gbwriter said on 29/02/12 4:04 AM

It´s not the winter cold, it´s the summer heat that is the danger. I do feel pity for those who sneak across the border for a better life. The point of the objection is that they sneak across, expect a free ride, and won´t even learn the language. America has always welcomed immigrants, from anywhere. My ancestors came here that way, and my wife´s ancestors. We had Cornish pasties for my birthday, Syrian meat cakes for my wife´s birthday. There is no loss of heritage. None of them snuck across the border, broke the laws.

gbwriter said on 29/02/12 4:09 AM

Right here in this tiny town where I live there was an effort to make things easier. I was not only all for it, I was involved in making it happen. One part was FREE classes to learn the language. If I decide to move to Germany, I will learn the German language. It would sure make life easier! The classes we put together here ... canceled. No one came. Instead, tax dollars were spent to make special classes for the illegal Mexican kids, taught in Mexican ... and later those behind that wondered why those kids weren´t graduating, weren´t succeeding.

gbwriter said on 29/02/12 4:19 AM

I hear all this stuff about "racial profiling" but have had knives and guns pulled on me for being a gringo. Three classmates from my son´s class that I know of are dead because of ever increasing gang activity. One night my son and I went to the store to get milk. There was a young man in the parking lot dying from a knife wound. It was about this same time when his school had a "multicultural day" and removed all the American flags and put them in a closet. I went to the principal. He said that the Mexicans might feel offended - then told me if I wasn´t quiet I would be removed, even arrested.

gbwriter said on 29/02/12 4:33 AM

A few years go I went to visit Mom in Minneapolis. I went to a Wendy´s to bring her a treat for lunch. "Wo lak fly mo?" Okay, okay, any idiot knows that I was being asked if I wanted french fries. Still it took me a while to figure out what "bo ta" was.

zuzelia1 said on 29/02/12 9:44 AM

And scary, and beautifully ...

me_n_gracie2006 said on 29/02/12 2:53 PM

Same here, but when I (and thousands more) went to live in Greece I learned the language and it wasn´t difficult. But then the Greeks all spoke several languages so you always found someone to understand you while you learned their language. Unfortunately English speaking countries tend to stick with English and maybe resent the fact that they didn´t learn at least one other language. That said, it doesn´t mean you should smother your own ethnicity as if it were something to hide in case it offended but instead throw it out there into the mix. People expect to find a national pride just the same as they have,even though they had to leave some of their own behind sometimes. I just don´t understand why it happens, it isn´t like that in other countries.The immigrants only expect everything to be handed on a platter because that´s what happens and word gets around of the best places for it. If it was a tough life they would still come but at least they´d expect to have to work for it.

DandyDonTX said on 29/02/12 4:52 PM

Where did you hear it´s closed. Park site says open year round.

gbwriter said on 29/02/12 8:15 PM

Portions of the park have been closed since 2003, and other parts are open to the public (American, that is) only with an armed guard.