Let the plains die..Let the Buffaloe run wild again...It should be land in reserve for Future Generations of English Speaking americans & Immigrants from across the globe that want to assimilate & become patriotic citizens..Thats the better option! The other option is just an invasion without one shot being fired. The Danger of keeping the plains alive by bringing the other half of Mexico in will be a bloody civil war down the road when they try to cecede..Oh well..That is just my Ignorant & Racist opinion...But Geraldo Ibotta Does bring up a good Point..

Oh gee, you saved me the typing and having to utter a retort to your opinion, Mr. fish, but since you acknowledged it, I'll agree... And my name is Lou, not Geraldo... Geraldo works for Fox News and I am a professional, which is mutually exclusive... In addition, I'm not stating an opinion, but census bureau facts.

Not only in the Plains but nationally, the main reason why we now have the fourth largest population on the planet and we are likely to maintain that for a while is that we have indeed a very healthy immigrant population with young kids who will someday work to pay for your social security benefits. "White" America has a negative or just-at-replacement birthrate. And who knows, these sons and daughters of immigrants will take care of you at the hospice. All while speaking Spanish. Want some lessons?

And many of them will be skiers too....

I would love some lessons, my Spanish sucks and I'm going to El Salvador for the first time in two months. This oughta be fun... "hey check out the dumb gringo, he just asked if he could drive my dog."

Will new Hispanics be skiers? I'm doing everything in my power to make one of them a skier (though she prefers the term "Latino"), as well as our children. And will my children be Hispanic, or white? Does it matter? Though I'm pretty sure my children will be bi-lingual. I'm hoping to learn enough Spanish that I know what they're saying about me when I start singing Willie Nelson at the top of my lungs on family car trips.

I had tres anos of espanol in high school. Ay curumba if i can't remember any of it, well mostly nouns but few verbs. I can order at chipotle though, with a few nouns:

pollo - chicken
lechuga - lettuce
crema = sour creme
salsa gringo - mild salsa... (excuse the poor spelling)
queso -- cheese
more -- mas por favor...

That was before the "immigrant debate" when you had real latinos working there... now its a mixed bag, and that has taken the fun out

Anyway -- you hit the nail on the hid AND we are lucky here. I'm in minority apparently in thinking this.

In Europe you have a negative population rate so they import mostly folks from africa, middle east, turkey, etc...

Here we have almost the same issue among whites and we have all of latino america to tap...

That's way better in my book -- same religious background roughly, somewhat shared history, and semi-western outlook.

Que bueno!

It's either that or pick up mandarin or hindi

Spanish is EASIER by far...

BTW Scott, when you are going to have the Spanish character set done? Some words need the little ~ ya know over certain letters...

Aye, loco gringo

[quote=Roger Z]

I really can't tell you if Spanish is easy... well, I sorta grew up with it... Immersion is the best way to learn. It may seem like a bad thing initially and then it just comes to you. I just hope your kids grow up bilingual. My niece and nephew, now in their 30s, are now aghast at the fact that my brother, in the spirit of assimilation into the "melting pot" that was prevalent 30 years ago, didn't teach them Spanish. They throw that on his face quite frequently, especially when one of them is non-competitive in a job application for an international-linked job because of the lack of language proficiency.

When you return, let's grab a beer(s) and we'll chat in Spanish. My treat. How about that?

[quote=Roger Z]

Most certainly they can and many are... In my close group of ski friends, two of us are hispanic, myself and one other friend who is from Costa Rica. And my South Florida family now joins the family folks from Nashville to spend two weeks every year with me at my Snowshoe condo. As a matter of fact, one of my cousins is buying a condo in the same complex as mine. Let's also remember that some of the Latin American countries have mountains that are 8 thousand feet higher than the tallest peak in the lower 48. And Chile and Argentina have well-developed ski cultures, albeit more European than US-oriented.

And when you start singing Willie Nelson, remember that the first cowboys were Latinos...

Déjame ver. Aquí en este sitio del web se hará todo lo posible para que mañana los pingüinos puedan vivir en el área del Medio Atlántico. Como sería posible?

I think the character sets are already available, accents, inverted question marks, etc....

Not only in the Plains but nationally, the main reason why we now have the fourth largest population on the planet and we are likely to maintain that for a while is that we have.....

A friggin Rabbit type Mentality..Highest Birth rate in the country At Me & Millions of other Hard working Americans Expense...You come from a failed Country My Friend & the Hordes of Mexicans & other South Americans come from another..Having 10 kid family's will not solve that...My People...Our Fore fathers, Thru Blood sweat & Tears Developed this great land of ours & you came here to take advantage of it..Which you did & God Bless you...Respect it & the Language & Culture...My Ancesters have afforded you a Cushy Life & you should not take it for granted & then Disrespect it by pushing Spanish down our throats. If it wasn't for the Good Ole USA you would be living in the Slums of Cuba. Immigration was supposed to be a little sample of the world not 80 million Losers that have not been able to get thier acts together even with all & more of the recources that we have here in the USA & come here & cannot even Respect us by learning the Language...A language that My Norwegian Ancesters Learned as fast as they could because they were so thankful of the opportunity this country gave them...they would be embarrased to leave thier house untill they Learned.....They Came here to be Americans!....This influx of Cheap Labor Has only enabled Farm owners & Industry to not Modernize....We could develop a machine to do Almost anything...We don't need & cannot afford to feed ,Educate & house the folks from the south...they need to get thier own act together.....& Roger..United we Stand & Divided we Fall. As long as you ..the Senorita & Kids Put English 1st Then You all Can Speak any other Language that makes your boat float..The Blood of Americans have ensured that right to you! ....PS Some Folks from around the world have to wait 10 to 18 years to come here legally...They are more Pissed than Me!

