, landed in Iran and demanded the release of the 17 members of al-Dawa who had been arrested for the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, killing two Americans before the siege was over. —

June 14, 1985: Muslim extremists (Hezbollah) hijacked TWA Flight 847 out of Athens, diverting it to Beirut, taking the passengers hostage in return for the release of the Kuwait 17 as well as another 700 prisoners held by Israel. When their demands were not met, the Muslims shot U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem and dumped his body on the tarmac. —

October 1985: Muslim extremists (Palestine Liberation Front backed by Libya) seized an Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, killing 69-year-old American Leon Klinghoffer by shooting him and then tossing his body overboard. —

December 1985: Muslim extremists (backed by Libya) bombed airports in Rome and Vienna, killing 20 people, including five Americans. —

April 1986: Muslim extremists (backed by Libya) bombed a discotheque frequented by U.S. servicemen in West Berlin, injuring hundreds and killing two, including a U.S. soldier. —

December 1988: Muslim extremists (backed by Libya) bombed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground.

February 1993: Muslim extremists (al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, possibly with involvement of friendly rival al-Qaida) set off a bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center, killing six and wounding more than 1,000. —

Spring 1993: Muslim extremists (al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Sudanese Islamic Front and at least one member of Hamas) plot to blow up the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the U.N. complex, and the FBI's lower Manhattan headquarters. —

November 1995: Muslim extremists (possibly Iranian "Party of God") explode a car bomb at U.S. military headquarters in Saudi Arabia, killing five U.S. military servicemen. —

June 1996: Muslim extremists (13 Saudis and a Lebanese member of Hezbollah, probably with involvement of al-Qaida) explode a truck bomb outside the Khobar Towers military complex, killing 19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds. —

August 1998: Muslim extremists (al-Qaida) explode truck bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 and injuring thousands. —

October 2000: Muslim extremists (al-Qaida) blow up the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 U.S. sailors. —

