Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Filed under: arizona

Feds Post Signs on AZ Highways Warning of Danger

We’ve now reached the point where Americans are not free to safely travel in areas of our own country due to violent foreign invaders. And what is the federal government doing about it? Posting signs warning of the dangers, that’s what. (Emphasis mine)

The Washington Times: The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.

“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

This is going on here in Arizona,” he said. “This is 70 to 80 miles from the border – 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.”

He said he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 signs.

It’s a long article, but if you have time it’s worth reading the whole thing. President Obama and members of his administration would have you believe that the border is secure, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

Let's be careful out there!





So Why is Everybody so Upset with Arizona?

Simple solutions to not so complex problems!

The "Show Me" state has once again showed us how it should be done. 

      In 2007, Missouri placed on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment designating English as the Official language of Missouri. 

Nearly 90% voted in favor! 

English became the official language for ALL governmental proceedings in Missouri. 

It also means no individual has the right to demand government services in a language OTHER than English.

   In 2008, a measure was passed that requires our Highway Patrol and other law enforcement officials to verify the immigration status of any person arrested, and inform federal authorities if the person is found to be here illegally.  It allows Missouri law enforcement officers to receive training to enforce federal immigration laws.  The bill makes it clear that illegal immigrants will NOT have access to taxpayers benefits such as food stamps and health care through Missouri HealthNET.

In 2009, a measure was passed that ensures Missouri's public institutions of higher education do NOT award financial aid to individuals who are here illegally.  The law also requires all post-secondary institutions of higher education to annually certify to the Missouri Dept. of Higher Education that they have NOT knowingly awarded financial aid to students who are unlawfully present in the United States.   

   So while Arizona has made national news for its new law, it is important to remember Missouri has been proactive in addressing this growing problem.

   Missouri has sent a clear message that illegal immigrants are NOT welcome in our state and they are certainly NOT welcome to receive public benefits at the cost of Missouri taxpayers!   
  


Article in "The Ozarks Sentinel" Editorial Opinion - Nita Jane Ayres, May 13, 2010

 





Hoover Dam Bridge Taking Shape (in case you missed it)

Creeping closer inch by inch, 900 feet above the mighty Colorado River, the two sides of a $160 million bridge at the  Hoover Dam slowly take shape.  The bridge will carry a new section of  US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can be seen twisting and winding around and across the dam itself.

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When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of  Nevada and  Arizona . In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supported on the two massive concrete arches which jut out of the rock face.
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The arches are made up of 53 individual sections each 24 feet long which have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung  between temporary steel pylons.
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The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 feet across. At the moment, the structure looks like a traditional suspension bridge.  But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side will be removed. Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road.
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The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevada and an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed in Afghanistan.
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Work on the bridge started in 2005 and should finish next year. An estimated 17,000 cars and trucks will cross it every day.
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The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from  New York to  San Francisco . The stretch of water it created,  Lake Mead , is 110 miles long and  took six years to fill.  The original road was opened at the same time as the famous dam in 1936.
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An extra note: The top of the white band of rock in Lake Mead is the old waterline prior to the drought and development in the  Las Vegas area. It is over 100 feet above the current water level.

Here is a good book about the dam: Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century