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Banned in France!

Mel Gibson's The Passion has been banned in France.

Banned in France?

Anyhoo, I found this both funny and true:

If Mr. Gibson on his own dime made a film of identical quality about a Marxist guerrilla who was tortured to death at the hands of a rightwing ruling junta after being betrayed by a rival insurgency group, you could start engraving his name on an Oscar right now. Bonus points if his father were a cranky old loon who denied Stalin's purges.

Posted to Celebrities at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

That's a lot of industrial ethanol

There seems to be something a little strange about the recent tanker explosion:

US coastguard rescuers were searching the freezing waters off Virginia yesterday for 18 crew members missing after a tanker carrying industrial ethanol exploded late on Saturday.
Three people have been confirmed dead in the accident, and six have been rescued.

The tanker, sailing under a Singaporean flag, was making its way from New York to Houston carrying 16m litres (3.5m gallons) of the highly flammable liquid. Ethanol is commonly used as a solvent in varnishes and perfumes, and as a fuel...

There had been 24 Filipinos and three Greeks on board the ship...

The 39,000-tonne ship, Bow Mariner, was owned by the Norwegian shipping company Odfjell Seachem.

(NYT report here)

I know next to nothing about biomass, ethanol, and the rest. But, I do know how to use google.

Namely: what were they doing carrying a large amount of industrial ethanol from New York to Houston, when New York - in fact the whole Northeast - doesn't seem to be a hotbed of ethanol production?

Consider the chart at the end of this page, which shows ethanol production by state. The entire Northeast appears to be nearly devoid of ethanol production, at least as of 2000. Consider this list of ethanol producers, none of which are in the Northeast. Here's another list of producers, only one of which is in New York. This 2000 press release discusses building plants in PA and NY. This page from Jan. 2002 says, "the ethanol industry can sustain approximately 700 jobs through the annual production of 30 million gallons of denatured ethanol plus related co-products," said Kevin Swartley, president of New York Corn Growers". This New York plant can produce 9.5 million gallons of ethanol per year, just three times that carried by the tanker. And, apparently due to new legislation concerning MTBE, demand for ethanol in New York has increased.

Like I said, I'm no ethanol expert. But, all of this leaves me wondering, where the heck did all that ethanol come from?

Posted to Miscellania at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

Report rips California's business climate

From the SacBee:

California firms find doing business here so difficult that 40 percent of those surveyed plan to move some jobs out of state and 50 percent will not add jobs within the state, according to a study released Thursday.
The report, issued by the California Business Roundtable, said the cost of doing business in the state is 30 percent higher than in other Western states, with regulatory costs the biggest culprit...

Business groups frequently issue such warnings, hoping to spur the legislature to cut back on regulations, reduce taxes or otherwise improve the business climate. But William Hauck, president of the Roundtable, said the Bain research was an unbiased effort to document and address the largest impediments to economic growth in the state...

Regulatory costs in California are 106 percent higher than in other Western states, the study also said.

Aren't I cute? Except, it's not just Boxer's and Pelosi's fault, it's pretty much every Democrat in the whole state.

This might just be a "give us what we want, this time we might mean it" report, but, nevertheless, note that regulatory costs are more than twice as much as other Western states. That's not just an additional 6%, that's twice as much plus 6% as a sweetner.

Posted to California at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)

Bush immigration plan could affect techies

Here's an older story from ZDnet:

Details of President Bush's plan to tackle illegal immigration remain fuzzy, but the program could create a new way for technology employers to bring in foreign workers.
If so, the stage will be set for another round of debates about the practice of temporarily importing guest workers for tech tasks--already a sore spot for critics of the H-1B and L-1 visa programs.

"Should the Bush proposal be implemented, it would be disastrous for American programmers, engineers and everyone in the country who can't make a living on the stock market alone," said John Miano, founder of software programmer advocacy group the Programmer's Guild.

...But in a speech last week at the Cato Institute, an administration official indicated the program could extend to highly skilled positions as well. Margaret Spellings, assistant to the president for domestic policy, said details of the program have yet to be worked out. But she said the program will be "non-sector specific" and mentioned nurses and teachers as possible workers covered by the program...

As I discussed here, this is just one of the strange things Margaret Spellings had to say:

"We do envision that [the Bush amnesty/guestworker plan] would be open to any type of employee and any type of employer, such as nurses, teachers, high-tech workers, low-skilled workers. This is a concept that can apply broadly"

Posted to Immigration2003 at 03:01 PM | Comments (2)

Mexican agents in the state houses?

FoxNews recently published 'Georgia Latinos Object to 'Illegal Aliens' Label':

Each year, nearly 1 million foreigners unlawfully sneak into the United States.

But don’t call them "illegal aliens" because that's the moral equivalent of a racial slur, according to the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.

"We do find that term very offensive and liken it to the 'n' word as well," GALEO Executive Director Kerry Gonzalez said...

I like Fox's tone. GALEO's complaint is also treated with derision by Neal Boortz.

As with other immigration matters (see the UCLA illegal-alien-voters study), there's unfortunately usually a bit more happening behind the scenes than just some nut sending out a press release.

Namely, GALEO was founded by these three:

Senator Sam Zamarripa (SD-36), Representative Pedro Marin (HD-66) and Judge Tony del Campo (DeKalb County State Court) form the nucleus of GALEO...

As I discussed here, Pedro Marin is allegedly the Executive Director of Centro Mexicano De Atlanta/The Mexican Center Of Atlanta, Inc.

The Centro Mexicano De Atlanta/The Mexican Center Of Atlanta, Inc. allegedly has a legal domicile at the Atlanta Mexican Consulate Office.

