Bor·der: (n.) - The line or frontier area separating political divisions or geographic regions

A hat-tip goes to Fundy for this one:

A coalition of advocacy group leaders sought an apology from Mayor Autry [of Fresno, CA] for using the term "illegal." They told him they believed his comments last week portrayed illegal immigrants as an economic burden.

Members of the coalition asked Autry to use the word "undocumented" in the future.

I fail to see the perceived "insult." Citizenship is not a matter of semantics; it's a legal status. If you are not in the country legally, either as a citizen or as a registered visitor, then you are by definition illegal. Would they, perhaps, prefer to be called "Mexican nationals who do not pay taxes but still use all our social services"? We can do that. Of course, it's rather unwieldy, so it'll probably get shortened to "Mexicans," but hey-- we promise not to call you "illegals" any more!

In a continuing saga, the neighbors across the street--all twelve of them in a three bedroom house; I'll leave it to you to figure out what nationality they are--pulled a couple new ones last week. First, I'm out mowing the yard, noticing that theirs is so overgrown there are three foot-high weeds in it, when one of the males walks out of the garage and... turns on the sprinkler. I could only gaze on in bemusement as he proceeded to spend the next five minutes getting it positioned perfectly, so that it would sprinkler the entire (overgrown) yard in an even manner.

As if that weren't bad enough, my girlfriend noticed yesterday morning that one of the males has taken to sleeping in the front yard--with a pillow!

So, am I prejudiced against hispanics? No, not in the least. Am I prejudiced against Mexican nationals? No, not that either; I just intensely dislike those particular--illegal--Mexican nationals, and by extension any who behave in such a manner. Which is the majority of them, from what I can see. There's no pre-judgment involved; it's simple observation and reaction. I don't like living near barbarians, and I don't think anyone else with an ounce of civilization in their veins does, either.

We (meaning middle-class America) have overweight white kids flowing out our ears. A large percentage of white people pay illegal Mexican immigrants to mow their lawns, but then bitch about lax immigration laws. I see a solution to both issues: Make junior put the Playstation in the closet, get off his fat, soda-swilling ass, and mow the goddamned lawn. Everyone who does this will both stop providing a conduit for illegal immigration and prevent their kid from becoming an even more disgusting human porkchop. Then--maybe, if he's fortunate--he'll be eligible to join my beloved Corps and do something useful with his pathetic life when he turns 18 years of age.

So, let's summarize the results of this solution: 1) Fewer illegal immigrants in the country soaking up your tax money; 2) Your lawn still gets mowed; 3) Your kid is no longer a revolting, whiny carpet sloth; 4) The Marine Corps gets a new warrior candidate--one with a low body fat ratio and a faint hint of what discipline is about--who can go kill the Bad People before they try kill us; 5) With the increase in viable military recruits, we can beef up border security, thus further reducing illegal immigration.

All because you made your kid get his video-gaming lard butt off the couch and do something productive around the house.

Next problem, please...