Some “conservatives” (I bracket the word in air fingers quotes because it’s one of those words that lacks clear definition; i.e., what is it exactly they are wanting to conserve – and why?) have trouble understanding why anyone who agrees with them that having an open border for four years under “Joe Biden” (another amorphous thing) was a problem are not liking the way it’s being putatively handled by Trump.
“Putative” is italicized because it gets at the root of the unease many of us feel over this ICE business, for want of a better way to put it. Putative, because this ICE business is pretty obviously not about deporting 10 million-plus Me Gustans as much as it is about demoralizing Americans. Putatively because logistically it is an impossibility. Ten million-plus Me Gustans are not going to be rounded up by ICE goons – the terms is used descriptively rather than pejoratively – because they cannot be. Deporting 10 million-plus Me Gustans would require the military but they are being sent to the Middle East (again) and so are not available here.
Instead, there are paramilitary goons – just look at them with their masks and disheveled, but heavily armed and armored up personae – behaving like goons on American streets, screaming illegal orders at Americans (as for instance regarding them video recording the activities of the goons from a distance, which is entirely legal) pulling people out of cars and even barging into people’s homes without a judicial warrant.
A number of years ago – this was long before “Joe Biden” – I attended a long-lead press event in the Southwest. This was one of those events car journalists get invited to sometimes by car manufacturers to preview new vehicles before they become available. We get to drive them around for purposes of writing articles about them, etc. Anyhow, I was driving one of these “press” cars, with a rep from the car company riding shotgun. We never once left the United States but we were driving within 100 miles of the border with Mexico.
Nevertheless, we found ourselves being forced to stop at a “border” checkpoint manned by armored up and heavily armed goons, who had questions for us. Never mind we were Americans in America.
Many Americans are unaware there are “border” checkpoints that far away from the border, where Americans who’ve never left the country must stop and answer questions as to who they are and if you decline to answer, you can expect to be “detained” and worse until you comply. It is an unsettling experience for Americans not used to such experiences, who grew up believing America was not the Soviet Union or the Germany of the ’30s. Ihre papierie, bitte!
Your papers, please.
The “please” part being purely a formality.
There was once this idea that an American ought to be free to travel unmolested by government goons absent him having given some specific cause to warrant the attention of government goons. Most “conservatives” and even most libertarians are ok with attention being given to those who warrant attention. But very few libertarians are ok with such attention being focused on those who’ve done absolutely nothing to warrant such attention, other than just being wherever they happen to be where government goons happen to be.
More finely stated, the problem is with the idea that government goons can pay attention to anyone, anywhere they like. That is a good working definition of what a goon is. He (or she; there are lots of women who sign up to be goons) is a species of thug empowered by the government, which means we are legally powerless before them. They are empowered to do as they like and if we “resist,” then we have given them license to Hut! Hut! Hut!
The uneasiness about this ICE business, then, stems from the entirely reasonably suspicion that a kind of ad-hoc paramilitary force composed of faceless goons invested with de facto blank check federal authority to Hut! Hut! Hut! the Me Gustans – putatively – is in fact going to be used to Hut! Hut! Hut! generally. Caesar sent his legions and legates to assert his authority wherever Caesar believed his authority was being or might be tested. The legions and legates were a show of force, in other words.
It has been mentioned here before but it’s worth re-mentioning because it gets to the heart of the pretextual problem being used to justify this ICE business. It is that dealing with the Me Gustans – more finely, dealing with the freeloading Me Gustans who constitute the problem Americans legitimately have a problem with – could be handled without “ICE” (a juvenile-sounding fascist-smacking term that maybe appeals to people with an S&M fetish).
The FBI could investigate and prosecute any state/local official who is party to the disbursement of any tax dollars to finance “services” for people who have no right to them, because they have no legal right to be here. End the handouts and you’ve ended the problem. The Me Gustans who work, support themselves and mind their own business aren’t a problem. Or at least, it is hard to understand how they are.
This ICE business, on the other hand. . .
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CONservatives are actually CUCKservatives, and they are not conserving jack shit, they are going along with the Zionist takeover of Amerika – which is highly radical death cult movement.
And speaking of ice, Lake Erie is near 100% frozen over.
Duck Ai – “As of February 9, 2026, Lake Erie is nearly completely frozen, with about 95% of the lake covered in ice. This marks a significant increase from previous winters, where ice coverage was much lower.”
But, but, but CO2 is going up, and global warming blah, blah, blah. How can that be, I am so confused. Have no fear citizen, I Yukon Jack will explain reality to you:
https://www.unz.com/article/the-usa-as-greater-israel-and-the-world-as-greater-middle-east/#comment-7502933
take a look at the charts I present, one chart shows that earth went through a multi-million year ice age when CO2 was 10x higher than it is now.
CO2 has never forced temperature on earth, the bedrock premise of CO2 caused warming is false. I am sorry if you believe otherwise, you are wrong.
The macabre clown show in WARshington DC barrels on to another crash-and-burn:
‘Senators left Washington this week without a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) past Friday. The Senate is not scheduled to reconvene for votes until Feb. 23.
