Smugglers are sawing through new sections of Trump's border wall
Source: WaPo
SAN DIEGO — Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump’s border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage.
The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier’s steel-and-concrete bollards in a matter of minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques.
After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, allowing an adult to fit through the gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the very top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post.
The taxpayer-funded barrier — so far coming with a $10 billion price tag — was a central theme of Trump’s 2016 campaign, and he has made the project a physical symbol of his presidency, touting its construction progress in speeches, ads and tweets. Trump has increasingly boasted to crowds in recent weeks about the superlative properties of the barrier, calling it “virtually impenetrable” and likening the structure to a “Rolls-Royce” that border-crossers cannot get over, under or through.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/smugglers-are-sawing-through-new-sections-of-trumps-border-wall/2019/11/01/25bf8ce0-fa72-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html
Link to tweet
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cutting their way through so that they can work for free at the military base schools that lost their funding to build the wall?
Cut the at the bottom, pull them out of the way a pass through. Next, swing the panels back into original position and build dirt up to cover the cut. Use again and again.
Less likely to be noticed by Border Patrol than a torch.......
There are hardware stores south of the border!
That is the best line so far.
During much of his time inspecting a section of new wall, Trump touted its strength, claiming “20 mountain climbers” had tried to scale it to test its effectiveness.
“This is the one that was hardest to climb,” he said of the current type being built in the San Diego sector. “This wall can’t be climbed.”
“You can fry an egg on that wall,” he added, noting how it is designed to absorb heat, making it even more difficult to scale.
“If you think you’re going cut it with a blowtorch, that doesn’t work because you hit concrete,” Trump said, adding that cutting through concrete won’t work because it is reinforced with rebar.
This is amazing.
By Rick Weber | October 4th, 2019
Rick Weber with his replica border wall! Photo: Courtesy of Rick Weber.
Many in the climbing community were amused a couple weeks ago when our POTUS held a press conference at a section of his latest border wall design—a series of parallel square steel posts with a 5-foot-high plate at the top. “This wall can’t be climbed,” he stated. Newsweek reported that the President boasted about how “the federal government tested the structure by having 20 skilled mountain climbers attempt to climb it,” and no one could.
No one in our climbing community knows any of these 20 mountaineers. I doubt if they exist. More importantly, to declare something to be impossible to climb to a bonafide rock climber is to issue a challenge.
So, I decided to build an exact replica and hold a competition. Although I’m 75 years old, I am still an active rock climber and hold certification by American Mountain Guide Association as a Single Pitch Instructor. It helped that I’m also a retired engineer.
We will be hosting the event on land my wife and I own in the Red River Gorge region of eastern Kentucky, adjacent to Muir Valley. (We’re the founders of Muir Valley, one of the premier rock climbing preserves in North America.) The dates are October 11 and 12, which coincides with one of the largest gatherings of climbers in the U.S.—an annual event called Rocktoberfest.
....
Correction: A former version of this article incorrectly attributed the quote from the Newsweek article in the first paragraph directly to President Trump.
side note : cordless tools have really transformed my wood shop. 
OMG, this was exactly the type of laugh I needed this morning with my breakfast.
#so_much_winning
...in the annals of political comedy. 
