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Border issue needs to be fixed
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By JIM STREET Ed & Pub We have heard
from friends who have lamented the loss of a really pleasant weekend trip of
shopping and dining just across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, some 120 miles
southeast of where these words were written. The drug cartels have taken
their brand of violence to Mexican cities all along its border with the US. Ciudad Juarez,
Piedras Negras and Nuevo Laredo have been hit especially hard. But Acuña,
just two hour’s drive from here, has seen its share, particularly in the last
few weeks. US authorities
across from the troubled cities have assured us that the worst of the
violence has stayed south of the Rio. But it’s disconcerting at best. OPINION At the same
time, the worldwide debate over the new Arizona immigration law, fueled
primarily by those who haven’t read it – and may not want to read it – is as
strident as ever. A few of us –
apparently way too few – have read the law. The first thing that jumps out is
that it does not and cannot do what the critics are saying. There is
nothing in the wording that would, or could, lead to racial profiling or in
any way is, or could be, anti-Hispanic. It simply says
if there is a legal stop, and only if there is some other reason to question
a suspect, then, and only then, can the arresting officer ask for immigration
papers. Meanwhile, the
US law already says an officer can stop anyone for any reason and ask the
same questions. Another
non-reader was Mexican President Felipe Calderon. He told a joint session of
Congress that the new law is a “terrible idea, using racial profiling as a
basis for law enforcement." Señor
Presidente, léyo la ley – read the law. To be sure,
President Calderon has done more than any of his predecessors – in fact all
of them combined – to try to combat the drug problem. But he did not do his
cause any favors by apparently parroting the words of his host, President
Obama. For one thing,
the Arizona statute specifically prohibits “profiling.” Calderon
should look first at his own immigration law that allows officers to stop and
question anyone about anything. Fail to
provide documentation in Mexico and you could go to jail. Coming back after
being deported could bring a ten-year sentence. Meanwhile, we
heard recently about a rape suspect in Edmonds, WA, who had been deported
nine – count ‘em – nine times. But he was free to come back and terrorize an
innocent woman. Another rapist in that
state had been deported five times. That’s not
Arizona. It’s about as far north as you could get. Maybe we
should adopt Mexico’s laws. There is one
thing on which nearly everyone agrees. Our immigration system is broken. How to fix it
is the big question. And, frankly, I don’t really have a good answer. As a mind
game, I asked myself what I would do if I were in charge and had an unlimited
budget. Still, answers did not come easily. We need to
secure the border and that needs to happen first. But how? Certainly,
sending 1,200 National Guards people to help is anemic at best. That’s less
than one trooper for every mile of border. It may be a
bit more effective using Predator unmanned aerial vehicles for border
surveillance. They can fire Hellfire missiles, which certainly would be
effective, but do we have the stomach to gun down hundreds of illegals who
have done nothing more sinister than walk across the river? To be sure,
though, UAVs can monitor the border and see much further than anybody can on
the ground. But you could
put troops shoulder-to-shoulder along every inch of the border, backed by
heavy artillery, and still people would get across. Tunnels could
go under the heavily-defended border. And have you heard of airplanes? And what about
the thousands of vehicles that cross the border every day? Can we strip
search every one of them? A total
solution will have to include ways to keep employers from hiring illegals and
providing a legal way for those who deserve to get into the country to do so. Once deported,
we have to find a way to keep them deported. Or lock them up if they have
committed a crime. And we will
have to figure a way to deal with the millions of illegals already here. One thought
occurred in my musings. It will take some tweaking but it may be a start. We could
immediately cut off all benefits from anyone who cannot prove citizenship. No
more citizenship for babies born here if parents are here illegally, for
example. It would take
a change in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, wording that was created
after the Civil War to assure citizenship to children of former slaves. Enter House
Bill 1848, introduced more than a year ago. It would have done just that. It would have
required that at least one parent be a US citizen, a permanent resident of
the US or that at least one parent be performing active service in the US
Armed Forces before citizenship can be awarded. But we also
should cut off all welfare, school enrollment, health insurance, drivers
licenses – everything. If you are not
a citizen or a legal resident, you get none of the goodies. Punto final. We could say
to those who have been here for years they can stay in that capacity. But the moment
they want something from society, they have to get their status fixed. We have to
come up with a compromise between the “open border” mentality on the Left and
the “any fix means amnesty” rantings of the Right. And we haven’t
even touched here on the drug problem which is behind much of the immigration
problem and all of the violence. But we have to
do something. The present
situation cannot continue. Dairy cows and
alligators Tom Browning
has spent most of his life in Athens. His daddy had the first dairy there. “We milked 30
cows twice a day and sold the milk for ten cents a quart, delivered,” Tom
said. “He went out of business in 1942. “When you milk
30 cows twice a day, it’s quite a job,” Tom said. “We had a Delco light plant
back in those days. “We had a big
boiler to wash the bottles,” he said. “We did every bit of it, bottled it,
delivered it and sold it for ten cents a quart.” The delivery
wagon was a popular sight around Athens. “He had a
Model T truck first, then graduated up to a Model A,” Tom said. “We used that
old Model A truck for years. It had the words ‘BROWNING’S JERSEY DAIRY PHONE
152’ painted on it. “There weren’t
very many telephones,” he said. “Every time someone got one, they added that
number to it so we were 152.” Tom grew up
going hunting and fishing and it seemed only natural that he would have a
career as a game warden. He’s retired
now and lives beside a private lake just outside of town. Every room of
his house is like a museum with all kinds of Indian artifacts, pocketknives,
animal skeletons and other memorabilia he collected during his years as a
game warden. Each item is
carefully displayed in large cases with glass tops. He enjoys showing the
articles to visitors and telling about his adventures. Tom worked all
over the state and knows about the flora and fauna of several parts of Texas.
