BajaNomad - National Geographic Series: Border Wars

National Geographic Series: Border Wars

windgrrl - 9-28-2010 at 08:44 AM

NG is running this series on TV again.

Besides really good views of border crossings and surrounding terrain (TJ, San Ysidro, Otay Mountain, etc.), the vignettes are enlightening.

As I my cable feed is Canuckian, you'll need to check your local listings for times & channel. Here's the NG link:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/border-wars/all...

[Edited on 9-28-2010 by windgrrl]

krafty - 9-28-2010 at 12:15 PM

yes, interesting show-we also enjoyed a program on hbo last week-a documentary called fences by Rory Kennedy, about the plight of the mx. illegals and coyotes......

DENNIS - 9-28-2010 at 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by krafty
yes, interesting show-we also enjoyed a program on hbo last week-a documentary called fences by Rory Kennedy, about the plight of the mx. illegals and coyotes......

More "open border" liberal nonsense. Rory Kennedy has swallowed and regurgitated this idea to death........I wish.
---------------

Rory Kennedy's upcoming HBO documentary “The Fence” (“La Barba”) presents a compelling argument that the border fence, the subject of the film, is an ill-conceived and expensive mistake.

The documentary itself crosses that difficult border from education into entertainment. The audience at the preview screening in Los Angeles was laughing heartily many times throughout the film.

The facts about the fence are so absurdly funny by themselves that Kennedy and crew can afford to underplay them, with delicious results.

The first time we are shown the fence, we see a sturdy structure stretching across a desert region. While not insurmountable, it does look like it could at least serve as a deterrent -- until the fence abruptly ends.

Roughly 700 miles of fence have been erected along a border region that stretches some 2,000 miles. The fence simply stops and starts in various places. Anyone wishing to cross the border need only follow the fence until they come to a gap.

What this three-year, $3 billion dollar project has done is to force people, seeking to cross the border, to go through more hazardous conditions along the way. It’s also not clear that spending more money to close the gaps in the fence would have the desired effect.

The film presents the strong determination of people who wish to cross the border. As one foreigner noted, “Human beings have more ideas than any device.”

Anyone who buys into any of those ridiculous stereotypes that Mexicans are ignorant, lazy, or “illiterate in any language” (as one Fox News guest says in a captured clip) should consider the ingenuity of the methods the “coyotes” -- smugglers of humans -- have come up with to get people across the border.

One coyote explained how they dug holes under the fence in the morning, guarded them carefully during the day, and then sent people under the fence at night. Yet another man showed how he cut open parts of a car to hide passengers under seats and even in the foot well of the passenger side of the front seat.

Another technique was to bring trucks bearing ramps (like the ones used to ferry new cars across the country) right up to the fence so a car could literally drive from the ramp down over the border fence.

The coyotes charge thousands of dollars to people wishing to cross the border. Would you pay $5,000 to come to America to pick crops in subhuman conditions at less than minimum wage? How horrible must one’s life be for them to want to pay that price for such work?

Wouldn’t that $3 billion have been better spent on improving the living and working conditions of our southern neighbors to reduce their incentive to come to America in the first place?

One of the more hilarious moments was shot at a golf course that sits south of the border wall but north of the actual border. The border is denoted by the Rio Grande River, which bends and curves. Instead of building the fence along the river, a decision was made to just build the fence straight across in some spots, creating a strange region that is still part of the United States, but south of the fence.

One such region involves a golf course. How bizarre that you need to bring your passport to return from a golf course that is already in America. The absurdities abound.

The film has a point of view, but it is not a completely one-sided presentation. The filmmakers spent a good deal of time following a group of Minutemen who were busy patrolling the border on their own volition, loaded with weapons and a strong belief in the righteousness of their cause.

The filmmakers gave them plenty of screen time to explain the reasoning that led to the creation of the fence in the first place. To them, this isn’t about Mexican immigrants coming across the border to work American farms. This is about potential terrorists entering America to create another 9/11.

