On Doyle eyes uses for GM plant

Posted on February 26 at 10:20 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

SarahB--Fairbanks still builds large diesel engines, some still for locomotive applications. However, I'm assuming the high speed rail proposed would be electric powered, like most in Europe.

Doyle still seems to be barking up the wrong tree with GM - especially when we could be talking to ThyssenKrupp (parent of former Gilman) as they build one of the fastest maglev trains in existence. Much faster than the conventional high speed trains found in Spain and suck up half the electricity. I emailed him, but I doubt that will go anywhere.

On Doyle reviews rail in Spain

Posted on February 26 at 7:44 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

I am quite impressed Doyle is actively seeking solutions to our multifaceted problems.

I've ridden the Eurostar from Calais-London multiple times, had plenty of experience on Germany's ICE in the past couple years.... about time we'd upgrade our third-world rail systems anyways. Security screening wasn't really an issue-definitely much more convenient than flying.

On Gas prices top $2 per gallon in Wisconsin

Posted on February 16 at 1:52 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

... Oil companies have been well "stimulated" by our government for decades... they get a greater portion of tax relief and subsidies than any other industry in the world.

$2 doesn't even begin to reflect the actual cost of a gallon of gasoline.

On Mexican nationals flock to consulate visit

Posted on February 3 at 1:05 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Iceman, increasing population is inevitable. Your argument is turning from rants on legality issues to ending immigration all together?

We are in the lower 25% in terms of population density compared to the rest of the countries of the world!! Our current population growth rates are still in the bottom 30%. Get your fears in check bud, and quit trying to infect others with them.

The US Census Bureaus’ mid-range population estimate for year 2100 is around 571 million, within an overall range of 280 million – 1.8 billion. India’s current population is 1.1 billion—when our population reaches that number, we will have about the same population density of present-day France. Population growth/decay rates do not remain constant—and future immigration trends are nearly impossible to predict.

On Mexican nationals flock to consulate visit

Posted on February 2 at 7:11 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

As hard as I try, humoring your claims become quite difficult when you try supporting your argument with rants that support a greater racist paranoia rather than obedience of written law. Using ethnic minorities, immigrants, etc. as a scapegoat for our economic strains isn’t a new idea—seems to crop up in a large way every couple generations. Hitler did it; did it well.

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Third-world migrant workers come seeking third-world jobs, regardless of how they chose to move here (or their “Legal Status”). Those Americans so threatened by losing unskilled work should start being a bit more grateful they live in the “Land of Opportunity”. Educational opportunities are abundant, and they have the freedom to find better work if they so choose. Also, if we are so fearful our grandchildren will have too much competition in future labor markets, we should be putting greater investment into education; or at least set the bar a bit higher for our children/grandchildren then for them to obtain unskilled work. Simply “eliminating” the competitor is a pretty lazy and heartless idea at best. Maybe we could even show interest in competing with some of the developed countries in terms of jobs/labor… Get a new competitor and start moving forward.

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Changing legal status of the current “illegal” population will create devastating overpopulation!? Compared to Antarctica? Now our fear is the invasion of our 100 mile comfort bubble. If overpopulation is your true concern, promote birth control and adoption. Start with our “native” white population. I have many white Devout Catholic cousins who seem to squirt out a kid every 9 months like clockwork. Better yet, go to a country where overpopulation is actually a REAL problem. Your service would be appreciated.

On Mexican nationals flock to consulate visit

Posted on February 2 at 7:10 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Many try to be cute about this and play it off like it is not an issue of race and you are in no way xenophobic. I’ll play along; I’ll humor you for a bit. I’ll go ahead and believe you’re just concerned citizens with utmost respect for the law. If this would truly be the case, there would be little issue here; and your fear, paranoia, and rage (or as Iceman put it, “disgust”) is simply a bit misplaced. You are disgusted at the lack of enforcement and under policing regarding our beloved laws. Your “disgust” could easily be applied to laws based on relative importance and prevalence. For example, drunk driving, speeding, and vehicular homicide—more people die in our country as a result of “Illegal Drinking” and “Illegal Driving” (and a combination of the two) than “Illegal Immigration”. I personally know dozens of people who’ve been personally affected by drinking and driving—resulting in OWI’s, extensive property damage, severe injuries, and multiple deaths. Almost all of these in the Janesville area; none of those involved had questionable immigration status. I guess luckily enough for my white “native” friends and family, none of them are given the cute labels of “Illegal Drinkers/Drivers”. Our labels of inferiority are strictly designated for those you’d deem a sub species based on birthplace, religion, ancestral origin, race, etc. Ie: “Illegal Immigrants/Aliens”, even “terrorists”, etc.

