THe border patrol has got some work to do.
For a REAL scary map...look at the map of the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota. It will be iced over pretty soon...which means about the middle of January, you can DRIVE across the ice from Canada to the US. That's right...drive across the ice, without any border patrol...at night and right into the USA.
Oh, boy...we've got problems..and they had better get on them quick!
Fear the "Colossus of the North!"
I knew a guy that had a relative in Canada who owned a heap of firearms. When my friend's relative died, he willed all the guns to him. There were a LOT of guns.
My pal threw them in the back of his truck and attempted to drive across the border, thinking that the Mounties (or whoever) at the border were more interested in guns coming INTO Canada, and would be happy about guns LEAVING Canada. Sure enough, he was stopped and the Canadians found the guns. They told him that he had to either surrender them or turn around. He turned around.
My pal parked at a restaraunt parking lot near the border and got out his map. He found a big lake (I don't know where it is) about two hours away that had one shore on the Canadian side, and another on the US side. He drove there, rented a tiny fishing boat, threw all the guns in there, and putted away towards the American side. When he got there (an hour boat trip as he tells it), he dragged the guns out, found a hiding spot under a tree, and stashed the guns there covered with branches and leaves.
Returned back to the Canadian side in the boat and picked up his car. Drove back across the US/Canadian border without the guns.
On the US side, he drove to the lake and found his hiding spot. Picked up the guns, threw them back in the truck, and drove home.
My suggestion is that if Ashcroft is going to put Feds on the Canadian border, he should make sure they've got boats on the lakes that our countries share.
(In case anyone is interested, I suffer from amnesia after getting hit on the head by a falling pine cone some years back. I can't remember my friend, or what he looks like. We haven't been in contact in years.)
The Canadian - U.S. border extends over 3000 miles ... the longest undefended border in the world. Reading thru a few of the posts leads me to believe some FReepers are of the opinion Canadians are massing at the border ... hardly able to control their compulsion to immigrate to the U.S., legally or otherwise. Fact is, the vast majority of Canadians are proud to be Canadians ... respect Americans ... but feel their quality of life is just fine ... thank you very much!
Speaking as a former Canadian, now a U.S. citizen, and a former Marine, I might add ... most Canadians I know personally can't understand why I chose the U.S. over Canada ... that's material for another post. ;)
Some quick math gives us (1) agent per (8) miles guarding Canada; (9) agents per (2) miles guarding Mexico.
And who are these 9,000 lined up at the Mexican border? A bunch of Ray Charles clones??
The Mexican border is statistically shorter in length, but has far more population and centers near it, and often runs through densely populated areas such as Tijuana or El Paso...and even when it IS in remoter desert areas, most of the year temperatures and conditions favor travel quite comfortably...
The most important fact is that, surely, Mexico must have 3 to 4 times the population of Canada...
If the Clinton administration attacked the Constitution and Bill of Rights in the same manner what would you all say?
13 million illegal aliens: A recent study at Northeastern University in Boston by researchers Andrew Sum, Neeta Fogg, and Paul Harrington concludes as many as 13 million illegal aliens may reside in the United States. This is comparable in size to the combined populations of the following 13 states and the District of Columbia (in alphabetical order): Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia; total population of 12,588,161 in the 2000 census. See itemized listing. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service says about 40% of the illegal aliens are in California. The 2000 census counted about 8 million undocumented illegal aliens in the United States, and expert demographers admit it may have missed some.
Calling all Canadian FR operatives - call off all Operation Frisky Beaver excursions into U.S. Yanks are getting suspicious.
For now...
Seriously though, I've always thought we should we should patrol our border with Canada with a group of people at least as rude, insulting, obnoxious, and ignorant as the folks that Canada has manning their customs booths.