Maybe (perhaps in a parallel universe) it's all innocent. Or, maybe the Mexican government is paying a salary to a Georgia state representative.

There's currently an ethics complaint against him, and it won't be investigated until early May. Hopefully that won't prevent someone at Fox from doing a little bit of investigating in the meantime.

See also 'Bush Bill Would Aid Mexico's Meddling in U.S.'.

Posted to Immigration_consul at 02:42 PM | Comments (0)

Synchronising newsreading and taking off all your clothes said to be "not easy"

It looks like those wacky Hong Kongers are going to get all the "nudes" it's fit to print:

HONG KONG - Hong Kong viewers will get the naked truth on a new TV news show presented by nude newsreaders.

The Fire/Ice News bulletins will be broadcast on Saturday and Sunday nights on one of the many new digital TV channels springing up in the territory, local media reported.

The first show, to be aired this weekend, features newsreader Chan Long, a willowy 18-year-old who strips through the five- minute bulletin until she is completely naked.

'It's not easy, synchronising newsreading and taking off all your clothes,' Miss Chan, a model who has just graduated from secondary school, told the South China Morning Post.

Show producer Jesse Au admitted that the station borrowed the idea from nude broadcasting pioneers in Russia and Canada...

Phwoarrr!!!!

Posted to WackyHumor at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

Disinfopedia

I just found about a Wiki project called 'Disinfopedia':

...a collaborative project to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. We are already working on 3785 articles.

Sounds good, except for what follows:

The United States is supposed to be a democracy, but today powerful business interests dominate government, most citizens don't even vote, civil liberties are surrendered for national security, gunboat diplomacy alienates world opinion, and one overtly pro-business party dominates all three branches of government and the news media. What's going on, and what can be done?

PR Watch editors Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber are working on a new book, titled Banana Republicans: How the New Right is Turning American Into a One-Party State. You can help with the research, right here on the Disinfopedia.

Ah, I understand.

Nevertheless, I edited their page on the Ford Foundation (see the 'External Links' section.)

The links I added can be found by clicking the 'More' link directly below. Underneath the links are the source code for updating the Wiki page, just in case "something happens."

'How Ford Funds the Left'
'How the Ford Foundation Created Multiculturalism'
'The Billions of Dollars That Made Things Worse'
'The Birth of a Nation: At the Ford Foundation ethnicity is always job 1'
'The Biggest Funder of the Left'
"...Ford's objective is to work to radically overhaul the ethnic basis of American society to bring about the change that they desire..."
"...the [Ford] foundation will continue bankrolling the corrosive identity politics that have already fractured American society..."
'How Firm a Foundation - Hank the Deuce, 'Ping' Ferry, and what to learn from them.'
'The Ford Foundation: Funding International Terror?'
'Fifth Column Financier'
"The Ford Foundation will retain Paul Allaire as its chairman despite allegations by federal regulators that he committed accounting fraud while at the helm of Xerox Corp."
Funding Hate
'Leftist Sugar Daddies'

* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=7835 'How Ford Funds the Left']
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11674 'How the Ford Foundation Created Multiculturalism']
* [http://www.city-journal.org/html/6_4_a1.html 'The Billions of Dollars That Made Things Worse']
* [http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/MALDEF-LA_RAZA-Hymowitz.html 'The Birth of a Nation: At the Ford Foundation ethnicity is always job 1']
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=9019 'The Biggest Funder of the Left']
* [http://www.steinreport.com/danstein_oreilly_02242003.htm "...Ford's objective is to work to radically overhaul the ethnic basis of American society to bring about the change that they desire..."]
* [http://www.city-journal.org/html/7_4_sndgs08.html "...the (Ford) foundation will continue bankrolling the corrosive identity politics that have already fractured American society..."]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1282/11_55/102540271/p1/article.jhtml 'How Firm a Foundation - Hank the Deuce, 'Ping' Ferry, and what to learn from them.']
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=10760 'The Ford Foundation: Funding International Terror?']
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=7689 'Fifth Column Financier']
* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20030708-0331-fordfoundation-chairman.html "The Ford Foundation will retain Paul Allaire as its chairman despite allegations by federal regulators that he committed accounting fraud while at the helm of Xerox Corp."]
* [http://www.jta.org/ford.asp 'Funding Hate']
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=6196 'Leftist Sugar Daddies']

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

Teresa Heinz-Kerry plus... Ken "Kenny Boy" Lay?

Say it isn't so:

Enron's Ken Lay served on the Heinz Foundation board for ten years and kept his position long after the Enron scandal broke. The Heinz Foundation, run by Senator Kerry's wife, Teresa, kept the corporate pirate on their ship even as Enron sank in a swamp filled by their own fraud and lies.

A Heinz spokesman said: "Whatever troubles he had at Enron…when someone does wrong in one part of their life, it doesn't mean they can't do good in another part of their life."

It turns out this relationship is somewhat known, even if it was heretofore unknown to this blogger. See "Media Mum on Heinz Kerry's Enron Connection":

It didn't get much attention back when Sen. John Kerry was a cellar dweller in the presidential polls. But now that he's the undisputed, all but certain, presumptive Democratic Party nominee, we're wondering where the coverage is on Teresa Heinz Kerry's Enron connection...

In fact, Lay was reportedly a Heinz Center trustee for more than a decade, resigning just last year. That was around the time presidential candidate John Kerry started bashing "special interests" in Washington, zeroing in on Enron by name.

Last July, the Washington Times obtained samples of personal correspondence from the Heinz Center to Mr. Lay, praising him for his management style.

