What’s happened today?

  • Filmmakers Annabel Park & Eric Byler debut on Wolf Blitzer and have CNN article.
  • The County has now posted the newly modified resolution.
  • BVBL continues the pursuit on Chief Deane complete with an online smack-down that has now spilled over to Virginia Virtucon.  This tactic previously backfired and reminds me of the saying –  ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over with the expectation of a different result.’ 
  • Thousands gather in cities around the Country.  Hopefully we’ll have some pictures of the event in D.C.

133 Thoughts to “Immigration Day Round-Up”

  1. Valley Girl

    Actually – I disagree completely. Not that the fate of Latin American Indians was much better than North AMerican Indians, BUT the approach was completely different and had a major impact in the evolutions of the US vs. much of Latin America. Latin AMerica was conquest, rape, and intermixing. North America was an almost total extermination. It has a lot to do with the objectives of England vs. Spain and Portugal. But that is a long history lesson.

    As to how the liberty wall and immigration protest strategy relates to Obama and Wright – Generally speaking, in order to move an issue forward and create change it is imperative that you have an understanding of the powers that be and/or the minds you wish to change. Your style of communication must take into consideration the audience. A good communicator is a good listener. Obama is a great communicator and he undertands the larger audience, the powers that be, th American Public. It is impossible to know how he truly feels about Wrights words in his heart but he knows that acknowledging his words means the end of his cause.

    Please note that I belive in the fundamental right of the individual to post the Liberty Wall, no question, but to the extent that it is a confirmation of the worst fears of a lot of uninformed people who may be ambivilant about this sitauation, “the average Joe or Jane”, and it is basically a tool for anti-immigarnts extremists to proove their assertions about who immigrants, both legal and illegal, it is almost like a sabatoge to the cause, much like Wright, IMO.
    Comprehensive Immigartion Reform (the only real solution to this mess) will not be achieved by the continuos back and forth of well established “sides” and the battle between the studies that “prove” one thing or another. It will be made when the average US voting citizen comes to a reasonable conclusion about the state of our immigration system and sees immigrants as a benefit to our nation, not a threat. A sign like this says, “threat” perhaps not to you but to many people that may not understand this situation as you do.

    And don’t forget the extent that media can be used to photograph that sign and broadcast it around the nation as a symbol for whats going on in PW County.

  2. Casual Observer

    FYI:

    http://www.questconnect.org/mexico_cc_ethnic.htm

    Ethnic Groups

    The overwhelmingly largest ethnic group in Mexico is the Mestizos who are of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry. They control most of the money and the power. The next largest group is the indigenous population who largely retain their sense of distinct identity. The Mexican government recognizes 56 different indigenous groups and these cultures that have survived largely because of their rural isolation. These people are generally poor and their main wealth is traditional and spiritual and their way of life filled with communal customs and rituals.

    The largest indigenous group is the Nahua, descendants of the Aztecs. There are at least 1.7 million Nahuatl speakers. There are approximately 1 million Maya speakers, 500,000 Zapotecs, 500,000 Mixtecs, 260,000 Totonacs and 130,000 Purepechas.

    I could be wrong, but I’m guessing part of Mr. F’s reason for erecting the sign is continuing anger and frustration over how the indigenous Mexican tribes have been treated in their homeland and, now (as he sees it), here. I’m not saying his sign is in any way constructive or helpful means in framing the immigration discussion. I am suggesting that his POV and perspective is uniquely his. His sign is his voice. It really has no ability to empower or persuade so, really, it’s not much of a threat. I’d say it’s a distraction from any constructive dialogue, and we’re being silly if we ascribe any real power to it.

