Stephen Colbert goes too far.

Farm work is not high paying, glamorous, fun (for most people at least), or safe; I grant you that. Despite these glaringly obvious facts, there are other facts that have been neglected. In the age of "I want it bigger...faster...cheaper!", what used to be family farms have become MEGA FARMS. The massive farm corporate mentality has lead us to this point...who is to blame? We the People are mostly to blame for falling for the slick bullshit ad campaigns touting the grandness of companies like ADM and Monsanto (etc). Additionally, we are to blame for believing that everything should come cheap and easy and that we Americans deserve cheap, GMO food reaped by third world trespassers so we can spend more on electronics and designer clothes. We fell for the bullshit and here we are, surrounded by ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS who came to American to find a better life by toiling away for a pittance of a salary in California's Central Valley.
Well, these ILLEGAL immigrants don't just take the farming jobs; they take CONSTRUCTION jobs and LANDSCAPING jobs and FAST FOOD jobs and a myriad of other jobs because other employers have decided to capitalize on the readily available cheap labor (not a dig on capitalism, if there were no entitlements available in the US most of these trespassers would not be here and I wouldn't be as offended if they stayed). The fact is any company that does not use a program such as E-Verify to check legal work status will miss the phony SSNs and and falsified IDs provided at employment (if any at all). While the Libertarian in me plays Devil's Advocate and suggests these ILLEGALS could stay, I find that such a thing is not "sustainable" because American is not a Libertarian society. There is no such thing as open and free markets and we are ALL slaves to a tax system and payers into an entitlement web set to capture all the lowly worker bees and ensnare them in a poverty prison. I recognize that I must sound dangerously close to a Commie at this point so please, read on so that I may re-earn your respect as a fellow Patriot. I suggest that if the incentives to come here were removed (free tax-slave provided entitlements), less would come here. If the borders were better secured (the mark of a nation is defined borders just as much as a military force, government, etc), the rest would be less likely to make it.
Now, back to American-bashing, you cannot have it both ways. When I was a kid, I looked forward to turning 14 so I could work at Comstock & Ferre's farm. I worked full-time and did not make much money and was exposed to less-than-desirable work conditions, but I got my check week after week and I felt good to make the money I had earned because my mother did not pay my way (we were quite poor). Honestly, I enjoyed the hell out of that job and only changed employment to the grocery store at the age of 15 (child labor laws) because the pay was better and it wasn't seasonal. Point being, kids don't do jack shit to earn their keep anymore! I have a 14 yr old daughter and most of her friends have better cell phones than I do. They also have a much more trendy/recent gaming system than our family has and every other luxury that surpasses ours in value and currency (as is in current-ness). I don't care so much that these kids are faring better comfort-wise and technologically than the hard working and educated parents of this American family, but I certainly feel that it is indicative of what We the People have become! What do these children do to EARN the pleasures they so take for granted? No a @#$%^&* thing! Oh sure, maybe they get good grades...isn't that expected already!? How hard is it to obtain good grades in today's public education system? What do today's kids do to earn their luxury? Nothing. What are these third world people willing to do? Pimp themselves and their families to "coyotes" to travel hundreds of miles from home to a place that [sort of] doesn't want them to do the jobs "Americans don't want to do". All I am saying is that I want Americans to re-learn the value of hard work even when it isn't glamorous or likely to get you in the next audition for American Idol. Our kids need to learn from the ground up and quit being so pampered. Believe me, IF I HAD MY "DRUTHERS", EVERY SINGLE ILLEGAL WOULD BE SHIPPED THE HELL OUTTA AMERICA. But then what? Who will pick our tasty strawberries? Seriously?
Oh yeah, Stephen Colbert...I like my job. I compete with illegals every single day; between the ILLEGAL immigrants and the crappy economy bequeathed to me by our elected puppets, I will again have to seek employment from someone other than myself, as I am now out of business. I have spent THOUSANDS of dollars to acquire the tools I own and the truck that transports them and over a DECADE of my life to learn my trade; so Colbert, report this [look at my profile pic, now imagine a middle finger instead of the pistol]!

Fear and Loathing in Kalifornia

Problem, reaction, solution; this is the normal chain of events in the People's Republik of Kalifornia. With the Spirit of Liberty having been renewed in this Republic and its many states, many people have chosen to exercise their rights to openly carry firearms where it is permitted to do so. The commonly accepted mantra is: "If you don't USE your rights, you will LOSE your rights."
Well, it would appear that California legislators see things differently, for they are attempting to ban open carry from the state. Of course as of today, the law allows open carry of a weapon, provided that it is not in a "ready to fire" condition, i.e, the firearm must not have ammunition "attached" to it any manner that renders it ready to fire. However, one may currently carry an unloaded weapon [holstered or otherwise visually discernible] and said individual may carry loaded magazines on their person as well. For those of you in more Liberty-friendly states, unloaded open carry must sound absolutely unheard of; this is the because in 1967, the Black Panthers showed up at the state legislature in Sacramento carrying loaded weapons. The legislature soon changed the law in response to limit open carrying to unloaded weapons.
It seems that now that people feel that their rights are becoming so infringed that we must reclaim them, more legislation is forthcoming to further restrict them. Apparently a big reason for this new draconian legislation is the inability of police officers of immediately being able to determine whether a weapon is loaded or unloaded. I have heard far too many statements from officers or their spokesholes who are concerned for officer safety.
A right is a right is a right...laws cannot revoke rights or infringe upon them. However, the onus falls upon We the People to reclaim our rights. We do not need a majority vote, we only need remind those who would infringe upon our rights the cost of doing so. Until We the People have decided to take such a bold stance, compromises and "reasonable infringement" will ever devour our rights! I have lost faith in politicians and the voting process as I have lost faith in far too many of my countrymen. I fight for the rights of myself and my family for generations to come...I need not have any others support, though I welcome it and offer support likewise.
As Samuel Adams once said: "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
Some of us will carry our weapons, without special permits, whenever and wherever we see fit to do so; some of us will accept laws as the final word...where do you stand?