A little dark humor: the following was in Saturday’s Washington Times:

“Fredericksburg: Woman Finds Intruder Sitting on Her Toilet

“Police in Fredericksburg say an elderly woman who went out to buy a newspaper Thursday returned home to find that an intruder was in her home - and on her toilet.

“Police said the man apparently cut a screen and unlocked a door while the woman was out. The woman, who is in her 80s, had noticed the man outside when she was leaving.

“When she returned, she also noticed that the bathroom door was closed.

“Opening the door, she was surprised to see the stranger perched on the toilet.

“Police said she asked him several questions, including “How long are you going to be?”

“He answered in Spanish and she told him she was going to call police. He left quickly, and police are investigating.”

Huh??!!

In Mexico, cockfights are a legal activity, regulated from a central entity in the Federal District which licenses the sponsor and gives him the right and responsibility of assuring the regulations are followed and that order is maintained.”

http://www.surf-mexico.com/culture/cockfights.html

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1184709

Pet Chickens Igniting Clash in NoVa
July 14, 2007 - 10:35am

MANASSAS, Va. (AP) - In some parts of Prince William County, it may not seem like farm animals are illegal.
Zoning regulations ban farm areas from most residential areas, but in the past year, pet chickens have been appearing in backyards all over the county.

Inspectors recorded as many as 32 chicken violations, up from only 3 in 2004.

Officials and irate homeowners say that most of the time, the fowl running around their neighborhoods are kept by Hispanic immigrant families as pets.

The live poultry has further fueled the culture clash between homeowners who have been involved in skirmishes over things like illegal construction, day laborers, and other “quality-of-life” issues with a growing immigrant population. The board of supervisors just passed an anti-illegal immigration resolution.

People like Virginia Paris and her family are changing their feelings about the area — Paris now has a “for sale” sign on her lawn after an unruly cock ran around her pool party crowing last month.

— Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com

Being a long time city resident: Been there, done that!!

City residents began complaining to the council in the late 90s of the growing problem in our neighborhoods, absolutely stunned by the abuses going on in single family homes. Many of us tried to warn them to ROLL UP THE RED CARPET before it was too late. We were met with ineptitude, indifference or the insufferable bleeding heart, “gotta help these po folks” attitude. The lights were on but nobody was home.

I can’t tell you how many times we played hot potato being passed from one city department to another to try to get some action and how many diffferent stories we heard. That STILL happens today.

Sorry to say, despite several new faces on council, much of the “analysis paralysis” and entrenched attitudes that have gotten us where we are persist. Not convinced? Please see comments by silverfox said on 14 Jul 2007 at 2:19 pm “Pressure on Chief Deane Mounts” here in this very blog that describes the City’s recent Land Use/Economic Development meeting. I have it on good authority this is a fairly accurate account.

Is it any wonder we find ourselves having about as much faith in our local gov’t’s ability to put legal citizens’ interests first as we do the US Senate’s??

I prefer to put my money on Greg L and Help Save Manassas, thank you, who have accomplished more in half a year than we’ve seen in nearly 10 locally, with the one notable exception being Jackson Miller who had initiative and the guts to take the bull by the horns and get the 287(g) through. Let’s remember, this little program has been available since 1996!!

The message continues to be: We’ve heard it before. Get Tough or Get Out!

I agree with moon, you cannot determine who is illegal without being able to check their ID or other fact. You may think someone is illegal simply because they look Hispanic, speak no english, have MD tags on their car and fly a Mexican flag on their house but that may not be the case. Let Police and ICE determine immigration status.

You might want to talk to the councilmen, to see where they really sit and not rely on the MSM’s version of things.

You may disagree with my characterization. However, Manassas IS ahead of the cruve on this issue. Consider that Manassas is entering into it’s own 287G MOU. You are correct, Miller initiated this, but Aveni and Harrover pushed hard as well. Harrover is leading the charge on zoning, and Aveni took up the push-cart issue. Harrover backs Aveni on this issue too.

I’ll agree, the city manager and Chief of Police do need to be dragged onto the stage, but to lump the City of Manassas in with Manassas Park is laughable. Until the historic vote of 7/10, PWC as a jurisdiction hadn’t done JACK on the issue. Manassas has been moving forward. Small steps, yes. But steps forward just the same.

I would take exception to your characterization of Manassas City as being at the forefront of the illegal issue. You’re kidding right??

It should more accurately be described as brought kicking and screaming to the table IMO. Had it not been for former councilman Miller, now Delegate, the city would still be occupying itself with Opera Houses, Candy factories, etc. — that is in a state of DENIAL. Some of this long-standing attitutde still displays itself from time to time in comments we continue to hear from various officials, not the least of which was Councilman Randolph’s quote in the PWExtra yesterday, you know, the “wait and see” bit. It’s exactly that kind of timidness that got us to the state we see today….

Let’s face it. Most of us do not know who is legal and who is illegal. That is part of the problem. Additionally, many hispanic families are blended. One adult might be legal but the spouse is illegal. The offspring are also blended.

Lets also not confused fear with being riled up. There is so much hearsay floating around town that both the hispanic community and the non-hispanic communities are feeding off of rumor and inuendo rather than fact.

Reaction to rumor and inuendo is energy consuming and gets in the way of solving some very serious, complex problems. There are simply no simple answers. Thank you to those who are attempting to find out the truth.

Old Chinese proverb: Rumor goes in one ear and out many mouths.

I stumbled across your blog quite by accident and have since bookmarked it. I enjoy the near daily updates and insightful posts. I lived in Manassas Park for five years and witnessed the transformation it took. It trully was disgraceful that three families would buy a house across the street from me, take up all the available parking, have countless children running about and NEVER so much as mow the grass, pickup the strewn about toys or otherwise take care of the property. **the screen door fell off and remained that way until I moved out of that area**

I still live in Manassas and I can’t help but agree that this is a problem issue. I’m elated that even a little bit is being done to shed light on the issue and possible solutions. Its quite distracting that in order to do most anything locally, its almost an absolute need to speak spanish to ensure there are no pickles on my numero dos.

Become citizens, assimilate to our culture, wave the American flag and call it your own. Otherwise, our tolerance has run too thin to further ignore your presence.

Sorry I forgot to type my name in.