‘The DHS shutdown will not have a significant impact on ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They received tens of billions of dollars from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law last year.
‘But it will have a significant impact on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard. It will also affect the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency and the Secret Service.’
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5736524-congress-homeland-security-shutdown/
Repealing the tens of billions gratuitously handed to ICE and CBP in the OBBB Act last year is not even on the table. Meanwhile, my county’s $100 million disaster claim now being evaluated by FEMA likely WILL be delayed. Real people are getting hurt — but the Gestapo gets shiny new jackboots. 🙁
DHS:
A Bush-era “innovation” that, much like NATO and the UN, has outlasted its welcome but just won’t die.
Someone please find a wooden stake and do the needful.
I understand that there are (probably) (at least) tens of millions of illegal immigrants inside the country, at this point.
I understand that we aren’t likely to get rid of them all, at this point. I understand that some of them contribute to the economy and some are a drag on the social safety net. I understand that some are criminals and some are just seeking economic opportunities.
I understand that we aren’t likely long overdue for doing something to unwind this mess, and it’s going to get messy. Realistically there will likely be a mix of deportations for some and some sort of path to legal status for others. I understand that there will be some errors, some mistakes, some injustices, some really difficult decisions, and some crying mothers & children who will be photographed and those photographs will be plastered all over newspapers everywhere and it will look bad.
I’m prepared to accept that, within reason anyway, but that’s based on a series of assumptions. I’m assuming a process that is basically fair, with meaningful oversight and checks/balances, and baseline respect for human rights & dignity. I’m assuming it’s coupled to a good faith attempt to permanently reform the system so that we only have to do this once & get it over with.
I am *not* prepared to accept Gestapo tactics and I am *not* prepared to trash the constitution over this, and I am *not* prepared to accept jackassery en masse that furthers the police state, mass surveillance, and total population subjugation/control. I am *not* prepared to strip away all forms of meaningful oversight and let the cops do whatever they want.
The Left is wrong to throw the doors and tge public coffers wide open, and they are wrong to use that to commit election fraud, but they are *not* wrong when they protest and complain that ICE has been going too far.
Everyone sucks, now go to hell & leave me alone so I can be a hermit.
A large Border Patrol checkpoint sits on I-69 midway between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, TX.
The southbound lanes have an automated camera system which captures license plates and (guessing) attempting to count vehicle occupants as well as capturing faces.
Northbound is manned. Everyone going through the plaza will talk to a Border Patrol agent and get the sniff test from the K9 “officer”.
Clearly there is a severe lack of critical thinking done on the “conservative” side… The left has none, of course. Just the ‘feels’. I mean… duh, right?
It’s okay when *we* do it, just not when *they* do it.
Yeah, the illegals’ kids get free breakfast, lunch *& DINNER* @ gov’t schools, whilst we native born, university educated types get to sit in a corner and play with ourselves, because “social justice.”
All illegals are breaking the law just by being here. If you want to move here, learn the language, take the test and do it. If not, eff off back to where you came from.
This ICE pantomime is about desensitizing Americans to the idea of martial law. They could get rid of most illegals within a month if they just stopped giving them free money and benefits that should be reserved for U.S. citizens only, and actually fined companies for hiring illegals under statutes that already exist but are rarely enforced.
Illegals provide no net benefit to society. They depress wages, drive up housing costs and tax the medical system, among other things. 42% of them don’t work; they’re just enjoying the free ride.
I propose we shut off the $pigot and watch them migrate south again, at no cost to the taxpayer.
“The Me Gustans who work, support themselves and mind their own business aren’t a problem. Or at least, it is hard to understand how they are.”
Thank you, Eric. Thanks for being a voice of reason in this volatile, emotionally-charged mess of a world.
Some of you might find this Cato Institute study interesting:
https://www.cato.org/white-paper/immigrants-recent-effects-government-budgets-1994-2023#introduction
“Illegal noncitizens were only somewhat less fiscally positive per capita than noncitizens generally, and they likely reduced the deficit by at least $1.7 trillion from 1994 to 2023. Illegal immigrants of all educational attainments are also likely to have paid more in taxes than they received in government benefits. ”
Now, having to view “my” W-2 form and see how much is being stolen from me is always painful. Oh, the things I could do with that money if it wasn’t being stolen. Those things might even include helping the less fortunate in a sensible and accountable manner. Our task as libertarians should be focused on eliminating that theft and making government as inconsequential as possible. Demonizing and scapegoating should be minimized and we should give some effort to eliminating our own problems and weaknesses before finally helping others through voluntary charity and cooperation.
Mostly agreed. I’m a little concerned that the Johnson boy isn’t going to be able to get a job because Bidet imported Amandieu from Haiti and made it plain that if he doesn’t get hired, the EEOC will come down on employers, but I don’t know what to do about it, other than open my own company and hire the Johnson boy, and pay him enough to do something or other so he can get married, buy a house, and have kids.
How do we get America back if we condemn our own to a life of welfare and often drug abuse and import people who are explicitly non- and even anti-American?