  3. Casual Observer

    Valley Girl,

    I don’t really think we’re that far apart. 🙂

  4. rod2155

    Northern Virginia has become a spiritual desert and in this sandstorm of cultural confusion, I’ve been trying to collect my thoughts on the issue.
    I was born and raised in the Herndon/Reston area of Northern VA, with brief residencies in Mount Jackson and Richmond, I’ve also traveled in Europe and the Middle East. Having not lived in PWC I don’t have enough facts to have a valid opinion, but from what I can gage from the conversation, the Immigration problems of Fairfax are slightly different from PWC.
    In Herndon in particular, an Immigrant community from South and Central America, both legal and illegal, came for the development jobs all booming all over NOVA. Herndon (and Sterling) still had affordable housing in the early 90’s and many Immigrants settled there. As we all know, the office development market slowed down but the housing values and market continued to expand. Many settled immigrants started looking for work in the landscaping/maintenance sector. Out of this rose Day Laborers, Overcrowding, Sanitation and some Gang problems.
    In terms of Herndon, I find a lot of the arguments against Illegal Immigrants to be utter hypocrisy. The traditional line that pops up at least once every council meeting is thus;
    “The Illegal Aliens have no respect for the laws of this country and no invested interest in our community. They are like locusts, they come into the area, drain all the money and ship it back to their home country, and they drain all the resources meant for the citizens. The Illegal Aliens spread disease, violence and rubbish; they want to turn Herndon into a third world country and when they are done ruining our standard of living they disappear back to Mexico or another community to do it all over again.”
    Illegal Immigrants are not the only “Alien” force to invade Herndon. When I was growing up in Herndon, It was a quiet suburb with affordable housing and a strong sense of community. We actually knew our neighbors; hardly anyone had fences between properties and neighborhood BBQ’s were not unknown to happen in the summer. Around 1995 an influx of young middle class Americans (mostly White) came into Herndon in hopes of working in the budding dot com industries, weapons manufacturing and government contracting. It was during these years that the McMansions and Luxury gated condos were constructed. Practically every inch of open forest I used to play in as a kid was torn down to make redundant strip malls and four story townhouses. My neighbors who worked in the manufacturing sector moved out only to be replaced with families who never so much as bothered to ring our door bell and introduce themselves but quickly built fences to mark their territory. This Influx of white collar workers really have no investment in the community, they are looking to make as much money as possible sell their poorly constructed foofoo homes for 3 times what they are worth and hightail it out of town to retire in Florida (or Mexico). And where does this leave the invested citizens? In a concrete jungle devoid of community spirit and organic life, a community that cost’s ten times more to live in than it did when I was born into it and where the quality of life is measured in 401K.
    Our past election results show that most residents of Herndon are completely apathetic to their town government, but as soon as their housing values lower they start to take notice. In Herndon a handful of manipulating “Social Control” advocates, using their skills in spinning and blogging were able to convince enough of the apathetic citizens that the “Illegal Aliens” were the source of their lowering housing values and quality of life. All but one member of the town council was voted out and replaced by “Reform” Candidates who have, to their credit, managed to re-affirm Herndon’s post 95 values where Quality of life is replaced by quality of material, moral values made subservient to housing values, an elitist utopia which now is preparing to fully clean the council and make way for total social control.
    Blinded by greed, the white collar mob who blame “Alien” elements for ruining their lifestyle need only a simple mirror to see what has doomed our the next generation. We built too much, too fast, with no plan and no good heart. As I said, PWC seems to have a different type of problem than Fairfax, but I believe this statement holds true to every community… “If you build a community on hate, you will hate the community you build.”

  5. Ed

    “You do realize that Hispanics are KIA(Killed in Action) at a faster rate than African Americans, guess they didn’t get the memo that they should ‘destroy traditional American way-of-life.”

    I commend those who have served or are serving in our armed forces, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or national origin, and I have no problem whatsoever rewarding immigrants who do serve with expedited citizenship. But to your point: The largest ethnic group of KIA’s in every American war has been Caucasian, including Iraq. Therefore their KIA “rate” is still the highest. But what does this have to do with the May Day marches? Nothing. I didn’t mention anything about race. You did. You are using a liberal tactic of re-framing the argument, when you can’t address it. What I oppose is the political leanings of those who marched, and the socialist marxist idealogy that they want to impose on this country. You on this blog have never criticized MWB for their ties and support of EZLN, or their alignment with anarchist revolutionary groups. Your silence is consent for their actions, as far as I am concerned. You, who claims to be a “conservative’ should be very concerned about this.

