I saw many things today worthy of a photograph… Drove to Dripping Springs, west of Austin, today for a client meeting at 11:30. It lasted just over and hour and went very well, so I decided to head over to Austin to visit one of my fraternity brothers, Parham, who has a new condo in the city.

After checking out his place, we went to eat at Guero’s, a popular Mexican food restaurant on South Congress. While there, we saw this person come around the corner who initially appeared to be a woman, but upon further observation it became quite obvious that the two pigtails did little to conceal the individuals true sex. Kodak moment, no?

Afterwards we drove to the Barton Creek mall, walked down the Drag and got some smoothies, stopped by my future house, and then kicked it back to Parham’s. Along the way we saw a man riding a double-decker bicycle–that is, one bike on top of the other–, BATMAN, a bum who admitted to mooching off his mother and just being lazy, some crazy girls, and some good looking ones, too. Quite the interesting day, and more reason why I need to save up and get a new camera asap.

The past week has been absolutely unproductive, but quite enjoyable nonetheless. As previously stated, last Tuesday was my last final, and since then I have done nothing but party, float the river, day trips to Austin, and simply be lazy.

For instance, Saturday my fraternity brother Joe and I drove up to Austin with my dog Cain. We checked out some of the dog shelters looking for a good pit for Joe to adopt, then headed up to Bull Creek to meet up with my sister Angie and a friend of hers. Bull Creek is this local swimming hole slash unofficial dog park with some good hiking trails and swimming areas (although the water is all run-off). Cain had a great time running around and swimming with all the other dogs, while we socialized with the locals. Afterwards we headed over to Angie’s to clean up and went out to eat at Houston’s. After some de-lic-ious ribs, Joe and I drove back to San Marcos for a party their.

I have to get down to work tomorrow, however. Meeting at 11:30am then working on designs all day. I definitely feel the need to accomplish something again, but I’m not going to work too hard just yet; summer’s just beginning!

Ah, school is over, and I walked away with a 3.67 GPA for the semester! To celeberate the end of the year, we had our signature Sig-n-Slide event out at the house. For those who don’t know, it’s a 100ft long, 20ft wide slip-n-slide tarp down the side of a hill with a jump at the end that launches you into our pond. It was insane. I managed to only make myself sore this time and didn’t split open my arm like last year. Ah, I’ll throw up some pictures soon.

In recent weeks there have been numerous marches and protests around the country, including two notably large ones in nearby San Antonio and Austin. A recent post of a friend of mine’s sums up my feelings pretty well, so I’ve taken from him and added my own thoughts on the matter.

The main points of the pro-illegal groups are very easy to discredit.

1. “They do the jobs Americans won’t do.”
   This is perhaps the most-often point mentioned. However, it’s not that they do jobs we won’t do. It’s that they do jobs for a lot cheaper than Americans can do them while still supporting a family. The problem here is companies and their bottom line. Contractors and other trade craft companies all over who only hire Americans are going out of business, forced out by companies who hire all-illegal crews to save money.
   
   
2. “Illegal immigrants contribute to the system.”
   There are exceptions to every rule, but let me tackle this problem with an example: An illegal immigrant with a pregnant wife comes to the U.S. and gets a job making $7 an hour, under the table, at a construction company. Here’s the first problem–he’s now taken a job at $7 that the employer would have had to pay an American $12 or more. Now, this particular illegal is not having taxes taken out of his cash wages, so the economy is now missing one worker’s tax contribution. He can’t support his family on what he makes, so he goes down to the government services offices and get approved for programs like WIC and food stamps because his wife is pregnant with a baby that will be considered an American citizen. He may also get housing assistance and other programs. So now we have someone who is not only NOT contributing to the system, but they are TAKING from it on multiple fronts. They have no medical insurance so when the wife has the baby, that cost will be borne by–you guessed it–the American taxpayer. Add that to the total bill being charged to American generosity. Meanwhile, chances are overwhelming that this family will not learn English, will not make any effort to show any allegiance to the country that is supporting them. Let’s fast-forward a few years, and now the baby is attending public schools. The cost for that is borne yet again by taxpayers–of which our illegal immigrant is still not a part of. The class that this child is in, is forced to learn at a slower pace while they first teach him English and then teach the other children Spanish. And on top of everything, this family sends much of their money home to Mexico so the economy isn’t even getting the (small) benefit of that family’s purchasing power. Instead, the economy is getting a small portion of recycled cash that the government GAVE to this family to begin with.

   If you think this situation isn’t happening, you’re wrong, because it’s happening everywhere, and many times worse than what I’ve just explained. Granted, there are those here and there who pay taxes or contribute. However, this is NOT the standard.
   
   

3. “They just want to be Americans too and have a better life.”
   This is an especially dangerous talking point, because it portrays those who advocate the rule of law as heartless bastards (who are probably racist too), who don’t care if Mexican children starve. The truth is, they do NOT want to be Americans. Note the following quotes:

   “We have an aging white America … They are dying …We have got to eliminate the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to the worst, we have got to kill him.” Professor Jose Angel Gutierrez, University of Texas, Arlington and founder of the La Raza Unida political party

   “One of the more negative parts of the march was when American flags were passed out to make sure the marchers were looked on as part of ‘America’.” Mexica Movement’s website, removed after bloggers started talking about it

   “Good and bad. Great numbers of our people grew eventually to over half a million or more people. Bad in that the American flags were forced on our people by vendidos to make our protest more acceptable to the mainstream media.” Another deleted quote from their website.

Here are some more links if you’re interested:

• Mexico expects the U.S. to take in millions of illegals from their country (and others), and yet look how they treat people sneaking across THEIR borders.
• Look at what is happening to our environment.
• This article in the LA Times explains what is happening to a “sanctuary city.”
• Despite being labelled as such by opponents, it is not a racial issue in the least. Many Latinos are opposed to illegal immigration. And Mexicans aren’t the only ones crossing. This is an actual security issue. We’re fighting a war overseas that is supposed to be for our protection, and yet millions of people are pouring in through the backdoor.
• Read this report by the National Institute of Corrections about prison populations and breakdowns.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• If they “do the jobs Americans won’t do,” then what happens if they get citizenship or amnesty for breaking our laws? If they’re Americans, their first step will be to demand the same wages and benefits as the rest of the country. Then we open up the country for yet another wave of illegal immigrants who are willing to work for ungodly and unfair wages.
• Is it fair to reward anyone for breaking the same laws that you and I have to abide by?
• Is it fair that you have substandard health care because the system is overburdened?
• Is it fair that you work until May, every year, for free because that’s how long it takes for your taxes to be paid, and the money goes to clothe, feed, and educate people who are not even supposed to be here?
• If you believe that illegal immigration is okay, and these people should be allowed to come to the U.S., then how many is too many? Where do you plan to draw the line? How many people can our land and our resources support?

Just some facts and points to stir the debate. Think about it. In a nutshell, it’s like breaking into someone’s home, informing them that you’re here to stay, and then demanding your own room and asking what’s for dinner.

Six days left until school is over! My last final is on the 9th, and then I’m DONE with Texas State forever! I have a huge project due this Saturday, however, and last night I was up till 6am and it looks like tonight is going to be the same. Just one last push and the semester will be behind me.

A quick word about the cellular company Sprint: a) their corporate help lines are horrendous, but b) their in-store staff are very helpful. I spent over a week trying to get something straightened out via telephone support before going to the local Sprint store, and their staff smoothed it all out in under an hour. Also, great prices, crappy phones.

I’m also sending out my resume for some positions that I would be very excited to get, so keep your fingers crossed on that. Take it easy… I know I’ll try to.