Hi Steve,
Here is the problem that business owners are experiencing (I include myself, my husband, and most small business owners that I know) the Johnson boy doesn’t want a job. This is more obvious since COVID, but it is very, very hard to find people to do anything.
People can say what they want, but Juan and Amandieu show up. Add any difficulty (outside elements, long hours, etc.) most people are “Nah, never mind. I will wait for a management position that I can work remote in my pajamas.”
Of course, the Asses bray, “Well, more people will work if the pay is better.” No, that isn’t the issue. In my husband’s field of work starting pay with a GED is $30/hour. All he asks is for them to show up on time and be drug free…can’t have people showing up high/drunk falling off ladders. My office….$50/hr…if you know what you are doing. The problem is they don’t. They want me to train them on what a debit and credit is. When somebody tells me they know how to work in QuickBooks, Wave, or Xero I would hope they are telling me the truth. Most have no idea and have no desire to teach themselves.
This country is seriously falling behind and having our asses kicked by China, Japan, and India.
I will amen this, RG –
My buddy who runs a roofing business cannot get local boys to roof. So he runs a crew of Mexicans and I can attest those guys work. They show up, on time, ready to work and they don’t screw around while they’re being paid not to. This is the on-the-ground reality. I am not saying all the young kids are lazy. I am saying it is hard to find the ones who aren’t.
This is absolutely the truth. I have clients from all over – furniture movers, restaurants, dental offices, landscapers that are being eradicated by these ICE deportations.
I ran up to Subway for lunch this afternoon. One girl working…making the sandwiches, ringing up the transactions, baking the bread, etc. You can tell she was overwhelmed, but was trying not to show it. She made mention that her fellow employees decided not to show and she was running the counter by herself. I tipped her the price of my sandwich and wished her well. She is going to have a tough day.
A lot of businesses don’t hire illegals and do just fine. Yet, you see this all the time with these single white guy point of contact contractors with crews of brown guy workers only. No Americans will do the work! Yeah, right. It’s really about the illegals being used to give the owners higher profits and lower prices to win the bid. If this country was serious about stopping illegal immigration, ICE would be arresting the business owners who do this. Then we would see who was here just for the bennies and get rid of them without the tug on the heart strings BS about the “hard workers who make our country what it is.”
Hi, Funk Doctor,
The thing which *most* pisses me off are the American (and sometimes foreign born, as well) scum who act as labor pimps, and leech off the sweat of the brows of others. Such despicable excuses for human beings ought to be castrated with a dull and rusted razor blade.
JMO.
Hi Funk,
I’m in sympathy with what you say, but I can say – because this is direct personal knowledge – that my buddy tried to hire local guys to work for him but they invariably would not show up, or showed up late or were otherwise unreliable. He had a couple guys who disappeared with some of his tools. He went through this for awhile. Finally, he hired some Mexican dudes who just get it done. These guys did my roof. My buddy would like to hire local boys but he needs to have reliable workers, bottom line.
I think the culture has changed. When he and I were young, it was a point of honor to work. There was social pressure to work – a good thing. When I was only 14 or so, I would hand shovel as many driveways in the neighborhood as I could to earn some cash; summers pushing a push-mower. This is was what we all did in my circle. I haven’t ever had a kid knock on my door to offer to shovel my driveway or rake leaves.
I wish it weren’t so, but it is.
Don’t take this the wrong way but of course he says that. They all do. Markets clear. At a price, your buddy will get citizens to work for him and show up, do a good job and not steal.
Hi Eric,
I sympathize with your friend. The trades are competitive. It doesn’t matter if it is residential or commercial. It comes down to price for the consumer. Sure, your buddy could pay every guy $50/hr and his work would dry up, because at the end of the day no one is going to pay $17K when someone else is willing to do it for $12K.
My husband’s crew has no Hispanics – two white guys, two black guys. Everyone makes a pretty good wage. It isn’t the labor that cuts our throats, but Amazon. The supply houses are unable to be competitive with global conglomerates such as Walmart and Amazon and Temu. People will happily buy crap from China to save $3. One has the ability to go online and buy a freaking ice machine and then gets mad when the refrigeration guy they call refuses to install it.
Yeah, well.
There is complicated fuel return valve in my ’89 F150 which goes for US$515 from FoMoCo. Chinese crap goes for ~$3xx. +/-.
but it is crap, doa upon delivery.
Lesson: pay price, get warranty.
It just *works*, the way it is s’posed to.
End of story.
“…Can’t have people showing up high/drunk falling off ladders.”
Haha, yeah. There was this one July 4th where I fell off a ladder with a box of fireworks. So, yeah, the threat is real. Good times.
I disagree, RG. This is the old “there’s a labor shortage” fallacy. There are no true shortages in an economy as advanced as the US. There’s just a disparity between the offer of pay in relation the offer of labor. Let me modify your statement to better reflect reality: “[I]t is very, very hard to find people to do anything [at the wages I’m offering to pay].” Yes, if there is a bigger labor pool (such as when 3rd world illegal aliens enter), that will cause downward pressure on wages. But likewise, if there is a smaller labor pool it will put upward pressure on wages.
