These Are Politics: Please Continue To Shoot At Us

Construction of $57 million stretch of border fence begins

Construction crews began filling a gorge near San Diego known as Smuggler’s Gulch on Friday in the first step of what will be a $57 million project to construct a stretch of fence on the border between California and Mexico. The cost of the 3 ½ mile section of fence will average $16 per mile, far more than the $2-to-$3 average construction price per mile of similar stretches estimated by the US Customs and Border Protection agency.

While authorities conceded that the fence at Smuggler’s Gulch will be significantly more expensive than similar endeavors across the state and country, they claimed that it was far cheaper than three other projects they had considered: the moat at Immigrant Keep, the bed of land mines on Human Trafficker Isle, and the frozen ice cliffs at Mount Stealing-our-jobs.

jlantzy/Flickr

Price of gas down by 35 cents for trailing 30 days

The national average price of gasoline dropped by one cent on Saturday, marking the 30th straight day of declining gas prices. At $3.761 per gallon, the price of regular unleaded gasoline is 35 cents cheaper than it was 30 days ago. Despite the recent reprieve, however, consumers are still paying over 30% more for a gallon of gasoline than they were one year ago.

When informed of the news, every single person that bought a Prius over the past six months simultaneously wept openly.

Russia signs cease-fire with Georgia

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili announced on Friday that he and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev had signed a cease-fire agreement requiring the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian soil. Despite the agreement, which was brokered by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian forces remain in Georgia and continue to control Georgian cities outside of the area in Ossetia where fighting first began.

After realizing that the agreement between Russia and Georgia has not completely facilitated a diplomatic end to their fighting, Sarkozy’s foreign relations adviser re-examined the text of the cease-fire and learned a little-known fact: the Georgian term for “peace” is nearly identical to the Russian phrase “please continue to shoot at us.”