tunnel vision

You know the saying, "build it and they will come" ? It appears to be truer than ever when it comes to the border fence industry. Tunneling is the new the black. For a couple of years now Subtopia has done a remarkable job in examining the worldwide outbreak of border fence building. Here is the latest after dozens of tunnels have been discovered in just one Arizona border town.

As you may or may not know Nogales, Arizona has quickly become the border tunnel capital of North America, as in illegal cross-border tunnel, at least as far as the U.S. government can tell. The latest numbers according to a NORTHCOM Task Force briefing that was apparently secretly leaked over the web just weeks ago, indicate between 1990 and November 2008, 93 cross-border tunnels were discovered, 35 of which were in California, 57 in Arizona, and 1 in Washington State.

Looks like the multi-billion dollar border fence aint working so well after all – what a surprise. In fact it seems to be causing as much disaster as it claims to be trying to prevent, evidenced in nearly every environmental impact review you will read of the fence (not to mention the DHS waived of over thirty environmental protection laws to build it). FAS recently pointed out that the proliferation of tunnels dug underneath the border had been casually categorized as an unintended consequence in a Congressional Research Service report (pdf) drafted last year.

Looks as though the tunnelers are out smarting the rather expensive wall builders. As if the lessons of Berlin never entered the minds of our multi-million dollar govt. planners? Street smarts always trumps the bureaucratic mind.

Continue reading at Subtopia.



hat tip: phronesisaical

The Imagined Community in Europe and the United States

Via The Monkey Cage, Jack Citrin and John Sides are introducing a new paper they have authored looking at the current/historical attitudes towards immigration in the US and Europe. Both Europe and the US are confronting historic challenges of immigration and cultural integration.

What are American and European attitudes toward immigration? Do they differ? Clearly, the centrality of immigration in “settler societies” such as the United States — both in terms of the literal populating of the country and in terms of its founding myths — is greater than in most, if not all, European countries. But does this make the United States “exceptional” in how immigrants are viewed?

well worth the read.

see also: European Social Survey, Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy Survey

a different wall comes down

Be glad your life is different. Some video footage here of the exodus from Gaza.


video link via France 24 and Phronesisaical

border keystone

In the end, people provide endless "entertainment"


via Subtopia

fire walled

Consider the boom in fence building around the globe:

• India and Bangladesh. A 2,500 mile (~$1.2 billion dollars) fence to seal the border from what India fears could become the "new Afghanistan."
• US and Mexico. A 2,000 mile state of the art barrier being constructed in incremental installments.
• Israel and the West Bank. 436 miles of concrete barriers.
• Saudi Arabia and Iraq. A 550 mile wall at a cost of $600 million (part of a ring to encircle the entire country, as with the fence to the south with Yemen).
• Spain and Morocco.
• Thailand and Malaysia. 75 km border fence.
• Pakistan and Afghanistan. A 2,400 km fence.
• Kuwait and Iraq. Upgrade to the 215 km fence with Iraq.
• Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
• UAE and Oman.

Global Guerillas asks this relevant question:

If the Berlin wall (et. al.) were a sign of a fundamental contradiction in the communist system that ultimately destroyed it, are these walls a sign of a similar contradiction (albeit different, given the change in directionality)?


image: Mexican/US border via Subtopia

The Immigration Equation

Not sure if you read this in the Times Magazine but The Immigration Equation by Roger Lowenstein is an excellect dissection of the supposed economic fallout of illegal immigration. This does a good job of examining both sides of the economic side effects of the influx of unskilled labor - Lou Dobbs, pay attention.

It doesn't address the cultural or assimilation issues but at least the economic red herring doesn't seem so rational or factual for that matter. Read Kevin Drum and the comments for more insights.






Image from The Times Magazine