If a roofing company for example requires 3rd world illegal alien labor (I don’t mean this in a pejorative way, but it’s just that they are accustomed to lower wages) to make the business model work, it’s not really a sustainable business model unless there’s a constant flow of them into the labor pool. If it is only sustainable with say a $50 per hour wage rather than a $25, then roofing prices will necessarily have to be raised or management will have to take a pay cut. Or, the business of roofing will have to get more efficient somehow.
Is the $30 per hour that your husband is offering enough? I don’t know, but perhaps not if he can’t attract good workers. Would you agree that $40 per hour would attract better candidates? By the way, is your office really offering $100k per year ($50 ph)? Is this for somebody with an accounting degree or a CPA?
Hi ML,
No, there’s no labor shortage it is just sheer laziness.
Neither hubby or I hire illegal immigrants, but my clients do, because people (customers) only want to pay so much for a certain task. Someone is not going to pay $200 to have their lawn mowed or $300/hr for 3 guys to move furniture.
As for my husband’s business it is $30/hr with someone with no experience in the field. His other two guys are making $85K-$135K a year (all over $45/hr, double time on weekends and holidays). The problem is no one is going into these fields. They don’t want to. It is hard work. People don’t want to be on the job at 5 AM. They don’t want to work late or on weekends. They don’t want to spend the time to be an apprentice and apply for their Journeyman’s License. They don’t want to work outdoors, on top of roofs when it is snow packed and 8 degrees out. They also don’t want to crawl into attics that are 115 degrees. Guys from twenty years ago would…guys coming up today….not so much. All of his guys are middle aged. There is no one to replace them when they retire. People that want electricians, plumbers, welders, HVAC techs, auto mechanics, carpenters, etc. are going to learn that real soon. These guys will be the new doctors.
I am paying $50/hr for a bookkeeper, not for an accountant or a CPA. No degree, no license needed. Nobody wants to do it. It is monotonous work. After a few years of going back and forth with a few “bookkeepers” I gave up. It all runs through me now. I don’t have time to babysit someone. I expect them to know their job.
>I don’t have time to babysit someone.
NSS. 🙂
B’cuz *you* have to be productively working yourself, nicht wahr?”
BTDT.
I once offered *free* training to a young (30 yr old) woman (SB in physics from Cal Poly Pomona) who expressed interest in doing what I do, or did, which is detail structural steel & misc. metals.
She had a zillion excuses why she could not show up on Sat AM for free education which could lead to a better job. [shaking head] Bottom line: if you can’t show up, I cannot teach you.
Ulterior motive? Yeah. I could expand my business with a properly trained employee. And, in case you are wondering, I went to *great* *lengths* to dispel any *false* impression that I was hitting on her, though I did find her attractive. 🙂
Hi Adi,
“Yeah. I could expand my business with a properly trained employee.”
I could as well, but I have given up trying. I have 200+ clients and I don’t have time to sit down and teach someone what they should already know for that kind of money. Maybe that makes me mean, but no one ever sat down and taught me QB or any of these other tax softwares. I picked up a book and read it (this is long ago when they actually made manuals out of paper back when everything was DOS). The same with all of the forms that vary by county, state, or federal tax agency. There was no hand holding. Sure, I screwed up, but that is how I learned.
Aye well right, woman.
Good on ya.
Raider,
You’re in Virginia somewhere with Eric, correct? I’m curious as to how much the DC effect has on your pay rates. To be honest, I’m not even making close to $50/hour, and I have 2 degrees in the physical sciences, with working knowledge in many fields, such as electronics, taught myself computer programming etc. I’m making a little more than your zero experience roofers. Though that work *is* a bitch, doubtless.
Also, what say you about the gerrymandering effort there? Looks like it’s not a done deal, but will go before voters in April. If passed, there is said to give Dems a 10-1 Congressional advantage. One of Eric’s favorite words, “disenfranchised”, comes to mind. And boy, will your French fries be dissed if this happens.
Hi BaDnOn,
No doubt the DMV (DC/MD/VA) affects the pay rates. Half of the ten top earning counties are here. People are willing to pay more, because they earn more. I don’t live in NOVA, but my clients do and that is where I make my money. That is also where my husband makes his. The government spawns off contractors. They make a lot of money, they spend a lot of money. Loudoun County’s median income is $178K per year. Arlington, Howard, Montgomery, and Fairfax aren’t too far behind. One is not going to be able to pay an employee $12-$15/hr if you expect them to show up. Are most people paying $30-50 per hour in our fields? Maybe, not so much in mine, but in the trades where you need licensing, insurance, bonds, etc. oh, yeah. Good tradesmen are a rarity so if you find one he will pretty much be granted the moon.
Eric and I are about 3-3.5 hours away from each other so his pay scale in Roanoke is probably going to be a bit different, but I am sure he remembers that things are definitely more expensive in this location.
As for the gerrymandering of the state am I happy about it? No. Will it change anything? No. Virginia is a blue state. The Elephants, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, and conservatives haven’t received representation in decades. The map is a joke though. They literally slashed Fauquier County in half pushing a portion of it in NOVA and other half into Albermarle knowing it always goes red. The same with the counties of Rappahannock, Culpeper, and Madison. Divide and destroy.