"Ken," wrote one of Teresa's representatives, "Simply stated, your background, expertise and experience make you uniquely qualified [to run our] global-warming [initiative]."

As 'John Kerry's Plan to End the Era of Special Interests' informs us:

John Kerry has a plan to end the special interest economy – an era ushered in by George W. Bush – in which the captains of Enron and Halliburton receive tax breaks and special deals while middle-class Americans work harder for less...

Kerry will protect workers’ pensions [by among others]:
* Stopping Enron-style pension abuses by preventing companies from forcing employees to tie up their pension savings in company stock and by ensuring companies provide full and accurate information to employees...

We're informed that his "Workers’ Bill of Rights" would "protect older workers’ pensions, enforce rules on CEO pensions, and stop Enron-style abuses."

According to Kerry, "We're not going to see corporations that desert the American worker be rewarded with government contracts, and it won't take me 2 1/2 years to believe that someone from Enron belongs in jail."

A Kerry ad informs us that "Enron has been [Bush's] single biggest contributor – over $600,000."

A "fisking" of a Bush ad not only mentions Ken Lay by name, it has a whole section devoted to him: "Ken Lay, Enron’s CEO, was a Bush Pioneer, raising at least $100,000 for the Bush Presidential campaign... Lay Donated More Than $120,000 to Bush’s Gubernatorial Campaigns... Lay Had Personal Access to Cheney, Energy Task Force..."

This Kerry speech also mentions Ken Lay in an anti-Dean context:

It is not enough as a candidate to rail against “Ken Lay and the boys,” if as Governor you gave Enron and other big corporations tax shelters that were designed to turn Vermont into a snowy Bermuda.

Thank God for the two party system.

Posted to Politics at 10:46 PM | Comments (1)

"Rise of the Off-the-Books Workforce"

From an LAT guest editorial "Rise of the Off-the-Books Workforce: Native-born workers are being displaced by new immigrants":

If you scrutinize the U.S. labor market numbers from the last two years of economic recovery, you're left with what seems to be a paradox. Since the recession's low point, in November 2001, the number of employed people 16 and older has risen, but the number of jobs on the formal payrolls of employers remains below recessionary levels...

...Employment gains are among the self-employed and contract workers, or in the informal "gray" and "black" labor markets. People are doing temporary day work or contracting that's kept off the books. These don't tend to be highly paid jobs or jobs with benefits like health insurance, and they are often performed by immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants...

...the employment numbers demonstrate that the president's proposal cannot be defended on economic grounds.

The numbers suggest that native-born workers — particularly teenagers and young adults without college degrees — are being displaced by new immigrants. Indeed, last year the employment rate for teens reached a record low, down 9 percentage points since 2000. These are the very people who might benefit from the unskilled jobs now going to foreign workers. Over the last two decades, two-thirds of all the new jobs created in the U.S. have been ones that required at least some college. The earnings gap between college graduates and high school graduates has widened, as has the gap between high school graduates and dropouts. Large increases in unskilled immigrant workers have helped fuel real-wage declines at the bottom of the labor market and increased earnings inequality. Any policy that supports this trend cannot be justified.

The proposed guest-worker program will expand supply in an already oversupplied labor market, foster the further development of a substratum outside of existing laws and customs that regulate employment, and further diminish the chances of teens and other young adults, especially from low-income and minority communities, to get valuable work experience.

Immigration can play an important role in the long-term economic prosperity of the nation. But a guest-worker program that expands immigration in the middle of a jobless recovery is not the answer. Rather than rush into a faulty program to encourage foreign workers, we need to engage as a nation in a sustained and comprehensive national debate on how to best align immigration policy with our nation's short- and long-terms skill requirements — and with the goal of achieving greater economic justice for native-born workers.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

Incrsease your earoning poswer and gaerner profwessional resspect.

Get the Un1iversity Dewgree you have already earned. Baqchelors, Masfters, MBsA, or Docdtorate (Ph3D) offered. aNo reqsuired teqsts,cladsses or bosoks. Asll the bensefits of being a Univfersity Grafduate are within your reach. Degdree verificsation and official tracnscripts provided when requested by emplsoyers and otshers authsorized by the grdaduate.

Unfortunately, the term 'spamglish' appears to have already been coined. In any case, this is one of the better examples I've seen. If you aren't a fairly fluent English reader, I'd imagine this is a bit difficult to read. One needs to convert 'bosoks' into 'books' using both the context and the fact that a) there's no common English word spelled or sounding like 'bosok' and b) removing the 's' from 'bosoks' makes a common English word. Some might think it was meant to be BoSox, or some might spend time looking in the dictionary for possible words, or thinking it's slang.

I'd also venture that there's a good chance the perpetrator is right-handed. Assuming they used a mouse to click the insertion points of each word, they appear to have used their right hand to hold the mouse and their left hand to type in each inserted letter. The inserted letters are mostly from the left side of the keyboard, and most lefties hold the mouse in their left hand (I believe).

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

The Bush/Fox Happy Fun Immigration Solution

Unfortunately, we can't call the Bush/Fox Amnesty an "amnesty" anymore (see "The Nativists in the California GOP Must Go").

So, we need to find a new name. Perhaps "The Bush/Fox Massive Illegal Immigration Incentive and Open Borders and Gift to Corrupt Employers Plan" would work. No matter what we call it, it will be considered an amnesty by millions of people around the world. It will reward illegal immigration. And, as common sense and experience tell us, anything that rewards illegal immigration will lead to more illegal immigration.

As for the "nativists," I'm sure there are some in the CA Repubs. I'm also sure that many of them - and many Democrats as well - are simply opposed to corruption and employers who like cheap compliant labor and shoving all of the welfare and social costs off on the rest of us.