  6. Not Me, Bubba

    Oh Ed…I don’t know where to begin with your post but let’s just say this:

    Berkeley CA, San Fancisco…marxists and anarchists? LOL. Yeah – they sure do represent the ENTIRE nation. As for your claims on the Democratic party…well, no party is free of corruption. And if the Dems are marxists-anarchists, they are finely matched by the fascists of the Repubs.

    “You’ve got a regular contributor who wants people arrested for political speech. She wants them arrested for wearing military clothing. She wants them arrested because they chose to exercise their Constitutionally protected right to bear arms for self-defense.”

    She doesn’t want them arrested. She thinks the tone of their blog however is rather incindiary and prone to induce violence. The fact that you are all het up on her opinions and think this nation is at danger from being taken over by marxists & anarchists would be truly amusing, if it weren’t so sad.

  7. Thanks, Bubba. I think people who harass and threaten and act violently SHOULD be arrested, however. GL fitst the bill in my estimation : ) That doesn’t mean it will happen, of course.

  8. “you apparently do need to explain your behavior which obviously means you see some flaw in it.” No, YOU see some flaw in it so I explain it. Perhaps it will help you understand but I guess not. Oh well. I can’t MAKE you understand if you don’t want to.

    “lower class” LMAO! Like I CARE what class you think I am from?

    In fact,I am from a very “working class” family and proud of it. My mother’s side of the family was impoverished. I put myself through school and have worked hard for whatever I have. I think the snobbery and racism I see in this county are disgusting. So…..if you think that’s obnoxious, oh well.

    BTW,I had a dream about Wally Covington last night. Does that make me higher class? : )

  9. Casual Observer

    May Day ’round the world:

    http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=%22May+Day%22+celebrations&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

    It’s a lot more than marxists and anarchists. 🙂 Why are so many Americans afraid to do their own research? Some of it will support your particular bias (and we all have biases), others won’t. But what’s so awful about moving beyond our own comfort zones and learning a bit more about the global community, instead of focusing like a laser beam on how everything impacts our own zip codes?

    We may not like all that we read, learn and hear when we put ourselves out there, but I guarantee we will come away wiser.

    May Day is significant around the globe.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day

  10. Elena

    Valley Girl,
    Another eloquent post, thank you. I concur 100% with your synopsis. I have been thinking, in order to get to the solutions, first we must deal with the “problem”. People clearly have different points of view regarding what the issues are before us regarding immigration, whether it be legal or illegal. Maybe it would be helpful to take each “problem” and break it down til we can agree on some solutions to address each one.

  11. Valley Girl

    Elena – absolutely – establish a mission, goals and objectives, and tehn a plan for making those goals and objectives a reality. The more you can clearly define your objectives, the easier you can craft actions to achieve them, complete with timelines, job assignments, all of which can be measured for success or failure. It’s basic organizational planning.

    Causual observer – I actually think that words have the power to incite a great many things, both positive and negative.

    You wrote:
    “Then spend a few minutes watching Telemundo or any of the Spanish-language TV stations. Look at the actors, talk show hosts, game show contestants, news reporters and anchors. Notice anything? They are the privileged class, all of whom are descended from the Spanish.”

    Haven’t you ever seen the great India Maria?

  12. “but how do you accomplish this as no one has found a way to enforce housing issues without some support group claiming we’re targeting Latinos and threatening to sue.” SA, this IS a problem because you can’t define family. BUT there are building safety codes. If you have too many people living in a house, you can enforce it. There are choices.

    1. Obviously, let the people know. It would be better to let them know BEFORE they buy or rent the house. And it would be best to let them know codes are enforced. Realtors should know better than to sell a 4 bedroom home to a 15 person family!

    2. If they get cited and they are one family, they have the option of adding on. If they don’t have that option, they might have to move.

