Gabe...You said you're a yankee.  You must have heard the old yankee proverb that good fences make good neighbors.  Remember, this wall isn't being built to keep anyone IN.  People are free to leave anytime for just about anywhere.  If it'll help keep out smugglers and illegals, I'm all for it including the cost.  Heck, I'm not adverse to mines, but I suppose that's not politically correct these days.

I am in McAllen right now & had a mani/pedi at my favorite salon.  Got to talking to the nail tech about the growth in the area since I was last here & she informed me that Mission is now like the phoofy burbs where everyone is flocking.  It is something to brag about now, being from/living in Mission.   She lived all her life, til recently, in Reynosa.  She speaks perfect English, works (hard I might add...you should've seen my hooves!), she's sitting on the fence where the wall is concerned (no pun intended), she also thinks Laredo is dirty & the people are mean (I agree 100%, though I'd be mean too if i had to live where it's hot, dry & everything is dead).  I asked her about the violence going on across the border & basically she said it's like any place else, if you have bad intentions, bad things will find you.   If you turn a blind eye & a deaf ear you will be just fine.

Luminary: Thanks for the George Washington tip. I'm interested in learning about that.

Luminary: Fascinated with the border? How can you not be? The Mexican drug cartels have grown to be the most powerful in history, crimes and poverty south of Texas are so bad that desperate immigrants are flocking across the border -- and much of it passes through the Crossroads. Not to mention the problems -- both for U.S. citizens and the illegal immigrants who are smuggled here -- brought here by it all.

I'll be down there again sooner then February.

Salazaa: Thanks for your thoughts. I'll be curious to see how effective the wall is once all the stretches are up.

-- Gabe

 

This wall business is a bunch of B.S.  It may work small sections at any given time.  As for dollar value, we cannot afford this foolish wall.  Stupid expensive ideas like this set us on the path to become North America’s Mexico and most likely, will be when if ever we complete this asinine project.  I doubt it will ever be completed, just another waste of our grandkids tax dollar.

Thanks, A2847LRT. What was the border wall built with -- concrete, metal, etc. -- where you were stationed?

Also, can you call me at 361-580-6519. I'd like to pick your brain.

Thanks -- Gabe

As a former BP Agent who served five years fighting that battle I can tell you (in aggreance with 99% of the Average Joe Agents---meaning the ones who actually do the work and don't wear the brass) that the wall will not work.  While detailed as reinforcement to New Mexico, then Arizona and California back in 2003-04, I can tell you the wall was already being built and the public didn't even know it.  Yes, that is the God's honest truth.  It was kept secret and easily so in the remote areas they were building.  In Arizona I spent every day taking at least some time to stop by and check in on the Marine Unit deployed from San Diego who were building the wall.  In New Mexico an Army unit fresh from Iraq was deployed to stary work on one there.  In order to try and keep the public unaware the soldiers slept in the desert and weren't allowed to even leave the premises.  I was there long enough to see a significant amount of the wall go up and was also there long enough to witness first hand the illegals find ways to get over it only to have to chase them down.  So no, it won't work.  These cartels and smuggling rings are intelligent, wealthy, overflowing with the technology needed to outsmart us, and will continue to find ways to get across.  It will always be a battle as it is now.  The Border Patrol doing their best to stop who they can.  Again, I've seen it first hand, I've eaten MRE's with the soldiers who were building the "unknown wall" 4 years ago, I've touched it, I've chase illegals over and around it, and I reiterate, IT WILL NOT STOP THEM.

Hey, Texasmom. Yeah, Frank Tilley, Advocate photo editor, was with me and he snapped a bunch. We'll publish a few of those with Wednesday's story and then several with November's Fatal Funnel installment, which details the Texas Minutemen.

The Minutemen are in Mission this month.

Thanks -- Gabe

Hey, Gabe did you take any pictures?

Thanks, sandwichh. I've been researching Mexican drug cartels -- their violence, penetration into the U.S. and operations here in Texas. If you'd like to follow what I find daily, click here.

I'm updating this Fatal Funnel / Cartel forum daily. To view this forum, click here. I hope to have daily conversations about the drug violence.

To go directly to that forum, visit www.VictoriaAdvocate.com/FatalFunnel (you can also link to it from the rotating banner on the homepage), and then click < FORUMS >, which is found at the top of the Fatal Funnel homepage.

Thanks again -- Gabe

It makes sense when you have an unruly neighbor. One that won't abide by laws, community regs, etc.. Truly, this is Mexico as it relates to our laws, our infrastucture, social system, etc.. And now here come the drug lords.