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Danny’s Gone
Everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made a bunch. It’s the ones that start small and seem insignificant that sneak up on you over time that are the ones that have the biggest consequence. The mistakes that lead to other people getting hurt are hard to confront. But the most pain comes when a mistake ends up hurting a child. I’ve done that.
I’m not writing about this to cleanse my soul (I wish it were that easy). I’m hoping that readers see this story and learn from my errors. I think my mistake has been made a few million times the past decade or so. It’s just time to discuss the consequences of our actions.
About ten years ago I was in need of a big hole. I have enough property to always need something. This time it was a drainage ditch and a dry well. I knew that there were workers looking for jobs in a nearby town. I’d heard about it from neighbors who had gone to a corner in Ossining, NY where day workers from south of the border came in the mornings. I didn’t think much of it at the time.
Sure enough, there were workers. Construction trucks were picking up guys. When I drove up a half dozen came up to me. They all talked a fast Spanish, they all wanted a job. For no particular reason I chose one. His name was Caesar. Two days later what I wanted done had been accomplished. A nice job at that. I paid cash for the work. It was $80 a day, plus I provided food.
I drove him back to where he lived at night; a not so nice apartment that he shared with eight others. I didn’t think much of it at the time.
He had my telephone number and called a few weeks later and said, “I need work”.
I understood that this was a cry for help from a guy who was having trouble getting food money. I had a ton of things that had been left undone. So I said, “Yes”.
So it became a few days a week. That lasted awhile. I introduced him to others. Everyone needed work done. It turned out that Caesar had many skills. He was a good mason and could lay up stonewalls. He was a painter, gardener, a decent mechanic and a pretty good rough and finish carpenter. He was from Quenca, Ecuador (small city outside of Quito). He had a wife, Ruth, and a daughter who was then three years old. He left his family to come to America.
We talked while we worked, I spoke “Spanglish” he spoke broken English, we understood each other perfectly. He, of course, was here illegally. He had made the long trip from Ecuador to NY via the Texas border. He came to the US because (his words) there were no jobs an no future in his home country. We became friends of a sort.
After a year or so, Caesar had saved up some money. He sent $10,000 (via Citi) back to Ecuador. This was the payoff money to the Coyotes who would transport his wife to the Texas border. She made the trip in the back of a box truck. She was raped on the way.
She was dumped, (with 20 others) in the brush country outside of Brownsville, Texas. She walked to the lights of the city and took a bus to NY. Thousands of “Ruth’s” made this trip.
Not too long after she made the long journey she was pregnant. This may have been the result of two devout Catholics and a long separation. But it was also a defensive move on their part. They knew that a child born in America would automatically become a citizen. They believed that if they were the parents of a American child they would never be deported. A common belief that has led to many children being born to illegal workers.
They named their son Danny. A healthy and happy child. Life was good for the family during the early part of the decade. There was steady work for both of them. Housekeeping for Ruth, Caesar worked construction. In 2003 they had a combined income of $60,000. A number that made them “rich” compared to the world they had come from. They were living the same dream that millions of immigrants had when they came to the US over the years. The difference, of course, was that they were illegal and had no right to be here. They bought fake Social Security cards (easy to get back then).
They lived in an area that was exploding in population of men and women who had come from Ecuador. Word travelled back to Cuenca that work and money was available. Over the course of just five years the illegal population exploded in the towns of Ossining, Peekskill and Mt. Kisco. Bodega’s and restaurants popped up.
Danny grew up fast. I saw to it that he had the medical attention he needed and later pulled a string or two to get him into the local schools. There were birthdays and holidays that I contributed to. He came to my home and I taught him to swim. Unlike his parents, he took to the water and swam like a rat. He called me, “Grandfather”. I was okay with that.
Danny was as much an American boy as any you could find. He spoke English perfectly (much to his parents chagrin). He liked American football, he didn’t play soccer. He loved basketball. He did fine in school. He made many friends. He was invited to the birthday parties of his classmates. He was a very happy kid.
Around 2005 my feelings on what was happening began to change. What had started innocently enough was now morphing into something that was no longer innocent. It was clearly a population explosion that would end up with a bad result. I slowly changed my views. I saw the risks that were developing for all that were involved. This change of heart was influenced by people who knew I was helping a family out. Some made it clear that I should not be helping the “Browns”.