    3. Affordable housing is the biggest obstacle. We need to advocate for more affordable housing if we don’t want crowding. We need to do it for OURSELVES as well unless we want to keep paying ridiculous prices just to live here!

  13. BTW, how come it’s okay for GL and his clan to be obnoxious but it’s not for me? Is it that I’m female and I’m supposed to be nicer? : )

  14. Casual Observer

    Valley Girl,
    No, I hadn’t heard of her, but I googled:

    http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=%22India+Maria%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

    Wiki entry:

    María Elena Velasco, better known as La India María or Maria Nicolasa (born 17 December 1940 Mexico, Puebla) is a famous Mexican actress and comedian, and one of Mexico’s few major female film directors. Not much about Velasco’s private life has been open to the public’s eye; she prefers to be seen by the public as the character she usually plays in her movies: that of a countryside Indian who tries to make the most with what she has.
    Velasco has said publicly that she wants India María to represent Mexico’s poor social classes, and she has tried to carry out social messages in most of the movies she has made. The character she portrays is a typical southwestern Mexican Indian (her characters usually say they are from the State of Jalisco), dressed in traditional garb consisting of traditionally braided and ribboned hair, colorful native-type blouses and skirts. In her films, she often goes out of her way to speak at least a few lines in native languages, such as Chichimecan, Zapotecan or Nahuatlan.
    Velasco invented the India María character in 1972 for Mexican TV network Telesistema Mexicano (now Televisa) for a comic segment of the weekly program Siempre en domingo. It quickly became a hit and in the same year, Velasco began starring in an enormously successful series of low budget comedies that became a mainstay in Mexican movie theaters through the mid 1980s.

    She sounds like a terrific role model who has broken some barriers. How many others like her are there? I watched 10 minutes of a telenovela after my last post, and I didn’t see anyone one who looked even remotely like India Maria, I’m sorry to say. 🙁 Every single man and woman I saw looked like the typical actor on a US soap.

  15. Cindy B

    Valley Girl, you have a lot to add to this dialog about solutions! I like the idea of seeking out the “go to” person and making them the point of contact for the exchange of accurate information.

    I wish we had community centers, the way the UK has pubs (but without the alcohol) where you could go on the weekends to connect with people. The closest thing we have in the city is JE Rice (Tru Value hardware) or Tony’s Pizza, where you run into anybody who’s anybody and get the latest news. Churches do the job, but congregations tend to segregate and not everyone is Christian or religious. In my parents’ little town in Nebraska, it was the Legion Post or the firehouse, at least for men to gather. Sometimes I wish the elementary schools would open their gyms on the weekend, with help from volunteers.

    I’m showing my age now, but I remember celebrating May Day in Minnesota as a child. We would make baskets out of cupcake papers and pipe cleaners and fill them with nuts and mints and leave them on neighbors’ front porches. And yes, the posts for the laundry line in the backyard became our May pole.

    Rod2155 has accurately described some of the young professionals who don’t know how to be neighbors either. I call them “muters”. They get in their cars, go to work, come back home, use the electric control to open their garages, drive in, and disappear until the next morning when they drive out again. They don’t know how to say hi or make eye contact, if they’re out on the weekends, it’s on a riding lawn mower with an i-pod and sunglasses. When I walk, I have to watch out because they back out of their driveways without looking, and they nearly run me down if I’m crossing the street when they have to turn. I am simply in their way. They drive on neighborhood streets as if they are still on I66. I just want to say “snap out of it!” because they’re in a trance.

  16. Censored bybvbl

    Casual Observer, May Day for me always meant the dance around the Maypole. Must be the Scandinavian background… (Although I’m sure some think of Socialism when they think of Scandinavian countries. ha ha)

  17. Good points, Cindy! In our area, the only thing that substitutes for community centers are community houses, but those are subdivision specific and must be rented. Other meetings take place in schools, but there aren’t any town halls or such because many of us live in places that aren’t even towns. So it IS very divided and can make you feel isolated, especially if your neighbors are “muters.” LOL. I love that term! (Watch out, though. Someone will accuse you of name calling!)