Sept. 11, 2001: Muslim extremists (al-Qaida) hijack commercial aircraft and fly planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 Americans.
A random gallery of "lone" shooters
By Michelle Malkin · July 29, 2006 06:44 PM
***updated...10pm Eastern-new details about Haq via AP - he "forced his way through a security door by holding a gun to a 13-year-old girl's head"...told 911 dispatcher, "These are Jews and I'm tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East..."***
***new photo of Haq via AP...***
July 28, 2006Seattle, Wash.Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, is arrested and charged with killing one woman and wounding five others at the downtown Jewish Federation building. The shooter declared "I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel," according to eyewitnesses. "There’s nothing to indicate that it’s terrorism related," according to the FBI.
10pm Eastern update: AP now reporting.
The man suspected in a fatal shooting rampage hid behind a potted plant in a Jewish charity's foyer and forced his way through a security door by holding a gun to a 13-year-old girl's head, the police chief said Saturday. Once inside, police say, Naveed Afzal Haq opened fire with two semiautomatic pistols. One woman, Pam Waechter, 58, of Seattle was killed at the scene. Five more women were wounded.
Haq, 30, was ordered held on $50 million bail Saturday pending formal charges of murder and attempted murder. Haq, a Muslim, told authorities he was angered by the war in Iraq and U.S. military cooperation with Israel. "He pointedly blamed the Jewish people for all of these problems," Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference Saturday.
July 25, 2006Dickinson, Texas.Dr. Wameeth Fadhli is charged with shooting an unarmed bicyclist, who was hit in the chest and shoulder. According to witnesses, the victim was riding his bicycle when a sport utility vehicle pulled alongside and Fadhli reportedly began firing what they described as a pistol. The witnesses told police the shooter was alone and wearing what appeared to be surgical scrubs. Galveston Daily News: "Assistant district attorney Xochitl Vandiver, who recommended [$60,000] bond after conferring with investigators, said the amount was higher than usual for that charge because of concerns for community safety. “At this point, this looks like it could have been just a random shooting, and that makes it a pretty scary crime,” she said." More.
June 25, 2006 Denver, Colorado.Michael Julius Ford kills one and injures five in a shooting spree. Rocky Mountain News: "Reports that Ford was upset about being taunted and harassed at work about his Muslim beliefs were downplayed by police and Safeway Monday, although they continue to look into all possibilities."
June 15, 2006 Owings Mill, Md. Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar, 24, guns down Paul Schrum, 62, in a movie theater. WBAL: "Detectives said there was no motive for the shooting and that Jabbar did not know anyone in the theatre, including Schrum." WJZ: "The family of the Baltimore County man accused of shooting and killing another man inside an Owings Mills movie theater says the suspect suffered from a mental illness..."
October 2002Black Muslim convert John Mohammed and protege Lee Malvo are convicted for their roles in a three-week, terror shooting spree that claimed ten innocent lives and injured three others. Malvo pleaded insanity. The jihadi snipers revisited.
July 4, 2002Los Angeles, Calif.Hesham Hadayet opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport while standing in line at the ticket counter of Israel's El Al Airlines, killing two and wounding four others before an airline security officer shot him dead. FBI officials initially discounted terrorism and reported on his "despondency" over personal affairs. A year later, the FBI admitted Hadayet's anti-Israel views and characterized his bloody acts as terrorism.
Update - more:
Feb. 23, 1997New York CityAbu Kamal, a Palestinian teacher shoots seven tourists on the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building, killing one. AP: "'[He carried a note blaming the United States for using Israel as "an instrument' against his people. The note found in Ali Hassan Abu Kamal's pocket contains 'rambling, angry stuff,' and appears to contradict claims by the man's family that the shooting had nothing to do with politics, a high-ranking police source said last night. The letter also expressed anger at France and England for using Israel as 'an instrument' against Palestinians, and indicated that Mr. Abu Kamal planned to vent his anger at the Empire State Building, the source said.'"
March 1, 1994New York CityRashid Baz, a Lebanese livery cab driver, opened fire on a van full of Hasidic Jewish boys on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing one and wounding several others. He was sentenced to 141 years in prison. ME Forum: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) at one point ascribed his motive to 'road rage.' But then, in December 2000, federal authorities changed their minds and announced that Baz’s actions were 'the crimes of a terrorist.'"
***
Good companion reads/links:
LGF notes that mosques are getting extra protection following the murder of Jews.Hugh HewittAndy McCarthyIt's Just DanHyscienceComments at Belmont ClubMatt Rosenberg at SoundPoliticsDaniel Pipes flashback: Sudden Jihad Syndrome
Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch:
[O]nce again the media will ignore the question of why a man who describes himself as a Muslim American angry at Israel would think that murder of innocents was an appropriate outlet for his anger. No one will ever consider whether such behavior is encouraged by the texts and atmospherics of Islam, and if so, what can be done about it.
The shooting came a day after the FBI had warned Jewish organizations nationwide to be on alert after Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and al-Qaida's second in command urged that the war raging in the Middle East be carried to the U.S. However, the law-enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there is no evidence Haq was involved with any group.
When (if ever) will law enforcement officials realize that it is enough for Zawahiri and others to say this sort of thing? That that in itself is enough to move some Muslims to act? There doesn't need to be any organizational connection for there to be an ideological connection, an identity of motive and goal.
Yup.
It's the jihad, stupid.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The air conditioning is out in our building at work. It has been out for most of the week. The outside temperatures have been hovering around 100 degrees +/- a couple degrees all week. I just saw a thermometer and it is 84 in the building. This is not motivating me to turn and burn here in the office. By the time I get home I want to do a whole bunch of nothing.

The bride bought a new freezer last night. It will be delivered sometime Friday. She has decided that it will go right where my gun safe is. So I will have to unload the safe and drag to a new home in the basement. The biggest problem I can see with this is the bride will want to help and then she will see the guns. I can hear it now “why do you have some many” She knows I have a bunch but she does not see them all at once. I can only hope that when I say I don’t need any help she will take me up on it. It will just be easier all around.

The bride does not really like guns, but she wants me to own them and she likes the fact I carry one when we go out. I have taken her shooting a couple of times but it is like pulling teeth to get her to go. But that is okay as long as she is happy life is good.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

The bride is home safe and sound, it looks like she will be home for three weeks and she is off again. I had a nice dinner for her when she got home. I had the house spotless. But this morning I noticed that under the kitchen sink was flood. Yes I had a leak. I got it fixed for a little bit, but I had drug everything out from under the sink to let it dry out. So the house was not as nice as I had hoped. I spent most of the day cleaning house, splitting wood (winter will be here before you know it), and cooking dinner. I am a tired boy, good nght and God bless.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Talked with the bride last night and it looks like she is coming home Saturday instead of next Tuesday. It will be good to have her home. The heat and humidity back in Okalahoma has taken its toll on her. She is looking forward to coming home, but I think it is more to see the dogs then me. With that I will leave you with “WORDS OF WISDOM”


Two guys from Daniels County are quietly sittin' in a boat at

Fort Peck Montana fishing and suckin' down beer when suddenly

Karnes says, "I think I'm going to divorce my wife - she hasn't

spoken to me in over 2 months."



