I'll join the comment on the rats in the New York Taco Bell/KFC since I'm reading from Manhattan. Yes, it's rather sickening, especially considering that the very restaurant in which they were cavorting by the dozen had passed a health inspection just the day before the making of the videos now circulating.

To be fair, it's more an island-wide problem than it is one of lax standards by YUM! Brands, the franchise owner. For the past couple years, Manhattan has experienced a worse-than-usual rat infestation problem. They have become so organized and crafty, even expert exterminators are stumped. I still work in Manhattan, but I stopped living here when I couldn't find an affordable rent in a nieghborhood that wasn't dominated by illegal immigrants. The vast majority of the illegals come from very crude backgrounds, of course - why else would they risk life and limb for an uncertain future in a strange country? Because anything is better than what they come from, that's why! - and that's not racism, it's just truth - I have numerous Hispanic friends here, and that's how I know what I'm saying. They are completely ignorant of even the most basic personal hygeine and sanitation practices. I think it's more than a coincidence that the rats, along with an increase in other communicable diseases, comes alongside the unchecked influx of destitue illegals. Upstate here a little bit in a city called Brewster, the last of the locally-owned businesses on the main pedestrian area are quickly closing - why? Because it has beome a haven for "day laborers" (the euphemism for illegal immigrants) and now the only businesses making money - and plenty of it! - are the ones owned by or geared toward them: Mexican restaurants, Hispanic-operated delis, bakeries, barber shops, and of course, check cashing/money wiring centers (they always send their off-the-books money "home", they never become Americans and contribute anything meaningful).

People are so afraid to point out these vivid realities for fear of sounding racist - that's ridiculous. When an entire nation consistently fails to improve the quality of life for its people generation after generation, obviously, all the people of that nation together will be a troubled, needy, depressed class. Naturally, they share the common trait of racial identity. That doesn't mean that condemning the backwards lifestyle of people who come from such a disadvantaged country is racism. We need to get over this political-corectness-run-amok and see the problem of illegal immigration for what it is. We DO NOT need to ramp up the KKK and the likes of their radical intolerance. But we do need to face the real detriments posed to our own society by the influx of people from a decidedly lesser one who make no attempt to assimilate and have absolutely no regard for the standard of living Americans have managed to bring ourselves to. For us, living with rodents is out of the question. For them, it's a source of protein.