  18. Not Me, Bubba

    Well, as a “muter” some of us have to make a living – and if getting up at 5:30 AM, on the road by 7, at work by 8….at the end of the day, commute back home at 4:30, pick the kids up at 5, endure 66 and 28 for the next hour…pull in at 6, make dinner for the family, put the kids to bed at 8, clean up and finally time for yourself at 9…fall asleep at 9:30 and re-do the whole shebang the following day…

    Yeah – I guess you could say us “muters” are real insensitive, un-neighborly jerks. How dare we not make the neighborhood rounds and bake cookies for everyone on a weekly basis! At least, as Cindy states…WE MOW OUR LAWNS.

    Pfft. But how dare we complain when on our drive down the street we have to play bumper cars with more landscaping vehicles than lawns…and more cars than one’s driveway, garage and street in front of the house can hold. And how dare we kvetch when the lawns we mow get overrun by weeds from our three-family neighbor household! Gee, and let’s not forget about wanting a fence to keep the neighbor’s pitt bulls away from our kids.

    Yeah – us “muters” who work hard for a living, want a decent neighborhood in which to live and care for our property are such troublemakers and WASPs – we’re the real problem.

    It sure would be nice to sit around the neighborhood all day and have the time to socialize, but some of us have to work – and commute long distances so we can be paid a decent salary and afford the homes you think are so ugly.

    Pfft.

  19. Casual Observer

    Casual Observer, May Day for me always meant the dance around the Maypole. Must be the Scandinavian background… (Although I’m sure some think of Socialism when they think of Scandinavian countries. ha ha)

    My older kids’ had an elementary school teacher who used to teach the kids the Maypole Dance, which they would perform during the annual Mother’s Day Tea. The Maypole was beautifully constructed, and the kids spent weeks learning the complicated dance. Sadly, my youngest wasn’t able to do this when she had this teacher, because the SOL curriculum didn’t allow enough free time in the schedule for those type of “fun” activities.

    But that’s a different rant all together. 🙂

  20. Casual Observer

    CindyB said:

    I wish we had community centers, the way the UK has pubs (but without the alcohol) where you could go on the weekends to connect with people.

    To which I’m forced to respond, what fun is a pub without the beer? 🙂 You can’t get a good neighborly sing-a-long going without a few pints in ya. 🙂

  21. Red Dawn

    Casual Observer,
    “To which I’m forced to respond, what fun is a pub without the beer? 🙂 You can’t get a good neighborly sing-a-long going without a few pints in ya. :)”

    This reminds me of an email I got earlier today.

    It said beer is now cheaper than gas. Drink don’t drive 🙂

  22. Cindy B

    Which makes me think of the scene from “Back to the Future” when Doc comes back from the future and pours a can of beer into the car’s fuel compartment along with the can and a banana peel.

    Wait, that’s fuel from food, too.

  23. elvis

    wow kg,

    guess I really hit a nerve 🙂 I honestly do think you have no class, that is my opinion of course, take it or leave it. I think you are a pretty disgusting person and on the off chance GL gets arrested I hope you are there with him and share the same cell. people like you inflame the issue and cloud it with crap, then you get people like kenneth whipped up and away we go. oh, and your poetry sucks by the way.

    oh, and I know plenty of people who were brought up “working class” who have plenty of class and are outstanding members of polite society. Go back into the hole you crawled out of so people can really discuss the issues as they want instead of listening to belligerent, blunt and low-class people such as your self.

  24. Red Dawn

    “Wait, that’s fuel from food, too.”

