Dave-

Not a big fan of Night court or Threes Company- but did enjoy Perfect Stranger; if only for Valky- who never failed to bring a laugh. Alf always came off…stupid :rolleyes: to me. To be honest I’m surprised I remember any of those shows at all….

The Wonder Years was a memorable classic. Fred Savage was great as the kid struggling between geekdom and popularity. With a nerdy best friend and a beautiful girl thrown in, it exemplified junior high life, especially with the family issues thrown in.

Want me to tell you what happened Wednesday on Lost? 😉 😀 😀

Sean- I agree that reform must come from within; but these people have to worry about feeding their families; that may be more important than getting shot by the native militias or getting shot by the corrupt police or politicians when they go to the capital to demand reform. Reform is a slow slow process. Vicente Fox isnt St. Jude; but he is making some headway. Governor Napolitano (D-AZ) is also working with the Mexican Administration to improve. Until things do improve, however, people will still be desperate for work, and will still come here illegaly. What would you have us do? Round them up, send them back, electrify the border fence and close our eyes and plug our ears to the situation? Wake up- SOC, it isn’t going to happen!

A guest worker program is an absolute neccessity to curbing illegal immigration! And the only way Washington will wake up and get their butts in gear is if these ridiculous groups that do nothing but wring their hands and push through ridiculous propositions or turn the border into a big game hunt, write their letters and call their representatives and demand something sensible. But they’ll never do that- because thats not what they really want, is it?

A very small amount of illegal immigrants affect our lives in any way shape or form. Very few ever go on welfare, few hold high paying jobs that Americans are demanding.
And guess what? Most terrorists come here legally and are “model” citizens.

The people who are responsible for the loss of jobs are the companies sending them abroad, not the illegals who clean toilets and pick crops.

The issue of illegal immigration stems from racism. And I say that because every so called “solution” is nothing but a way to punish people for coming here. Our quality of life is a hundred times better than theirs and if all we can do is attack and punish them from wanting something even remotley similar to that- then we can be classed as nothing but ignorant racists. They don’t affect our lives or take anything away from us. We benefit from their existence. If every immigrant was booted out, SOC- would you even notice? You might notice your company restroom is awfully dirty- or your hotel room could definetly be spruced up. But your quality of life certainly wouldn’t improve- unless of course you’ve always wanted to pick cotton in a field at 15:00 with the sun beating down on you?

A resolution to the “problem” of illegal immigration must come from Washington- and Mexico City. Not from vigilantes who only want blood, or white middle classers who only want to rid their neighborhoods of the “wetbacks”. Or even the Mexicans themselves, who only want a job, so they can provide for their families.

By the way, SOC- speeding is illegal and “against the law” as well. You never go over the speed limit? Ever smoke a joint? Ever steal a comic book? Ever run a red light? Drink a beer before you were legal?

Don’t even talk about legality- SOC- that is a very (substituted for ****) poor reason, excuse, and holds no water whatsoever. “But, but but- It’s illegallllllll……” That’s almost as disgusting as using the 2nd amendment to justify private citizens owning semi- automatic weapons. Care to streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch it any further?

I love you to death, SOC- but ah, well- you’re wrong. 😉

A girl I sit next to has a small sign that says “On Break; NO work related questions” that she carries around with her and holds up to anyone that starts talking to her when she’s break. It’s hilarious watching her do this….:rolleyes:

Alright I’m leaving the office to go home in a few minutes, so here’s my last thought on this for tod…er…the next hour or so 😀

Is the problem here with immigration in general, illegal immigrants, both, none of the above, or what? The way I see it, if you enter legally, you should have no problems. If you enter illegally, you should be instantly deported to the continent via catapult. Any citizen of nation X is granted rights under it’s laws. Conversely, anyone who wishes to enter nation X must be bound by the same laws, so the same rights should apply. Now, if you enter illegally, you should get NO rights and NO protection. Unperson! Or something. Arthur knows, he’s another Orwellian fresh out of Room 101. Anyway, before any of you start ranting about how bad it really is, you can’t say crap until you’ve gone to California and seen how jacked up the system is over here. Hell, we’ve even got morons lobbying to put water fountains in the desert of Texas so the poor illegals don’t die of thirst! WHAT THE HELL! Multiculturalism, in my view, is crap as well. EMbrace your own culture. Be respectful of others, and if you want to absorb some of their culture, that’s fine. But forced multiculturalism is asinine. All it’s doing is destroying ethnic and national identities. And I’m going to stop now because I have so totally lost my train of thought.