I tried to make things right. I hired a lawyer and sponsored Ruth to become a US citizen. Her application was accepted in 2005. The formal notice that she was “in line” to become legal was a source of a great celebration. Six years later her application had still not gone anywhere. Not one single applicant from Ecuador was given immigration status (Green card) in all those years.
I saw to it that Ruth kept a record of all of her income. She paid taxes on what she made, the same as anyone would do. I thought this was important. It would prove that she was playing by the rules. I thought that the tax records would support her request for citizenship. It never mattered at all.
I no longer hired Caesar. I wanted him “on the books”. So he found work where no one asked questions about his legal status. If he had a SS card (illegal or not) there was plenty of work to be had. Somehow that quasi-legal status made it “right”.
Things fell apart for this family starting in 2008. The recession killed the construction industry. With that went the jobs the illegal’s had come for. The unemployment rate for the illegals went from functionally zero to at least 50%. Caesar was only able to find “pickup” work a few days a week.
I saw what was happening. I urged them to go back to Ecuador. I offered them the money to buy plane tickets. They wanted none of that. They stuck it out in the hope (like so many others) that the US economy would turn around. It never did.
Around 2010 there was a new challenge emerging. The local police began targeting the illegals. They stopped the cars they drove in to work. The cops were clearly profiling (they swore they were not). ICE (Immigration, Customs Enforcement) raided a few businesses that hired these workers. Jobs disappeared as a result. To make things worse the illegals were subject to random attacks. One was beat to death while in the custody of the police. A once happy immigrant community was scared to walk the streets.
Ruth, Caesar and Danny stuck it out as long as they could. But Caesar was stopped by the police and was given a summons to appear in court.
I was gone last week. When I got back there was a message on the phone from Danny. He was leaving the next day. He was crying. He wanted to see me before he left. When I got back I went to his home. He was already gone.
Think what it must be like for a ten-year old boy who is American as any of us to be forced out of the country. Think what a strange life he faces in a country that bears no resemblance to what he grew up with. He will not fit in. He doesn't speak Spanish fluently. His parents are back in a place that they know. They are also back in a place that has no opportunity for them and their son.
I know in my heart that I’m partially responsible for Danny’s plight. There is not much I can do about it. I will find him someday. I’ll try to make this right. But the damage has already been done. There is a ten-year old American boy whose life has been ripped apart. That’s a fact that is very hard for me to come to grip with.
**********************************
There is little to celebrate this Labor Day. There are so many Americans who have no work or are doing jobs for little pay and no upside. The illegal workers who came here in the good times are leaving in droves. In 2007 there were 12mm in the country. The endless recession has reduced that number to 8mm in just a few years. The depression we are living through has hurt many families. The ones that are on the bottom of the rung are paying the biggest price. Families like Danny’s have been hurt the most.
I know that many readers will think that my participation in this story was all wrong. That Danny and I deserve the pain we have. I expect a fair bit of criticism for this. Trust me, no words you can write would make feel worse than I do. I think of Danny all the time. I pray that this American child is safe.
.
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Sad story, for sure. The mention of near-zero unemployment for illegal workers caught my eye. That's a totally free market labor force. No minimum wage, no government-mandated employer obligations, etc. And the result is near-zero unemployment? Is that such a novel concept?
I strongly believe that the government mandate of minimum wage, minimum benefits, etc. is a major factor in the rate of unemployment. It prevents the job market from naturally adjusting in response to the economy. I live in California's central valley. We have 15.1% unemployment at the moment. Everywhere you look, there's a labor union fighting against reduced pay and reduced benefits.
The end result is always the same: insignificant cuts and a whole group of them getting laid off. So the majority of staff retained their near-mid-2000's salaries and benefits, while the rest lost everything. I am no fan of unions, but the result of government legislation has the same effect. Someone in DC thinks they can legislate a miimum standard of living that the economy simply cannot support.
Danny may be better off because if gets a job in his home country, he will hopefully be paid for something that is not worthless. If he stayed here, he would be paid with Uncle Sam Rothschild's worthless Fed Reserve NBotes.
I'm mexican-american, but look ridiculously white, so i've heard the gamut of uncensored racial characterizations. i want to thank you for the straight-forward, yet moving, essay on your friendship with Caesar and his family. Ecuador's not as far as you think. Please consider continuing to contribute to Danny's education.
They haven't retroactively repealed the 14th amendment yet, so he still has his citizenship. If America is still more desirable than Ecuador in eight years, he can attend college here and perhaps fulfill his family's aspirations for social mobility.