Earl sips his beer and says,

"You better think it over - women like that are hard to find."

Saturday, July 15, 2006

No adult supervision, NONE

It s true, I sent mom home on Wednesday and the bride left today for a 10 day business
trip. I am home alone (except for the dogs), and I get to chose the programs on the TV. I have been watching a "dirty job" marathon. I just had a can of chile for dinner, how much more fun can a man have. Don't forget I am a Christian and I do have some boundaries .

I was going to the desert after I dropped the bride off at the airport. But it is just to hot to go out there. It is suppose to be around 100 degrees today. It was in the 80's at 8:30 this morning. With the meds I am on I don't do well in the heat. I use to love running around the desert anytime of the year, but not anymore.

I did get the oil change in my truck and got my chain saw running. I am getting some new tires for my truck. They had to order them in and they should be here on the 26th. I decided to go with Pirellie ATR 265 70 17. They are a 10 ply tire and should do me well when I haul the trailer. I have only had the trailer out once so far this year. I hope to go the weekend after the bride gets back. I may go the weekend she is gone, but for some reason she does not want me to take off by myself. I mean it has been almost 10 months since I have been in the hospital, and you don't live forever. Now if my buddy Dave from Dave's place was to show up he and I could have a great time running around the mountains fishing and stuff like that. Dave and his wife have some plans to tour the US someday. They are from Scotland and I am looking forward to them showing up on my door step someday.

I think I wil head upstairs now and do some time on the staionary bike and the tread mill. I can workout just fine as long as it is air conditioned and I have a celling fan going, plus a remote for the TV

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Interesting

Alaska
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska.



Amazon

The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States.



Antarctica
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.



Canada
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village."



Chicago
Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.



Detroit
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1, named so because it was the first paved road anywhere.



Damascus, Syria

Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.



Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.



Los Angeles
Los Angeles's full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula --and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.


New York City
There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel.



Ohio
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is manmade.



Rome

The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.



Siberia
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.



S.M.O.M.

The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 less people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.



Sahara Desert
In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island. There has been no rainfall there for two million years.



Spain
Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits.'



Roads

Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A.: 1%, in Canada: 75%.



Texas
The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas. It is as deep as 20 empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.



United States

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one-mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.



Waterfalls

The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.
Mom goes home tomorrow; it has been a good visit. But she does not want to move up here yet. I asked her what she wanted to talk about and she got a blank expression on her face and said “what”. She said there was nothing that she wanted to talk about. So I figure one of us is going down hill, I just don’t know which one.

It has warmed up here, this morning at 5:15am it was 75 degrees. That constitutes warm in my book. I figure we will get up into the 90’s by this afternoon. I took the dogs for a walk yesterday evening and we only put in a ½ mile. It was just to warm. When we got home the dogs flopped on the tile floor and would not move. I guess if I walk them it will have to be in the mornings. The only problem is I start work at 6:00am so there is not a lot of time to wander around the neighborhood.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

I had a very nice post to my blog and I got kicked off, lost everything. I am not sure I can recapture the beauty of my words but I will try.

It is the 4th of July, flags are flapping, fireworks are going off and we are having a bar b que this evening. Mom is enjoying her visit, but it does not seem like she wants to move in with us yet. She did get her drivers lisense back. So in my sisters words "Lord have mercy on our souls", mom is not the best driver. As a matter of fact she scares me to death. But she is allowed to drive again, now she just has to get her car fixed. Times like this I wish I was not 800 miles away.

The bride and mom are at the store right now. I did get a phone call from them and they had already spent $65 at the first fireworks stand they stopped at. No telling how much this is going to cost. But I am sure it is going to be fun. I want to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th.
God Bless you all and God Bless America

Saturday, July 01, 2006

I am totally bummed; I have been having a lot of trouble with my computer. I can not reply or post to anybodies blog. Unless maybe everybody has blocked me all at once, but I am not being uppity and not talking with folks I just can’t. Bummer