THE DAILY BLADE: Just Another Brick In The Wall – But This One Could Have Your Name On It!
Not content to rely on DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano’s assurances that our borders are safer than ever (sixth item), AZ lawmakers want to complete the fence separating the state from Mexico. Since the Obama administration has cut off funding for the project – justifiably citing cost overruns and shoddy work by the contractor (seventh item) - Gov. Jan Brewer (R) is looking for other sources of labor and revenue to get the job done, The Associated Press reports:
Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed a bill that sets the state on a course that begins with launching a website to raise money for the work, said state Sen. Steve Smith, the bill’s sponsor.
“We’re going to build this site as fast as we can, and promote it, and market the heck out of it,” said Smith, a first-term Republican senator from Maricopa. …
Part of the marketing pitch for donations could include providing certificates declaring that individual contributors “helped build the Arizona wall,” Smith said. “I think it’s going to be a really, really neat thing.” …
“If the website is up and there is an overwhelming response to what we’ve done and millions of dollars in this fund, I would see no reason why engineering or initial construction or finalized plans can’t be accomplished,” he said. …
State Corrections Director Charles Ryan said getting inmate labor to help construct border fencing wouldn’t be a problem.
Minimum-security prisoners already have been used to clear brush in immigrants’ hiding spots near the border and clean up trash and other material dumped by border-crossers, he said.
Work crews of Arizona inmates also have been used to refurbish public buildings, build sidewalks and construct park facilities.
At 50 cents an hour, “we are a relatively inexpensive labor force,” Ryan said. “If we have the funding to do it, we’re capable of doing it.”
Over the past 12 months, the state’s border security fund received nearly 44,000 donations totaling more than $3.7 million (eighth item), half of which has already been spent defending the anti-illegal immigration law SB1070 in court. As promised (fifth item), Brewer is headed to the Supreme Court to defend the law and enable its enforcement so the fund will need to rake in millions more for the border fence initiative.
Life Imitates “Family Guy”
Wired reports that the U.S. government released a “blooper reel” of outtakes culled from five unreleased propaganda videos made by Usama bin Laden “captured during Sunday's dramatic storming of [his] compound in Pakistan.”
But “the sound [has been] excised so as not to spread al-Qaida propaganda,” and since The Stiletto can’t lip-read Arabic – or any other language, for that matter – she cannot tell you how bin Laden screwed up his lines. You’re just going to have to make do with this 2006 clip from “The Family Guy” to get an idea of what’s going on in the tape:
[Hat Tip: Mediaite]
Support Our SEALs!
On his eponymous Shear on Social Media Law blog. Washington, D.C. attorney Bradley Shear urges a grateful nation to “help support the families of these brave heroes who toil in anonymity to protect our country” via the Navy SEAL Foundation:
Freedom is not free. The cost is very high and it disproportionately falls onto the families of those who have died while serving our country. Its time for our country to thank the Robin W. Goodenoughs of the world. These courageous defenders of freedom are the unsung heroes in the War on Terror. Because of their selfless acts, I am able to practice law, blog about social media, have a first amendment right to speak my mind, and go to sleep at night without being in constant fear that a terrorist attack will destroy my home.
Shear also wants everyone to spread the word about the Navy SEAL Foundation via Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.
[Hat Tip: LegalBlogWatch]
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