Speaking on the issue of our immigration crisis is tricky and navigating opinions and parties is definitely a skill I am learning and have not yet mastered. I have encouraged discussion over debating and have found that if two people will turn off their respective news stations and simply communicate, they will eventually find a common logic. I believe this is because deep down we are all the same but that reality has been suppressed by cancel culture that encourages you to cut me off because you hear a "trigger word".
As I speak on this subject, being neither Republican or Democrat and having no favorite news channel, I have discovered that everyone is entitled to their own emotions and their own opinions, but I also have come to believe that nobody is entitled to their own facts.
Facts are just facts. If you are a Kentucky Democrat and believe that grass is blue and the sky is green, I need to remind myself that you live in Kentucky and really believe what you are saying is true. I have to be mature enough to understand that half of what you are saying you believe to be true (the bluegrass) for a reason. I also should have enough respect for myself to walk away knowing that the grass is still green and the sky is still blue. Facts are facts no matter what the State of Kentucky tells you.
A few weeks ago, the Biden Administration filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas and Texas Governor Greg Abbott over the newly installed floating barrier along a stretch of the Rio Grande. It has been hailed as the latest "aggressive" move by "Republicans" to "try to stop migrants from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico".
I used quotation marks because that wording is from the official press releases.
The issue I have here is the lack of actual communication and the leading of these press releases. The barrier, designed for specifically this purpose, is not strung for 2000 miles in the middle of the Rio Grande. The section of the river that has become home to this barrier system is a portion between legal ports of entry and in a section of water where deaths due to immigrant drownings were much higher.
Not to rabbit trail too much here... yesterday I was saddened by the closure of our boat ramp here on our lake. There is now one boat ramp left and it appears it may be closed soon as well. Our lake has suffered greatly due to the Texas heat wave and drought conditions and does not even resemble what it was three years ago. One merely needs to go to the bridge by my home and they can see the pipes, car parts and debris sticking out of the dry dirt that was once the bottom of a lake. The boat ramp was closed because of the danger to boats entering from that side of the lake. The lowered water level poses a great threat to a boat-owners vessel and also causes a severe hazard should the vessel be punctured by the debris once under 20 feet of water.
I get it. I don't like it, but I get it. I UNDERSTAND. The ramp was closed FOR ME.
The lawsuit from the Biden Administration asks a federal judge in Austin to force Texas to remove a roughly 1,000-foot line of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys that the Biden administration says raises humanitarian and environmental concerns.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have seen this story on YOUR news station, did you EVER hear them say it was 1000 feet of barrier? The southern border is 1,954 miles long.
The press releases for the lawsuit state that the barrier was installed to "try to stop migrants from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico".
If that is truly the case, then this was an utter waste of money and time and these folks are idiots. A thousand feet of barrier? Did someone mis-measure?
Here is my point. This has been made into a huge thing in the news and I am not going to deny that there have been some immigrants injured while attempting to cross over this impassible barrier. There is a rumored report that an immigrant may have died climbing over the barrier. If that is true, then I am saddened at that loss because it was needless.
I am asking that you look at this barrier issue as a way of learning how to look at much of what America is arguing about right now.
Was the barrier put in place to stop immigrants from entering the United States? Is the barrier evil? Is there a logic behind its use? Are there measures in place that allow safe passage into the United States?
I bring you to this single graphic. Unlike my other blogs that are often filled with pictures, videos or cartoons, I have created only this graphic. It is to make you think. Along with the graphic, I have included some statements regarding traffic spikes and encourage you to come to your own conclusions.
Governor Abbott is a "love him or hate him" kind of guy. A lot of Texans are that way. No excuses. I do not want you to switch from a donkey to an elephant and I do not want you to become a donkey if you are a elephant. I think we need them both.
I just want people to think for themselves; to draw their own conclusions and to have civil conversations that are no longer based on press releases or protest slogans.
I use a quote from Vera Nazarian on my new speaking tour and I would like to share it with all of you.
THE CHALLENGE
It's a fact—everyone is ignorant in some way or another.
Ignorance is our deepest secret.
And it is one of the scariest things out there, because those of us who are most ignorant are also the ones who often don't know it or don't want to admit it.
Here is a quick test:
If you have never changed your mind about some fundamental tenet of your belief, if you have never questioned the basics, and if you have no wish to do so, then you are likely ignorant.
Before it is too late, go out there and find someone who, in your opinion, believes, assumes, or considers certain things very strongly and very differently from you, and just have a basic honest conversation.
It will do both of you good.”
Please look at the graphic above carefully as you read below statements regarding traffic spikes.
From the Texas Department of Transportation:
These devices have been investigated as a potential wrong-way driver countermeasure as far back as the 1960s. They are effective when used at parking lots, parking garages, and toll booths, and are usually used in conjunction with gates.
Tiger Teeth Traffic Spikes (Manufacturer):
Traffic spike systems are a method of access control used worldwide to help restrict vehicular access to certain areas of facilities or properties. Tiger Teeth traffic spike systems make an effective, low-cost method of restricting access to parking lots and parking garages.
Delta Scientific Corporation:
Traffic spikes are designed for direction control and anti-theft control, rather than final denial access. Traffic spikes work for both high and low-security applications. Typically, they are part of an entire system that could include barrier gates, signage, and access control systems. You may see traffic control spikes in these industries:
Parking garages or parking lots
Private communities and apartment complexes
Airport or municipal parking facilities
Businesses that need specialized security solutions
Government offices
Military bases and ports
Installing recognizable safety devices that control traffic promote a secure and safe environment while still allowing public access.
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I do not believe the barrier was the only option. I want our country to be a welcoming place for people around the world. I want to see order. I teach my children to use the door and not the window. I just want to see us speak to each other again and stop all the yelling. I am here to try to get you to think.
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