Rory, who narrated the film, counters this point with a map sprouting X’s to show where certified terrorists have entered the country, Rory reads off the names of the cities -- New York, New York, New York, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, New York, New York, New York -- and notes, with the kind of dry wit her father Robert Kennedy was famous for, that a pattern seems to be emerging.

One of the film’s most poignant moments was the display of a map showing where immigrants died. While scattered across the border region, there were noticeable areas of concentration.

How horrible must one’s life be that they are willing to die to cross into another country? Can any fence hold back those who feel that level of desperation?

The film also touches on the environmental cost of the fence. As Rory noted in a Q&A after the screening, this is some of the most pristine land in America.
The fence prevents the migration of scores of creatures, including deer, mountain lions, and bears, among others. One shot shows some deer nosing up to the fence, presumably wondering how they could get to their usual stomping grounds.

As one man noted in the film, imagine someone coming into your home and walling you off from your kitchen, or your bedroom. That’s what we’ve done to a number of species.

Several times, the film references President Ronald Reagan’s famous “Tear down this wall” moment. This is not who we are, as Americans, several voices in the film say. We don’t build walls. We’re a nation of immigrants.

So how did this travesty come about? In the wake of 9/11, and led in large part by activists so vocal they literally shut down the phones on Capitol Hill, 73 percent of our elected representatives approved the border fence.

They might not have, Rory noted in the Q&A later, had not one network in particular, whose name she wouldn’t mention except to say it rhymed with “socks,” fanned the flames of anti-immigrant fear to the point where some on the Hill felt they had no politically viable choice but to build the fence.

In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security froze new construction on the fence. But American taxpayers are still committed to paying $49 billion in repairs for a fence that doesn’t even achieve its goal of preventing or even significantly deterring immigration.

sanquintinsince73 - 9-28-2010 at 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by krafty
yes, interesting show-we also enjoyed a program on hbo last week-a documentary called fences by Rory Kennedy, about the plight of the mx. illegals and coyotes......

Is that the same Rory Kennedy from Martha's Vineyard? The multi-millionaire??

Victims Victims

djh - 9-28-2010 at 08:03 PM

I watched alot of the Border Wars video available at the NGTV site for the program (since I don't have cable),.

One thing that stuck with me (in my "craw"): Everyone is a victim of some sort. Some I had sympathy for (decent human beings trying to find a better life and work and escape from consuming poverty ~ I would possibly do the same if I wore "his shoes" . . . ) but most (smugglers, money runners, those with criminal records ~ in the US and abroad, AND the consumers and businesses on the US side who buy the drugs, sell the guns, launder the money ~ including huge bank conglomerates who do so knowingly, etc.).

I am so sick of everyone else having an excuse for their actions and claiming to be a victim ! ! !

Personal accountability ~ period. The ONLY thing that is going to make our country and the rest of the world a better place....

I'm getting old and cranky! Good thing I kept my poneytail . . . it covers up my redneck !?!?!

[Edited on 9-29-2010 by djh]

bonanza bucko - 9-29-2010 at 07:37 AM

I'm sad to say that National Geographic is not just "geographic" anymore. It's a left wing political pressure group that publishes and broadcasts BS about "global warming" and such other "problems" as they need to carry their agenda.

We subscribed to the magazine about six months ago. NOT ONE issue so far has dealt with anything that is not a left wing hoax....mostly global warming.

Too bad....used to be an interesting magazine.

I wonder how much federal money they get...bet it's a bunch along with NPR and other such pressure groups.

JoeJustJoe - 9-30-2010 at 06:25 PM

I would hardly consider the "National Geographic" a liberal media outlet, not with their close ties to government officials and corporate interests."

