[HARDCORE]

?Minutemen v Protestors"

"Protestors v Minutemen!?

Unfortunately, the issue of illegal entry into the United States is heating up and getting closer to home! Yesterday, the two sides of this volatile issue stood head to head and toe to toe, in a nasty confrontation could have exploded into violence in but a heartbeat!

In Campo, California, like it was at the scene of that ?Shot Heard ?Round The World (19 April 1775)?, both sides of the issue of border enforcement were adamant as they recently squared off. And according to the media, the situation could have turned ugly in the blink of an eye!

Some have even claimed (?) that the local Sheriff?s Department opted not to get involved in the confrontation, but it must be duly noted that the Sheriff?s Office and the Border Patrol H.Q. are but a stone?s throw apart there in Campo. It is unfortunate, however, that the Sheriff?s office there has but minimal personnel on site, even though numerous other sub-stations are close at hand. And for the record, helicopters are also available to law enforcement in this region.

As for the border fence itself, it is naught but inter-connected sections of old military runway, standing erect, and with a continuing series of sensors and lights that are there to discourage illegal activity and little else!

Access to either side of the border, however, is relatively easy, as is evident by the mass exodus of illegals from Mexico. As a matter of fact, even the Mexican police and military have been known to exacerbate the issue with the occasional (illegal) junket across the international line! And as I said previously, Campo, at about 2600? above sea level, is situated at ?Ground Zero? of this current dispute, just to the east of San Diego proper.

This relatively small community was once even a Point of Entry into the United States from Mexico. As a matter of fact, many years ago, the train from San Diego eastward, even dipped (via a tunnel), southward into Mexico Itself. The tunnel is still there, out around the small community of Dog Patch. And that tiny bastion, along with a few working girls, use to be a watering hole and entertainment center for the servicemen stationed at Camp Lockett, or so I was told?

What does the future of the Minutemen hold, up here in the mountains just to the east of San Diego - only time will tell? But like fire and gun-powder, a flashpoint may be no further away than that paper-thin line that separates your Uncle Sam from the rugged terrain to the south of the border. ?It only takes one fool on either side of an issue, after all, to ignite the keg!?

Not all that long ago, even the high metal fence that is supposed to keep international neighbors friendly, was nothing more than a couple of strands of rusting barbed wire. As such, this fence was a deterrent in one?s mind alone! Nowadays, however, the economic strain upon our southern border is being felt, all the way from Brownsville, Texas, westward (roughly 2100 miles) to the Pacific Ocean! And as for the border fence itself, or the San Andreas Fault that dissects it out in the Imperial Valley, it is fast becoming a coin toss as to which will fracture first, in my opinion!

VERITAS