A Lady's Ruminations

"Jane was firm where she felt herself to be right." -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

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I'm also a usually quiet, reserved Lady, who enjoys books, tea, baking, and movies! I spend most of my time reading one of my favorite books or wishing I was reading my favorite books. My Grand Passion is history, particularly the Regency Period in England, when Jane Austen wrote, Lord Nelson defeated the French Fleet at Trafalgar, the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon, and men were Gentlemen and women Ladies. I cherish the thought of being a Lady and love manners, being proper, and having proper tea. My favorite tea is Twinings, especially Earl Grey or Prince of Wales. My specialty to make is Scones with Devon Cream. I am a Catholic and a Conservative.


Monday, October 24, 2005

Guard the Borders Blogburst: the Minutemen

This week for the Guard the Borders blogburst, I want to highlight a group of Americans who are quite literally doing just that - guarding our borders. They have taken it upon themselves to do what our government has failed to do - and that is to monitor our borders and report illegal crossers. I have long admired the Minutemen, since they first arrived on the scene in 2004. They have been maligned and slandered, by none less than our own President. But they have unwaveringly persevered, and in doing so, highlighted our elected leaders’ egregious failures!

For this Blogburst, I’m going to give you an insider’s view of what is going on on the Texas border as we speak. Here is a weekly update [edited for grammar, emphasis mine], as the TX Minutemen enter their last week of guarding our border.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Texas Minutemen at work:
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TxMM Border Watch News Update 10/22/2005

Daily

We start every weeek day with an early morning 2 hr radio interview with JC McClain of Brownwood, TX. His radio station has kept up will all our activity and he was with us on the actual border. At one time JC was near the Fabens port of entry and saw a Mexican national with four women and was told that the U.S. side was actually “Mexico” and that the TxMM should move out of the way so he could bring the women in. JC told them to use the proper Port of Entry which anyone could see from where they stood. Then this bozo started throwing rocks at JC! JC called BP [Border Patrol] and when they arrived all of the illegals ran back to Mexico.

We often have other reporters on site. Last week it was a reporter from Dallas Morning News. And we had Jay Gormley CBS TV from Dallas here for another interview which will air on Nov 11. Plus, we gave reporters a tour of the Fabens & Ft. Hancock setup and staging area. Then they had a chance to ride in a TxMM airplane and see from the air the crossers gathering and getting ready. Most are amazed at the numbers.

We all struggle for sleep time as there is never enough of it.

This last week

Near the levee we spotted 2 Mexican military with a tent. We let Border Patrol know.

We went farther down toward Ft. Hancock and saw 3 guys in a pickup with empty bags. We assume that was for a money drop.

Mexico has printed in their papers near the border long range pictures of some of our people and activites. They warn Mexicans to not cross, as the TxMM are there waiting. [ed. - Deterrence is a beautiful thing! I hope our government is taking notes.]
One Mexican we found near the levee tried to intimidate by asking a TxMM if he had “wife and children”. He was then informed that the TxMM had many guns. The would-be intimidator left the area. [ed. - These illegals are very bold and cocky - thanks to our lax American government.]
This month so far

Night after night, our guys have been calling BP and turning in 5, 16, 9 , 20+ at a time. The BP has responded very quickly and they have been a pleasure to work with. So has Sheriff Samaniego’s office. They have been courteous, warn us to obey the law - which we do - and they have run off troublemakers who were breaking the law via trespass or various other violations.

Our presense has made a DEFINITE difference in the EP [El Paso]/Fabens/Ft. Hancock area. We will have a good idea of the numbers sometime in November via BP logs.

Early in the month [Governor] Perry came out with his promise for more $$$ for Sheriff’s border activites. Perry and TX Atty General did a flyover in a Blackhawk chopper in our area and saw illegals massing on the Mexico side just waiting for nightfall. Then Perry came out with the $$ promise.

Some of that money was opened to EP Sheriff office and that made a difference. Within a day of the extra funding Sheriff Samaniego sent deputies down to Fabens area with dogs to make searches. BP was in on that with their own dogs. They flushed many illegals out of the pecan orchards and the cotton fields that have grown high enough to hide people.

Now some deputies are loosly stationed on or near many of the ranches. [ed. - Looks like the money was spent needfully and efficiently.]
During the same time period, the BP and Sheriff’s office intercepted a drug shipment of over 1400 lbs of marijuana and 19 lbs of cocaine!

All of the above happened because of pressure on the governor and other politicians. TxMM contributed to that pressure and helped spot activity, illegals crossing, and others obviously protecting or waiting for drug shipments. DEA was also involved in the effort.

In the TxMM border watch area, we have enjoyed GREAT relations with the Sheriff and Border Patrol. There are other agencies but they like to keep a low profile. One night there was a bit of suspicious activity going on and when we called it in to BP they said these people were “undercover” BP. Since the BP does not have undercover we then learned that this was another alphabet agency helping on interdiction.

Many of the illegal safe houses in EP and Fabens have been identified and are currently being monitored by some of those agencies. Some locals have told us that it WAS common to see gang types standing around on street corners making drug deals in broad daylight. They are much more subdued right now.

In fact the word about the TxMM has gone across the border so well that they are now avoiding our area and trying to flow around us. But we keep moving our patrols so they are unpredictable.

The ranchers are thrilled with the difference and would like us to stay permanently. Well, we would like to but it costs everyone to be there and all need to go home to families and children and jobs.


Are we making a difference ????


You bet we are.

The numbers of crossers is way down. The drugs are not getting through, plus large shipments have been caught. This hurts their wallets.

All the activity has hurt Governor Perry and he is talking a different talk. We hope to push him even harder soon to enforce our laws.

We now have TX congress people and our state legislators talking about various bills and cutting out benefits to illegals.

All of this is a plus. We just need to keep pushing on the issue.

Special Mention of MM

For all those who came or are now on the border……you are REAL Americans who care about your county.

For the couch sitters…..you ought to try being active sometime…..the feeling is great when you actually make a difference.

For our pilot Tom Bishop…….you did great work.

For Stacky Odum the Bushmaster…….you showed everyone how to just melt into the brush.

For Cowboy Bob who is now out of the hospital and then just HAD to come down to see what was going on……take your meds and stay home and rest.

For Marvin Brooke who has been there the entire month so far………it is people like you who make this work.

Folks, this has been a roaring success and we have changed things. We think we will be back in April, so all those who did NOT go …. start making your plans now and plan to be there.

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to kit.jarrell at gmail dot com.


Blogs already on board:
Euphoric Reality
A Lady's Ruminations
TMH's Bacon Bits
Part-Time Pundit
Social Sense

Cao's Blog
Ogre's Politics and Views
In The Bullpen
Ravings of a Mad Tech
America Is Not A Pinata!

NIF
Every Man
Kender's Musings
Third World County
REAL Teen

Gribbit's Word
NYgirl
Right on Right
Team Swap
Gina's Rantings

Mover Mike
DANEgerus
Publius Rendezvous
Our Way of Life
View From Tonka

View From Tonka
Left Brain Female in a Right Brain World
Something and Half of Something
Curley's Corner