    LOL, you just put a spoke in my mouse cage. I was just thinking, hey, what about alcohol for fuel.. 🙁

  25. TWINAD

    One thing I find interesting to note is that many people are so upset becauses home values have fallen since the foreclosure/immigration exodus began. What they don’t seem to remember, though, is that the only reason the home prices went so high was because the homes were being sold at ridiculously high prices to unqualified buyers and illegal immigrants. The prices were artificially inflated. Without those buyers, the prices would never have gone so high. So even if those people HADN’T bought or moved in, you wouldn’t be looking at any difference in the price now in my opinion, because the prices wouldn’t have gone that high in the first place. If NO unqualified buyers or illegal immigrants had purchased, there would have been no buyers for those homes to drive the prices up. So, in my opinion, the people that are upset about the loss in value aren’t recognizing that the prices should NEVER have gone that high to begin with. I live in a 1970’s split level that I bought in 2000 for $200K…when houses nearby were going for $250, I couldn’t believe it!!!! I thought those people were crazy to buy such an old, unspectacular house at that price! When people started paying close to a half million, I really almost had a stroke! Yes, my home has now depreciated to a much lower level than at the top of the market, but it IS a realistic price for the house and neighborhood…still more than I would want to pay for it!

  26. Cindy B

    Sorry I hit a nerve, Bubba. I worked for two corporations in McLean and muted with the best of them. Worst mute ever was the day the plane went down in the Potomac during a snowstorm. Second worst mute – carpooling all the way to work and then someone got out of their car to tell us our tire was almost off!

  27. Valley Girl

    please let me use this space to re-post a comment that was not posted on BVBL, since I am amoung the many proud that have been banned.

    The latest over there is a call to report all illegal immigration to ICE via e-mail, which judging by the last post that actually appears doesn’t even work.

    Apparently some loyal posters there have a hard time believing that ICE would allow an illegal immigrant to apply for a work permit:

    Loudoun said on 2 May 2008 at 3:41 pm:
    AnonforNow – you are sadly mistaken if you think ICE is giving applications to illegal aliens. Provide us all with the proof that ICE is aiding and abetting illegal aliens – they would then be in violation of federal law.

    What a joke!

    My response which does not appear is this:

    TheProofIsInThePudding said on 2 May 2008 at 5:28 pm:
    Loudoun Times Mirror

    Arrested Lansdowne workers released by ICE

    http://loudountimes.com/news/2008/apr/22/arrested-lansdowne-workers-released-ice/

    Its true – they were given instructions to fill out form I-765, though there were no garauntees it would be approved.

    So carry on, call ICE. Let them spend loads of your tax dollars apprehending folks, only to release them because the truth is they don’t have the BED SPACE!!!

    Anyway, hopefully one of Loudoun’s friends will let him know that proof is not welcome at BVBL but he can find it over here.

  28. es_la_ley

    Valley Girl said on 2 May 2008 at 5:35 pm:

    please let me use this space to re-post a comment that was not posted on BVBL, since I am amoung the many proud that have been banned.

    Your post *is* on BVBL. I can see it quite clearly.

  29. Moon-howler

    The problem with the sign is that it keeps people riled up. It is in your face and drags people into the fray who otherwise would be going about their every day business.

    I believe Mr. Fernandez is probably a nice man but he has been ill advised and what he is doing is not in the best interest of peace and harmony in the Manassas area.

    It angers people who might not ordinarily be angry. We don’t need more angry people, we need fewer. I am one of those people who feel if words and statements are rude for one group of people, then they are just as rude for another group. I rarely use the word racist but that sign is getting pretty close.

  30. es_la_ley

    Moon-howler said on 2 May 2008 at 5:54 pm:

    DING DING DING! Best post of the day!

  31. Juturna

    MH

    I agree. I recall a good saying I heard once it went like tihs…. “If I won’t tolerate it about you, I won’t tolerate it from you”

    I don’t believe that feeling disenfranchised gives you more rights than others. Never have.

    I do believe in good manners as a general rule for just about everything in life. I don’t think the sign is good manners.