Border Wars is really nothing but a sensationalized piece of garbage put out by the "National Geographic" who has often been accused of Western-Centric thinking that borders on racism and paternalism the way they portray the supposedly savages of 3rd world countries while they ignore the modern world of those countries they cover, but hey I like the pictures on " National Geographic"

Many young boys grew up decades ago looking at those pictures of the "National Geographic" with those African women with exposed breasts kneeling down, or those lovely long necks of the so-called savages choked with gold rings on their necks or ears. Thank God "Playboy" came out so you could take a sneak reading your fathers, or uncles magazine instead of waiting for the next "National Geographic" magazine.

The "Border Wars" show on National Geographic simply put are cartoons for American haters who getting off seeing the Border patrol in sensationalized type of stories.

Where is the war? Border Patrol men with guns, against young boys with rocks?

The truth is the Border Patrol is similar to the "Key Stone cops" than any other serious Federal law enforcement agency. If they were so good then why do we have 12 to 20 million undocumented Mexican citizens in the US already? I think the truth is they aren't suppose to stop too many undocumented Mexican from coming in, because big business, as well as small businesses like the cheap labor.

[Edited on 10-1-2010 by JoeJustJoe]

Lee - 9-30-2010 at 07:21 PM

Global warming is BS.

Law enforcement at our border is keystone cops.

Try 40 million undocumented WITHOUT men and women at the border doing something-- other than talking.

Take this nonsense to OT. Nobody -- there must be some -- here is interested in your stupid politics.

Fools.

Terry28 - 9-30-2010 at 07:33 PM

Jesus, the amount of ignorance here is amazing....left wing plot?? National Geograpic is liberal media plot? global warming is a hoax??
Remember the Bush administarion is responsible for the fence and all the wasted dollars.....get a grip sheeple!!!

windgrrl - 9-30-2010 at 08:19 PM

Yes - please move this to OT - didn't mean to raise a ruckus!

BajaRat - 9-30-2010 at 09:07 PM

Often times the question is not if we're right but the consequences of when we're wrong.
P.S. Sorry Skeet/Loreto I'm STILL trying to get my feet out of my mouth.

Lionel

BajaRat - 9-30-2010 at 09:49 PM

And another thing,
I can't wait for the Mexican Government to pose the same stringent laws at the border to prevent F#@ks like so many of us from entering the country easily, having our way,pressing our beliefs, wills and desires on this land and its people.
Lionel

DENNIS - 10-1-2010 at 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaRat
And another thing,
I can't wait for the Mexican Government to pose the same stringent laws at the border to prevent F#@ks like so many of us from entering the country easily, having our way,pressing our beliefs, wills and desires on this land and its people.

There is a large segment of Mexican society which can traverse the border with similar ease that we enjoy with Mexico. They can enter the states for a shopping trip and, before they leave, be the proud new owner of all they can buy, including land.
They can voice their political opinions and insist on all of the rights we as citizens are guaranteed, except the vote, and I'm not so sure about that restriction.
It's ludicrous to think that Mexicans haven't "pressed their beliefs, wills and desires on our land and our people." Just look around.
As far as ease of entry into the US, we all have to wait in the same line.

Why arn't these advantages which some Mexicans enjoy ever discussed? Why are we always the uncompromising villain in the comparison?

I wish I had the statistic, but I'd be willing to wager there are more Mexican nationals with SENTRI than US nationals. Does that indicate a biased preference?

Under all circumstances, I think a balance has been achieved in the controlled aspect of cross-border traffic management....especially when considering that the mixture is, from a standpoint of national economys, oil and water.

Martyman - 10-1-2010 at 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bonanza bucko
I'm sad to say that National Geographic is not just "geographic" anymore. It's a left wing political pressure group that publishes and broadcasts BS about "global warming" and such other "problems" as they need to carry their agenda.

We subscribed to the magazine about six months ago. NOT ONE issue so far has dealt with anything that is not a left wing hoax....mostly global warming.

Too bad....used to be an interesting magazine.

I wonder how much federal money they get...bet it's a bunch along with NPR and other such pressure groups.

This is a joke... right?

