Now that the Democrats have taken control of the Senate, the filibuster is merely a delaying tactic. But in 2005, it was a sacred part of Senate life. Then, they wanted to keep the filibuster (in danger of being eliminated by new Senate rules being written by Republicans) to use against Supreme court nominees. Robert Byrd (D-WV) was quoted as saying, “Country, institution, and next, us.”

In only two years, a filibuster is merely an arcane delaying tactic by the minority.

Nice to see that the party of tolerance and truth is so tolerant, ain't it?

Fortress Amerika - Day 240

Golden State Fence Company, which prides itself on a "workforce that includes only citizens and legal residents of the United States," according to their web site, was fined a combined $5 million after pleading guilty Thursday in federal court to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 1999 and 2005. Oh! Did I mention during that time they built portions of the 14-mile border fence near San Diego. You know! The fence to keep illegals out!

This is why a border fence is a bad idea.

This is the first burka call of 2007. Kim Mack is a hot 28 year-old blonde truancy officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a 16 year-old boy who was found in her apartment on December 23. She said being with the boy made her feel 16 again.

The solution is simple: Women should cover their delectable bodies, so that me cannot take advantage of them. Men are animals. Women have to start preventing us from attacking them by being pretty.

Fortress Amerika - Day 238

National Guard troops at an Arizona border observation post were forced from their positions by armed men. The National Guard is not armed, and not allowed to do anything, except wave, should they see someone crossing the border illegally. The guardsmen's last heard comments were, "Run away! Run away!"

Why England is Better than We are (including Canada)

Paul Bates couldn't find the address of his friend Peter O'Leary who had moved to Cornwall. So he addressed the envelope with Peter's name and a map of his location. The Cornwall postal authorities delivered the card without incident in a matter of days.

In the early days of the last century, someone sent a letter addressed thusly:

Hill
John
Mass.

The letter was correctly delivered to John Underhill in Andover, Massachusetts.

I tell you all this because on December 15, I sent a package to Canada. I had the country correct, I had the Postal Code correct, I had the city correct, I had the street name correct, I even had the house number correct, and the name was correct. But because I left off an apartment number, the package came back.

So here's the picture in my head: The Canadian postman is standing in front of this building with a big bag of mail with everyone's name on it. But he can't line up the name with the apartment number, even with a big sack of mail.

Here at home, we frequently get mail addressed to an Elementary school in Hutto, Texas who has the same street address we do. Each time we get the letter we notice that the city is spelled correctly, and the Zip Code isn't our Zip code, so we assume it's correct, but somehow, the US Postal Service manages to send the letter to us, even though an elementary school in Hutto has never lived at our address.

But if you forget an apartment number. . .

German families are being given incentives to have more babies, according to this news story. The French, no doubt, are planting more trees along the Champs-Élysées, because the Germans hate marching in the sun.