If one wants to call those opposed to illegal immigration "nativists," then there certainly are a lot of nativists around: 74% of respondents answered "Should Not" to this question: "Do you think the United States should or should not make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens of the United States?"

Consider Bainbridge's comment: "Do they really think we could deport all the undocumented workers in this country without resorting to Gestapo-like tactics - or even with such tactics? Do they really think we could prevent undocumented workers from entering this country even with such tactics?"

Allow me to devastate his argument with one quick fact: in FY 2002, only 13 (thirteen) employers were fined for hiring illegal aliens.

Maybe we should start throwing a few of Bainbridge's corporate buddies in federal prison for immigration violations. That would work wonders.

See my Immigration category for several articles with the details on why the Bush/Fox Amnesty is a horrible idea. For instance, "Flawed Assumptions Underlying Guestworker Programs", "Past has cautionary lessons for guest-worker programs", "Guest worker program offers lessons: Bush might profit by German experience", "Immigration, Saudi Style", and "Correcting the Record About President Bush's Immigration Proposal".

(Bainbridge might want to consider the comments here, including this: "Reporters and opinion writers generally commit the felony of assuming that all U.S. Latinos, regardless of where they reside, or their national origin or place of birth, will react as voters in some homogenous bloc! ...nobody seems to recognize that Latinos most likely to vote for Mr. Bush, Republican or not, are conservative, law-abiding, hard-working, patriotic, middle-class people. They are not automatically supportive of their taxes going for free services to people not entitled to them. Nor are they likely to approve of the flaunting of immigration laws by anybody, be it an irresponsible employer or an illegal employee...")

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:06 PM | Comments (1)

Spotgate

"President Bush Loses His Dog" the headline on AOL screams.

What happened, did he forget his dog in a drug-induced haze? Did one of $hrub's neo-con handlers run away with the poor puppy? Did Karl Rove accidently eat it?

No, it turns out that the dog was cruelly murdered, most likely by pResident Shrubby McElectionStealer himself.

Bush lied, Spot died.

Posted to Politics at 06:40 PM | Comments (0)

U.S. plans to ship illegal immigrants deep into Mexico

From the AJC:

MEXICO CITY -- U.S. and Mexican officials agreed Friday to tighten security along their border and devise a plan to repatriate illegal immigrants to their home states in the interior of Mexico rather than deporting them to cities along the border...

U.S. agents deport thousands of illegal immigrants a month to Mexican cities just across the U.S. border. From there, migrants usually try to cross again. Repeat attempts are often part of the deal migrants cut with smugglers...

It's a good first step if they follow through on it. Perhaps this is a test balloon to see if racial activists will squeak loud enough to get it stopped.

The headline uses the phrase "illegal immigrants," which is better than what other papers might do: use the phrase "immigrants" and mislead people into thinking we're going to be deporting non-illegal-aliens. However, the headline also says "deep into Mexico" rather than "deep into Mexico, where they originally came from."

Also, it bears repeating that in FY 2002, only 13 employers were fined for hiring illegal aliens. Let me know when America's favorite corporatist starts putting some of his buddies in federal prison for violating our immigration laws.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:52 PM | Comments (1)

Blunt and Influential, Kerry's Wife Is an X Factor

This NYT article has a little dirt on Tuh-RAY-Zuh.

Posted to Politics at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)

In Politics, the Web Is a Parallel World With Its Own Rules

The NYT puts on their waders, lifts up the manhole cover, and descends into the C.H.U.D.-infested subterranean depths of the Internet.

No C.H.U.D.s, just a lot of bloggers are found!

Anyone who recalls this comment from an earlier story should be glad that we "internet folk" inhabit a different world from that of the mainstream media: "In any case, nobody would be too shocked if Kerry lied about an affair. Even if someone came to us with photographs we still wouldn't run it. Lying to Don Imus [the radio host to whom Kerry gave his initial denial] is not a federal offence."

Posted to Bloggage at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)

Flawed Assumptions Underlying Guestworker Programs

From the Center for Immigration Studies:

On January 7, 2004, President Bush announced his outline for a vast guestworker program that would be used to amnesty illegal aliens already in the United States as well as provide for the importation of new foreign workers.1 In the extensive discussion of the proposal since then, there has been no detailed examination of the assumptions underlying this or any other guestworker proposal. This paper seeks to remedy that oversight, and will focus on Mexican immigration, since people from that country make up a majority of the illegal population. Although the debate has been centered on Mexicans, the president's plan would, of course, apply to all nationalities.

• Immigration is inevitable... [The discussion of this and the other assumptions is too long to post]
• The poor are overpaid...
• Jobs Americans won't do...
• Free trade requires open immigration...
• Guestworkers will go home...
• No significant cost to taxpayers...
• Foreign labor won't slow innovation...
• It is administratively feasible...
• It aids national security...
• There are no alternatives...

Fixing the Problem

Employer Sanctions. Congress in 1986 finally prohibited the employment of illegal aliens in an effort to turn off the magnet of jobs attracting illegal aliens. But enforcement was lackluster at best and, in response to political pressure, the INS has in recent years essentially discontinued worksite employer sanctions enforcement. In FY 2002, only 13 employers were fined for hiring illegal aliens. To make employer sanctions work requires a number of steps, including: A large, permanent increase in the number of investigators doing worksite enforcement and prosecutors pursuing law-breaking employers; a national computerized system that allows employers to verify the work-eligibility of new hires (there is an ongoing pilot program which has been well-received by employers); and much stiffer fines and jail time for employers caught knowingly hiring illegal aliens.