  32. Kenneth Reynolds

    kgotthardt said on 2 May 2008 at 11:56 am:
    “you apparently do need to explain your behavior which obviously means you see some flaw in it.” No, YOU see some flaw in it so I explain it. Perhaps it will help you understand but I guess not. Oh well. I can’t MAKE you understand if you don’t want to.
    “lower class” LMAO! Like I CARE what class you think I am from?
    In fact,I am from a very “working class” family and proud of it. My mother’s side of the family was impoverished. I put myself through school and have worked hard for whatever I have. I think the snobbery and racism I see in this county are disgusting. So…..if you think that’s obnoxious, oh well.
    BTW,I had a dream about Wally Covington last night. Does that make me higher class? : )

    Kenneth said – yes, you are as high class as they come K…..you are a class act…….BUT, i want to know more about these dreams. Were you chasing wally with a pitchfork? or what!!! KR

  33. Red Dawn

    es_la_ley,

    I just wanted to say AGAIN, it is so NICE to see you here 🙂
    Juturna,
    “I agree. I recall a good saying I heard once it went like tihs…. “If I won’t tolerate it about you, I won’t tolerate it from you””

    I think you know how I love those sayings 🙂

    Kenneth Reynolds,

    Kenneth said – yes, you are as high class as they come K…..you are a class act…….BUT, i want to know more about these dreams. Were you chasing wally with a pitchfork? or what!!! KR”

    Thanks for the giggle.

    With all the name calling and finger pointing,it reminds me of this video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDd4Ly9cD4c

    and if that OFFENDED anyone

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh9cNYlmXEY

    Happy Friday

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99HdRxlJzV4

  34. Red Dawn

    I didn’t mean to post the last link ( chose the Simpson version) opps…

    I can say I am sorry for that 🙂

  35. Red Dawn

    kgotthardt,

    Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you out 🙂 hah hah

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvhch9xlf8U

  36. “Were you chasing wally with a pitchfork? or what!!! KR” LOL! No, he was talking about something and was giving me some papers. I kept saying to myself, Okay. There’s Wally Covington. I’m talking to Wally Covington. I know this is a dream, and it’s one of my strange ones. Any minute now I will wake up and…..

    Wally shouldn’t worry. I’ve dreamt about Richard Nixon and Ralph Nader as well. Don’t ask.

  37. Heee heee heeee….thanks for the 80’s flashback, Red! The song is much more romantic than my dream about Wally, however……and thank GOD FOR THAT! LOL.

  38. Red Dawn

    kgotthardt,

    🙂 I’d rather dream about dreams in the mist than 800 lb gorillas in the mist..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_7OeoZCQY

  39. Moon-howler

    Valley Girl,

    It sounds like a reprieve has been granted. Lucky you.

    Did you apply for absolution?

  40. Valley Girl

    es_la_ley – Thanks, I guess I get banned randomly and when I do I can see them (my posts) on my screen but others tell me they can’t.

    good to know, good to know.

  41. Not Me, Bubba

    “So, in my opinion, the people that are upset about the loss in value aren’t recognizing that the prices should NEVER have gone that high to begin with. ”

    You couldn’t be more wrong if you tried. I’ll be the FIRST (and I know I’m not the only one) to say our home wasn’t worth the 550K it was valued at a year or two ago.

    We’re not pissed the market was inflated and fell – we’re pissed so many unqualified people were given mortgages! And in teh case of my neighborhood that IS the Latinos! Every SINGLE foreclosure, pre-foreclosure and bank-owned home was mortgaged to a Latino. We’ve done the research on RealtyTrac and county records. Illegal, legal – irrelevant.

  42. Red Dawn

    Not Me, Bubba,
    I agree with what you are saying. Here is the thing, there was a market for the right person at the right time to get screwed…who is to blame?
    Who was the grantor and the grantee of such a situation?

  43. Casual Observer

    Bubba wrote:

    We’re not pissed the market was inflated and fell – we’re pissed so many unqualified people were given mortgages! And in teh case of my neighborhood that IS the Latinos! Every SINGLE foreclosure, pre-foreclosure and bank-owned home was mortgaged to a Latino. We’ve done the research on RealtyTrac and county records. Illegal, legal – irrelevant.

