Parts Catalog Accessories Catalog How To Articles Tech Forums
Call Pelican Parts at 888-280-7799
Shopping Cart Cart | Project List | Order Status | Help



Go Back   PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum > General Discussions > Off-Topic Discussion

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-29-2008, 06:57 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Phoenix Arizona. Ex Durban R.S.A.
Posts: 6,104
Another reason to fire almost every stinking politician in DC.

There's little in life right now that pisses me off more than this kind of incident. Really makes my blood boil.

- Peter.


3-month-old Mesa girl owed an explanation

Oct. 29, 2008 12:00 AM

Four times, we got rid of this guy.

One, two, three, four.

And yet there he was, out there on 19th Avenue in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Drunk three times over, authorities said he had a blood-alcohol reading of nearly 0.24 percent.

Now there's a 3-month-old girl in Mesa who will grow up without a father, and someone owes her an explanation.

Actually, 535 someones. Together, they're called Congress.

While most of our leaders were out over the weekend, trying to get themselves sent back to Washington so they can continue to ignore the nation's pressing business, Phoenix police Officer Shane Figueroa was out doing something that the politicians can only imagine: his job.

Figueroa, 25, was a guy who had everything in front of him. A wife to love, a baby to raise, a community to protect.

He was working the graveyard shift in south Phoenix on Friday night when the call came in: shots fired. As he headed north on 19th Avenue to investigate, Salvador Vivas-Diaz, 50, was going the opposite direction - in more ways than one.

Vivas-Diaz is an illegal immigrant who has snuck into the country so many times, there's likely a rut in the desert to mark his path.

He was nabbed three times in 1998 and each time was allowed to voluntarily return to Mexico, according to Vinnie Picard, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Voluntary departure is routinely offered to Mexican residents as a way of avoiding lengthy deportation proceedings. It also allows them to avoid serious penalties should be they return.

Which he did. And did. And did.

In May 2004, he was arrested by Tempe police for extreme DUI and the following month, he was arrested by DPS for DUI and having phony ID. He was deported on June 29, 2004.

So naturally, he was on 19th Avenue early Saturday, headed south when police say he attempted to turn left in front of Figueroa and instead T-boned the police cruiser. While Officer Figueroa lay dying on the pavement, Vivas-Diaz got out of his pickup and urinated in the street.

To his credit, he didn't run - as so many drunks (most of them citizens) do. Police said he had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech - and oh yeah, several sets of ID, the better to avoid the four warrants out for his arrest from his encounters with police and failures to show up in court. (Picard said he could have made arrangements to return to the U.S. to clear up his charges but didn't.)

Now, two DUIs, three voluntary departures and one deportation later, another of Phoenix's finest is dead, and I can't help but wonder if anybody in Congress is paying attention. Officer Figueroa joins Officer Nick Erfle and Nanuma Lavulavu, a legal immigrant and mother of six, and 20-year-old Chris Miller and a long line of people killed because our leaders can't or won't get control of the border. The drunk who killed Lavulavu last year had been sent back to Mexico five times and still was on our streets.

Vivas-Diaz had been sent back four times and still he was here early Saturday morning.

Stunned officers met with the media on Monday evening to talk about their friend and colleague. He was, they say, a good man, quiet and humble, devoted to his family and to his community.

"I don't understand," Officer Mike Fortune said. "Why him?"

Maybe someday our leaders can explain that to Figueroa's daughter, whom I suspect will want to know why her daddy had to die. Until then, maybe they can explain it to the rest of us.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Read her blog at robertsblog.azcentral.com.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-29-2008, 07:03 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,108
Yeah maybe so, but using children and elevating police to god-like status is a disgusting tactic to promote a cause.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-29-2008, 07:09 PM
aklim's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Location: Greenfield WI, USA
Posts: 8,514
Look at it this way. If you tell the politicians that you don't want illegals there and get them out at all costs, they will do it. If they don't, you can say that they should be fired. However, when you give them conflicting orders, don't blame them for the results. There are many people that will tell us we cannot do it for this, that or the other reason. As such, their actions are kinda watered down and this is what we get. Nobody is happy with the decision, whatever it is. It is your job to send a clear message.
__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-29-2008, 07:18 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 0
Hey, I live in Cave Creek. What's up?

The libs in Arizona don't think we should even have a border fence at all.
The illegals SUCK the tax payers money. They steal everything they can get their freaking hands on including cars. Almost half the crime in Phoenix is committed by them! Our mayor Phil Gordon is a complete idiot *********, who won't do anything about the illegals. Sheriff Joe Arpio is the ONLY person willing to take a stand and do something with his "sweeps". The new worker documentation laws are starting to help. No more hiring illegals around here.

PM me for my email address and we'll get together.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-29-2008, 07:21 PM
aklim's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Location: Greenfield WI, USA
Posts: 8,514
Quote:
Originally Posted by Idolotor View Post
The libs in Arizona don't think we should even have a border fence at all.
So you see, mixed messages. On the one hand you say that and on the other, you say we need to move them out.
__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-29-2008, 07:43 PM
MTI's Avatar
MTI MTI is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Posts: 10,626
Quote:
Originally Posted by aklim View Post
It is your job to send a clear message.
Their senior senator was in favor of a plan, until he was against it.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-29-2008, 07:57 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,392
they are even bleeding the system dry up here in iowa.now they are on a graffiti spree.whats the point??local town caught a dozen of them the other day and found out one of em was wanted for murder down south in either n.m. or texas.threw him in jail and let the rest go because i.n.s. didn't want to mess with em.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-29-2008, 09:13 PM
Hatterasguy's Avatar
Zero
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Milford, CT
Posts: 19,318
New Haven is full of them. Most tool around in uninsured and registered cars. If they hit you your SOL, the cops won't even bother to arrest them anymore.
__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-29-2008, 11:05 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Phoenix Arizona. Ex Durban R.S.A.
Posts: 6,104
Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinsCE View Post
Yeah maybe so, but using children and elevating police to god-like status is a disgusting tactic to promote a cause.
The end justifies the means. In this case it's particularly appropriate. It drives home the reality of the situation in graphic terms. Those graphic terms being what the victims have to deal with, so why pretend it's not a valid part of the equation?