I hope they lose in court though. I also hope that this does not pass, but the Asses control 6 out of the current 11 districts so something tells me it will whether by vote or by force.
I see. Well, thanks for the insight, RG.
Hi, RG,
Don’t get me stahted on “women in construction” [rolling eyes skyward]. You, your husband, and I know full well there are jobs women are *physically* incapable of performing, A sports example:
https://www.corvus-rising.net/blog/posts/sex-not-gender/
(I played #7 in my youth).
Clearly, a national level woman player would get seriously injured if she tried to play on a men’s side. I very much *like* tomboys, but only heterosexual ones. 🙂
I once earned my living as a framing carpenter in SoCal. It is definitely a *young* *man’s* game, as are most other skilled construction trades. Great job when you are 28, not so much when you are 58.
We pretty much worked to a “fixed price,” a.k.a. “piecework.” No woman I have ever met could perform at a level sufficient to “make breakdown,” i.e. earn union scale when fixed price is converted to hours worked. And if you can’t at least make breakdown, you are *gone*.
My GF, previously mentioned, is a highly intelligent, very athletic, and extremely determined woman. She has in fact run the marathon (which I have not), and has performed other physically challenging tasks, but, at 64.5″ height and ~126 lb., would have been incapable of doing what I used to do in my (possibly misspent) youth.
Just sayin..
Hi Adi,
Women in construction? That is not even something the husband or I even thought about. The trades (all of them) are strenuous work. One is lugging up a 50 lb tool bag to reach a three story roof or having four guys lifting a 300 lb commercial ice machine into an enclosed space. I am not against women going into the field, but she needs to be able to handle the strength requirements. There is no way I could do what my husband does. I wouldn’t pretend to even try.
>The trades (all of them) are strenuous work.
Yup.
The only thing “women in construction” can do is sit in the office and type into a computer, for the most part. Although, I *have* heard of women electricians, and possibly communications technicians, which are “lighter” trades.
Also, years ago, I met (at her office) the woman who owned and successfully operated Ayala Boring, which does horizontal boring.
So there are exceptions, but they are quite rare.
Second that, RG!
My buddy the roofing contractor? When he and I were in college I worked with him one summer putting shingles down. And hauling bundles up the ladder. That is hard work – and we were 20. I respect any dude who does that – or similar work.
Nobody hauls the shingles up a ladder by hand anymore. It’s either a conveyor belt thing for a single story or a full on crane from the supply depot that places them on the roof in a certain pattern.
RE: “Nobody hauls the shingles up a ladder by hand anymore.”
Correction: Yes, they do.
I’ve seen it done many, many, many a time here in the Midwest.
I’d take some photos and post them but I’m not that passionate about enlightening ya on this subject.
…Hab a nice day.
Here’s a link to a conveyor belt thing for shingles.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tie-Down-TranzPorter-TP250-250-lbs-Capacity-Roof-Safety-Tool-with-28-ft-Ladder-Hoist-with-Lifan-Engine-60040/328445387
You could revolutionize the roofing business out there in the Midwest.
Taking comp shingles *off* is the hard part. Most people (myself included) do that about once, then willingly pay the roofing contractor to do it.
Slam the tablet stuff: My friends and I who built houses & barns, rebuilt engines on our own, operated cherry picker cranes to lift loads of steel off and onto flatbed semis, and cut steel within .001 of an inch, etc. etc. this is sickening slander, backed up by the empire:
“In my husband’s field of work […] All he asks is for them to show up on time and be drug free…can’t have people showing up high/drunk falling off ladders.”
“falling off ladders.” Psft!
This is the Lamest excuse Ever for the continuation of the War Against Some Drugs and the furtherance of drug testing everyone.
I think, what you seek is an idiot indicator, rather than a drug test.
Drug tests, do not screen out idiots.
They do howevah; screen out the non-compliant free thinkers.
[Just be glad you’re doing our overlords bidding.? Under penalty of law. So,… we understand. You have no choice. Your vocalized support – that – you do have a choice over.]
We don’t do drug tests, helot. Maybe instead of being an absolute ass and assuming that you “know” how my husband’s business is ran maybe you could ask or hell, just continue to be an ass.
We are not being controlled by “overlords”, but you can’t have some guy come in with glassy eyes and put him on a 12’ ladder. Why? Because my husband and I have no desire to put his business and our customer’s business in peril if some guy comes in drunk or high and falls off. I guess in your view we should bear responsibility if said drunk/high guy hurts himself or dies because we did not feel the need to practice due diligence. I am sure his family will accept our reasoning “Well, he was the one that got on the ladder and fell off” as they sue us into oblivion.
I usually don’t go after people personally, but your recent posts are bordering on stupidity.
Morning, RG!
My buddy who owns the roofing business has the same obligation to avoid getting sued because someone working for him did something stupid he could end up being liable for. My buddy’s business carries insurance, of course – but (as you know) if claims get failed, it’s him who ends up paying.
Hi Eric,
Anyone who has a business that requires ladders, heights over 6’ feet, multiple stories, etc. has liability and workers comp premiums that are beyond excessive.
