Trump wants a “great wall” on the US-Mexican border that Mexico will pay for.
A new wrinkle is the wall must be see-through so we can see who is on the other side.
Trump will personally select the design.
CNN reports ‘You don’t need it all the way’ and other things Trump said about ‘the wall’ on Friday.
President Donald Trump assured a crowd in Alabama Friday night that “the wall is happening.”
Here are some of the more notable comments the President made during his speech regarding the construction of the wall:
Transparent
Criticizing the inability to see across the border that comes with a concrete wall, Trump said the new design needs to be transparent.
“If you can’t have vision through it, you don’t know who’s on the other side,” he said.
“You need to have a great wall, but it has to be see-through,” Trump said. “We’re looking at different samples already of see-through walls. And, I think also, to be honest with you, a see-through wall would look better.”
“I’m going to out and look at them personally, going to pick the right one,” he added.
Not a full wall
Trump noted that a wall extending across the entire border is not necessary.
“You don’t need it all the way,” Trump said, adding, “We are going to have as much wall as we need.”
“You have a lot of natural barriers, et cetera. Somebody said, ‘Well, what are you going to do, you going to build that wall in the middle of the river? … That nobody can go in? Are you going to build that wall on the mountain?’ I said, ‘You don’t need the wall on the mountain. You have a mountain which is a wall.’ But we are going to build a wall. It is coming along great,” Trump said.
Stopping drugs
One of the goals of the wall, Trump reiterated, is to curb the flow of drugs into the country.
“They take drugs, literally, and they throw it. A hundred pounds of drugs, they throw it over the wall. They have catapults. They throw it over the wall, and it lands and it hit somebody on the head. You don’t even know they’re there. Believe it or not, this is the kind of stuff that happens,” Trump said.
Artist’s Rendition
The image shows the concrete portion of the wall (E) would sit on the U.S.-facing side of an electronically monitored zone and another barrier (B) — which can be seen through — faces toward the Mexico. The monitoring zone would be about 150 feet wide and alert patrol agents if someone breached the initial border barrier.
NBC News reports DHS Seeks Designs for ‘See-Through’ Section of Trump’s Wall.
The Department of Homeland Security took another step this week toward building President Donald Trump’s promised wall along the southern U.S. border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday they’d awarded contracts to four companies to build prototypes for the stretch of the desired barrier made of non-concrete materials that can be seen through.
The section of the wall that would face the U.S. is expected to be built with concrete and contracts for prototypes have already been given out, while officials imagine the stretch of wall facing Mexico would be built from “other materials” that would allow border security officials to see through it.
Mish Response
Dear president Trump
The Rio Grande river is not going to stop anyone from coming into the country.
I crossed the river 30 years ago when the river actually looked like a river. I recall the water was about waist deep and I carried my camera above my head.
Out of curiosity, I did a search for “Depth of Rio Grande River” and came up with this.
The caption states “The Middle Rio Grande was dry near San Antonio in July.”
I can see why engineers would not want to build a wall in a mud pit, but I fail to see how that river forms a natural barrier.
No wall has a distinct advantage. It would be quite transparent. One could easily see to the other side.
Speaking of which, I have a simple question. Instead of building a transparent wall, wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper to mount cameras on top of the wall or in the wall?
Yet, I understand that to be a truly great wall, it needs to be pretty.
Then again, why is the pretty side facing Mexico?
We need a pretty wall on the US side as well. In fact, it needs to be even prettier wouldn’t you say?
Would a laser light show suffice?
If the wall is high enough, how about using the wall as a drive-in movie theater?
What about using the wall for target practice. I suggest moving images of the appropriate people or animals like Donkeys, and award prizes for the best shot.
Add those features and the wall might pay for itself eventually.
That would be a truly great wall.
Addendum
How about Transparent Aluminum?
Interestingly enough, the material now exists two different ways, one of them practical.
Transparent aluminium is ‘new state of matter’
Wikipedia comments on Aluminium Oxynitride.
Aluminium oxynitride or AlON is a ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. It is marketed under the name ALON by Surmet Corporation. AlON is optically transparent (≥80%) in the near-ultraviolet, visible and midwave-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is 4 times harder than fused silica glass, 85% as hard as sapphire, and nearly 15% harder than magnesium aluminate spinel. Since it has a cubic spinel structure, it can be fabricated to transparent windows, plates, domes, rods, tubes and other forms using conventional ceramic powder processing techniques. ALON is the hardest polycrystalline transparent ceramic available commercially. Combination of optical and mechanical properties makes this material a leading candidate for lightweight high-performance transparent armor applications such as bulletproof and blast-resistant windows and for many military infrared optics. AlON-based armor has been shown to stop multiple armor-piercing projectiles of up to 50 cal. It is commercially available in sizes as big as 18×35-inch monolithic windows.