Pingüinos? Piensos de pescado para ellos!

Ok, I cheated, I used a translator... dang it doesn't quite translate back. Hopefully you'll get it...

Retry: Pingüinos? Hágales comer Pescado entonces!

That should be clear...

fishnski: I really don't see what your message has to do with skiing. (And I don't think our forefathers were exactly the first people to discover this fine land.) Let's try to keep things focused on skiing and leave the global warming and immigration commentary for other, more appropriate web sites. (Isn't there a web site called "dcpoliticsandskiingandendlessglobalwarmingdebates.com"?) One thing clear from feedback in the DCSki Survey (the results of which will be posted soon, I promise) is that the silent majority of DCSki readers don't like seeing political debates here.

Fish, man you're way out of line. Lou's given virtually his entire life for this country, military officer and pilot and he earned more medals than you'll ever have dollars in your bank account. And since you're from WV, he has housed more people and provided more homes to folks in your state afflicted by disasters than you can shake a stick at. Before you slam loyal Americans, especially my friends, look at yourself.

Truth is truth, even if you don't want to hear it.

How could I forget? When Sandra and I go to La Fonda- food isn't good, but the camradarie is fantastic, I have yet to go there and not meet at least three people per visit- the dee-jay always sings a variety of music and she helpfully points out the "Mexican country music." She doesn't like the sound. Naturally, as soon as she says it's country, I start grooving to it. She really digs my complete lack of sophistication, that's what I tell myself anyway.

Here's a good story for you Lou. So when we got our civil marriage (religious marriage coming up in El Salvador in late November) we took the family and a good friend here in town to Piropos, a very excellent Argentinian restaurant with great views of downtown KC (sits up on a bluff). When we were done, my friend Andres paid the pianist a few dollars to play a traditional "first dance" Mexican song for me and Sandra. Since the last time I tried to do a salsa I broke a table, I didn't dare try it out- we two-stepped the whole song. So Sandra and I's first dance consisted of us two-stepping to a traditional Mexican first dance song in an Argentinian restaurant overlooking Kansas City.

Oh, yeah, um, to stay on topic... I guess everyone is trying to destroy West Virginia- coal companies, second home owners chopping up the land, and environmentalists... and skiers. And windsurfers. I'm not sure how, but windsurfers are somehow destroying West Virginia, too. It's Friday, it's midnight, so I disavow any normalcy in this post. Goodnight!

So Scott, you have deleted My Response to Ibotta But you have let his last insult to me stand...You know..where he talks about my breeding, The Socio class ect..That was real Responsible on your part there buddy..Fair & Balanced....I'm impressed

fishnski: Fine, I removed Lou's last post, which I did not find anywhere near as offensive as the posts you have made on this thread. I reviewed this entire thread carefully, and without a doubt you are the instigator. ("Geraldo Ibotta"? Are you for real? What are we, in third grade??) And this isn't the first time. You jump off topic, spew very strong non-skiing-related and divisive opinions, and seem to continually insult Lou, who I believe is one of the finest contributors to the DCSki Message Forums and one of the most patriotic folks and honorable civil servants I have ever seen. I have received so many e-mails from people who don't like seeing this kind of stuff, and recently, you seem to be at the center of many of the complaints. I'm trying to provide a forum for people to share diverse opinions -- particularly when related to skiing and snowboarding, and I believe you have a lot to contribute. But if you continue to "stir the pot" and take potshots at Lou or anyone else, you might find that your time would be best spent on other message forums. I am not here to play message forum cop and, frankly, I get *really* ticked off every time I have to.

(NOTE: written prior to reading Scott's 1121 post)
Mr. fishnski,
You are an important part of this site, but man, let it go. I enjoy reading your posts about skiing, the weather (especially in the valley), about the Carolina beach scene and fishing (learned about not freezing blues from you), etc. But sometimes you are passionate to a fault and seem to forget what DCSki is all about (or what I think it is about).
IMHO, the thread about "WV Environmentalist", at first, seemed to hold some potential interest to those of us that look at Canaan Valley for our WINTER ski/snowboard fix, then moved in the direction of mountain biking, and eventually personal attacks.
I look forward to being able to ski with you some day, you and any and all DCSkiers. We are a friendly, info exchanging group, and I would hate to think that somehow, should all of us manage to meet up to ski/ride together, that past postings and feelings negate a fun day.
I met and skied with about six DCSkiers at Timberline last Snowy Luau and it was great fun for all, especially for folks like me that usually have no ski partner to share the slopes. I have skied with skibummsp over a weekend, and just recently at Alta, I met up with skier219, and had a great time. In all cases we were DCSki "friends" before we ever met face to face, and knew much about each other from our postings, etc. Putting a face on a fellow DCSkier and enjoying their company both on the screen and in person is a major asset this site provides.
So, to all I say, relax, enjoy our unique sport, stay friendly, and let's all hope to meet and spend slope time together.
Enjoy the snow!

The Colonel

Thanks for the Advice Colonel..Its frusterating for me to have a ligitimate Opinion & then have someone Belittle me & Characterize me falsely...That wouldn't happen to my Face & if it did I could explain myself better!..But Thanks again Sir.
I'll be sure to PM you Scott when Ibotta gets out of line again & maybe after another Nasty, Vile & condecending post of his you will be a little faster at the draw in deleteing the S U S O B..
Susob stands for Sweet,Understanding,Special,& overly Bright...

fishnski,
You still don't get it. You do not have to always have the last word. Sometimes less or none is best.
I have preached enough.
By the way, Joe Bastardi and Accuweather are suddenly painting a dismal weather picture for the Allps for most of Feb. Do you have any better info?
Please respond in a new thread and let's kill this one.
Thanks
The Colonel

The Colonel, a toast to you... Hear hear...