To allow someone who is clearly intoxicated on the job site is beyond stupid.
Helot, sounds like he would be the first to sue if such an occurrence took place on his property.
Steve,
Raider Girl already hit on this, but if the Johnson boy wants to find work, he probably will. I did many a bust-ass job in my day, and how I was raised, “welfare” wasn’t even in my vocabulary. Often times I’d be doing day-labor alongside or even possibly working *for* those here illegally, sometimes being paid under the table. In some of the those jobs, American born “white boys” were hard to find. Now sometimes they might’ve had better digs, but I’m afraid at other times, they were well acquainted with welfare and would rather that than the dirty, sweaty jobs I was doing.
Now, in my world, something like the EEOC wouldn’t exist, as employers should be able to hire who they want. But along those lines, here’s another one for you: Out here in Arizona it seems evident that employment or advancement at certain places is likely contingent on your status in the Invisible Empire, which is my term for the Mormons, i.e. the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”. Perhaps it is evident that your Johnson boy isn’t a member (they usually have a certain “look”.). This is a problem for those us who don’t believe in magic golden books or multiple Heavens and Hells, but the truth be told, it’s their right as employers.
All the Mormons I have known have been very decent people.
In fact, my youngest brother is baptized Mormon, though we were raised Presbyterian. The Mormons were there for him in his time of need.
As for the Mormon chicks, some of them are damned hot.
Ripe, you might say.
You had me right until the end Eric. Complete agreement up to the point of, “The FBI could investigate any state/local official who is party to disbursement of any tax dollars…..yada yada…..” You can file that under the heading of ‘Never, ever, ever going to happen.’
The FBI is the problem. Or more precisely the international communist cabal that controls the FBI. I mean, come on. Whatever happened to ending them? Or, relocating them to Fargo? It was never anything more than red meat click bait. Two parties acting as one.
We should cheer for war in Iran and our possible defeat. Otherwise the police state grows more entrenched. I encourage everyone to sign up for as much free shit as they can get. Make this beast create so much fake money that the entire world shuns us in a single day. It’s the only way this monster dies.
RE: “the FBI. I mean, come on. Whatever happened to ending them?”
That’s so D.O.G.E. of you.
RE: also, “It’s the only way this monster dies.”
In every Godzilla flick, that tail, that fat tail…
I don’t know. I’m on the fence with ICE immigration enforcement. I wholeheartedly agree that all benefits should be denied, those knowingly hiring them should be subject to some sort of penalty and incentives should be provided to leave, like some travel cash and a plane ticket, but it seems to me the in terrorem effect of having ICE publicly arresting illegals is an important aspect to persuade them not to come in the first place and to self deport. The stick, along with a carrot, is oftentimes necessary.
I get it that this can also cause an in terrorem effect as to citizens though. I don’t want to get waylaid by ICE, but I guess I don’t really have a problem with rolling down my window and saying in my American accent that I’m a US citizen.
“ but I guess I don’t really have a problem with rolling down my window and saying in my American accent that I’m a US citizen.” – ML.
Except that won’t be good enough for the ICE Gestapo, that woman in Minneapolis had her window down and was very polite to the thug….just before he put three rounds in her head.
What they want is complete and total obedience ala Cartman’s “respect my authoritah”. They really get off on smashing car windows and yanking people out for a beat down on the ground, or just randomly pepper spraying anyone who looks at them cross eyed. This will continue even after the Orange turd is out of office because FedGov power is on a ratchet that only ever increases.
Let’s see if Clowngress has the stones to cut back the funding for DHS and Trumps private army. Not holding my breath.
Not this clowngress for sure.
Maybe I’m being naive, but should no physical enforcement/arrest measures be employed?
Probable cause that a crime has been committed (i.e. being in the US unlawfully) is necessary to arrest somebody. If they attempt to arrest this US citizen (despite me indicating I’m a US citizen), I’m certainly not going to attempt to drive away. I’ll exercise my rights protected by the 4th, 5th and 6th amendments, physically cooperate in order to preserve my life, fight it (and win) in court, and then sue the shit out of them.
‘saying in my American accent that I’m a US citizen.’ — Mister Liberty
In some cases, ICE is going after young adults brought the US as kids 20 or more years ago, and who speak perfect idiomatic English.
Common sense does not apply. If a database says you should be detained, your verbal defenses are irrelevant.
Being detained sucks, yeah. Being dead, even moreso. I’m guessing, anyway. I’ve never tried it, so can’t really say, but so far as I know, this is your one shot at life. I’m with Mister Liberty. I’d rather give up a day or two in a courtroom and hopefully come away with a winning lottery ticket than end up on the wrong side of the grass before my time.
“I wholeheartedly agree that … those knowingly hiring them should be subject to some sort of penalty…”
I absolutely loathe that answer, but agree it might be the only one that works. First, as Eric points out, those who are actually working are at least not the immediate concern. But on a more fundamental level, this came about because of government employee malfeasance. Since government workers caused the problem, why pin the punishment on the private sector? Sounds pretty commie to me.