On Mexican nationals flock to consulate visit

Posted on February 2 at 5:51 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Babaloo, once again, it’s difficult to make such direct comparisons to such a different era. Even if the sheer numbers of European immigrants in previous waves were relatively comparable to the numbers of Mexican, Central & S. American immigrants today; the language issue is definitely not comparable. The immigrant makeup in the 19th and early 20th centuries was a bit more diverse in terms of their native languages. Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, Italians, Dutch, Danes, etc. all spoke their own respective languages. The concentrations of immigrant groups in the US of any one native language set not nearly the same as today—it would not have been practical if even possible to accommodate to each and every group. Today we have a largest groups of immigrants speak a common language whether they’re from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, etc. It’s much easier to make to help a large group of immigrants’ transition to US citizenship easier—which is obviously important in a very impatient and culturally intolerant society of “natives”.

You’re also making a couple common and ignorant assumptions. “Why should the Spanish speaking population expect us to use our tax dollars to print everything in their language while they are here illegally?” The assumptions that native Spanish speakers are “illegal” and don’t deserve to be here. Simple example—Puerto Rico is still one of our QuasiColonies. Their native language is Spanish, though we ensure they learn English at a very young age. Although they can speak English, they have little reason to unless speaking to a native English speaker. Being who we are, we have little if any knowledge of their existence. Also, hearing someone speaking Spanish does not mean they cannot speak English—not everyone in the world takes as much pride in knowing only one language as we do. I’m also not sure how you are so convinced that our immigrant population isn’t learning, isn’t trying. Are you tracking the progress of each individual in their language skills? Again, this isn’t an overnight process. None of my Norwegian and German ancestors learned overnight—and again, it took a couple generations to phase their native languages out completely—which is insanely our ancestral languages all had to disappear at all. (Seems pretty counter-productive in the long run; being much more expensive and difficult to pick up a foreign language later in life…also a bit ironic in a nation with half its population obsessed with their taxpennies, and outraged when they go toward education).

On Mexican nationals flock to consulate visit

Posted on February 2 at 1:33 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Babaloo1 – once again, comparisons back to European ancestors really hold little weight in such a conversation. Most of “our” ancestors were not fluent in English when they arrived; many could not speak it at all. Many learned, obviously, but not over night. It took a couple generations for us to erase our heritage and “assimilate” to our current monolingual status—good god, give them some time.

“Pressing 1 for English”—a traumatic experience. I think many of you have much deeper problems than your ethnic anxieties if you’re becoming so distraught by acknowledging the existence of other languages. If the actual physical action of pressing the extra number is too strenuous, maybe you shouldn’t be operating a phone in the first place—consult your physician.

On Mexican nationals flock to consulate visit

Posted on January 30 at 11:54 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Mikki- “So we haven't helped out Mexico? Where did most of the US jobs go to, anyway?
Sorry, the USA has a hard enough time helping itself and it's own citizens. I say we need to take care of ourselves, first.”

If you’re implying “we” (the US government?) have been helping Mexico by sending unskilled manufacturing jobs abroad, I think you may be a bit confused. It is quite true that many US companies send their manufacturing to developing countries, but I’m pretty sure their aim is to boost profit margins by exploiting unregulated workforces—not so much to help their governments. “Free Market”, eh?

On Mexican nationals flock to consulate visit

Posted on January 30 at 11:51 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Yooper
“Let's see, what else can we GIVE them besides our jobs?????”
Just curious, which of your jobs have “they” taken from you?

SwissChick-you should reread the last line of your rant about people working under the table. It makes sense. If we’re gonna cry about people not paying taxes, we can start with the large population of our “natives”. I know more than enough construction workers just in Janesville that work for cash all winter while claiming unemployment—White Janesvillians, born n’ raised. Also, I’m pretty sure you’re not alone in being the descendant of immigrants—and for some reason many of us think our ancestors were somehow morally superior… they would never come here “illegally”. In a sense, you’re comparing apples and oranges. Many Europeans emigrated in a time period where immigration (naturalization) requirements were very lax to say the least. Through most of the 1800s, there were no legitimate requirements for Europeans—“documentation” (ie visa, even a passport) was not even required for entry before the 1921 with the Emergency Quota Act (of course Japanese and Chinese and many others were deemed inferior races far earlier).
I’d also like to add; the last time I looked at a map, I didn’t see any European country sharing a border with us. Had Europeans faced today’s regulations, and the opportunity to just cross a border rather than an ocean, we might almost have a basis for comparison. Different time period, different regulations, different geographic location. Same respective stereotyping, same nativism, xenophobia as our European ancestors had to deal with. Our ancestors would be proud.