So the Highlife Drinker was visiting Phoenix recently when met the world record mooseknuckle. This encounter was at a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix.

While I was in Phoenix for the weekend, I met up with my dad’s old college buddy, Doc. He’s a great guy who is a ton of fun to hang out with and gets along with anyone. I had no doubt in my mind that he and my friends would get along swimmingly. We met up for drinks during the day at a Mexican restaurant and sat in their outdoor patio so we could enjoy the sun and the view. We didn’t realize at the time how horrible the view would become.

….

….Doc kept talking with the waitress despite the depressing fact that her dad was dead. As he was talking I saw an old man with hugh, thigh-high leather boots on walking towards us. Trying to lighten the mood, I interrupted Doc, pointed out the old man, and asked the waitress if her dad had ever owned boots like that. Doc, 5 Mile, Willis, and I all started laughing, but the waitress didn’t.

“That’s nothing,” she informed us. “Wait until you see his moose knuckle.”

So…I hate to ask you to pay attention to details but I want to know where they are. Mexican restaurant with an outside patio, flat screen tv showing what looks like an NBA game, outdoor fireplace, and a bar. Can any of you tell where this is based on that picture?

A lot of times you will hear on the radio a politician saying something or other.  Or you hear that a bill passed or a new law is in effect, but you never really see its effects.  That is, unless you are Roger Barnett.

Roger Barnett owns a ranch in southeastern Arizona along the Mexico border.  For years now, he has had to take the law into his own hands.  He brandishes a firearm wherever he goes on his ranch.  This may sound like a scene from an old spaghetti western film, or an excerpt from an outlaw country-western tune but its not.  It’s a harsh reality.

For years, the Barnett ranch has endured vandalism, trespassers, robberies, and many unaccounted violations to its land and property. Who’s the culprit?  Our southern neighbors.  You see, Roger Barnett has installed spigots to his water drums to stop illegal immigrants from destroying the drums in efforts to gain access to their contents.  Areas of his land is trod with immigrants so frequently and at such quantities that they are now dirt trails. His livelihood of livestock are slaughtered and left to rot.

He has contacted authorities constantly for 4+ years and asked for help to which none was provided.  In efforts to protect his land and family he now goes out as often as possible and rounds up these massive numbers of immigrants every week at gunpoint and trucks them to the nearest Border Patrol station.  These numbers are so massive, in just one week, it is normal to nab 70+ individuals on  his property. In total, he has turned in over 12,000 illegal aliens to authorities. That’s amazing and discouraging, and he claims its only getting worse.

Now to the controversy, illegal immigrants have rights.  Correct, they aren’t legal residents of the US, but they still have basic human rights (which they should).  The problem is, one of the many basic human rights the illegal immigrants possess is to sue an individual in a US court of law. That, is EXACTLY, what a handful of these immigrants are trying to do.

As of February 9th 2009, 16 of the immigrants that Roger Barnett has detained, are now trying to sue him.  Whether this suit holds up in court is missing the point.

Should basic human rights include the use of facilities of a government and country of which one is not a part?

Is Roger Barnett right in detaining these people? Does Mr. Barnett have the right to protect his property and family?

Is the presence of payday loan stores increasing in your neighborhood? Many see this as a sign of the times.

Some consider the increase in payday loan outlets a local economic indicator. Others believe increasingly aggressive lobbyist and lenders are the culprit.

I can’t say I’ve seen an increase in central Phoenix but it’s hard to tell. I saw a check cashing/payday loan office in a Hispanic supermarket a few weeks ago. And there are check cashing or Western Union windows in gas stations all over central Phoenix.

Prop 200, which was defeated in the 2008 elections, would have lowered fees payday lenders are allowed to charge and would have prevented lenders from rolling over principal from one loan to another. But it, and here’s where you can see why it was supported by the payday loan industry, it would also have lifted the the law that says the industry’s ability to operate in Arizona expires in 2010. What do you think?

Picture taken from Speedy Payday Loans.