Unsold Homes Tie People Down; Michael Chertoff's Insult
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.08
Unsold Homes Tie Down Would-Be Transplants: Dr. Michele Morgan migrated last fall from Detroit to Phoenix, taking a job as a psychiatrist. She expected her husband, Sam Kirkland, to soon join her, since he was accepting an early retirement package from his employer, General Motors. But he cannot move, he says, because he has not been able to sell the four-bedroom family home. ::New York Times Fodder for our discussion on Is Home Ownership a Good Thing? and The Next Slum.
Michael Chertoff’s Insult:To the long list of things the Bush administration is willing to trash in its rush to appease immigration hard-liners, you can now add dozens of important environmental laws and hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border. ::New York Times A strong editorial. Background at ::Michael Chertoff, Environmental Action Figure and ::Ecological Dangers of Border Wall
"...administration is willing to trash...hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border."
HOGWASH!
ABSOLUTE 100% PURE HOGWASH!
I live in Southern AZ and let me tell you the pure truth.
4 million illegals cross the U.S./Mex border every year and half (2 million) come through AZ. They plod through washes, mtn passes, private property, public and state lands and leave a path of trash, feces litter and garbage on the scale of 100s of tons!
If you are a bird or desert animal, what kind of effect do you think having a constant stream of humans traipsing through your hunting, feeding, nesting and breeding grounds has?
Let me tell you, that effect is one of absolute devastation!
We need that wall to protect wildlife, plant life, water source purity, the lives of Arizona's citizenry including hikers, naturalists and park rangers and also the lives of the illegal aliens themselves because they have a huge propensity to kill, rape and rob each other on the way up!
If you can't tell tell that I am dead serious by the tone of my writing, I challenge you to come down here and live and we'll see how long you can keep your head in the sand!
"...administration is willing to trash ...hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border. "
I live in southern AZ.
My response to this and other claims of similar ilk is...HOGWASH!!!
The Border Patrol reports that 2 million illegals trek across the AZ-MEX border every year. They are so common that you can go on a hiking trail and still see twice as many illegals as hikers.
yet, the majority move only at night and are not seen by routine observation.
They toss 100s of tons (no exaggeration) of litter, garbage and feces in washes and pathways. They disrupt feeding and breeding ot the local wild-life and birdlife.
meanwhile, Organ Pipe Cactus Nat'l Park has severely limited access to tthe public after one of their rangers was murdered by drugrunners (which are rampant) and landowners live under constant fear of ongoing criminal activiity by illegal immigrants.
If you care about the environment, the safety of residents of southern AZ, the health of the Nat'l parks, sky island biotic communities and grasslands of this beautiful piece of the earth, you will be in favor of a fence.
One has to ask why a Psychologist and retired GM worker can't bring enough cash to the table to sell the house.
It's a $200k house, lower the price and if the mortgage is higher than the selling price. If they don't have enough cash to sell it, their retirement plans are doomed anyway.
Those that live below their means and have cash are going to be just fine in the future....