Posted on 08/21/2004 9:04:20 PM PDT by ETERNAL WARMING
(08-21) 15:55 PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) --
President Bush's nephew, campaigning for overseas votes in Mexico on Saturday, called the federal policy of arming U.S. Border Patrol agents with plastic pellet guns "reprehensible."
Speaking in a mix of English and sometimes-halting Spanish, George P. Bush said his uncle was not to blame for the gun policy, which has angered Mexicans. He instead blamed it on "some local INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) guy who's trying to be tough, act macho."
"If there has been American approval for this policy, that is reprehensible," Bush said of the guns, essentially paintball projectiles filled with chile powder. "It's kind of barbarous."
The pellet guns, which were approved at the federal level, have been used on a trial basis since 2001 in California and Arizona. The U.S. Border Patrol fired the pepper-balls in 81 instances in 2002-03 and reported no deaths or severe injuries.
President Bush's Hispanic nephew -- he's the grandson of migrant worker Jose Maria Garnica -- is in Mexico on a week-long visit to drum up support for his uncle among the estimated 1 million Americans living there.
The younger Bush, whose father is Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and mother, Columba, is originally from Mexico, acknowledged at a news conference that the war in Iraq is not popular in Mexico but defended the military action, saying "we're almost done with it."
He also acknowledged that "there are some people in our (Republican) party who don't see the benefits of immigration," but promised that President Bush was a proponent of immigration reform.
He called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "a dictator" and cast doubt on his victory last week in a recall referendum, saying Chavez had "a long history of fraud." Outside observers, including former President Jimmy Carter, have endorsed the Venezuelan vote counts.
Christopher Fussner, global chairman of Republicans Abroad, which funded Bush's trip, called Mexico "the most important country" for getting overseas votes.
Fussner said Republicans are advertising in overseas English-language newspapers around the world in hopes of capturing expatriate votes.
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign also has enlisted family members to woo voters in Mexico. His sister, Diana Kerry, chairwoman of Americans Overseas for Kerry, visited Mexico City in July.
Kerry supporters also held a voter-registration and ballot-request drive in Guadalajara on Thursday.
Anastassia,is that you? Oh never mind,both the real and the the pretend one are dead.
"...2 decades of booming immigration from Mexico and our economy has done nothing but go straight up..."
That's because of growth in the prison industry.
That's why I'm for letting Mexicans travel and work here as freely as we can travel and work there.
When is the last time Mexico had to build 12 new schools because of pesky Americans living and working there? That's what Las Vegas has to build. That's why we've been hit with taxes so high, many have had to take second jobs just to break even. It isn't funny. It's expensive. We just can't afford to subsidize that cheap labor anymore. The hospitals are in trouble, crime is soaring, public assistance swamped to pay for that cheap labor. Why should we have to pay for some businessman's cheap labor? They are a scourge on the citizens here. The day that Mexico has to fork out a dime to support an American, those borders will close so fast your head will spin.
"LOL, I love these late-night flamewars."
Me too, but they drain the strength I need to conserve to fight with my teenager!
There's nothing like a good knock-down, drag-out, NOTHING!
Hmm. Working on it. 19 AUG 1683- Tsar Peter's Transfiguration Day?
Don't be such a nebbish, lots of us are ready for $50/bbl gas. We're going to convert to bio-diesel and run on McDonald's frier grease.
And still survive head-ons with Yugos.
Actually, not to highjack the thread or anything, (well, maybe just a little), 45s are probably the most popular handgun in America (I own two, myself), but ballistically are far from the most potent.
That honor goes to the new 500 Smith, I think.
However, Clint Eastwood popularized the M-29 Smith in Dirty Harriet when he said the 44 mag was "the most powerful handgun in the whole world and can blow your head clean off."
Before that movie, M-29s were selling for their retail price of about $260. After the movie, they were selling for $500. Hollyweird is amazing.
Bet you haven't got any Russian ancestry at all.LOL
Looks like you're the focus of tonight's BOT attack. Think nothing of it. I've been here since 98 and just refuse to let them bother me. They have the collective IQ of Al Gore. LOL EW Hang in there, Atossa.
Good point, but I wouldn't be arguing the minutae of ballistics with Dirty Harry pointing his S&W at my head. 'Dead' is close enough to 'most poweful handgun in the world' at that point.
If it were me lying there, he could have just as well been saying "This is a .22 short, the weakest handgun in the world. It'll give you a really bad headache..." and I probably would have left the shotgun by my hand alone. :-)
The author was talking about defensive rounds. He was saying how a 25 auto is compact to carry but anemic.
Anyway, he referenced where a perp was holding up a victim. The victim didn't move fast enough so the perp shot him in the head.
The bullet went into the victim's scalp but didn't penetrate the skull. It just zipped around the scalp along the contour of the skull.
The victim was treated and released with no more than a really bad headache.
Ah, I see. Well, you've saved me a lot of brain-wracking my way through Russian history- which is a bit shaky at best.
The movie was awful- the books were much better-- the original trilogy, that is. I didn't like any of them after that.
The only thing that I liked about the movie was that it took a step away from plastics and aluminum which was relatively unique in futuristic sci-fi movies. They had things made of wood and brass and copper and glass everywhere. It had a delightfully 'otherworldly' texture to it.
Soooooooooooooooo...you appear to be in all kinds of deep doo doo. :-)
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