Other Interior Enforcement. Following the model of employer sanctions, we need to cut off other important choke points to illegal aliens by requiring verification of legal status. These should be events that are central to modern life but which do not take place so frequently that turning them into such choke points would bog down society's business. For instance, legal status should be checked when obtaining drivers licenses, bank accounts, mortgages (or perhaps any loan above $10,000, similar to anti-money-laundering rules), enrolling in higher education, etc. Likewise, the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service must be required to maintain ongoing, systemic cooperation with immigration authorities to identify people using fraudulent or stolen identities. Finally, legislation like the CLEAR Act is needed, in order to strengthen cooperation between federal immigration authorities and state and local police.

Border Enforcement. Despite significant increases in funding in recent years, efforts at the border are still inadequate. At any given time, there are perhaps 1,800 Border Patrol agents along more than 2,000 miles of border with Mexico. The Border Patrol needs to be at least double its current size and the border needs a system of fences and other barriers to help the agents in their work.

Legal Immigration. While jobs are one of the magnets that draw illegal immigrants to the United States, the other, equally important, magnet is family and friends, the networks that make it possible to immigrate illegally in search of work in the first place. And these networks are created and nurtured by ongoing legal immigration. Communities of recent immigrants serve as magnets and incubators for illegal immigration, providing housing, jobs, and entree to America that would otherwise be very difficult to secure. And with at least one-fourth of each year's "legal" immigration made up of illegal aliens using the system to launder their status, the immigration system has evolved into a permanent, rolling amnesty for illegals. Limiting family immigration to the husbands, wives, and young children of American citizens would be especially useful in stemming illegal immigration since it would serve to end chain migration. With the end of chain migration, the networks that drive illegal immigration would gradually atrophy, as immigrants here had less frequent and intimate contact with their home communities, moved to different neighborhoods, and assimilated into the American mainstream.

Transitional Assistance. Finally, Congress can help allay the concerns of employers who have become dependant on unskilled foreign labor through transitional funding for research and development into new labor-saving technologies. This would be especially fruitful in agriculture, since the U.S. Department of Agriculture banned federally funded mechanization research during the Carter Administration. By promoting this kind of research — whether in agriculture, construction, light manufacturing, or elsewhere — the federal government can help reduce the demand for labor which it fostered by permitting and encouraging unskilled immigration in the first place.

This examination of the assumptions underlying a guestworker program demonstrates that they are without foundation. Congress can use this information to finally bring an end to the period of mass illegal immigration - or it can supercharge illegal immigration by enacting a guestworker program.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)

Kerry Makes Whistle-Stop Tour

A report from the frontlines.

Posted to Politics at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)

That's what the telescreens are for

The New Mexico House of Representatives wants to require ignition locks on all cars in the state in the state to prevent drunk driving.

In the unlikely event that this passes, I'm sure that thousands of people would attempt to find "work-arounds."

Those might include things like: having another occupant of the car blow into the device, carrying a canister of compressed air, overriding the unit's electronics, etc. etc.

I hope that New Mexico's worthy legislators have considered this possiblity as well. The way to prevent misuse of this system is clear: in addition to ignition locks, telescreens will be required in all New Mexico cars. That way, the driver's identity and their participation in the program can be quickly and safely determined, and violators can be punished.

UPDATE: The bill never made it out of committee. Don't worry, the nannies will be back stronger than ever.

Posted to Privacy at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)

4.2 Quake Is Reported Near Northern California Geothermal Field

From this:

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered near the Geysers geothermal field north of Santa Rosa shook a wide area of Northern California Wednesday shortly after noon, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The 12:37 p.m. temblor was felt in San Francisco and was the latest of a growing number of quakes in the area. Many scientists believe the quakes are related to the injection of large quantities of waste water into the geothermal field to assist generation of steam used in electric power production.

There were few quakes in the vicinity near the Sonoma-Lake-Mendocino counties junction prior to development of the geothermal facility in the 1960s, but there have been hundreds of quakes there since then...

WTF? This is the first time I've heard of this. Somehow I don't think we should be doing things that are going to cause earthquakes, but that's just me.

Posted to OutdoorSports at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)

"Bush Bill Would Aid Mexico's Meddling in U.S."

From Mark Krikorian in Newsday:

There has been much well-deserved criticism of President George W. Bush's proposed amnesty and guestworker plan. But its possible effect on America's sovereignty has seldom been mentioned, even though that may be the most harmful in the long term.

Although the president's proposal is not specific to Mexico, it would benefit that nation the most. Some 5 million of the estimated 8 million illegal aliens here are Mexican, and Mexico would likely be one of the main sources of the new guestworkers and increased permanent immigration also called for in the Bush plan.

This is important because, in the 1990s, Mexico embarked on a campaign of extending its political authority into the United States - not just over Mexican immigrants, but also naturalized and native-born Americans of Mexican ancestry. There are 10 million Mexican-born people in this country (including 5 million illegals) plus more than 10 million additional Americans of Mexican descent.

Now, this is not the fantasy of reconquista - retaking the Southwest, lost in the 1846-'48 Mexican War. Instead, it is an attempt to set up a special status for people of Mexican origin, like the status Europeans enjoyed in China in the 19th century.

There's nothing secret about this effort. President Vicente Fox once referred to himself as president of all 118 million Mexicans - the 100 million in Mexico and the (then-)18 million in the United States, the majority of whom are U.S. citizens. And this is a long-term proposition for them: In June 2001, Juan Hernandez, former head of Fox's cabinet-level office for relations with Mexicans abroad, said on ABC's "Nightline," "I want the third generation, the seventh generation, I want them all to think, 'Mexico first.'"

