AZ ruling just intensifies my mixed feelings

Phoenix shootout leaves 1 officer, 2 suspects dead

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Chandler officer’s death marks the third on-duty death of a Valley police officer this year.

Those are the kind of stories that prompt some people to mess with the Arizona flag, and others to embrace that imaginary flag.


Well that and not being able to get assistance in a store because the clerks were busy bullshitting in Spanish. That I experienced shopping in Phoenix with my mother. Since both of us have more than brief experience working as retail clerks we know what is reasonable and what is unreasonable to expect from retail clerks and we were patient, and then resolved to never shop there again. This wasn't an isolated incident and who knows, maybe some hispanics were already touchy about their experiences with white racists. I've dealt with that before. When an historically oppressed minority gets a little bit of power stuff happens, it's human nature. I'm only saying that it's more than just crime stories on the news that have prompted some people's anger in AZ. I know the crime stats are down.

Immigration ruling could send message to states

By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press WriterThursday, July 29, 2010

Arizona preparing appeal of immigration ruling
By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press WriterThursday, July 29, 2010

"...Arizona is the nation's epicenter of illegal immigration, with more than 400,000 undocumented residents. The state's border with Mexico is awash with smugglers and drugs that funnel narcotics and immigrants throughout the U.S., and the influx of illegal migrants drains vast sums of money from hospitals, education and other services...

..Arizona argues that the federal government has failed to secure the border, and that it has a right to take matters into its own hands...

Although I do understand the frustration of Arizonans, because it was the crackdown on immigration in San Diego that pushed the illegals east into the desert, ("...An estimated 10.8 million people, about 26 percent of the state's population, are living illegally in California, compared with 460,000, about 12 percent, in Arizona..." ) frankly I agree with the new ruling by Judge Bolton in that the burdens for legal immigrants are onerous. The burdens are also onerous for law enforcement, although I wonder if career criminals who happen to be undocumented might be encouraged to find another line of work after a long stint in a Mexican jail. Probably not, because law enforcement in Mexico has been known to cooperate with the cartels.

None of this excuses Americans and their drug habits. If there were no market for illegal drugs in the US, then Mexico wouldn't have drug revenues that exceeded oil revenues. And it ain't just Mexico we're talking about here.

29 July 2010 Last updated at 20:37 ETGuatemala tries Mexican massacre suspects
Guatemalan security forces are increasingly battling Mexican gangs
The trial has opened in Guatemala of 14 alleged members of the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas.

I pretty much agree with this guy. This is who benefits from the war on drugs. I didn't initially think of terrorist groups althoughI have blogged about it before. I just don't generally think of South American drugs gangs as terrorists, although some might disagree with me there.

The radical reactions from the right and the left are not helping Arizona deal with what really is a problem.


UPDATED ON:
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2010
07:57 MECCA TIME, 04:57 GMT Top Mexico drug lord killed
'King of Crystal'
Coronel, who has been indicted in the US, was said by officials to have been the number three leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, which is active in northwestern Mexico.