Really good, humanizing article whitey. Ty.
Thanks to all of you who read/commented on this.
I accept all the criticism for what I did. It doesn't matter that it was innocent on my part in the beginning. I was wrong.
If I could do this over I would not have made the first mistake. From there things cascaded far out of my control.
For those who think I did the right thing, well, I thank you. It was never my intention to hurt anyone. But it ended up that I did.
I won't make this mistake again. I hope the country has learned the same lesson as I.
Bruce +1
It's a sad state when doing the right thing turns out to be the wrong move.
Sad story. I like the part "no resemblance of his former home". Just wait awhile.......we're working on it.
Janus has way too much time on her hands.
Janus has way too much time on her hands.
Nice to read something written with the heart. Besides intelligence that's what is needed today.
Thank you
The word is "tenets", Janus.
thank you for reading.
correction accepted.
Geez Bruce - seems like you need this tshirt ...
http://www.donkeyts.com/design/459+Neverland+Ranch+Sleepover+T-Shirt
what a load of crap.
Did it occur to you that Danny may have a better life altogether in another banana republic?
There always is a job for illegal mexicans back home: organizer of massive social revolution to overthrow spanish conquestors.
Start with world's richest man Carlos Slim who have acquired state assets for private profit.
Until they at least try, no mercy from Americans.
When someone asked Jesus how to get eternal life, he asked the questioner what he thought, and he restated religious scripture of the day, that one should "love your neighbor as yourself"... Jesus basically said, yep, go do that....but the questioner asked for more detail, wanted to know what the definition of neighbor was.....Jesus answered by telling the story of the Good Samaritan, the visiting foreigner who the crossed the path of a beaten and robbed man and treated him well, tending to his wounds, getting him lodging to heal.....as he would have wanted to be treated, much better than robbed man's countrymen, holy rollers, self-righteous folks of the day who shunned a man in dire need. Jesus then asked the questioner who acted as neighbor.
Regardless of our cultural differences, long or short time of interaction, literally being a neighbor, or being a country away, in my book anybody who crosses our path, we should treat them as we want to be treated.
This is not white guilt, anymore than a person in an oppressed group being moral and decent to someone in oppressors is being a sellout.
+ infinity.
you are a Royal Priest, my friend (II Peter chapter 2).
you will be given dominion over 10 cities.
Jesus actually replied "you greedy bastard. I gave you life and you want eternal life? Why don't you just enjoy the life you have now and live it to its fullest? First step in doing that would be not to fear death. Then you won't ask for eternal life anymore."
Why don't you go to Equator for a visit? It is an interesting county and the weather in that area is spring like year round - with a wet and a dry season. You might not think the situation is so grim after seeing what life is like there. The US is turning into police state shithole with a hollowed out economy. I think they left at a good time.
Danny will be in a great position in Equator knowing English and the basic educational skills to continue learning...and I'll bet he speaks pretty good Spanish. You don't not speak Spanish when your parents don't speak English :]
They are probably glad to get away from the fast food eating, Walmart Shoppin', teevee watching, fat-assed American drones.
Hello Bruce Krasting,
I seem to recall you mentioning in writing about a party that you somewhat enjoy stirring the pot, and I suspect this article's aim is the same.
Here is my dissection of this rather multi-facetted piece:
"Everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made a bunch."
"So it became a few days a week. That lasted awhile. I introduced him to others. Everyone needed work done. It turned out that Caesar had many skills. He was a good mason and could lay up stonewalls. He was a painter, gardener, a decent mechanic and a pretty good rough and finish carpenter. He was from Quenca, Ecuador (small city outside of Quito). He had a wife, Ruth, and a daughter who was then three years old. He left his family to come to America."
"He, of course, was here illegally."
"He sent $10,000 (via Citi) back to Ecuador. This was the payoff money to the Coyotes who would transport his wife to the Texas border. She made the trip in the back of a box truck. She was raped on the way."
"They knew that a child born in America would automatically become a citizen. They believed that if they were the parents of a American child they would never be deported."
"I saw the risks that were developing for all that were involved. This change of heart was influenced by people who knew I was helping a family out. Some made it clear that I should not be helping the “Browns”."
"Around 2010 there was a new challenge emerging. The local police began targeting the illegals. They stopped the cars they drove in to work. The cops were clearly profiling (they swore they were not). ICE (Immigration, Customs Enforcement) raided a few businesses that hired these workers."