Cypress - 10-1-2010 at 03:12 PM

Have you ever read anything positive in the National Geographic?

sanquintinsince73 - 10-1-2010 at 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Go to Los Angeles and you'll see all of those Mexican citizens pressing their beliefs on us. They prefer to do business in a third world way. Look at all the food vendors operating without permits. My hometown has become a chithole. These people don't want to assimilate, they want to dominate.

k-rico - 10-1-2010 at 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
My hometown has become a chithole. These people don't want to assimilate, they want to dominate.

I had to chuckle at that one. Americans have been b-tching about immigrants for a couple of hundred years. Irish, Italian, eastern European, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, etc. etc. The brits haven't come here in large numbers, wonder why not.

But wanting to dominate??? I don't think so. What are you afraid of?

DENNIS - 10-1-2010 at 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

But wanting to dominate??? I don't think so. What are you afraid of?

Reconquista. You know what that is, Rico.

sanquintinsince73 - 10-1-2010 at 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
My hometown has become a chithole. These people don't want to assimilate, they want to dominate.

But wanting to dominate??? I don't think so. What are you afraid of?

K-rico: each time they march, burning my flag and at the same time demanding their citizenship their battle cry is always "This is Mexico", and "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us". And yes, they do yell out about re-taking "their" land.

DENNIS - 10-1-2010 at 04:15 PM

Here's some Reconquista stuff to read:

http://www.globalpolitician.com/24358-immigration-reconquist...

sanquintinsince73 - 10-1-2010 at 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
Here's some Reconquista stuff to read:

http://www.globalpolitician.com/24358-immigration-reconquist...

Good reading....thank you, D.

k-rico - 10-1-2010 at 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sanquintinsince73

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico

Quote:

Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
My hometown has become a chithole. These people don't want to assimilate, they want to dominate.

But wanting to dominate??? I don't think so. What are you afraid of?

Yeah but, what are the chances of that?

Come on, drive down to one of those street vendors that are ignoring government regulation and have 5 tacos. Afterall they're ignoring those DREADED GOV REGULATIONS. Have a tea party party.

[Edited on 10-1-2010 by k-rico]

sanquintinsince73 - 10-1-2010 at 04:32 PM

They may not take over in a way that we have to fly the red, white, and green. But see what happens when they elect more and more people who were once illegals to local, statewide, and national office. Read Dennis' article.Read Dennis' article.

Good point

Ken Cooke - 10-10-2010 at 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-ricoCome on, drive down to one of those street vendors that are ignoring government regulation and have 5 tacos. Afterall they're ignoring those DREADED GOV REGULATIONS. Have a tea party party.

[Edited on 10-1-2010 by k-rico]

Travel SOUTH of Mexico, and you see what less government would feel and look like.

mcfez - 10-28-2010 at 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by windgrrl
Yes - please move this to OT - didn't mean to raise a ruckus!

Well now I got to watch this program!

But I prefer the PBS series of 14 some odd years being on..... "Desert Speaks". Non political.

durrelllrobert - 10-29-2010 at 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by krafty
yes, interesting show-we also enjoyed a program on hbo last week-a documentary called fences by Rory Kennedy, about the plight of the mx. illegals and coyotes......

The documentary itself crosses that difficult border from education into entertainment. The audience at the preview screening in Los Angeles was laughing heartily many times throughout the film.

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh37/durrellrobert/28560_...

[Edited on 10-29-2010 by durrelllrobert]

windgrrl - 10-29-2010 at 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mcfez

Quote:

Originally posted by windgrrl
Yes - please move this to OT - didn't mean to raise a ruckus!

Well now I got to watch this program!

But I prefer the PBS series of 14 some odd years being on..... "Desert Speaks". Non political.

Well, I posted this info having a naive perspective that it was a series of interesting vignettes and views of CA scenery, but was reminded that, as ever, "everything is political."

I will look for the PBS series...being wary and suspicious that those public broadcasters are up to no good.
:saint: