Illegal Immigration in Small-town America

I see in the news that the little township of Riverside in Burlington County, New Jersey—where I lived briefly as a child in the early 60s—has voted to repeal a law that was voted in in July 2006.  The law would penalize employers or landlords $1,000 to $2,000 for hiring or renting to illegal aliens.  Riverside’s population of about 8,000 is estimated to be nearly half comprised of residents who are here illegally, many of whom come from Portugal and Brazil.

And why did this little township repeal this common-sense law?  Because they don’t believe they can afford to defend the legal challenges in federal courts!  What an outrage!  On the one hand the federal government demonstrates that it is absolutely willing to look the other way and not enforce its own immigration policy, and on the other they’re populating the courts with “justices” who will sometimes rule in favor of illegal immigrants—as happened earlier this year in Hazelton, Pennsylvania—thus stifling the efforts of small-town America in making and enforcing policy that is the federal government’s responsibility in the first place!

In the words of former Ohio congressman, Jim Traficant, “Beam me up!”

What a Woman!

This is a great story:

82-year-old Venus Ramey of Lincoln County, Kentucky, confronted three men who had been stealing machine parts off of old metalworking equipment she had stored in a building.  Balancing on her walking stick, this no-nonsense lady pulled out a snub-nosed .38-caliber pistol and shot out a tire on the thieves’ truck so they could not get away.  She then flagged down a passing vehicle and had someone call 911 to send out the police to have the men arrested.  All three were arrested, one at the scene, and the other two walking on a nearby road.

Recounting the story, Ramey said, “I didn’t even think twice. I just went and did it. If they’d even dared come close to me, they’d be 6 feet under by now.”

The thing that makes this story even more interesting is the fact that Venus Ramey was crowned Miss America in 1944, representing the District of Columbia in the contest.  Wow!  What a woman!

 

Venus Ramey's page at missamerica.org

Are “Gun-free Zones” Barrels of Fish for Shooters?

Tennessee Moves to Allow Guns in Public Buildings

NASHVILLE — In a surprise move, a House panel voted today to repeal a state law that forbids the carrying of handguns on property and buildings owned by state, county and city governments — including parks and playgrounds.

“I think the recent Virginia disaster — or catastrophe or nightmare or whatever you want to call it — has woken up a lot of people to the need for having guns available to law-abiding citizens,” said Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains. “I hope that is what this vote reflects.”

Excitement on the Parkway

Today I was driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway southbound between the Mill Mountain Spur and Route 220. The time was probably about 11:45 a.m., give or take a few minutes. As I approached the turn-off to take 220 north, I noticed a number of vehicles parked on the shoulder of the Parkway on the northbound side. As I got closer I could see that four of the vehicles were Sheriffs' cars, and the fifth one was a blue SUV.

I rubber-necked a little bit, but I could not see what was happening. It must be something serious, I thought, to have four police vehicles responding. I mean, how often do you see that?

Does anyone reading this have any idea what was happening out there?