I have no idea whether illegal alien/immigrant & anchor baby are “politically correct”, but I do know they are derogatory and factually false.

Let’s start with the latest cause célèbre of the bigot class – anchor baby. Like Canada and lot of other countries, US automatically grants citizenship to everyone born here – it is their birthright. The bigots claim that this birthright grants the baby’s parents protection from deportation if they are undocumented and costs taxpayers all kinds of money for the “cradle to grave care provided for US citizens”. Given that US citizens receive minimal help from the government, which is why we have such a high rate of poverty and homelessness, Canada is better deal. Ask a homeless vet how much the US spends on its citizens. Further having a child who is a US citizen does not keep anyone from being deported if they are undocumented.

The biggest problem with calling undocumented immigrants “illegal” is that lacking the proper paperwork is not a criminal offense, it is a civil offense. This is by design to avoid the costs and procedures of criminal trials. With the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, the cost of criminal trials for all of them would be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The undocumented immigrants are deported after a hearing by an administrative law judge, not a trial by a jury, and there is no requirement that they be provided counsel.

“Political Correctness” is right up there with “No offense meant. but…” and “If anyone was offended…” The people who use these terms know they are being jerks, but they won’t mend their ways.

Position: 18.5N 72.9W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [285°] near 20 mph [31 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1008 mb.

Currently about 40 miles [ 65 km] West of Port au Prince, Haiti.

The storm is interacting with the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola which, in addition to wind shear, is causing disorganization.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Southeastern & Central Bahamas, and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Northwestern Bahamas, the Cuban Provinces of Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin, and Guantanamo.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

King of the Honda

Woot!!!!

[Editor: The Great Pumpkin has captured the top of the Honda. In most places it would be King of the Hill, but Florida doesn’t really have hills, so the Honda has to stand in.]

Friday Ark