There’s a review of Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression in the University Bookman:

Whether the political winds shift left or right, patterns of behavior in Latin America are still guided, according to Vargas Llosa, by “five principles of oppression:” corporatism, state mercantilism, privilege, wealth transfer, and political law. Of the five, political law, defined by Vargas Llosa as “power over the truth,” makes all the other principles possible. In Latin America, the interests of men always seem to trump the impartiality of the law.

Vargas Llosa claims these principles began during the Stone Age empires of the Aztecs and the Incas and were reinforced by the Golden Age empire of the Spanish. Their theological foundations were honed during the age of absolutism. No political movement in Latin America, not even the liberal republicanism of the early nineteenth century, has succeeded in eliminating them. Indeed, the republican tradition quickly gave way to the caudillo tradition, the rule of the strong, which in turn made the state illegitimate in the eyes of most. Even “institutional” revolutions, like that of Mexico in the early twentieth century, only ended up consolidating these “five deadly sins” by confiscating property and imposing other statist policies.[The Latin America’s Five Deadly Sins, By Michael J. Ard, University Bookman, Volume 45, Number 2 (Spring 2007)]

So here’s the question–if you’re looking for “Hispanic votes,”and importing Hispanic voters, are these the political traditions you’re supporting?

You might ask the citizens of the formerly American towns of Maywood and South Gate.

Our friend J. Paige Straley sent me the following good news update on his recent VDARE.COM about Sheriff Jim Pendergraph of Mecklenburg County (Charlotte, NC) who pioneered the use of the 287 (g) “Identify Illegal Aliens” program in the eastern US. h

According to Straley, the Democratic head of the Mecklenburg County Commission, Parks Helms, wanted to undermine Pendergraph’s effort by changing the management of the jail. Typical NC practice is for the County Sheriff to do this job, but Helms proposed making jail administration a non-elected civil service position.
You can read the Charlotte Observer newspaper story here:

The real meat is several paragraphs down where the story identifies Mr. Helms’ strongest supporters :

“Charlotte-area Latino leaders — including Maudia Melendez, leader of Jesus Ministry, and Rafael Prieto, editor and publisher of Mi Gente Spanish language newspaper — said they will lobby for the Democratic Party to use the sheriff’s retirement as an opportunity to abolish or modify the program.”

The irony is that Pendergraph is slated to leave the Sheriff’s office and move into an ICE slot at the express invitation of the Sec. Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. His main responsibility will be to facilitate the implementation of the 287(g) program.

But Helms’ motion was defeated. Read about it in the Charlotte Observer report noting that it only took a day for the Chair of the Mecklenberg County. Commission to withdraw Helms’ motion.

Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts said,

“I have decided, upon further reflection, that this concept should be withdrawn. Period. The intent of the county manager and the vice chair of the county commission was not malicious. But the process was wrong, and the timing was wrong. This is not the way to do business in Mecklenburg County.”

The story said Helms did not intend to “….placate Latino activists…” and that the Democrat commissioners actually do support the 287(g) program.
Contact Chairwoman Roberts , and congratulate her on continuing to support the law and the 287(g) program.

Straley encourages good folks that might want to do more should click here for the email addresses of the other county commissioners: h noting that they are always hungry for input.

Mike Glover writes at Associated Press:

Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that if elected president he would end illegal immigration in as few as three years by employing the same police tactics he used to reduce the crime rate as New York mayor.

“It can be done. It is not impossible,” Giuliani told his audience at a town hall-style meeting. “You can do this, you can stop them at the border.”

Now, immigration is a bit different than crime. New York could “solve” its crime problem largely by getting people likely to commit crimes to move to places like Newark and Philadelphia. The stakes with immigration policy are much higher–if the problem isn’t handled correctly and with the proper safeguards, the governments of Mexico and some other nearby countries could easily be destabilized.

We need an immigration solution that is part of a package that means the average worker in the US is clearly better off than they are today-and so is the average worker in Mexico and other source countries. I strongly favor stiffer enforcement–but enforcement alone won’t solve the problems here. We also need to go after the rich scum on both sides of the border whohave profited from illegal immigration–and that isn’t the kind of criminal Rudy Giuliani has the guts to go after.