"Ruth, Caesar and Danny stuck it out as long as they could. But Caesar was stopped by the police and was given a summons to appear in court."
"When I got back I went to his home. He was already gone."
1). This certainly has the making of a tear wrenching piece. There's elements of adversity and tragedy. There's three principle problems here within the overall piece:
"He came to the US because (his words) there were no jobs an no future in his home country."
"a daughter who was then three years old."
"Ruth, Caesar and Danny"
A). According to Caesar, the region of Ecuador possesses no opportunities, yet Caesar's and Ruth's daughter who is three years old is only mentioned once. The only options here is: she was left behind, which is unlikely as according to Caesar's account, this would be a major flaw and not to mention based on what's presented nearly impossible to suspend disbelief. The next option is that the daughter died prior or during the journey, which certainly would have likely been mentioned 'Grandpa Bruce'. Additionally, if she died during the journey, it couldn't have occurred during Ruth's sexual assault; she would very likely be killed as well. This is a major flaw.
"He sent $10,000 (via Citi) back to Ecuador."
B). It took 10k to bring Ruth to the US illegally, and Caesar claims that the region offers no real opportunity. This begs the question how did he manage to afford getting to the US to begin with? He obviously had to work up to it, which presents a seeming likely contradiction to his account.
C). Although this piece possesses quite a few heart wrenching themes of adversity, the piece relays on being heart wrenching to distract the audience:
a). Caesar and his wife came here illegally, and Causar was hired by you knowingly here illegally. Is this really any different; than, the government green lighting the Federal Reserve and other banks to conduct predatory and largely illegal activity regardless of the basis for committing a crime? Where does it end? It's blatantly clear that Caesar worked his way into the US illegally, which suggests from Ecuador he had some means of success, and both decided to ignoring laws.
b). Around 2010 was roughly when AZ and others started passing State legislation that roughly mirrors the Federal Immigration laws (At least, as best as I can tell...)
c). Danny being born and raised in the US for ex amount of time creates a double bind or catch-22. The adversity directly correlates to being a family who entered the US illegally who borned a child; this isn't an issue of aslyum.
"I tried to make things right. I hired a lawyer and sponsored Ruth to become a US citizen. Her application was accepted in 2005. The formal notice that she was “in line” to become legal was a source of a great celebration. Six years later her application had still not gone anywhere. Not one single applicant from Ecuador was given immigration status (Green card) in all those years."
2). My ex is from another nation. Caesar/Ruth would have to leave the US because their landing was not documented (At least, this is what we were told by the DHS), and they would have to enter the US with a documented landing.
3). Food for thought is that I learned from my past experience that the computers do talk to each other. Even though the lawyer my ex and I had talked to said we didn't need to follow the procedure precisely, we were called into DHS after our marriage license went through. Essentially, when Ruth made tax payment presumbly using a fake and illegal SS Card, Caesar, Ruth, and Danny (suspiciously absent Daughter), she specifically sent up red flags. Additionally, it is interesting that it's easier to simply hop the border and stay underground; than, it is to get visas through the proper procedure isn't it?
Largely, I suspect that this piece is largely satire/fiction, but I'll grant the benefit of the doubt and provide some suggestions:
Hire someone to track them down in Ecuador.
Determine if their deportation was coupled with a felony or other ineligibility deportation justification and attempt to bring them back legally.
I'm not sure if the finances gained stays with them as my ex chose to return home rather than stay and risk deportation, but it may enabled them to create opportunity in Ecuador. Either way, the investigator would certainly be able to find out.
A lot of people are in agreement with you that the story is a fabrication. Per the author Bruce Krasting the daughter was left behind in Ecuador and was raised by her grandmother. Again per the author the brother Danny has never seen her. Although not stated I would also have to assume the parents have not seen her in 10 years.