Oh my god, SOC- you’re killing me here! *looks around for soapbox*

People who immigrate here illegaly do so because they are unable to immigrate legally! What do you think the UK consulate would have said if I had submitted my visa application and told them I had no money; no applicable “skills” and no family in the country? They wouldve laughed me out of the office. But thats exactly what a Mexican immigrant would have to do!

Do you think quality of life in Mexico is so fantastic? You think everything is so peachy that they are just being…what- greedy by coming here? Come on! Put yourself in their shoes and quit whining! 😀 They should live in dirt poor poverty- knowing that a few hundred miles to the north there are jobs!? Jobs that will allow them to send money home to family- so they can eat or have medical attention, so the children might be able to go to school, etc! What would you do, SOC- if you were in the same situation, but you knew in Canada you could find work- would you stay here and watch your children starve?

Illegal immigration can be curbed by adopting a sensible guest worker program. With no access to welfare benefits; so the American “freeloaders” don’t have to worry about sharing… Christ- are people so stupid they don’t get that? They have to take their redneck bigot attitudes and their shotguns to the actual border and start assaulting and scaring immigrants and their families instead of taking their concerns to congress and lobbying for smarter immigration?

As far as water in the desert- you’re offended by this? Why? How does that negatively impact you? I live in Arizona, SOC and I’ll tell you there is nothing more heartbreaking than hearing that a 3 year old died of thirst in the desert 100 miles away. Are you saying she deserved that? I highly doubt she chose to make that journey! The water simply helps to avert further tragedy- we can not leave people, children to die in the desert while we scratch our collective asses and procastinate getting something done that makes everybody happy!

And if you think about it, SOC- this country was founded on illegal immigration. I don’t think anyone ever asked the Native Americans if they could come here- did they?

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

But, only if they get a green card, first?

Also, does anyone remember this long-forgotten (here at least), brilliant comedy series from the late 1980’s, Sledge Hammer? That was superb, the most gung-ho cop with the hottest partner. He always carried a rocket launcher or bazooka in the boot of his cop car, and used it often!! And his catchphrase – uttered calmly before he blew something up – “Trust me… I know what I’m doing.” I loved that show.

Dave-
I absolutley remember that show! It was one of my favorites! Hilarious; especially that catch line. You can buy season 2 (final season) on DVD now.

How about,
Night Court

Perfect Strangers

Alf

The Wonder Years

Threes Company :rolleyes:

Mork and Mindy

China Beach

All in the Family

What else….what else?

Thank you, everyone-

For all your fantastic responses. Especially Dave and Don.

I am busy preparing a presentation using a lot of the information. My “history of the ANZAC biscuits” is complete, and Im now working on “History of ANZAC Day”, just to give you an update.

I was just thinking though, wondering, if any of you guys from New Zealand would like to write out a short letter, maybe “to” my coworkers here, Just talking about New Zealand, telling a little about yourselves and the country through your eyes? Maybe even include a picture of you, where you live, that sort of thing. How better to help people learn about a new country, especially one that is so far away and just not a big part of the American Psyche.

Well, I’d love to have your perspectives if you’d like to contribute. Please let me know. The idea occured to me when I was reading Gnomes description of ANZAC day and the Gallipoli landing on the ANZAC day thread. And I thought “Wouldnt it be great to include his post with the history?” It was just so well written and meaningful, might help bring it home to some people.

Apart from the work presentation thing, I’ve learned such a lot about NZ in the last few days, and I’m thrilled. AiB has offered to tell me everything he knows about the battle at Gallipoli and I’m looking forward to hearing it.

Thanks again,for everything guys.