He has a keen
woods sense and knows when to hunt or fish. He spends a lot of time doing
both. Some of the
trophies on his wall indicate his deep knowledge of the outdoors. Tom’s family
loved practical jokes. “I had an
uncle that lived at Paducah, Texas, and farmed several sections of land,” he
said. “This was back in about the mid-thirties, I think it was. “He wrote my
daddy a card and wanted him to send a three-foot alligator up to Paducah,”
Tom said. “Some people out of Dallas had built a big lake down here called
Coon Creek Club and there’s alligators in it. “My daddy got
one of the guides down there to catch a three foot alligator,” he said. “He
crated it up and sent it to my uncle, Otis Browning, in Paducah, Texas. “My uncle got
it and put it in the back of his pickup, which had about three inches of dirt
in it,” Tom said. “He watered it down a little bit and pulled in at the local
café. Within about 15 minutes there must have been 50 people looking at that
alligator in the back of his pickup. “One of the
gentlemen there was about 85 years old and had the reputation of always
having the last word,” he said. “If you told about something, he told
something that would top it. “He looked at that alligator and asked
Otis where he got it,” Tom said. “My uncle said he plowed it up. And the man
replied, ‘When I first come to this country we used to plow them things up
coming and going.’ He wasn’t going to be outdone.” Serving behind
enemy lines He is a war
hero, decorated for great service for our country, but he was in a different
kind of warfare. He was in a
Special Forces unit, “Green Berets” in Vietnam, and spent most of that time
behind enemy lines. It was not
easy going into and living behind enemy lines and remain undetected. Many times,
his unit would be without food, cold, wet and no shelter while they watched
the enemy living at ease with plenty of food, warm clothes and comfortable
shelters. His military
service reminds me something in the Christian life. We live in a
lost and dying world, spiritually (2 Corinthians 4:4.) We are, in a
sense, deployed (John 17:18) here but we are not to cross into the enemy
lines (James 4:4.) Jesus left us
here for a purpose but we are not to live like the enemy or join their ranks
(Romans 12:2.) I have not heard
of many stories where our troops joined the enemy forces but, sadly, today
where many profess to be Christians, they are living with or like the enemy
(2 Timothy 4:10.) We are to come
out from them, the lost, the worldly and unbelieving, and live the way Christ
wants us to live (1John 2:15.) If we do,
there will be a day we will be rewarded and we might have beautiful medals to
show for our distinguished service for Christ (Revelation 22:12/) See you in
Church next Sunday. Brother
J The Big Dipper Of the very
brightest stars, called first-magnitude stars, none is in the northern-most
night sky. Yet that part of the sky holds seven moderately bright stars that
form a pattern more familiar than any of the brightest stars. The Big
Dipper, probably the best-known pattern in the entire northern hemisphere, is
part of the constellation named Ursa Major, the Big Bear. The Little
Dipper, part of Ursa Minor or the Little Bear, is not so easy to identify as
four of its seven stars are faint. It does,
however, contain the North Star, also known as Polaris. Since it is
straight up from Earth's North Pole, Polaris never moves in our sky. It is
always due north and the same distance in degrees above the horizon as the
latitude from which it is being viewed. The two stars
forming the outer end of the Big Dipper's bowl are "pointer stars"
pointing toward Polaris. Polaris is
like the center of a 24-hour clock with all the other stars moving around it
like the clock's hands, although in a counterclockwise direction. And just as
stars circle Polaris, so do star patterns, including the Big Dipper. Depending on
the season and time of night, the Big Dipper might be above, below or east or
west of Polaris. There's a
legend that helps know where to look for the Big Dipper in the early evening.