From where I sit, you did quite a bit to help this family Bruce. It was not you that collapsed the economy, nor was it you that set up the system that made it illegal for them to come here. Nor was it you that deported them.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people on this earth reside in countries that are destitute ratholes-- but most of them are that way because of the people that inhabit them. Singapore is a rock with no natural resources whatsoever. Japan and Korea are the same. Zimbabwe, Ecuador and most of Africa and Latin America have abundant natural resources and fertile land. Why is Singapore so wealthy and Zimbabwe so destitute ? The people that inhabit these nations is your answer. Sad but true. The Chinese are investing billions in Angola's mineral and oil wealth.. and a lot of the expense has to do with security and land mine removal.
as for the rest, i can't speak with any authority. but zimbabwe is a basket case because of one man, mugabe! death to mugabe!
it pains me to say this, but the zimbabwians were MUCH better off under colonial rule. but colonial rule is antique. forced land redistribution is the greatest of all commie crimes. it is not the fault of the white farmers any more than it is the people's 'apathy' (which you seem to imply) that the land is disproportionately held in white hands. yes, clearly, there are cultural differences associated with work-ethics and the like; but the generations resolve these things -- unless tyranny creates an artifical imbalance.
the reality is that land will, of its own accord, be redistributed when the blacks who are currently working as stewards slowly save and learn how to run the farm; then, at a certain time, he either buys him out or takes his experience elsewhere. he couldn't do that under colonial law, because it was tyrannically racist. and he cannot do that under mugabe, because he is a lunatic tyrant.
if all men stand equal before the law (real COMMON LAW), these imbalances are naturally resolved.
but the way the law stands today, we are all zimbabwians squirmin beneath the girth of our own mugabes.
our enemies are bankers and politicians (law givers) and media and the military that supports them all...plain and simple.
the chinese are brutalizing the africans -- if anyone says any different, they have no idea what's going on over there...but, what's the alternative, dealing with an america that's a bit nicer on the surface, but is always weaving the most wicked end-game. so the africans can take their suffering in little chunks along the way, or face an apocalyps all at once at the end -- not good options either way.
Yeah, that's it, no one outside Africa ever messed around in Africa, it's all African people's fault etc...and small island nations like Japan And Britain don't have much, have lots for their people because they are such good,smart, hardworking people....nope, rather they meanest most aggressive thieving imperialists in recent history, and still have the loot left over from genocide and land theft. Used to be the Mongolians that owned the world. Spain had it all a few hundred years befor UK....so you are sort of right, if a people is greedy and blood thirsty and aggressive enough, and they get rich because of it, the next few generations in that country will be quite wealthy, and might even diversify enough to keep it going for a few hundred years, so it is the people.
When WWII ended, Japan was an irradiated heap of rubble, and since then they have not invaded anybody. So moneymutt-- why is Japan a rich nation ?
So moneymutt-- why is Japan a rich nation ?
Firstly, Japan isn't that rich, once you take into account its net public and private debt positions.
Secondly, post WWII, Japan was helped with enormous levels of foreign aid. The US sent masses of experts to Japan to help rebuild their industries, and provided machines and new technology. Japan was allowed to access energy high tech as well (nuclear - lot of good that is doing them right now).
Thirdly, you don't have to physically invade a nation any more to become rich. You can do that by invading a nation industrially and financially. Japan did that quite well for a couple of decades.
Agreed Japan is by no means rich. They have an obscene debt-to-GDP ratio and very few natural resources. They've prospered by being good at building cars and electronics. But China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, etc. have caught up very quickly. Japan will have a serious problem as its GDP declines while its debt remains the same or increases. It will likely be accelerated by the fact that the major trading partners (US and EU) are collapsing and cutting back on discretionary imports.
General Electric is a shit company. The Japs should have bayoneted all the GE managers and execs when they showed up. Banzai! MF'ers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIfxLgB9cW8
TURN IT UP, FASCISTS!!!!
janus is washed in the blood.
i'm all clean/
i'm all spotless/
i'm all pure like the snow/
...have you laid down your burdens/
have you found peace and rest/
are you washed in the blood of the lamb?,
Janus
thanks for the cathartic confessional, Bruce. I visited Ecuador in the summer of 2000 - just shortly before the stolen election - and remember seeing the lines of people patiently qued up outside Banco National - and Banco Progresso - the presidents of the 2 respective banks (and many smaller banks) had literally run their banks into the ground (with the usual sweet-heart insider deals, and overpriced real estate projects) and, with the banks down to their last few millions in the cash, the execs literally made off with the remaining money in vans driven to waiting airplanes... and thence off to Miama, USA, where the US government sheltered the bank-vault looters! As a result of these bank insider-looting failures, and massive money-printing, Ecuador real-estate DROPPED nearly 50% that year, and the country was forced to abandon their currency (the Sucre) for the US dollar.