- Peter.
__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-29-2008, 11:31 PM
aklim's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Location: Greenfield WI, USA
Posts: 8,514
Quote:
Originally Posted by pj67coll View Post
The end justifies the means. In this case it's particularly appropriate. It drives home the reality of the situation in graphic terms. Those graphic terms being what the victims have to deal with, so why pretend it's not a valid part of the equation?

- Peter.
Kids have been used to sell pretty much anything from soap to national policy. So why not this case?

Problem is most people cannot give equal weight to a child's plight vs an adult's plight. You know it, I know it and so do they. So they exploit a child to get a point made.
__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 10-29-2008, 11:32 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,108
Quote:
Originally Posted by pj67coll View Post
The end justifies the means. In this case it's particularly appropriate. It drives home the reality of the situation in graphic terms. Those graphic terms being what the victims have to deal with, so why pretend it's not a valid part of the equation?

- Peter.
BS. Why isn't there an article for every janitor or oilfield worker killed by a DUI, and accompanying sob story or even one. Typical emotion grabbing tool to encourage government love, and knee-jerk responses, used to circumvent logical decisions so as to garner support for the cause of the day. In this case, more cops, and more laws. Who wins? Not the kid, or the cop obviously, and certainly not the people. Local, and state politicians, and police departments. Facts of the matter are bad enough. A drunk illegal killing a person, is just that. But a cop? With a kid? Oooohhhh... now he really did it! Spare me, please. This type of propaganda goes back farther than either of us, or this country for that matter.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 10-29-2008, 11:37 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Phoenix Arizona. Ex Durban R.S.A.
Posts: 6,104
Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinsCE View Post
BS. Why isn't there an article for every janitor or oilfield worker killed by a DUI, and accompanying sob story or even one. Typical emotion grabbing tool to encourage government love, and knee-jerk responses, used to circumvent logical decisions so as to garner support for the cause of the day. In this case, more cops, and more laws. Who wins? Not the kid, or the cop obviously, and certainly not the people. Local, and state politicians, and police departments. Facts of the matter are bad enough. A drunk illegal killing a person, is just that. But a cop? With a kid? Oooohhhh... now he really did it! Spare me, please. This type of propaganda goes back farther than either of us, or this country for that matter.
Closing the border is not the "cause of the day". It has been a cause for years and the border is still porous as a sieve. This will never change unless enough citizens are outraged enough to force a worthless government to do it's damm job. That will not happen without propaganda, so propaganda it must be.

- Peter.
__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 10-29-2008, 11:39 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,108
OK, fine. That was Hitler's motto, too. Myself, on the other hand, I have principles.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 10-29-2008, 11:45 PM
aklim's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Location: Greenfield WI, USA
Posts: 8,514
Quote:
Originally Posted by pj67coll View Post
Closing the border is not the "cause of the day". It has been a cause for years and the border is still porous as a sieve. This will never change unless enough citizens are outraged enough to force a worthless government to do it's damm job. That will not happen without propaganda, so propaganda it must be.

- Peter.
The problem is that we live in a fairy tale world. We want something done but we don't want to do it ourselves. Little Red Riding Hood gets terrorized by the wolf. Well the woodcutter comes along and fixes it for her. She doesn't have to go to the gun store, buy a 500 S&W Magnum and blow that wolf apart. Same here. We want them gone. HOWEVER, we don't want the bad stuff. We don't want to fine the companies that hire them severely and shoot anyone crossing the border or deny them all the rights they have been over here for. That is why these things continue and no amount of propaganda will solve it.
__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 10-30-2008, 12:09 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Phoenix Arizona. Ex Durban R.S.A.
Posts: 6,104
Quote:
Originally Posted by aklim View Post
The problem is that we live in a fairy tale world. We want something done but we don't want to do it ourselves. Little Red Riding Hood gets terrorized by the wolf. Well the woodcutter comes along and fixes it for her. She doesn't have to go to the gun store, buy a 500 S&W Magnum and blow that wolf apart. Same here. We want them gone. HOWEVER, we don't want the bad stuff. We don't want to fine the companies that hire them severely and shoot anyone crossing the border or deny them all the rights they have been over here for. That is why these things continue and no amount of propaganda will solve it.
Who'se we? Personally I *do* want the border closed. I want an iron curtain across the entire length of the southern border. It can be done. The Russians had no problem doing it. And I'd vote for it in a heartbeat. And I do mean with the military on the border and if shooting is neccesary so be it. I regard the health and future of the US to be more important than illegals rights. And on that subject I'd have no problem denying them any rights at all. You're here illegally ou are inherently a criminal and should be deported forthwith.

Now I'm aware of course that not everybody who enters illegally is a viscious criminal but I repeat. My concern is the welfare of the United States and it's citizens. Yes, even those who don't care about it themselves. And so I don't care about illegals.

I would support such measures and I have no problem stating it as I have done on many a previous occasion. Who else will agree with me?

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:25 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page