Peepholes
Reader Mission Accomplished asks a great question. Why not peepholes?
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
In ancient Israel, guest workers were no threat to the Hebrews because all Hebrews were landowners (with roughly equal holdings) or were otherwise provided for (i.e. the Levites) and there were provisions in the Mosaic Law to keep it that way (e.g. see Leviticus 25).
So no Hebrew normally depended on wages to survive.
In the US, that is quite different: Not only can US Citizens permanently lose their family farms, businesses and other assets, we have a government-privileged(!)* usury cartel to hasten the process of real wealth concentration and the imposition of wage and debt slavery on fellow US citizens.
So, since now so many US citizens depend on wages to survive, it’s no wonder that foreign workers and foreign goods are resented by them.
*Whereas the Old Testament forbids even honest usury from one’s fellow countrymen.
LikeLike
Does the Old Testament say anything that has a bearing on the wall that Israel has built to keep out the Palestinians? After all David had similar problems with the Philistines [yes, it’s the same word] in 1000 BC.
LikeLike
Ha, Ha! I won’t touch that one because:
Like one who takes a dog by the ears Is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him. Proverbs 26:17
LikeLike
“…Trump wants money for the wall included in a new funding package…”
One wall is not enough. I’d prefer to see two walls built – parallel walls about a mile apart. In between the two parallel walls, there should be an international right-of-way extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. In this right-of-way, developers from any nation should be free to build roads, railroads, pipelines, electric lines, communication lines, water lines, sewer lines, walk ways, bike paths, horse trails, hiking trails, etc – anything that is normally found in a right-of-way – all within the boundaries of the two parallel walls.
What would this accomplish?
Right-of-ways enhance trade because they provide access – access to goods and services transported along the right-of-way – and for people to travel along. Towns spring up along highways just as they once did along railroad tracks. Make the entire US-Mexican border a mile-wide right-of-way for transporting goods and people and, eventually, the entire US-Mexican border will be a solid city – on both sides of the ‘border’ from San Diego to the Gulf of Mexico.
So what kind of goods would be transported along the border? Initially, mostly oil and petroleum products from the Gulf. These could be pipe-lined to the Pacific or to refineries and power companies, etc. along the border on either side. Over time, other products would follow from China, Japan, etc. American and Mexican citizens would want to live near the right-of-way, on their respective sides, as they could travel along it.
But while it would be easy to transport goods and people east or west along this right-of-way, it would be easier to prevent unauthorized persons from crossing the border except at places where it is bridged or tunneled. The transported good and services It would also provide the economy and infrastructure to support border control although cross border travel and trade would still increase over time.
The biggest drawback would be private property owners along the border on either side who might not want to sell their land at any price. Perhaps, the right-of-way could go around them in some places while in others, where private property is only on one side, the Mexican or the US government could donate land on the other. There ought to be away without using eminent domain.
So forget about Trump’s anti-trade single wall and, instead, let’s have two walls separated by an international right-of-way that effectively puts a narrow ‘ocean’ between US and Mexico and increases trade and travel rather than restricting it. If it succeeds, other nations might try it along borders where there is a much greater threat than illegal immigration.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The massive expansion of govt power and irresponsibility by the D wing of the UniParty told me all I need to know about them.
After campaigning for years on ending ObamaCare the R wing of the UniParty now refuses to do so; that tells me all I need to know about them.
By contrast, Pres Trump was, at one time, a darling of the elites. Over the years you can see him pictured with an astonishing array of politicians, movie stars and celebrities. No more. At enormous risk he has chosen to stand with The People. His family is reviled. He himself is constantly threatened and denigrated.
Thank you, President Trump.
LikeLike
Why do we need a wall? To prevent illegal entry into the country. It appears that after 9 months of his Presidency, Trump is learning that just like “repeal and replace Obamacare”, he is not going to get his wall. No Democrat is going to vote to kill off their supply of future voters when total amnesty eventually comes. No Democrat is going to vote to eliminate the central piece to Obama’s legacy.