    Well, in my zip 20112, the majority of foreclosures happened one of two ways:

    1. People in good standing refinanced a few years ago to take advantage of lower rates. Mortgage broker tells them their house has appreciated to a ridiculous amount (ours tried to tell us our house was worth $750K), so why not take out an HELOC and put in that inground pool, buy a car, take the family to Disney World? I know many people who drew equity out of their homes like it was an ATM. Now, they’re screwed because banks are calling those HELOCs because any equity they had is gone.

    2. People (not just Latinos) got greedy, and bought way beyond their means and ability to pay. $1 million dollar houses shot up like dandelions in my zip code, and the people buying them were people just like my spouse and me (only we weren’t that stupid). The were selling their existing homes, and using the equity to buy up to the $1 million home. Of course, the only way they could qualify was to go 1-, 2-, or 3-year adjustable ARM, interest only. Now, those ARMS are re-setting, and folks can’t convert their loans because that $1 million home is only worth about $700K. Oops. And need I remind you that interest-only means no equity? Ever drive by those homes? Look through the windows of their spacious solariums — and you’ll see they were barely furnished because the homeowners were house poor. As bad as I feel for these families, I’ve been pretty sure all along that the only people who should be buying $1 million homes in PWC would, d’oh, be millionaires! And they weren’t; in fact, they were very far from it.

  44. es_la_ley

    Valley Girl said on 2 May 2008 at 8:53 pm:

    es_la_ley – Thanks, I guess I get banned randomly and when I do I can see them (my posts) on my screen but others tell me they can’t.

    You guess you get banned randomly? C’mon! Don’t you think that’s reaching just a little? Do you think there’s a little wizard behind a curtain over there that “randomly” pulls or delays posts? And what about the “others”? Do you have “others” that follow you over there just to see if your posts show up? Just asking!

    Look, you posted over there at 5:28. Seven minutes later (5:35) you were here saying “please let me use this space to re-post a comment that was not posted on BVBL, since I am amoung [sic] the many proud that have been banned”, when it was CLEARLY POSTED there.

    The “many proud”? Yep! You’re looking for a badge of honor. But you don’t get one by making stuff up.

  45. Elena

    rod2155 said on 2 May 2008 at 10:54 am:

    Welcome Rod,
    I really enjoyed reading your post. Very thoughtful ideas from a unique perspective.

    es_la_ley said on 2 May 2008 at 9:37 pm:

    In all likelihood, Valley Girl is in moderation, which means Greg must manually approve her comments. Now having some experience with this blog, there actually can be a “little wizard” controlling exactly who posts. We don’t have anyone in moderation, but Greg clearly does. I was one of them, as were many others.

  46. Casual Observer

    Ley,
    The same thing happened to me back when I used to dip my toe into the bvbl waters. I’d post something, see it, then it would vanish. Happened three or four times. Once, when I complained about my post being removed, it was back up ten minutes later.

    He definitely plays with posts. It’s one big cluster* over there.

  47. Red Dawn

    Been there, done that with benefit of doubt…that is WHY I am here.

  48. Kenneth Reynolds

    kgotthardt said on 2 May 2008 at 7:12 pm:
    “Were you chasing wally with a pitchfork? or what!!! KR” LOL! No, he was talking about something and was giving me some papers. I kept saying to myself, Okay. There’s Wally Covington. I’m talking to Wally Covington. I know this is a dream, and it’s one of my strange ones. Any minute now I will wake up and…..
    Wally shouldn’t worry. I’ve dreamt about Richard Nixon and Ralph Nader as well. Don’t ask.

    K – DONT ASK?? DONT ASK??? DONT ASK? NOW YOU HAVE REALLY PIQUED MY INTEREST…………..DO YOU REALIZE HOW HARD IT WILL BE FOR ME NOT TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR DREAMS!!!!

  49. Censored bybvbl

    es_la_ley, Valley Girl’s experience is not unique. It’s happened to many of us.

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