IT WAS A PREVIEW of what was ABOUT TO GO DOWN in the USA - I made myself very unpopular in my US university poli-sci and finance classes, 2000-2002, trying to point out these very simple "DEREGULATION" and "MONEY PRINTING" = ECONOMIC CHAOS lessons, which were - AND STILL ARE - the prevailing "con-ventional wisdom" here (and in "neo-liberal" dominated ECB).
There IS a SILVER LINING to your story, though. In fact, my host family in Ecuador had a son return from America, but he had NOT been born there- he was "STUCK" in Ecuador, with NO chance to return to USA, and he was very depressed that summer.
YOUR friend's son should have that very valuable American citizenship, so you can hire him LEGALLY (when he is old enough), and, with American pay (even today) going much farther than local paychecks, he can set his parents up with what amounts to a homestead and pension fund in just a few years of work here - especially if you help out by providing room & board. Just send his dad enough money to provide training in those trades his father is skilled at.
The BIGGER PICTURE is that the US "elite/establishment" ("neo-liberal" concentration-of-wealth economics) are ACTIVELY SABOTAGING** the economies in South/Central America - just as they SABOTAGE solar-electric and other sustainable technologies here in America - leading to nightmare prospects for MILLIONS of young men & women - here & there.
** - see Perkins, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/1576753018
oh, no!!!
you better watch out speakin truth around here, buddy!
america's problems are all those greasy south americans and mexicans stealin our jobs....what do you mean predatory capitalism -- you some kinda commie turd? america is always the good guy; we're just always bein buffeted by the sulferous stones these devils like chavez keep hurlin. how dare he think the oil wealth of venezuela belongs to its people!
but, it just goes to show how weak we are, two coups against him FAILED!!! and four more that were planned...all to naught.
we've invested over 40 billion in covert dollars against the man; all money well spent!
yes, it's time to start sqeezin social security -- those old fuckers that paid in their whole lives are to blame for chavez, the collapse of the dollar, and all those jobs those greasy mexicans keep stealin. the fascist logic makes perfect sense. why has it taken janus so long to see the genius of it all.
the evil Neo-Cons - having used and disposed of their (former) "moderate white" and "civil rights" black political alliies , are now courting south-of-border immigrants... even as the Immigrations buses round 'em up in name of "war on terra"! It's quite a fantastic political contortion, but since they OWN the entire whore press/media, they can PRETEND to be concerned for "immigrant rights," even as they SLASH everyone's paychecks, health care, social safety net, JOBS, AND civil rights (etc.)
yes, it's part of the same plan that overtook the 'solid south'.
hispanics, by leveraging their faith, were to be folded into the fascist model -- only as second class citizens (the way we did the irish); but we reckoned they'd show gratitude for our condescention, seein how we were to make them masters of the blacks. funny thing is, the people who were to fold them in HATE the catholic faith. this whole republican embrace of rome is comic to someone like me. don't get me wrong, i have my problems (BIG PROBLEMS) with rome; but the anglo-saxon super structure is not a friend to rome or any of her minions.
it's effective; but it must be stopped. no one wins in this game.
trust me, if people like janus are doomed within it, the hispanic population stands no chance of real liberty...unless you measure liberty in doritos and pepsi and toyotas.
Fiat Money, i will remember your name fondly.
fight the Good Fight,
janus
Next time dig your own fucking hole, Bruce.
maybe janus should hire ceasar to dig one for dick head.
about six feet deep and three feet wide.
follow your leader.
I am intrigued by your posting so much on this one topic, seems more than usual. Is that due to your nature,being god of transition and all that. And your avatar, Janus is a god of two faces, but the avatar indicates two heads (big and small), funny. Do not take my questions as an attack. I find you post interesting, just as you speak in the third person, as a god would when addressing the masses. I find your post refreshing compared to a lot of what I read on here
you are wise by my way of reckoning.
but, unfortunately, janus does not get in the business of explaining himself.
you are most definitely on the right track.
in fact, there is a meaning and purpose to most everything i say; and, oh yes, the avatar is heavily freighted with meaning -- and you are right, but you don't have it all yet.
i have spent 20 years buried deeply in quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore; i'm bringing it to ZH as a sacrifice to the New Age -- we are all turning to face its dawning.
for some, the light will be vexing and searing with its inescapable heat; for others, it will be the warm embrace of something they could never name, and something that was always deep within them; something that feels eerily familiar, something that the just will call home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHEOF_rcND8
let me be the first to welcome you,
janus
Lost in all this is that in Socal they have checkpoints on I-5 and I-15 looking for among other things illegal aliens - long delays while La Migra eyeballs you and decides whether to pull out off the freeway for secondary inspection. The INS has yet to figure out why all those guys are standing in front of Lowe's and HD.
