Miscellanea

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Frankly, I've been quite busy with a number of things. But I at least wanted to give a bit of an update. First, regarding the immigration bills ... it looks like every immigration bill that was working its way through the Louisiana legislature has stalled. There are less than two weeks to go in the current session and all of the bills have bogged down in the Senate Committees. If any of these bills are going to make it to the Governor's desk, they'll have to pass through Committee, then be scheduled for debate and vote on the Senate floor. There just isn't enough time to do this. One bill, HB 1365 by Tim Burns on renting property to undocumented immigrants hasn't even made it out of the House yet. So, that bill is dead. HB 25, HB 1357, and HB 1358 haven't even really been heard in Senate Committee yet. So, for all intents and purposes, they're dead, too. I guess the sponsors of these bills can go back to their districts as heroes for having tried to do something, even if their efforts failed. If that's how they want to play it, that's fine. In the end, it's still a legislative defeat for them and a victory for those of us who opposed these bills. They were bad pieces of legislation anyhow. The sad part of it all is that I never got to testify. And even if some of the bills are resuscitated next week, I still won't be able to testify given that I'll be in Mexico. And that's my next point ...

Part of the reason why I haven't been blogging so much lately is that I'm getting ready for my jaunt to Mexico. I've got to tie loose ends up at the office and at home. I've got to pack, prepare my course, and make sure final arrangements are set in Mexico. That's consumed a good bit of my energies.

I've also been frantically trying to close out some home repair and remodeling projects that I've had in the works for a while now. I've made some good progress on that front, too.

But once I'm in Mexico, I'll have more time to blog. I can leave the immigration stuff alone for the time being and turn my attention to Mexico, to the upcoming national elections, and to other aspects of Louisiana life and politics.

Oh, and I have to pay up on that bet with my wife's former pastor that I lost once Obama sewed up the Democratic Party nomination! Go, Obama!