After peaking around the time of the South Central Riot of 1992, "tagging" in
Looking at Dwako's handiwork, I finally understood the current fad in the more prosperous Mexican neighborhoods of LA for incredibly expensive security fencing around houses. Homeowners are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for elaborate wrought iron fences eight feet high with knife-blade finials on top and the most over-the-top decorative work embedded in the fences (fleur-de-lis, eagles, etc.).
Obviously, the increase in gang violence (which is caused by the huge number of 10-19 year old Latinos who are the product of the ex-illegal alien Baby Boom that followed the 1986 amnesty law) is driving the need for security, but why not just put up cheaper concrete block or wooden fences to keep out intruders, like in my neighborhood? Well, one reason is because, unlike walls with their inviting flat surfaces, vandals can't satisfactorily tag a wrought iron fence because it's mostly air.
By the way, isn't it nice to see lethal finials on fences become popular in America? It shows how Latin American and American cultures are synthesizing into one rich pageant. South of the border, it's been traditional for homeowners to embed broken bottles on the tops of their walls. But, with the greater prosperity found in our country, Latinos can now afford to impale intruders with custom-designed blades.
Fortunately, the new 326-page Kennedy-Bush amnesty bill will solve all the problems associated with Latino gangs. I haven't quite reached the section of the bill that explains how it will do that, but I'm sure it's in there somewhere.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
Putting broken glass or finials on the top of your fence may be a new fad for LA, but out here in Philadelphia, we have been ahead of the curve for years. However, our security measures are not so aethestically pleasing. There is razor wire on top of just about every fence around here. Not the barbed stuff you might see out in the country, but really nasty sharp sheet metal stuff that would not have been out of place on the Western Front. I would even want to have to install the stuff, much less try and climb over it. It also has the added benefit of catching tracsh and plastic bags to add to the urban look. Also, many row homes make Ft. Knox look unprotected. I should have got into the security business out here, I'd be a wealthy man.
ReplyDeletethis started to become widespread in vegas suburbs around 04. the mexican and central american gangs had followed everybody out of california in large numbers by then and were tagging cinder block walls everywhere. they were also killing each other in city parks.
ReplyDeletei knew several people in the casino business and the backend employees in many casinos were almost all mexican and central american. i was surprised to see how many central americans there were.
an illegal alien from panama recently killed somebody at the luxor with a car bomb. i'm not sure if that made the national news.
well its boon to the security industry so its good for the economy! also the ACLU and trial lawyers can sue when gang members injure themselves trying to breach those fences, after all they are minors.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I encountered the glass-on-wall-top thing was in Ecuador. It was explained to me that that feature is only intended to stop the most casual of intruders, since anyone who planned an incursion merely had to put a thick blanket over the top to avoid getting hurt.
ReplyDeleteThat's why people also maintain ferocious guard dogs in their yards at night. This means, however, that any member of the household who isn't the designated "master" upon whom the dogs have imprinted can't go outside after the dogs have been loosed for the night because they'll get mauled just as well as any burglar. This measure, also, has a fairly easily workaround: the burglars just throw some hamburger with ground-up glass mixed in over the wall.
That's just the kind of "vibrant" cultural phenomenon we need to foster here. Thank you, Goerge Bush!
I love tancredo, but after he said he doesn't belive in evolution I knew he wasn't going anywhere. So, of the big three I have to go with Mitt:
ReplyDeleteThe crowd at South Carolina's Republican convention cheered Saturday when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized a new immigration proposal and booed a key ally of U.S. Sen. John McCain when he defended it.
The immigration compromise between key senators and the White House played strongly at the convention as more than 1,000 delegates and Republican activists gathered. Many in the crowd wore stickers with "Senate amnesty bill" crossed out.
They cheered as presidential candidate Romney told them: "One simple rule: No amnesty."
Doesn't look good. Well-mannered (read: terrified of INS) illegales give birth to brazen kids who run rampant. Not good. Does the future look like SoCal?
ReplyDeleteThere's an easy solution to this. No more citizenship by birth. Citizenship should require a high school diploma, paying taxes, and other forms of real civic contribution.
Deportation might be a pipe dream. But it is realistic and good to make life very uncomfortable for parasitical and destructive ruffians of whatever stripe. And then be generous with productive contributors. Those two policies together could be fair and just. (Separately, could be very bad).
