Humble servant of the Nation

For every wall there are two ladders

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The wall is coming. Or so we are told.

Initially described as a charming architectural hybrid where AV Jennings meets the US Federal Bureau of Prisons, all brown brick, mortar and razor ribbon, it then became a vast edifice of pre-fabricated concrete. Now, it’s a steel barrier. A fence but somehow not a fence.

Way, way back on Christmas Eve, President Trump fired off this tweet:

“The only way to stop drugs, gangs, human trafficking, criminal elements and much else from coming into our Country is with a Wall or Barrier. Drones and all of the rest are wonderful and lots of fun, but it is only a good old fashioned Wall that works!”

Tell that to the Jin dynasty (1115-1234), Mr President. They had a wall, a fine wall, a good old-fashioned wall that is still standing today and is known as the Great Wall of China.

As walls go, it was (and is) a beaut. Three metres high with guard towers every 100 metres or so. An almost perfect wall designed to keep out ne’er-do-wells from the north. With their wall as a form of security blanket, the Jin dynasty lived happily ever after, or at least they did until a gentleman by the name of Genghis Khan came along.

Sad to say, the Jin dynasty quickly lapsed into the footnotes of history, slaughtered almost to a man with the children and womenfolk enslaved. Ironically, the wall remained standing, a testament to false hope and confirmation of the axiomatic weakness of walls: for every wall there are two ladders.

There are even greater weaknesses to the wall that Trump wants to build, or more accurately extend beyond its current series of non-contiguous blockades that run approximately one third of the entire 3145 kilometres of the US-Mexican border. And we can see them right now.

One of the stranger coincidences of the US government shutdown over the funding for Trump’s wall is that it has been going on at the same time as the trial of Joaquin ‘‘El Chapo’’ Guzman, the boss of the Sinaloa cartel, in Brooklyn, New York.

The trial has, in part, detailed Sinaloa drug-trafficking activities into the US.

For those who don’t know Mexican geography well, the Sinaloa and affiliated groups control territory in Mexico which extends from Mazatlan in Mexico’s coastal west to the US-Mexican border from Tijuana almost all the way to Juarez on the Tex-Mex border.

So, one might presume Sinaloa trafficking hits the cities of San Diego in southern California, Calixico in eastern California or perhaps Nogales in Arizona. Maybe El Paso in Texas.

No.

Sinaloa’s home port in the US is Chicago, about 2500km from the US-Mexican border. Chicago is the main distribution point of Sinaloa cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

We know this because in 2013, the City of Chicago pronounced Guzman “Public Enemy Number One”, an award not attributed by the city to a criminal since Al Capone. Capone lived in Chicago. Guzman has probably never set foot there, but Chicago is where he has made a great amount of his estimated $10 billion personal fortune.

Sinaloa has planes at its disposal, some of the light variety, some great stonking cargo planes that fly above any wall that exists or might at around 30,000 feet. The Sinaloa has submarines. I kid you not.

In 2018, with Guzman behind bars awaiting trial, the City of Chicago handed the Public Enemy Number One garland over to Nemesio ‘‘El Mencho’’ Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Again, it is doubtful Oseguera Cervantes has ever strolled around Millennium Park or grabbed a beer at the Old Town House on Chicago’s upper north side. But Chicago is where his drugs go and flow through to the big cities in the east, essentially because Oseguera Cervantes, like Guzman, has developed trusted relationship with Chicago street gangs.

The notion the drug trade from Mexico worth an estimated $150 billion per annum will come to a screeching halt the moment the last rivet pops into Trump’s steel wall is laughable. We could get into all manner of chicken and egg arguments but the only reason criminals traffic drugs is because the end users create the demand for them.

Of course, politics is a good story never distracted by the truth. And that largely unexplored truth extends beyond a steel fence that cannot keep out drug traffickers to the logistics of building said fence in the first place.

Trump’s followers believe in his property developer’s credentials. If Trump couldn’t build a wall, throw in a 36-hole golf course, maybe a casino or two with plenty of parking, then who could?

The problem with that assumption is it denies the basic fact associated with the US side of the border that much of the land is privately owned.

The US federal government owns only about a third of the land and as previously stated much of that is fenced or walled, if you will. The remaining two-thirds belongs to state and local governments, private property owners or Native American tribes.

The situation is pronounced in Texas where the state retained all public lands when it was admitted into the Union in 1845. Much of that land has been sold off to private ownership. The US government would have to negotiate the purchase of land with literally thousands of individuals and entities. If it failed, it would have to compulsorily acquire the land by eminent domain.

Already there are hundreds of Texan landowners loading their shotguns and peering out of their windows. At this early stage they say they will not walk away from what would amount to arguably the greatest federal-government land grab in US history.

Some may ultimately agree to just compensation. Others won’t. And the sight of these people being dragged out of their homes by federal marshals should make for compelling viewing during the 2020 presidential election campaign.

The sheer extent of it would make the Waco siege look like a car repo.

Personally, I would like to see the wall built but not because Trump has some questionable mandate to knock it up and certainly not because it may be effective in controlling drug trafficking or crime in general terms, but for the simple reason it should stand as a great rusting monument to political stupidity and Trump’s wretched excesses.

But it won’t be. Once the complexity associated with the wall’s construction is properly understood, then one realises that this cannot be done in a year or two and probably not within 20.