Lost in all this is that in Socal they have checkpoints on I-5 and I-15 looking for among other things illegal aliens - long delays while La Migra eyeballs you and decides whether to pull out off the freeway for secondary inspection. The INS has yet to figure out why all those guys are standing in front of Lowe's and HD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyjNRmSPVMM
turn it up, latent-homos...(my apologies, homosexuals -- just a reference to their hero, adolph)
YOU FASCISTS ARE BOUND TO LOSE!!!!
FOLLOW YOUR LEADER!!!
VOTE JANUS DOWN!!!
WTF
Bruce you are ovecome by guilt - crying over - give yourself a slap and get to it
actions speak much louder than words
(but thanks for the post shows a great deal of courage)
Bruce,
It is obvious that you are a very good man.
Its also obvious that there are quite a number of really spiritually ill posters on zerohedge.
You really brightened my day knowing that there a good men like you around...i read this story to my wife and 5 year old baby today.
Bruce, I don't think you did anything wrong. It took a bad turn. But at some point they would have taken the same turn if you were not involved. My wife and I have been talking about illegals, immigration and what needs to be done going forward. It is really a difficult subject.
Some countries I think New Zealand is one have very strict immigration laws. So there is not a serious problem. We have always been a nation of "freedom and opportunity" so many came to our shores. That was then, and it worked for the most part.... and this is now.
Since we cannot find good full employment for over 20 million Americans, and we know it is getting worse, is it wrong to "close our borders" completely and just take care of us. Should we not solve our own dire problems before we try to solve the problems of "others". It is a tough call, but if this keeps up what is wrong with picking lettuce, onions or doing manual labor. I know, it does not pay as much as unemployment so call me in 99 weeks. At some point, if even for a while, that is the work that is available, then that is what we have to do. So lets close the borders and only "legals" stay until we take care of so much unfinished business here with so many Americans suffering. Selfish, maybe, mean, I don't think so. But is it wrong to put America first, or what is left of it?? And we just do not have the funds, no matter how much we print to take care of us. We know how many illegals, once they are in the system, bleed it even more. They take more of what we do not have.
Tough call.
Kids are tough and resiliant. Danny will be fine. In fact he is probably better off back in the motherland then what he might have faced here in the US. Better they get out now while they can. When the SHTF illegals will be scapegoated along with others.
Quit beating yourself up over this Bruce. Immigrants are tough. I know - I am one.
Bruce,
You broke the first rule of employer/employee relationships ;-)
And to the soon to be starving American ex-workers. Sayonara Suckers!
I wouldn't feel quite so bad about Danny actually. It sucks (for him) that he has to go live in Ecuador now but he'll pick up Spanish soon enough and speaking fluent English will hardly be an albatross around his neck. It's likely that (thanks to Bruce) he already has enjoyed many things in life his parents never did and because he speaks English (and has had some school) he will now have better opportunities in the future.
This is however a good illustration of how fucked up US immigration policy is (the "anchor baby" law is stupid too). The bottom line is that more people in the world would (still) like to live here than the country could ever possibly support. So...if you don't want the whole system to implode you have to be selective about who gets to live and work here. This should be obvious to everyone even those of us who would do exactly what Danny's parents did if we were in their shoes.
The government by the way is the interested party here that's supposed to be on top of this shit and obviously they aren't (I'm sure they'll do better with healthcare). This is the kind of thing that happens with the truly unsustainable system we have had in place for the last 20 years or so.
LET IT BE KNOWN!
janus is trying hard to be nice as we approach jerry lewis's final MDA telethon. i am going to let everything else pass. know this, neocons; i am always here, and always prepared to grind you into dust. i only hope bruce will tempt you to reveal your folly in the very near; so that i can crush you free from guilt (i would not be doing any Good if i cost Jerry's Kids a single dime but hurting the wittle feelings of a potential donor).
so, nitwits, until monday at midnight; you get a free pass. go crazy broadcasting hate. this is your last chance to do it without severe reprisal.
enjoy your little orgy of bigotry...it may be your last.
toodles,
janus
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