So, both of these will come down to the votes of just a handful of Republican Senators on the issues. It will be John McCain who decides. And he despises Trump for how he was treated, as in “I don’t like people who were captured”. He might as well have called McCain a coward, and John has a thin skin to boot. He’ll never forget and unless cancer takes him out he will deny Trump of any victory.
LikeLike
We don’t need a stupid wall. Easy changes to the US Code dealing with the hiring of aliens which currently provides an easy loophole for employers to hire illegals without putting themselves in legal jeopardy could be changed overnight and their jobs would dry up. Within that code the POTUS is specifically identified as the person responsible for making sure the code works to prevent the hiring of illegals and changing it if it doesn’t.
This is all a FARCE as usual. Here’s the basic reason why:
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it goes much deeper than that. Otherwise, all nations would allow illegal foreigners to flood their countries for the cheap labor and votes.
Those in charge want to neuter the superpowers. They did it to Russia. What better way to undermine a superpower than by saturating it with millions and millions and millions of illegal indigent illiterate peasants then making the worker bee citizens pay for them?
We have a huge number of our own underclass to sustain. Yet our leaders refuse to implement E-Verify or other systems that would instantaneously stop illegal immigration.
When the Arizonans tried to enact SB1070 the Feds sued them for interfering with US immigration laws. Yet cities and states have boldly declared themselves as sanctuaries for illegals (aiding and abetting) – and nothing happens as a result.
The plan is to destroy the financial and social fabric of the country from within.
This is just another step in the process to dismantle America.
LikeLike
“What better way to undermine a superpower than by saturating it with millions and millions and millions of illegal indigent illiterate peasants then making the worker bee citizens pay for them?”
That’s in the Soros/globalist conspiracy category. Could be, but the primary incentive for US pols is shown in that cartoon.
BTW, China has illegal alien labor coming in from other Asian countries. There’s an entire documentary about it from some mainstream news source on YouTube, maybe BBC. A blind eye is turned due to the goal of the powers that be – labor – in their case just the labor, not necessarily cheaper labor. Also, they can’t vote and what does voting get you anyway in China? Come to think of it, perhaps the same as here but with a more obvious level of propaganda to perpetuate the FARCE of voter control on any topic that involves modification to the status quo flow of huge sums of money.
I could care less about illegals except for ONE FACTOR – birthright citizenship, chain immigration allowed by the 1965 Immigration Act, and a much higher birth rate have already altered the POLITICAL demographics of this country PERMANENTLY to the left and will continue to do so. Hispanics vote 70% socialist (Democrat). I was amazed to find that even highly educated H1B visa Indians also vote 80% Dem. It’s ALL about the political culture of where an immigrant came from. THAT is the core problem as far as the future of this nation is concerned.
This is why the Dems are so apoplectic about the Trump win and why they hate the electoral college without which huge urban areas would absolutely dominate national politics. This was their big chance to forever dominate the SCOTUS and POTUS via amnesty and they blew it… for now.
Everyone who wants to be truly informed about what’s actually going on this topic and many other complex ones needs to watch this guy on a regular basis. NOT an Alex Jones “everything’s a conspiracy” type, Jones being a guy I cannot stand. Even his 5 packs of cigarettes a day voice rubs me the wrong way. Stefan Molyneux videos on the other hand are HEAVILY documented documentaries:
LikeLike
“It’s ALL about the political culture of where an immigrant came from.”
To modify that, that’s a large part of it, but so is the message from a political party promising citizenship not matter HOW one entered the country.
LikeLike
BTW, the political demographic shift and its cause is graphed starting at the 45 minute point of the Stefan Molyneux video linked to above.
LikeLike
Why not add peepholes?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Excellent Idea
I added an addendum Crediting Mission Accomplished
LikeLike
With modern technology you would only need sensors (incl (infra-red) camera’s) etc. As soon as a breach is detected, vamenos. Drones and aerial surveillance to follow people, and a network (army) of agents to apprehend, tag, and ship off any intruders. You don’t need a wall to disincentivize border-crossings, anything effective will do. Laser beams with photo-sensoring can cover pretty large distances nowadays, as can radar and other techniques. With infra-red you can build an individually identifiable “picture” of everybody’s nose. You could even set it up as a project to foster innovations and experimentation.
LikeLike
Just have body heat tracking death lasers like in the Wildfire facility of The Andromeda Strain. When there’s nothing to kill they could reduce power and project ethnically appropriate Southwestern themed graphics (and the logos of corporate sponsors — I’m thinking WAL*mart) on the wall.