There are several elements to the Mexican government's campaign:

Dual citizenship... (also see this)

Consular network... (see "Mexico to begin "propagating militant activities" in the U.S.")

IDs for illegals...

Mexico's efforts to extend its authority over a large part of the American population represents the most serious threat to our sovereignty since the Civil War. The president's amnesty/guestworker proposal, which would lead to vastly increased legal (and, inevitably, illegal) immigration from Mexico, would hugely accelerate this trend.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

One socialist down, fifty to go...

CA State Assemblyperson Jackie Goldberg has got herself arrested during a protest of the supermarket strike:

LOS ANGELES - More than 40 people were arrested Thursday during supermarket rallies in support of grocery clerks idled by a four-month strike and lockout.

The granddaughter of late farmworker union leader Cesar Chavez, state Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, and an 86-year-old member of the Gray Panthers activist group were among those arrested during civil disobedience rallies involving clerks and about two dozen labor unions and community groups, organizers said...

Previously, I saw Jackie in person at a "peace" protest, and I covered her not-so-secret machinations here.

Posted to California at 09:43 PM | Comments (1)

New transmittal from Dean Headquarters!

Received via DeanFAX:

Keep the spirit alive, people! Let's convert those meetups into support groups! If you need someone to talk to, we have grief, depression and suicide counselors standing by at 1-800-555-DEAN.

DO NOT PURSUE THE END GAME!

I REPEAT, GOVERNOR DEAN PERSONALLY TELLS YOU NOT TO PURSUE THE END GAME!

This is not the end of the movement, and do not pursue the End Game! Call our counselors if you need to speak someone, or come out to one of our support groups to be announced on meetup.

Thank you for your support!

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

"Kerry Claims Narrow Victory Over Edwards in Wisconsin"

Remember when my bloggee (and perhaps my alternate bloggee) laughed when I said "Edwards/Lieberman?"

Posted to Politics at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)

Nine million reasons to vote NO on Prop. 56

Here are the top contributors to the Yes on 56 campaign:

• Service Employees International Union, $6 million
• California Teachers Association, $1.7 million
• California Federation of Teachers, $911,000
• California School Employees Association, $374,000
• California Faculty Association, $254,000

Full story here:

Public employee unions, dependent on a steady stream of taxpayer dollars for salaries and benefits, have spent more than $9 million of their members' dues to push Proposition 56, the ballot measure that would make it easier to pass a state budget.

While the pro-56 campaign touts its support from the League of Women Voters and Parent Teacher Association, campaign finance reports show that unions representing nearly 1 million state and local government workers have provided nearly all the money for the campaign and television ads portraying the Legislature in a food fight.

The union-financed ballot measure advocated in those ads would allow lawmakers to pass budgets and raise taxes with a 55 percent majority, long a goal of public sector unions stymied by the current requirement that two-thirds of the Legislature must approve a budget.

The Service Employees International Union alone has contributed nearly $6 million to the campaign. The union represents more than 200,000 employees in California, including large numbers of health care workers and county workers dependent on state funding.

Associations representing school and university employees -- an estimated 26 percent of all union workers in California -- have put up $3.6 million more to pass the measure.

According to the Yes on 56 people, here are the top industries contributing to the No side:

• Oil Companies $1,036,000
• Tobacco Companies $582,581
• Alcohol Companies $2,307,652
• Insurance Companies $835,317

I'm not particularly interested in being on the same side as Chevron/Texaco and the "Distilled Spirits Council." But, any side with SEIU and the educational establishment on it is one I don't want to be on.

Posted to California at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

Yes, but will there be a book tour?

NEW YORK (AP) - Janeane Garofalo, the comedian and political activist, is taking her message to the bookstores.

For Those About to Salute, We Will Rock You, a collection of political essays, is scheduled to come out this fall. [As of June 2005, the book still hasn't been released, but you can pre-order it at that link. -- LW]

"The book is like Susan Sontag meets The Onion, but not. ... I just wish it were like that," Garofalo said in statement released Tuesday by her publisher, Simon & Schuster.

Garofalo, a leading opponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, is focusing her book on "the abuse of power in finance; the state of our national consciousness; the failures of the Bush administration; and the upcoming presidential election," according to Simon & Schuster.

Posted to Celebrities at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

Down the memory hole with the Beeb

As pointed out by Rush Limbaugh, the BBC story on the Kerry intern scandal "US campaign begins to get dirty" appears to have had a bit of a "transformation" when we weren't looking.

Here's a section of the original version:

The Kerry story

The story is about whether Senator Kerry had a recent affair with a young woman intern. (Interns are young people, often students, who take short-term, unpaid jobs in political and other offices in order to get experience. Monica Lewinsky, of course, was one.)

The question, it appears, was first raised by aides in the campaign of retired General Wesley Clark, who himself was quoted as saying that Kerry's campaign might "implode". It has not so far and Clark has even endorsed Kerry himself.

Senator Kerry himself said initially: "There is nothing to report" and then when that was challenged as a Clinton style non-denial, he stated clearly enough: "I just deny it categorically. It's untrue."

His supporters hope that this is an end to it. His opponents perhaps hope that he will be caught out. Lying in these cases is usually far worse than the original offence.

Mainstream media defence

The Washington Post London correspondent Glenn Frankel, a Pulitzer Prize winner and former editor of the Post's Sunday magazine, defended his newspaper's editorial judgment.

"We've been down this road many, many times before. We are extremely reluctant to follow this kind of thing up unless there is a really, really compelling public interest. We don't feel there is any reason to until it reaches a threshold.

