Ken Burns Hates Mexicans

Wet Burrito Award

The Department of Homeland Security had an idea to build a "virtual fence" along the US Mexico border to keep out the illegals. The space-age barrier was to be built among the most hostile desert environments known to man. The high-tech towers were to include state-of-the art long-range cameras, radar devices, broadband wireless access points, thermal imaging capabilities, and highly sensitive vibration sensors, all working in a complex tandem of techonology and design.

It didn't work. Costs skyrocketed. Boeing, the company given the contract to oversee the design of the fence, missed deadlines. Homeland Security has given Boeing the heave-ho. According to the LA Times, "after an investment of more than $1 billion, [it] may be a system with only 53 miles of unreliable coverage along the nearly 2,000-mile border." Anyone who's seen a Rooba Vacuuming Robot in comical inaction could have told you the virtural fence in the middle of nowhere was a bad idea.

The hapless virtual fence project would be funny except for two reasons: 1) the total waste of money, and 2) how this failure will still not debunk the fanciful notion of securing our borders.

Critics of comprehensive immigration reform always say change can't happen until the border is secure. Guess what? It never will be. At best border security is a nebulous goal where "success" is open to interpretation. At worst it continues as it was always designed: a never-to-be-achieved benchmark forever preventing a rational discussion of how to fix immigration.

Today's Wet Burrito Award winner: the Department of Homeland Security.

Video of the Day

In conjunction with YouTube, the Guggenheim Museum had an online contest for best art video. Over 23,000 entries were uploaded. Check out the 25 best here. Along with a piece animating a 14 year old kid's 1969 interview with John Lennon, this music video was one of my faves. From South Africa, Die Antwoord, a self-described "futuristic rave-rap crew."

Image of the Day

Rachel Maddow Connects the Dots

Great piece by Rachel Maddow exposing the Republicans for their neo Southern Strategy. Since the party has pretty much written off the Black and Brown vote, angry white men is pretty much all the constituency they have left, and thus their updated expoitation of racial bigotry circa 2010 to get their vote. Things like Tancredo advocating literacy tests, John Raese the West Virgina Senate candidate making fun of Justice Sonia Sotomayor's last name, etc etc.

Only trouble is, as Maddow correctly points out, no one is calling them out on their racism. They are, instead, getting a free ride to election day. Where is the outrage?

Among Rachel's examples is candidate Sharron Angle's apperance before an auditorium of Latino High School students where she not only claimed the three Mexicans in the Senate hopeful's anti-immigration TV ad could've been Canadian, but remarked on how some of the Latinos in the house "look asian."

Image of the Day

Schematic of a Fender amp.

Song of the Day

In celebration of this first week of Rocktober, I'll be sharing a couple of my favorite cover songs. What's interesting about a well done cover is the new rendition's ability to make you re-listen, and thus reappraise, a once familiar song. Not just in musical terms, but in cultural ones. Today's Song of the Day: Manic Hispanic's version of "Before the Next Teardrop Falls."

Check it out...a Southern California Chicano band doing a Freddy Fender song in a punk rock style? And not only that, but referencing in the cover's structure and delivery the infamous Sid Vicious version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way," itself a subversive cover song? And layer on top of that the fact that Fender's 1974 song was a #1 hit on country radio and propelled the Secret Chicano -- Fender's real name was Baldemar Huerta and he hailed from San Benito, Texas -- to gringo country music stardom, selling over a million copies? Even more badass.  YouTube link to the song here. Or click below to play it on your player. Happy Rocktober...

Manic Hispanic's Before the Next Teardrop Falls