But it might be the only way out, and I’d even support it IF you also held every NGO, corporation and agency that caused the problem to the same standard, as well as every poll worker who allows illegals to vote, and every benefits worker who arranges handouts to illegals. And schools who allow illegals in.
So long as public and quasi-public sector is held to at least as high a standard as the private sector, well, ok. Eggs and omelettes.
Psft, Mister Liberty says, “I don’t know. I’m on the fence with ICE immigration enforcement.”
“… ICE can effectively arrest whomever it wishes, without evidence, without a judicial warrant, without knowing the name of the person arrested and without bail. Add to this the infamous Kavanaugh stop doctrine — in which Americans approached by ICE must be prepared to demonstrate citizenship on the streets — and we see a constitutional ice age approaching.”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2026/02/andrew-p-napolitano/the-coming-constitutional-ice-age/
Gee, duh, I dunno?
“I don’t know. I’m on the fence”
…Seriously?> Psft. We’re doomed if this is the majority..
I don’t pretend to have all the answers WRT immigrations, legal and otherwise, but the first question I would ask, is: Where does the Federal Government get the authority to legislate immigration, and at what level shall it be enforced, and if the Federal, what is the duty of the several states and municipalities therein to cooperate with the Feds? Get those questions settled, as if they weren’t already, and proceed IAW the LAW.
Else, you don’t have “Rule of Law”, you have VIOLENCE, or failure to stop same, by those acting UNLAWFULLY.
You can thank Obama for that. He successfully sued Arizona for trying to close the border. You can look it up. Arizona v. United States.
Denial of all benefits for all illegals is a good idea.
However, masking and obscuring one’s identity under color of law is not only illegal but is un-American as well.
That being said…
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been transformed into a quasi-legal federal police force with not only questionable mandates but behavior bordering on criminality as well.
Most people are unaware that ICE has police powers that encompass 150 miles from any federal border. An interesting note, the entire state of Michigan is subject to ICE enforcement as all of Michigan is within 150 miles of a federal border.
ICE has been allowed to utilize face and badge coverings, supposedly to “protect” them from being identified. What is to stop ANY individual with nefarious purposes from utilizing face and badge coverings to criminally accost people just because they can?
ICE uniforms are identical to the uniforms worn by IDF (Israel Defense Forces) personnel in occupied Palestine and Gaza. In fact, USA police departments send their personnel on “free” trips to israel to “see how it’s done”
DHS, FBI, and NYC PD have field offices in Tel Aviv, israel. WHY?.
In fact, ICE itself is riddled with both former and presently serving IOF and mossad types from the top down…the enemy is indeed within the gates…
The only way to identify IDF and mossad types within ICE and other USA “law enforcement” agencies is by smell. IDF and mossad types are dirty piggish people who almost all have poor hygiene habits. Not a joke.
We are all Palestinians, now…
If ICE officials cannot perform their duties without utilizing disguises, they should find another line of work.
USA citizens and green card holders are presently being kidnapped and deported by ICE without due process. This is occurring with increasing frequency as we speak.
I have no problem with deporting illegals. THAT is the chance that they took by entering the country illegally, but (and that’s a very big BUT), utilizing ICE out of normal Constitutional protections is a situation that is already affecting ALL of us, USA citizens and green card holders alike.
Habeas corpus is a basic Constitutional concept that is applicable to ALL people within the borders of the USA. Yes, this includes illegals. Bringing them before a judge before deportation must be used in order to uphold the “rule of law”. If there aren’t enough immigration judges, additional judges can easily be hired and placed to handle the workload.
ICE must be subject to the same Constitutional restraints and “rule of law” as every other police force within the USA.
Another aspect of un-American activities (prodded on by israel and the jewish lobbies within the USA) is the pinpointing, identification and deportation of student visa holders for having “the wrong political beliefs” I. E. protests against genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. THIS aspect of behavior by our government is unconscionable and must be prohibited. So much for “free speech”…
> ICE has police powers that encompass 150 miles from any federal border.
Yes.
BC checkpoint on I15 NB in Riverside County, CA is south of Temecula and north of Vista. I have always just been waved through.
@ Eric:
No worries if you choose to stop by sometime, after visiting your sister in Oceanside.
Open invitation, only call first to make sure I’ll be home. I belleve you already have my landline.
Q: What is another name for a 300 lb. woman who lives in Oceanside, CA?
A: Heavy Marine layer.
A flaming liberal friend of mine posted a pic on facebook declaring this country was built by immigrants. It had a picture of the U.S. mainland with dozens of flags from other countries (some of which didn’t even exist at our founding). Notable in its absence was the flag of Germany.
My question is, did all those “immigrants” demand to be schooled in their native tongue by the locals? Did they expect to get free and reduced meals at the “schools”? Did they get EBT cards and free cell phones from them as well?
Immigrants are fine so long as they’re not looking for a free lunch.
I’m sure there were other flags missing than just the German one. Was the Mexican flag included? Were there any Indian flags?