"All we have at the moment is that the woman's parents, who are republicans, don't like Senator Kerry.

"In any case, nobody would be too shocked if Kerry lied about an affair. Even if someone came to us with photographs we still wouldn't run it. Lying to Don Imus [the radio host to whom Kerry gave his initial denial] is not a federal offence."

The early jousting holds the promise of a campaign with few holds barred. It is a delicate game because it can backfire and allegations are often floated through the undergrowth of the internet to see how far they get. Both campaigns muster big teams to counter whatever might emerge.

A long tradition

Dirty tricks, though, are part of American political life...

And, here's the same section from the new and improved version:

The Kerry story

The story was about whether Senator Kerry had a recent affair with a young woman.

The question, it appears, was first raised by aides in the campaign of retired General Wesley Clark, who himself was quoted as saying that Kerry's campaign might "implode". It has not so far and Clark has even endorsed Kerry himself.

Senator Kerry himself said initially: "There is nothing to report" and then when that was challenged as a Clinton style non-denial, he stated clearly enough: "I just deny it categorically. It's untrue."

The young woman herself then issued a statement saying that there never had been a relationship. Her parents even said they would vote for Mr Kerry. End of story, really.

Mainstream media defence

The Washington Post London correspondent Glenn Frankel, a Pulitzer Prize winner and former editor of the Post's Sunday magazine, defended his newspaper's editorial judgment, which has proved correct.

"We've been down this road many, many times before. We are extremely reluctant to follow this kind of thing up unless there is a really, really compelling public interest. We don't feel there is any reason to until it reaches a threshold," he said.

Making accusations is a delicate game because it can all can backfire. Allegations, rumours even, are often often floated through the internet to see how far they get. In the Kerry case they have got nowhere. Both campaigns muster big teams to counter whatever might emerge.

A dirty trick which went wrong has already been exposed. This involved a photograph showing a youthful John Kerry sitting alongside Jane Fonda as she made a speech during an anti Vietnam war rally.

It turned out that two photos had been put together. In the original one of John Kerry, he is sitting on his own.

A long tradition

Dirty tricks, though, are part of American political life...

BTW, I didn't compare this line by line, but if I were going to I would probably use the free CSDiff program from ComponentSoftware.

Posted to Politics at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

John Kerry's African connection

We all know that Tuh-RAY-Zuh is from Mozambique (in addition to being quite the philanthropist).

And, we know that Alex Polier has "fled" to Africa, specifically Kenya.

Alex and her parents have issued complete denials. OK, they sound a bit like Soviet-era confessions, but, maybe that's just AP style or something.

This is despite earlier reports that Alex's parents had unkind words to say about Kerry.

Now, 24 to 28 year-old Alex is holed up in Kenya, reportedly with fiance/spouse/boyfriend/friend of the family/whatever Yaron/Yuron Schwartzman/Scwartzman/whatever.

What do we know about Yaron? Well, here's an article about someone who's apparently his father:

Kenyan investors have expressed confidence in the investment climate in Rwanda. A team from the Sameer Group of Companies expressed confidence in the country's leadership and investment climate, and said they were interested in investing in the tea, banking, construction and energy sectors.

Speaking after they paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame, Mr. Joseph Schwartzman said, "We are have come from Kenya to look at investment in various sectors including tea, banking, construction and energy. We are very impressed with the leadership of this country, and have all the confidence and positive attitude which investors need. "

Also speaking after the meeting, the head of the Rwanda Investment Promotion Agency (RIPA) Mr. Bonaventure Niyibizi said, "Most people are impressed with the situation in Rwanda. They find that Rwanda provides an excellent investment climate. We have institutions and policies that have been created to help investors. These investors from Kenya are interested in various fields, specifically tea, banking, construction, and in establishing an export processing zone. This is an exploratory visit for them to look at investment opportunities in the country."

Mr. Schwartzman was accompanied by Mr. Naushad N. Merali and Ambassador Hameed A. Kidwai, both senior directors with the Sameer Group.

Googling the names from this article and squaring them with the allegations made here are left as an exercise to our redoubtable press corps:

Alex Polier was, as of 5pm Kenya time, hiding out in Nairobi. She and her fiance, Yaron (sp) Schwartzman were staying at the home of his parents Joseph and Hannah. The London Evening Standard reported last night that she was already in the UK. They were wrong, although there is a possibility she may have flown later on last night -- but I think it is more likely she was still here.

Alex and Yaron were moved from the family's palacial home in the upmarket Nairobi suburb of Lavington late last night to avoid the press. They could be anywhere in Kenya -- at the coast or on Safari.

Yaron is believed to work in Nairobi at a company called Film Struck Studios or possible Film Studios. The company is owned by daddy. He is believed to move in a circle of friends known as the "cokehead set". Now there is more than one cokehead set in Kenya, which attracts old wealth, new wealth, British Aristocracy and some of the international gliterrati.

Daddy is the chairman of an engineering company called H Young, which is owned by former cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott. Biwott is a nasty piece of work. Former President Daniel arap Moi's right hand man, a Scotland Yard enquiry named him the prime suspect in the 1990 murder of Foreign Minister Robert Ouko. He plundered the Kenyan treasury and is known here as "the Godfather", "Mr 15 percent" (the cuts he took when awarding tenders to multinational companies) or "The Total Man" (he owns Total Kenya). Daddy is also business partner of Naushad Merali, another Moi frontman, a multimillionaire and probably Kenya's richest Asian.