In the fall,
the dipper is due north below Polaris, down near Earth filling its bowl with
water. In the winter
it is to the east, or right, of Polaris with its bowl tilted on its side and
its handle pointing downward. The water doesn't
spill out because, being winter, it's frozen. In the spring,
the Big Dipper is again due north but now above Polaris in an upside-down
position. The water, now
thawed, is pouring out of the dipper's bowl bringing us spring rains. By summer, the
dipper has swung around to the west, or left, of Polaris with its bowl again
tilted on its side and its handle pointing upward. It no longer
has any water to spill on Earth, accounting for our dry, hot summers. And the next
fall it again swings down near Earth to again fill its bowl with water and
begin the cycle anew. Right now in
the early evening, as spring is about to turn to summer, the Big Dipper is to
the upper left of Polaris. Sky
Calendar. Friday, June
4, the Moon is at third quarter. Sunday morning,
June 6, the crescent Moon is to the upper right of Jupiter low in the east
before dawn. Sunday
evening, June 6, Mars is just to the upper left of Leo's bright star Regulus
high in the west. Tuesday
morning, June 8, Jupiter passes less than a moonwidth from Uranus. Seeing
much fainter Uranus requires binoculars. Thursday
morning, June 10, the crescent Moon is above Mercury low in the east
northeast at dawn and the next morning to Mercury's left. Early
evenings, Thursday through Saturday, June 10 to 12, Venus and Gemini's bright
stars Pollux and Castor are aligned and equally spaced low in the west at
dusk. Saturday, June
12, the Moon is new. Early Monday
evening, June 14, the crescent Moon is below Venus low in the west. Wednesday
evening, June 16, the crescent Moon is below Mars and then to Mars' left the
next night. Friday
evening, June 18, the first quarter Moon is below Saturn.
The Sun, Moon
and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth's west-to-east
rotation on its axis. Evenings,
"Evening star" Venus is prominent in the west northwest, Mars is
mid way up in the west and Saturn is high in the southwest. Mornings,
Jupiter rises two hours before the break of dawn with Mercury very low in the
east at dawn. Stargazer appears every other week, space
permitting. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact
him at 918 N. 30th, Waco, TX 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com. ‘Robin
Hood’ reviewed If you’re
looking for the romantic tale of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, Friar Tuck
and Little John with the wonderful Maid Marion, her soft yet remote
affections drawing at Robin’s emotions, don’t go see this movie. Legend is a
solidly formed series of myths that have emanated from the oral stories that
were repeated for hundreds of years by a specific ethnic or social group of
people. Robin Hood is
such a legend. It
started at the end of the Crusades and the fall of the Roman Empire in
the 1200s and 1300s. Robin was a
sole adventurer for 300 years, robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Friar Tuck,
Little John and Maid Marion entered into the story more than 300 years later
as writers continued to expand on the legend with enthusiastic literary
license. Enter Ridley
Scott, director of “Gladiator,” with screenwriter Brian Helgeland, deciding
to create a story of Robin Hood’s humble beginning before the legend. A
prequel, if you will. Robin Hood’s
legend is tampered with, where legend becomes further fictionalized and
passed off as authentic. This is a
movie that will dazzle with battles, blood and gore. Robin’s
character, played by Russell Crowe, is not the affable, likeable man played
by Errol Flynn in 1938 or Kevin Costner’s 1999 portrayal. This Robin
Hood is a serious, brooding, battle-weary veteran of the Crusades who wants
nothing more than rest and distance from battle. The story
really begins when a dying knight makes Robin promise to return his sword,
illicitly taken from his father, to go to war as a young man. Robin agrees
to this dying man’s request and thus the plot develops. Robin, a
yeoman archer well below knight status, and his men don the uniforms of
deceased knights and return to a hero’s welcome in England. In his quest
to return the sword, he meets Maid Marion Loxley, the dead knight’s widow,
and father-in-law Sir Walter Loxley, to whom the sword belongs. So, in this
story, Maid Marion, played by the forever anemic looking but stunning beauty
Cate Blanchette, is of lower nobility, unfortunately downgrading her from the
original legend. The story continues
and Robin is asked by the old Sir Walter Loxley, played by the very capable
Max von Sydow, to take his son’s place in the family as his son who has
returned from King Richard’s wars. Robin is
amused and Maid Marion scoffs at the idea but both acquiesce for the sake of
the family and the lands. The feudal
Lords of England have been taxed to their limit and a rebellion is stirring
only to be averted as the nation unites to repel an invasion by King Philip
of France. This brings
you to the final climax of the movie and you’ll have to go see it to find out
what happens. Two pleasures
for me, not to mention the fair Cate Blanchette, in this movie was Yes, I liked
the movie. Yes, I recommend it. Yes, go see it. Ed’s rating is three
out of four stars. ««« “Robin Hood”
came in at $37.1 million, which is a very respectable showing against a power
house like “Iron Man,” which takes the weekend with $53 million The next
highest movie was “Letters to Juliet” bringing in $13.9 million. “Letters” is a