Banksy is pretty sweet, though.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins/
Homeowners are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for elaborate wrought iron fences eight feet high with knife-blade finials on top and the most over-the-top decorative work embedded in the fences (fleur-de-lis, eagles, etc.).
ReplyDeleteMakes for quite a nice neighborhood ambience, no?
I'm with Udolpho, Steve. Talented young men are putting up free art in your neighborhood, and all you can do is whine.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know it's art--the best around--cuz my professor who went to Harvard said so.
this makes me wonder how much security billionaires actually have.
ReplyDeletein vegas, steve wynn's daughter was kidnapped in 1993. he was "only" worth a few hundred million at that time, and was not a billionaire yet. he paid the ransom and she was released, but what if she had been taken into mexico instead?
kidnapping and burglary are pretty common in mexico.
As an aside, people should understand the "culture of walls" goes all the way back to Spain and really perhaps originated with the Muslim occupation of Spain. It really is considered a traditional Muslim architecture here.
ReplyDeleteEven the new modern "suburbs" in Spain contain walls instead of picket fences in front of their houses.
Oh my god, McCain is leaning into the punch:
ReplyDeleteOn a blogger conference call just now, McCain fired the first shot in what is sure to be a series of ongoing frontal assaults on Mitt Romney. According to someone on the call, in response to a question about Romney's immigration position, McCain said he'd "wait a couple of weeks and see if the winds change and Mitt comes back around" to his side, and, he said, musing about why Romney seems so touchy on the issue, "Maybe Mitt should get out his small varmint gun and chase those Guatemalans off his yard."
Not even Guliani is this stupid.
Why the attack on Romney right now?
See Romney leads in Iowa.
daveg,
ReplyDeleteCurious why mccain is supporting this issue with such ferocity - when he HAS to know its against what 99% of republicans want....which leads me to ask...what don't WE know?
I wonder if the next big wave will be security shrubbery. I forget the name of the actual plant, but I know there an obscure shrub in the family Rutaceae (the Citrus family) that makes an extremely effective hedge. It it dense enough to stop a large vehicle and has long, sharp thorns to discourage attempts by pedestrians to force a way through it or climb over it. I've heard that the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia uses it to some extent. It probably wouldn't make a very attractive target for tagging and it would offer privacy, unlike an iron fence.
ReplyDeleteMcCain is terrified of being called racist. Great moments in political courage.
ReplyDeleteCloture passed 69-31 so it's basically a done deal. God knows what they'll put in on the deal.
My guess is Romney will ride this one to the White House. Among the other goodies is no taxes for illegals (they don't have to pay back taxes). It's nothing more than the usual assault on the average jane and joe by the Elites (same thing has been going on in Europe for decades).
Bush noted he "loves" Hillary Clinton and appreciates her "humor" and "strength." Gee why am I not surprised.
"...there an obscure shrub in the family Rutaceae (the Citrus family) that makes an extremely effective hedge"
ReplyDeleteI wonder if its "Hardy Orange" aka "Trifoliate Orange".
Here in Central Florida, we're putting bougainvillea around our children's windows. Its a gorgeous climber, and, if it freezes, grows back extremely fast. It also does better when stressed so you don't have to worry about watering it much to establish it when planting.
mccain has left the reservation as far as i can tell. last year he went to a union meeting and told americans to their faces that they literally could not be farmers for $50 an hour, that it was blue collar work far beyond their ability, and that it would be impossible to practice agriculture in the US ever again without millions of border jumpers. he was roundly booed.
ReplyDeletei think john mccain seriously hates white and black americans, especially those who have not served in the military and haven't "suffered" for the US the way he has. he looks down on regular joes with tangible contempt, and has some strange fascination with protecting mexicans. that's bizarre considering he is the senator from arizona, and has to be aware of what an open border can do to his state.
From my experience the nastiest, thorniest Rutaceous shrub is Colima, Zanthoxylum fagara. Bougainvillea is nasty, but Colima is much worse. The recurved thorns seem to reach out and grab you as you move by it. I heard that there is a hedge of Colima along a fence by the new Laredo International Bridge.
ReplyDeleteIt seems it would be cheaper than a fence if the US would just plant a continuous hedge of Colima from Brownsville to San Diego.
The first time I saw broken bottles cemented with mortar at the top of a wall was in michoacan. You can alternate colors and make it look really pretty (if you live in a third-world slum where such things can be viewed as a positive aesthetic). Here in Santa Ana, wrought iron is all the rage. You know you live in a good neighborhood when you find it over the windows.
ReplyDelete