Andante of Collective Sigh has a picture of her “grandpuppy” and Karen of Peripetia has pictures of her vacation in California.

Take a break. Go. Chill. The mess will still be here tomorrow.

According to CNN Smugglers welcome tighter borders:

Barely 18, Jose belongs to Mexico’s new generation of migrant smugglers — young, savvy and happy to see Uncle Sam further tighten border security.

Why? It’s good for business, he says.

Jose figures more migrants will seek his help if the U.S. Senate approves legislation to double the Border Patrol and put up a virtual wall of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors to monitor the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

[Snip]

Victor Clark, a Mexican border expert in Tijuana who has studied smugglers’ patterns for decades, agrees with Jose. “This is going to have the opposite effect of what the U.S. government wants, since the demand for migrant smugglers is going to go up,” he said.

The smuggling business flourished after the U.S. Border Patrol cracked down on the busiest crossings into Texas and California in 1994.

It’s so nice of the Republicans to help out the coyotes. Only a few of them are currently making $1 million a year. Poor Jose only made $16,000 for three months work, as opposed the $53 per day he was making cutting lettuce. This project will certainly increase the income of one segment of the Mexican population.

Anne Zook pointed me to Justin Rood, and I was going to say something nasty about statutory rape being an odd requirement for working at the Department of Homeland Security, but the Pensacola Beach Blogger has already done a fine job covering the “Department of Homeland Perversity”.

The most important things you have to know to understand Katherine Harris is that the football stadium at the University of Florida is named the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and Ben Hill Griffin Jr. was her grandfather.

There is no honor more sacred in the states of the South East Conference than to have your name on the football stadium in your home state university.

Katherine Harris is intelligent and a millionaire in her own right. In addition to her BA from Agnes Scott College, an excellent liberal college for Presbyterian ladies, and MPA in International Trade from the Kennedy School at Harvard, she studied in Switzerland and Spain. She made her own money in real estate, probably about $50 million.

When she decided to go into her grandfather’s favorite hobby, politics, there was no question in her mind that she had the right to win any office she sought in the state.

Her run for Secretary of State in Florida 1998 was nasty and she steamrollered Jeb Bush’s candidate, the incumbent, Sandra Mortham to win the primary. Ms. Mortham was an inoffensive creature, overly fond of parties and tchatchkes, but not terribly fond of accounting.

The Democratic opponent was Karen Gievers, an attorney who did a lot of pro bono work for foster children, was involved in NOW and GWEN [Get Women Elected Now], pushed for tougher traffic safety laws, and opposed tort reform.

Cruella said Ms. Gievers was a liberal lobbyist and implied she was a lesbian. It was as brutal a “shock and awe” campaign as had ever been seen. It was total overkill.

Below the fold: rumors and guesses. [Read more →]