very sweet chick flick that will do OK dollar wise, But “Iron Man” and “Robin
Hood” will dominate the money until “Prince of Persia” debuts on the 27th
with Jake Gyllenhaal. “Sex and the
City 2” also will come out that weekend but it will fizzle at the box office. ‘Clash of the Titans’ "Release the Kraken." Zeus (Liem Neeson) orders Hades
to punish the rebellion by men against the gods. Hades has an agenda of his own, go become leader of all the gods and reign hell on man. To the rescue comes Perseus, played by Sam Worthington, the heroic Jake Sully from “Avatar.” Perseus is the unknowing illegitimate son of Zeus. The action begins when
Perseus begins his quest to defeat the Kraken
and send Hades back to the depths of darkness. There are great action scenes that will have you white knuckling the
armrest of your theater seat. Sam Worthington as Perseus gives a visual feast of action scenes throughout the movie. Medusa, played
by an unknown, Natalie Vadianova, will strongly
repulse and captivate simultaneously with her head of undulating snakes. The computer graphics are superb and border on the quality we saw in
Avatar. A PG-13 with no nudity and no vulgar language, the plot may have
been weak but, then again, this is a mythological story. So far,
grossing in at $125-plus million, I'm sure we'll see more
mythology movies. Who knows what Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon or Aphrodite will be up to
next? If you like action movies, go ahead, see or rent this one. You won't
be disappointed. Ed's rating is three and a half stars. «««1/2 ‘Date
Night’ funny “Date Night”
is a very funny, if not hilarious, movie. Rated PG 13, I was a little
uncomfortable with the numerous sexual innuendos and double-entendres. There was no
nudity and negligible foul language, which, I'm supposing makes the
sexual dialog more acceptable. I can only say
I wouldn't take my 13-year-old daughter to this movie. I felt it should
be PG-17. Having said
that, as an adult, I enjoyed the movie. Phil and
Claire played by Steve Carell (The Office, The Forty Year Old Virgin) and
Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, Sarah Palin impersonator) depict an ordinary
couple from the New Jersey "burbs" who become involved in a case of
mistaken identity. The premise is
formulaic but this movie makes it work. The mistaken identity results
from them stealing a restaurant reservation. The adventure
begins while they're enjoying their dinner, thinking they've been busted when
two thugs approach them and ask them to step outside. Well, that’s
not quite what happens. They end up being chased by mob thugs and corrupt
police. The ensuing
chase and evasion scenes become the hilarious mainstay of the movie. You will laugh
at the mishaps and turn-arounds that occur. There is an
obligatory car chase that has a new twist and will leave you holding your
stomach in uncontrollable, raucous laughter. The Hollywood
staple, Mark Walberg (Four Brothers), makes a surprise appearance as a by-
chance person who reluctantly assists them out of their potentially fatal
situation. I enjoyed the
Phil and Claire characters. Steve Carell and Tina Fey work well together and
played out the mayhem superbly. I'm
recommending this movie as a PG-17. I give it three and a half stars
out of four. Enjoy. «««1/2 Thanks for PG To
the Editor, Thank you to
Project Graduation for making our all-night party after our commencement
ceremony a lot of fun. And to the
parents who really put in long hours of hard work from the beginning of school
to the night of the party. The school
might have given us a place to have the party but it was the parents who did
all the work. And a huge
thank you to the chaperones who volunteered to come in and help out all night
long. It was fun
having you there. Clarissa
Brotherton Graduating
Senior Sanderson |
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Troy William
Druse ROCKPORT –
Funeral services are pending in Sanderson for Troy William Druse, 88, who
died here Saturday. A 1938
graduate of Sanderson High School, he attended Texas Christian University in
Fort Worth before entering in the US Army Air Corp during World War II. Druse was an
aircraft maintenance crew chief in Hawaii for most of the war. He was
honorably discharged with the rank of tech sergeant. After the war,
he started work as an assistant teller at Sanderson State Bank, moving up
through the ranks to executive vice-president before he retired. He also
started an insurance business in the early 1960s and then bought Peavy
Insurance in the late 60s or early 70s, conducting business as Peavy-Druse
Agency. Druse was a
volunteer fireman for many years and served as assistant chief for part of
that time. In the early
60s he and Albert Gilbreath were the volunteer ambulance squad for Terrell
County, eventually getting EMT training, which was not even available when
they started. He also was
involved with the county medical center where he recruited doctors, got
funding, purchased equipment and even cleaned the clinic. Druse was a
member of the American Legion and the Masonic Lodge. He was also a member of First Baptist
Church of Sanderson. His parents
and wife, Emma Faye Harris Druse, preceded him in death. Surviving are
one son, James “Dusty” and Janet Kozusko Druse of Rockport and one daughter,
Debra and David Brown of Okinawa, Japan. Expressions of
sympathy may be made by donations to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center or
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. |