Immigration Debate and Medical Care

Perhaps you have heard about the 2 governors...from New Mexico and Arizona....who recently filed suit against the federal goverment concerning the financial crisis they are facing. Uncontrolled illegal immigrant smuggling...along with drug running...is bankrupting those states. Hit just as hard is California and Texas. As a resident of California...I am particularly astute to the problems here. Believe me when I say that southern California is overrun with illegal aliens. Here is another prime example of what I mean.

Yesterday I was forced to go to UCLA Harbor County Hospital for treatment. Since my health insurance with Kaiser Permanente was cut off...thanks to TSA...I have no other alternative. The injury they caused in 2003 to my back...refuses to heal; therefore, I have to seek treatment where I can get it. UCLA Harbor is notorious for treating the downtrodden masses. In particular...they treat mainly the poorest of the poor. In fact...a sign posted in the sign-in desk explains their policy quite well..."No Patient is Refused Treatment". The place is a virtual madhouse all day. From the twilight of the morning....to well after dark...wall to wall people. For my brief 15 minutes with a doctor...took an 8 hour wait.

Anyway...I digress. I could count on one hand the caucasion people I saw there for treatment throughout the day. Ditto for the people of asian descent. By far the largest group of people seeking treatment were those of hispanic descent...with blacks lagging well behind in second. I engaged in some conversation with a few of the nurses about the cost drain on the county for this. I was told that a majority of the people who sought treatment could not pay for the care they received...and they believed that many were illegally in the country. Of course they had no way to really know this...as they were prohibited from asking for their proof of residency or work status. Any one who walked through the door was seen and treated. Of course...you can imagine where the money comes from from all of that free medical care. Very disappointing to say the least.

I don't know about any of you...but as a natural born 4th generation citizen and former civil servant and veteran of the armed forces of this county...I am really getting sick of not having a voice in the immigration policies we have. It's like talking to a wall. Politicians are too busy trying to get re-elected and just don't give a damn if the country goes down the tubes.

Too me...the biggest failure of all is allowing any child born on US soil to be an automatic citizen...regardless of the parents status. Very few other countries in the world allow for this...including Mexico! No more automatic citzenship for everyone. It creates a whole class of "anchor" babies...who then have a foothold to move entire families here. If you are in this country illegally...you should not expect to see your kids granted automatic US citizenship if they are born here.

People are getting fed up with this bullshit! I am getting fed up with this bullshit! It has taken some time...but the wheels are starting to turn as more people become directly impacted by illegal immigration. Just look at the governors of New Mexico and Arizona. Look at the school, housing and health crises in California. Enough is enough! As a citizen and veteran of this country...I demand a voice! Citizens and veterans should never have to take a back seat to people who do not love this country...or break our laws...or refuse to try and assimilate...and lastly...cross our borders illegally. Never!

......and Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

Murder Trial

Today I was googling the net and to my surprise...came across a news story from a linked site. In this site were the accounts of a murder trial that happened in 1997. It seemed ordinary enough...for a murder trial that is. But then I saw something that piqued my interest. As I was reading down the index column, there was an entry for July 1997. The entry made reference to several federal agents.

I quickly clicked the link and discovered that one of the agents mentioned...was none other than my long lost flame from my academy days. She had given testimony regarding items found on the suspected murders...in particular...about wallets that were recovered after their arrest.

I knew it was her and my heart initially jumped. My breathing increased and my emotions kicked in. Why had I never found this story before? I don't know...God knows I have googled her often enough just trying to get any information about her welfare. It was like she fell off of the face of the earth. In all of my computing experience since the day we parted ways...I have never found even one mention of her name anywhere in cyberspace. How ironic that it was only now did even the tiniest bit of information come forth.

As quickly as my exitement rose...it fell just as fast. For there was really nothing in that story but a couple of sentences. Nothing more. Now sadness creeped forth...biting at my heart and soul. As I again faced the futility of it all...the tears welled from within me. A few made their way down to the floor...where they dried up as quickly as had my hopes and dreams. Another goose chase...another snipe hunt...another red herring. Will it ever stop? No...I think not.

Yet I remain a prisoner of her love. Chained in the mists of time...shackled like some poor animal that was caught in a trap. The hunter comes...wielding his sword of fury. My fate awaits me...as only time can tell.

Sigh...........................................................

2 weeks later...

Well...it has been 2 weeks since I have been on this thing. Just scrapping by...barely. Last week was my birthday...August 7. Boy that year sure went by fast. The older you get...the faster they go! I am definately on my way to 50 now. Didn't do anything...much. Went to the X games here in LA. That was OK. Got some great pics of the Big Air competion for skateboarding. They have more guts than brains. The highest ramp was 90 feet...on a skateboard! Saw several spectacular wipeouts. I will see if I can get a couple of pics posted of them.

Not much more going on here. I hope that Alma is having a better time than I am. I am sure that she is. I sure miss her. I sincerly hope that remembers me as fondly...as do I of her. I was just looking at her grainy pic...and her beauty still ignites my fire. Just once I would like to see her again. You know my luck though...fat chance. I am pushing the edge just putting my thoughts and feelings to word on this blog. It is my only outlet...the other doors remain closed...secured with padlocks of steel. No boltcutters do I have...nor do I have the keys to unlock those doors.

Oh...just about forgot. I went with my cousin last week to Calabasas...a small town north of LA on the 101 freeway. I have been up there dozens of times. You would have thought I had seen...or heard...it all. Wrong! I never knew there was a Malibu lake. From Las Virgenes road in Calabasas it is about 9 miles to the coast and Pepperdine University. About halfway is a small road, go right about 3 miles and there it is...Malibu Lake. A small lake, but filled with the homes of the affluent. Many of the homes were right on the shore and they had their own boat docks. Many dollars were spent on these...you can be sure. Must be nice! Up from the lake is a creek draining into it. I walked a little ways with my cousin and checked it out. About that time a well known naturalist by the name of Suzanne approached us. We talked to her for awhile...very interesting and informative. She was an expert in the history of the Chumash indians...who once inhabited this area. A nice little day trip to be sure.

Oh, and just today...I was driving to my cousin's office to check on my Ebay stuff. On the way there was a seemingly well picked over yard sale. All but one thing that is. There sat a rather lonely looking computer monitor. A black and silver one. I quickly stopped and checked it out. It turned out to be am Envision 19" pure flat monitor. It looked almost new. I was curious why it was still there. Stuff like this doesn't last long. As it was...his mother just brought it over. I checked it out and it seemed to work fine. I spent $30 on it. Upon arriving at the office...I hooked it up to my computer...nice!!!!!! Great resolution. I checked the web and discovered that this particular model usually sells from 150 to 200 bucks. I guess it was my belated birthday present. Not bad for 30 bucks. One bright spot in an otherwise lackluster summer.

And so it goes....sigh