They could also tease cats.
LikeLike
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System
LikeLike
Good suggestions. It would also eliminate the eyesore because parts of the wall would destroy beautiful vistas including parts of Big Bend national park.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Is the wall going to prevent Mexicans from getting a tourist visa and just not going back?
Can we import the see-through material from China and use Mexican labor to build the wall? It needs to be super cheap so my taxes won’t have to be raised too much. I refuse to pay labor union wage rates!
LikeLike
Well said!
LikeLike
That’s why the only real solution, the one the POTUS could accomplish on his own, the change to the US code dealing with the hiring of aliens I mentioned above which currently has a giant loophole to allow US employers to hire illegals with little fear of legal jeopardy is the only solution. NO EMPLOYMENT for people who can’t properly prove they were born here.
The fact that this isn’t done reveals this whole political “controversy” to be complete FARCE.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on John Barleycorn and commented:
I like this idea
LikeLike
the only way you are going to kill the drug trade is legalize it and manage it like the english do. the only good wall that will work is one like the berlin wall and we all know what that cost and did.
LikeLike
It’s a real minefield when you get into discussing walls…hey! Wait a minute.
LikeLike
“See-through” walls? Trump must be thinking about the days when he was running those beauty pageants!
LikeLike
the wall is a sign of weakness and a system in declinev
LikeLike
Really?
So give us a few examples of countries not in decline that do not have walls of any kind…
LikeLike
Nambia. Prove me wrong.
LikeLike
Fencing in Namibia – Wikipedia
The last Event was the mixed pair open where a male fencer and female fencer would fence together and their scores would be added cumulatively.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fencing_in_Namibia
LikeLike
That’s Namibia. Nambia is the country King Cheeto says has very good healthcare, yet it has no walls because it doesn’t exist.
LikeLike
Lol – hilarious…
(Apparently Peter Schiff once tried his hand at stand-up comedy – you should do the same Mish. I want to see you deliver some of these points straight to camera on Fallon…)
.
LikeLike
I am personally in favor of Transparent Aluminum
I meant to put that in when I started the post then forgot about it.
LikeLike
That’s what Scotty used to make the whale tank in Star Trek IV.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Transparent_aluminum
LikeLike
It’s like a chain link fence. He is proposing this to reduce cost. Walls and fences are barriers and they make for good neighbors
LikeLike
We don’t need a wall. Barbed wire fence with guard towers armed with machine guns and orders to shoot on site. Minefields in difficult areas will take care of the rest. Think of all the people who will be employed as guards and body retrieval specialists. No need for interment centers or judicial backlogs. Drug traffick will be greatly reduced.
LikeLike
Yawn, so Trump wants his supporters to give him billions of dollars for an invisible wall & he will personally select which of his cronies…errr ‘developers’ get the contract.
Could we just deport his supporters to Mexico and pay Mexico to build a wall around them? It doesn’t have to be hi-tech and I’ll be more than happy if I can’t see through it.
LikeLike
Enforcing the rule of law is just so racist.
We just need the right marxists in power to choose which laws to follow and which laws to ignore. And if there is not a law we need – just make it up (cough…DACA…cough)!
Funny. Mexico JAILS illegals. Fines them and then deports them. And no DACA there.
How come NO ONE calls Mexico and Mexico’s president a racist?
It is a puzzle.
LikeLike
Trump’s cronies already trashed campaign law by colluding with Russia. Whether or not he is racist is an academic question by this point. We’d be better off with Mexico’s President.
Does Mexico have a huge wall on their southern border?
LikeLike
As a matter of fact, Mexico does have a wall on it’s southern border.
But Mexico doesn’t have a problem with illegal immigration because they actually enforce their immigration laws – with jail time.
Besides, Mexico just transports illegals in their country north to the United States. Didn’t you pay attention during the surge of Central America kids invading Texas by the hundreds of thousands? They were transported to Texas through Mexican by train. Mexico was in on it.
LikeLike
Mexico does NOT jail illegals.
