Heartless Libertarian
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." P.J. O'Rourke
5/08/2008
I Was Just Working Out the Numbers...
And the Army owes me either around $6300 (2007 rates) or $6900 (2008 rates) for the PCS move I did last August.
The confusion is because, while I moved my family and all our stuff in August of 2007, I didn't sign in to Fort Bragg (courtesy of some TDY En-Route schooling) until April of 2008.
What is not in question is that the Army also owes me $1741.66 for 209 days of family separation.
And despite the fact that the paperwork was submitted over 3 weeks ago, and revised and clarified over 10 days ago, I still don't have my frickin' money.
Yes, I'm mildly annoyed. There are scary looking shotguns that need to be ordered for custom building. Give me my money, dammit!
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Unfortunately. When the Mrs transferred from the Army Reserve to the Regular Army, somebody's dog apparently ate her pay records for 2007, to include her W-2. So we had to file an extension until we can get it.
And until I get all my travel/PCS money from the Army, I don't have any free cash.
My Audi's tags expire this month. The Mrs and I are planning to buy an SUV to replace it (much better for hauling kids & their friends around), but weren't sure if we'd get it by the end of the month, so I went online to renew my tags.
Much to my joy, I discovered that, back in 1997, the Legislature had created a new way to shake down the taxpayers thoughtfully created an new opportunity for me to enrich my home state. [/sarcasm] Seems that every 5 years, they require you to get new plates, not just tags for your vehicle. Nevermind that your current plates are perfectly serviceable, you still have to get new ones. All this for just $20 (for something that I'm sure costs the state less than $5), on top of the usual fees and taxes associated with renewing your tags.
Even better, for an additional $20, you can even keep the same plate number you had before!
Fuck you people. Guess I'm going SUV shopping this afternoon.
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4/06/2008
Boo Fucking Hoo
And now, I will live up to the first half of my blog's title, if not the second.
Today's top story in the Seattle Times is about how hard life is for illegal immigrants who've been deported back to Mexico.
Cry me a fucking river. They broke our laws, it's up to them to deal with the consequences.
The article is far too long for me to fisk the entire thing, so I'll highlight select passages most deserving of ridicule.
Ten months after she was picked up by immigration officers in an early-morning raid of her Burien home and soon deported to Mexico, Reyes — jobless and broke — struggles to eke out the barest existence in the dirt-poor barrios of one of the world's biggest and most crowded cities.
First of all, I'll be fair and note that the headline does use the term "illegal immigrant," but this is the fourth paragraph of the story, and it fails to note the reason Reyes was picked up by the ICE agents. You know, for breaking US immigration laws.
After nearly two decades picking hops and fruit in Eastern Washington and cleaning hotel rooms near Seattle, she was among more than 870,000 Mexicans the U.S. government expelled from the country last year.
TWO DECADES. She was able to flout our laws for almost TWO DECADES. Oh, and the 870,000 is a good start, but once again, the author neglects to mention that those 870,000 were deported for BREAKING THE LAW.
For all the attention illegal immigrants get in the U.S. — from those who believe they're a drain on social services to advocates who say they do the jobs Americans won't — little is known about what happens to them after they're ushered by U.S. immigration authorities through revolving doors into Mexico's border towns.
That's because what happens to them once they're sent home is SEP - Somebody Else's Problem. Namely, their own. Not ours.
Once there, they get little help from their government. Many stay, others try to get back to their hometowns. For the most part no one tracks them — not their government, or the U.S., or their advocacy groups in the states.
I'll put my libertarian hat on for one second, and ask what responsibility it is of their government to take care of them? And even more stupid, why the hell would our government to keep track of them? Unless they come across the border illegally again. Which large numbers do.
The article then goes on (and on, and on) about how crummy life is for Reyes in Mexico, how she got to the US illegally, how she got deported, and how she plans to go back, breaking our immigration laws AGAIN, if she can get the money together.
The only thing in the entire article that makes sense is a quote from an ICE agent from Seattle:
"People have got to demand changes in their home countries if they want to make things better," he said. "Coming to the U.S. is not the solution to Mexico's problems."
Yes, I know Mexico's a craphole. But they've been independent for over 180 years, more than enough time to make their country into something other than a craphole. They've got plenty of resources - Mexico is the world's 5th largest producer of oil, it's a beautiful tourist destination, and, as the illegal immigrant advocates love to point out, no shortage of people who are willing to work hard. So the fact that Mexico is a craphole can't be blamed on anyone but the Mexicans.
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4/05/2008
Interesting Oddity
Came to me last night whilst watching the History Channel...
Congress, which is a collective body, is the final authority for awarding the Medal of Honor, which is our nation's highest award for individual gallantry in battle.
The President, an individual, as the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, awards the Presidential Unit Citation, which is the highest award given to military units for collective gallantry and achievement in battle.
I just found the juxtaposition interesting.
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