242 Comments

  • Henry Donald J Blofeld says:

    For those who may have missed the iconic photo the Apollo 11 Astronauts took of Earth whilst on the Moon in July 1969 here it is linked. If you go to the NASA website they have all the Photos and Technical Data of all the 6 Manned Moon Landings archived in minute detail.
    https://tinyurl.com/ycdxgl2y

    • Wissendorf says:

      Scientific American interviewed Sergei Krushchev a while back. He gave insiders view of the reaction in Russia, his father’s views, and the official announcement in Pravda the following day. The Russians had an unmanned probe heading to the moon at the time and would have blown the whistle if it was faked. Wankers who disparidge great achievements and claim to have ‘special knowledge’ are just that – wankers.

    • Bella says:

      Oh dear Henry DJB it’s just not possible that a photograph of planet Earth was actually taken by anyone from the surface of the moon & confusingly NASA themselves are still not sure to this day which Apollo11 human being took the pictures on that ‘moon mission’.

      • Henry Donald J Blofeld says:

        Goodness dear Bella you were saying a short while ago a Photo was NOT taken now you are saying one WAS taken but not sure which Astronaut took it. Contact NASA and they will update you 100%. Cheers
        https://www.nasa.gov/

        • Jean Baptiste says:

          I think Bella was referring to the obvious here. The photo was clearly taken from a craft way above the surface of the moon. Lets see a happy snap from the surface Henry, what astronaut wouldn’t kill for a photo of himself with the whole Earth over his shoulder.
          You people are just so far back in the reality stakes you are running in a handicap event for clapped out old nags. Seriously.

  • Not Finished Yet says:

    Here is an apt extract from a 1971 episode of Dad’s Army. Just substitute Trump for Mainwaring, Wall for Maginot Line and Mexican Drug Cartel for Nazi.

    Cpt. George Mainwaring : I could have sworn that they would never break through the Maginot line.
    Sgt. Arthur Wilson : Quite right sir, they didn’t.
    Cpt. George Mainwaring : I thought now. I’m a pretty good judge of these matters you know Wilson.
    Sgt. Arthur Wilson : They went round the side.
    Cpt. George Mainwaring : I see… they what!
    Sgt. Arthur Wilson : They went round the side.
    Cpt. George Mainwaring : That’s a typical shabby Nazi trick, you see the sort of people we’re up against Wilson.
    Sgt. Arthur Wilson : Most unreliable sir.

  • Bella says:

    Wars & walls? Have we learned nothing from our history?
    I don’t care if you think I’m naive but I believe there is a better way.
    https://youtu.be/0yXov4MdDhs 🕊

  • Henry Donald J Blofeld says:

    Who to vote for at the upcoming Federal Election, Mr. Insider? A tired lost their way Lib/Nat Government or risk all on Labor under Bill Shorten, very risky too imho.
    I need guidance.

  • Milton says:

    Whilst some people have to pay for a shrink or similar, good old Sammy D gets moolah and a trip to deepest, darkest Africa to share his deepest and darkest troubles not just to one person but the 286 people who watch “I’m a has been C-grade celebrity, give my mediocre career a boost.
    Emotions are best bottled up, savoured, turned into art or saved for a precious few. Only your enemies and C&W fans take joy in hearing of your marriage break-up and job loss.

  • Henry Donald J Blofeld says:

    Its “Exit” for Brexit, Mr. Insider as we see British MPs have defeated Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal by a crushing margin, triggering political upheaval that could lead to a disorderly exit from the European Union or even to a reversal of the 2016 decision to leave.
    Strewth where to now for the UK under May?
    https://tinyurl.com/y8kap8dd

    • Tracy says:

      She was handed the poison chalice by Cameron, rightly or wrongly and depending on whether you’re a remainer/Brexiteer she’s trying to do her job.
      Refreshing to see parliamentarians doing their job, bums on seats and debating the outcomes. Canberra is just pathetic especially so called question time.

      • Boadicea says:

        Well said, Tracy. Given that she was a “no” voter and got handed the mess by Cameron to try and sort out, I think she has done a good job whilst heckled all the way by Corbyn
        However the opinion of my well-informed UK friend reckons Brexit will be a disaster. A Pommy tourist I was chatting to in a cafe yesterday reckons it’s the best thing since bubblegum. Time will tell no doubt

      • Razor says:

        She certainly was Tracy. I take a slightly different view in that whether a person is a brexiteer or a remainer they would have to all have respect, if not grudging respect, for the way she has conducted herself and tried to steer them through an impossible situation. I’m not a May fan because of some things she did whilst Home Secretary but she’s been up against it here and pushed on.

        I think seeing parliamentarians crossing the floor on principle is great for British Democracy. Wish our lot would do it more. Mind you the Coalition are the only mob who allows it here.

        • Jack The Insider says:

          Ok folks. The blog will shut fown for mantenance at midnight tonight. We’re reloading the site and wiping out the bugs that have returned this week. The blog will reopen on Saturday and it will be beautful.

      • Henry Donald J Blofeld says:

        Agreed Tracy, Ms. May sure has the rough end of the pineapple so to speak and no one so far in her Party, including Boris, wants to step up and have a go. Jeremy Corbyn looking and sounding very Prime Ministerial imho. Cheers

      • Mack the Knife says:

        Good call Tracy

  • Milton says:

    I may have chanced upon a peek or 2 of the new site/façade the other day. It mentions the Australia Society or some such. Hope it runs well.
    2019 may be the year of change!

  • Razor says:

    This is preposterous! I don’t hold with the theory it was because the victim was Aboriginal. What I also don’t hold with is the grubs age should be able to be used in mitigation of sentence and I’ll guarantee without even having to read the sentencing remarks that’s why he walked. I can hear the defence now……jail a death sentence, extreme remorse….blah fxxing blah!

  • Razor says:

    I didn’t know about the privately owned land. In Texas of all places! Loved the Waco line mate.

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