I was wondering what impact Galileo’s conviction had on science in Italy, so I took a look at the database Charles Murray sent me of the 4002 eminent artists and scientists he compiled from leading reference books for his 2003 book Human Accomplishment.

From 1000 AD to Galileo’s conviction in 1632, Italy furnished 34.7% of the world’s scientific eminence. From then up through 1950, it only accounted for 3.46%. Now that’s what I call an order of magnitude!

Italian contributions to science (measured at the scientist’s 40th birthday) continued on fairly strong for the rest of the 17th Century, so the Galileo trial impact wasn’t immediate. Of course, the 17th Century was like Andy Warhol’s factory–everybody was a genius! (Except, in the 17th Century there really were geniuses throughout Europe). But, in Italy slowly things sloooowed down, as they sped up elsewhere.

We’re not used to things getting more boring and unproductive, but it has been a common tendency throughout history, and one we may get familiar with again.

Slate’s always useful e-service Today’s Papers reports:

The fires have focused attention on Southern California’s many illegal immigrants from Mexico, the NYT reports on the front page. Advocates for immigrants like the ACLU have drawn attention to the fact that some migrants affected by the fires couldn’t get help at shelters because they didn’t have identification, while immigration opponents focused on reports that some of the fires may have been set by immigrants. And border guards took advantage of the situation: “The Border Patrol also arrested scores of illegal immigrants made visible by the fires,” the Times says.

The NYT’s Randal C. Archibold and Will Careless obviously hate having to report the immigration dimension. They even contradict themselves:

Some people have speculated, including on the Web, that immigrants might have set some of the fires, as has occurred with campfires lighted in fields.

The authorities have not given any causes linked to immigration.

Two men, one in San Diego County and the other in Los Angeles, who were arrested on arson charges, accused of setting small fires this week, are believed to be deportable, a federal immigration official said.

The San Diego police detained people suspected of stealing at Qualcomm Stadium. Six were handed over to the immigration authorities when it became apparent that they might be in the United States illegally.

But they do report the immigration dimension, because the internet is forcing them to.

Of course the LA Times is as bad as ever. Slate adds:

The LAT profiles a different sort of border crosser, a Mexican fire crew from Tijuana who was helping fight the blaze in California.

Gradually developing disasters don’t grab the human psychology the way a sudden one does, but they can be just as devastating, particularly when then substance endangered is water. Washington has ignored the resource needs of the millions it has welcomed in recent decades, and now the limits to growth are becoming a crisis

It makes no sense to add millions of immigrants to America’s population when we don’t have enough water for the 303 million citizens and residents already here. Yet recent Congressional debates over various flavors of amnesty have tuned out the environmental consequences of rampant growth.

An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn’t have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York’s reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year. Across America, the picture is critically clear — the nation’s freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst.

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.
[Many states seen facing water shortages Boston Globe 10/26/07]

To be more precise about the “epic drought in Georgia,” Atlanta and the surrounding region have less than a 90-day supply of water, and no plan of what to do.

So far, no real backup plan exists. And there are no quick fixes among suggested solutions, which include piping water in from rivers in neighboring states, building more regional reservoirs, setting up a statewide recycling system or even desalinating water from the Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s amazing that things have come to this,” said Ray Wiedman, owner of an Atlanta landscaper business. “Everybody knew the growth was coming. We haven’t had a plan for all the people coming here?”
[No Backup if Atlanta's Faucets Run Dry Google AP 10/19/07]

(Leave it to a gardener to talk common sense.)

Droughts are a normal part of nature, and Georgia’s lack of rain has been severe. But the MSM tends to underplay any negative effects of population growth, particularly when it is diverse. As a result, we don’t read that the state has doubled in population since 1960, from 4 million then to over 8 million counted in the 2000 Census. In other words, there has been much attention paid to the dwindling supply of water but little to increased demand from immigration-fueled population growth.