...while wondering what ever happened to Cesar Chavez:

Kids -- not being able to sit at the lunch counter, that's a cause; Germans forcing Jews onto trains, that's a cause; Russian peasants disappearing in the middle of the night, never to be seen again, just because of something they said, that's a cause. The government making something a crime that everyone already thought was a crime? While a good excuse to ditch school and act like an idiot, it's not a cause. We're on record here at Scattershooting with a long-held philosophy against restricting immigration. If you can pass a background check, you're in. Still, we have to know who's entering the country. There has to be some type of processing. If that means building a wall to keep people out until they can be processed, so be it. Granted, since most of the September 11th hijackers actually entered the country from Canada, we might want to be taking a look up there as well. In the end, it just makes sense to secure the borders as well as possible. People throw all these ancillary issues out there to muddy the waters, but Consuela sneaking across the border to pop out a kid isn't the reason your medical insurance is so high. The white guy who slips on your sidewalk then sues everyone and their dog for a quarter of a million dollars -- he's the reason your insurance is so high. It's always easy to pick on the poor, the different and the discarded. It's also more often than not completely misdirected scorn. If you're in a classroom thinking of bolting to protest the oppression "the man" is heaping upon you, shut the hell up and be greatful you live in a country where your education is free, and chill, because 99% of you are here legally anyway...Idiot of the week goes to Leonard Moore, Director of African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University, who handed out these pearls of wisdom regarding Barry Bonds and his chase of baseball's all time home run record: ""White America doesn't want him to (pass) Babe Ruth and is doing everything they can to stop him. America hasn't had a white hope since the retirement of (NBA star) Larry Bird, and once Bonds passes Ruth, there's nothing that will make (Ruth) unique, and they're scared." Umm, Lenny, Babe Ruth is number two on the all time list. I really can't see whitey getting too upset about slipping to 3. And by the by, I'm a white guy and I wished career-ending injury upon Larry Bird every night. And all those kids sporting MJ and LeBron jerseys must not really be white, they must be litte albino brothas, I guess. Finally let's not forget why people hate Barry Bonds. I mean other than his being a jerk. I give you this: before he "didn't" take steroids; after he "didn't" take steroids. The guy is a cheater. Any you're an ass...The NCAA tourney teased us with Villanova reaching the Elite Eight, but 'twas not to be. We still have hope though, former stomping grounds South Carolina (THE USC) has reached the NIT Finals and our current digs are represented in the NCAA Final Four by UCLA. As an aside, the last time the Bruins took it all, we were right here in LaLa land, for a Marriott training seminar. Coincidence?...If you like legal thrillers/crime novels but want better quality than Grisham spews forth, check out the work of John Lescroart. I've been reading his books for some time now and upon my first trip to San Francisco last year, I didn't need a map. True story...Congratulations to long time friend and reader Nelson, in Atlanta, who has announced his impending nuptuals in September -- at the Vatican. Seriously. So we ask, how does one swing such a thing? His reply, "I asked". Who knew. No word yet on whether he gets to use the Popemobile for the trip to the reception...Congratulations also to longtime friend and reader Billyrob, whose beloved Tarheels made it to the Final Four. How nice of the NCAA to let them play in the women's tournament...And finally, we've been asked recently where we've been. In short, everywhere. Three trips to Dallas, one to Philadelphia and New York, a trial, a concert, a reunion, a bout of pneumonia and a whole bunch of frequent flyer miles. The net result: resolution to some long-fought skirmishes between my daughter's mother and me, a surprised and pleased mom and a content, happy daughter. Sometimes life just breaks the right way. Details to come.
Until next time,
Paz