On May 24, 2011, President Felipe Calderón signed the new and much more liberal Migration Law. The Mexican Senate and the House had unanimously approved the migration bill on February 24 and April 29, respectively. Some of the most significant principles in this new law included new rights for migrants. The new law guarantees that foreigners and Mexican nationals will receive equal treatment under Mexican law and decriminalizes undocumented immigration, reducing it to an administrative infraction, punishable with a fine of up to 100 days’ worth of minimum wage.[1] Under this equality principle all immigrants, regardless of status, nationality, or ethnicity, are granted the right to education and healthcare and are entitled to due process. Elements aimed at promoting family unity were also added. Moreover, before the government takes action (e.g. deportation) with respect to migrant children and other vulnerable individuals (women, seniors, the handicapped and victims of crime), their specific needs must be prioritized and adequate services must be provided. Migrants are also granted judicial rights that they were previously denied, such as the right to due process. In addition, the law also calls for establishing a Center for Trust Evaluation and Control which will be charged with the task of training and certifying immigration personnel in hopes of curtailing corrupt practices. All Institute of Migration officials are to meet the same standards as the rest of the country’s security agencies. Government officials found to be violating the law are now subject to penalties, including fines and imprisonment.
LikeLike
He might as well ask for the moon, he isn’t going to get it.
LikeLike
Status quo can no longer function, the country will turn either way left or way right depending on the economy. There is no intelligent leadership only opportunist!
LikeLike
Why don’t we just go full Hans Christian Andersen and make the Emperor a suit of invisible clothes? Unfortunately we’d have to see… [barf]… never mind.
LikeLike
DJT (he has two eyes, right? So “iDJiT”..) will get his invisible wall.
First accomplishment of the administration!
He’ll be so proud. Believe me.
LikeLike
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a short tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that they say is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, no one dares to say that they do not see any suit of clothes on him for fear that they will be seen as “unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent”. Finally, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes
This wall is the equivalent of the Emperor Trump’s New Clothes. Perhaps Empress Ivanka can create some invisible clothes she can sell for hundreds of dollars per piece. Perhaps she will wear them herself while she struts behind her father’s invisible wall.
LikeLike
Man, this whole wall thing is just ridiculous. It really is mind numbing in maximum stupidity. Trump must know by now that the DHS entire reason for being is to stop domestic terrorism, so of course they monitor our borders with the latest high tech sensors and probably drones. I highly suspect DHS is aware of most illegals coming across the border between checkpoints. But they have been under orders to let them go.
Illegal immigration is not a technical problem, it is a political one. I think Mish said before — easiest way to reduce illegal immigration is cut back on the freebies. But politics won’t let that happen.
Meanwhile, we have the Pope saying, “migrants rights are more important than national security”. Hmm…a little clarification on that might be helpful
LikeLike
I’m starting to wonder if Trump, and his buddy Bill Clinton, are just sitting around New York and DC; making up crazy stuff over a lunch of cigars and interns; to see how much utter silliness “those ignorant rednecks” can possibly fall for, without realizing they’ve been had….
LikeLike
So he wants a fence, and because he promised a wall, and does not want to betray his support base, going to call it see-through wall. Brilliant.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
LikeLike
Only a babe in the woods thinks they can come in without even reading the proposal instructions, or the resulting bids, and just pick someone he likes. That is how contract awards get tied up in court for years. And we all know that POTUS is a big hand wave (remember “Carter Country”?) kind of guy that does not read anything below the Title before he issues opinions. Of course, maybe a bid protest is exactly what he wants if he needs to look like he is doing something but others are obstructing him.
LikeLike
No nation ever became prosperous by importing massive amounts of illiteracy and poverty.
Common sense.
The plan is to turn America into a Third World hellhole.
Poor people are easily controlled.
Those who defend illegal foreigners are enemies of the nation.
LikeLike
“The plan is to turn America into a Third World hell hole.”
What a great plan! Whose plan is that? Trump’s?
Seems to be working so far!
Plus, it is fun to watch.
And after the wall is built, you won’t be able to leave! That is the point of most walls isn’t it. To keep people in. Just like a prison.
LikeLike
It is the failed “War On Drugs” that has made a new wall necessary.
If we legalized drugs and de-funded the DEA, the funds freed up would more than pay for any needed improvements to the wall.
To those savings would also be the cost savings to local and state governments which could pay the pensions that the states are ‘required’ to pay.
The costs involved involved in the “War On Drugs” (Federal, State, and local) vastly exceeds the cost of any wall.
Note that “Crack” was created by the U.S. Government to fund the C.I.A.
The current Heroin problem is due to our military defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan who had eliminated the poppy fields.
Trillions of Dollars that added to our National Debt and added recurring costs to Federal, State, and local budgets.
LikeLike