When Mexico ceded 50% of its territory in Mexican American War 1846-48, Mexicans were promised U.S. citizenship. However, “The Mexican Repatriation was the repatriation or deportation of between 300,000 and 2 million Mexicans and Mexican-Americans from the United States during the Great Depression between 1929 and 1939. Forty to sixty percent were citizens of the United States, overwhelmingly children.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Repatriation
Some of these illegals are no doubt their descendants. There were also indigenous Indians living in the US. Many illegals may be the descendants of the Indians driven out by European immigrants (that or be confined to a reservation).
https://theconversation.com/for-native-americans-us-mexico-border-is-an-imaginary-line-111043
What did you think of the super bowl half time show being in Spanish? In NM, TX and CA (originally Mexico) hispanics now outnumber whites–soon will be majority in these states. Will white people get schooling in English when they become the minority?
You can’t blame the illegals for the US benefit system. Reagan was the one who decided to privatize welfare to reduce waste by disbursing through churches and NGOs. It’s the same vote getting (both business and the poor are for it!) bright idea that has led to the Somali/Day Care/Hospice/Education/Health Insurance company grift bonanzas that defense and infrastructure spending already enjoyed. Now they are spreading it to the prisons.
https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2020/09/15/privatized-prisons-lead-inmates-longer-sentences-study-finds/
>Notable in its absence was the flag of Germany.
Despite the fact that, at one time, those of us Americans of German heritage were the largest single ethnic group in the USA, @ ~20% of total population. Then came WWI & Woodenhead Wilson, with his organized campaign of hatred against said group, of which I am a member (4th gen., born 1949).
F* Woody, that elitist bastard, and the horse he rode in on.
Second all that, Adi –
Maybe this is petty, but I don’t think it is: I like to watch videos abut restored WW II aircraft and also model/RC aircraft. Nine out of ten times, the historically correct emblem is not displayed on the vertical stabilizer. This is a unique case. Soviet and Imperial Japanese vintage (and RC) aircraft always display the appropriate national emblems, e.g., the red star and the rising sun. But heaven forbid anyone see a swastika on the vertical stabilizer of a restored Messerschmitt.
This nonsense extends to warships. Look for pictures of German battleships and half the time, the battle flag of the Kriegsmarine is absent or whited out.
The war ended 81 years ago. Whose feelings are we being made to cater to? And why?
Hey, Eric,
Next time you are in SoCal, consider a journey to Planes of Fame in Chino:
https://planesoffame.org/visit/admission-hours-and-directions
Among other things, they have the only remaining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero
which still flies, as well as two airworthy P51 Mustangs (eerie sound of the Rolls Royce Merlin), etc., including quite a few Luftwaffe planes.
I do not specifically recall the tail markings of the German planes.
The “Shrine of the Little Flower” Catholic Church in Royal Oak Michigan was instituted and popularized by Father Charles Coughlin who was also known as the “Radio Priest”. Father Coughlin was instrumental in exposing jewish communism, banksters and movers and shakers and manipulation of the USA economic system, rightfully blaming (((them))) for many of the country’s ills. His message through his radio program was extremely popular, getting out to the general public, so the Catholic Church at the behest of the jews, (bought out by jews) muzzled him and prohibited him from public speaking. His radio career was now over.
The “Shrine of the Little Flower” Catholic church received donations from just about every country around the world. The entire building is ringed by stonework, displaying every country’s national symbol. Germany’s symbol was the Swastika that was in place on the building until after the summation of WW2. It was then chiseled out (stonework) and replaced with the present-day “Federal Republic of Germany” symbology…
Once again, TRUTH took a back seat to political correctness.
‘[ICE] is about demoralizing Americans.’ — eric
So is this [ICE is a subset of CBP]:
Border Officials Are Said to Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser
‘People familiar with the episode said the use of the technology was not coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration. Officials targeted what they thought was a drug cartel drone, but turned out to be a party balloon, they said.
‘The episode led the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly declare that the nearby airspace would be shut down for 10 days, an extraordinary pause that was quickly lifted Wednesday morning at the direction of the White House.’ — NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/trump-administration-el-paso-airspace-closure-questions.html
Arbitrarily announcing a ten-day shutdown of El Paso’s airport because some CBP cowboy tried to laser a party balloon was an extraordinarily grandiose move. Quite properly, this extreme and unprecedented power grab went straight to the White House for reversal.
‘The left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing,’ as the hokey old aphorism goes. But the US fedgov barked orders, and an hour later a civilian airport serving a million-population metro area was a ghost town.
El Paso is within CBP’s arbitrarily declared jurisdiction zone up to 100 miles inland. At one location on I-10, urban freeway traffic is driving within 500 feet of the Mexican border (the Rio Grande River). And that’s all the wedge the US fedgov needs to muscle in.
Are we demoralized yet?
>Rio Grande River
Redundant.
Rio = River
Do you also say “ATM machine?”
(automatic teller machine machine)?
Eric: “The FBI could investigate and prosecute any state/local official who is party to the disbursement of any tax dollars to finance “services” for people who have no right to them, because they have no legal right to be here.”
That should have been done long ago; the reason why it is not being done now is a question that almost no one asks. It’s almost like the politicians benefit in some way from your tax dollars going to illegal aliens.