This would suggest our man Yaron mixes with the 20 and 30-somethings who are the children or spouses of Kenya's leading criminals. The senior members of this set are Biwott's Israeli wife Rita and his son in law Charles Field-Marshall, a controversial Kenya-based Canadian businessman.

Even close friends of Yaron say they know nothing of the relationship with Kerry -- mainly because no-one really knows Alex.

The British press are finding it difficult to track her down -- they are attempting to "doorstep" her. This is a tricky process in nairobi where houses sit on 5-acre plots, cannot be seen from the road, are protected by big black gates, alarms, electric fences, a host of security guards and their dogs.

It has not helped that the British press were also watching the wrong house.

It's just a coincidence that Tuh-RAY-Zuh is from Africa, but there might be something to Polier's connections and their current denials. Or, there might be nothing there at all and Drudge was misled.

UPDATE: In response to the first comment: Either the Sun (UK) newspaper was inventing things, or someone got to Alex Polier's parents. One moment they're calling John Kerry a sleazeball, the next moment they're pledging to vote for him. Hey, maybe they can say he's a sleazeball out of one side of their mouths and pledge to vote for him out of the other, but I rather doubt it.

But, like I said and like Howard Dean might say, these are just rumors and they're probably false.

Also, to the great extent that Bubba was a sleazeball, he at least was an American sleazeball. In a white-trash, double-wide, Hot Springs kinda way.

To the extent that we can imagine Kerry being a sleazeball, it's a much more international form of sleaze, complete with an African-Portuguese wife, sleazy ex-pats, interns flying off to Africa, and the like.

FYI, there's a set of links to Polier news reports here.

Posted to Politics at 05:13 PM | Comments (1)

AOL needs a proofreader

Posted to WackyHumor at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

Top Contributors To Arnold [Schwarzenegger] By Industry

The chart (from ArnoldWatch.org) includes this Arnold quote: "Any of those kinds of real big, powerful special interests, if you take money from them you owe them something".

See also "Schwarzenegger patrons provide money, support":

Schwarzenegger is turning increasingly to a core group of 10 old friends and business associates to help bankroll his campaigns.

They're led by Paul Folino, head of an Orange County high tech firm, who has given nearly $1.4 million beginning with Proposition 49...

The list also includes Jerry Perenchio, head of Univision, the nation's largest Spanish language television network; financiers Robert Day, Timothy Draper and Lawrence Dodge; developers Alex Spanos and William Lyon; dot-com entrepreneur Todd Wagner; Howard Lester of Williams-Sonoma and William Cronk of Dreyer's Ice Cream.

There's no way to prove that Arnold getting money from Jerry Perenchio has lead to Arnold's new-found support for driver's licenses for illegal aliens:

Though he campaigned hard against it, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is negotiating with a Democratic state lawmaker to draft a bill that would grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens...

Schwarzenegger said his office has been working closely to craft a successor to SB 60 with state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, a former member of MeCha, the radical Latino student movement demanding annexation of all southwestern states.

Bustamante's ties with MEChA lead to his defeat. Now we've got someone who's working with former MEChA member Gil Cedillo to get illegal aliens to the DMV where they can pick up their driver's licenses and perhaps register to vote under MotorVoter.

Maybe it's time for Instant Recall Part 2.

UPDATE: Arnold would do well to recall the following:

Just last year, California Gov. Gray Davis was hurt in his bid to stave off a recall when he signed a bill to let illegal immigrants obtain state driver's licenses. The new governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, pushed a repeal of that provision through the legislature.

An exit poll commissioned by the Federation for American Immigration Reform showed that 30 percent of California voters said they were somewhat or much more likely to vote against Mr. Davis because he signed the law. Only 8 percent of voters were somewhat or much more likely to support him because of it.

Posted to California at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)

"Teresa Heinz Kerry: Bag Lady for the Radical Left"

From Front Page Magazine:

Teresa Heinz Kerry has financed the secretive Tides Foundation to the tune of more than $4 million over the years. The Tides Foundation, a “charity” established in 1976 by antiwar leftist activist Drummond Pike, distributes millions of dollars in grants every year to political organizations advocating far-Left causes. The Tides Foundation and its closely allied Tides Center, which was spun off from the Foundation in 1996 but run by Drummond Pike, distributed nearly $66 million in grants in 2002 alone. In all, Tides has distributed more than $300 million for the Left. These funds went to rabid antiwar demonstrators, anti-trade demonstrators, domestic Islamist organizations, pro-terrorists legal groups, environmentalists, abortion partisans, extremist homosexual activists and open borders advocates.

During the years 1995-2001, the Howard Heinz Endowment, which Heinz Kerry chairs, gave Tides more than $4.3 million. The combined Heinz Endowments (composed of the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment) donated $1.6 million to establish the Tides Center for Western Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh office of the San Francisco-based Tides Center. Since that time, the local branch has tirelessly pushed an anti-business agenda in the name of “preserving the environment.” However, it is the Tides Foundation’s national organization whose connections are most disconcerting.

The Tides Foundation is a major source of revenue for some of the most extreme groups on the Left. Tides allows donors to anonymously contribute money to a host of causes; the donor simply makes the check out to Tides and instructs the Foundation where to forward the money. Tides does so, for a nominal fee. Drummond Pike told The Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Anonymity is very important to most of the people we work with.” That becomes understandable when one views the list of Tides grant recipients. And who are the beneficiaries of this money?

What follows is a list of the donations made by the Tides Foundation to several questionable organizations. However, some of the provided links are a bit tenuous. For instance, Ramsey Clark's International Action Center is mentioned. However, the only link the authors can find between Tuh-RAY-Zuh and the IAC is a twice-removed web link.

OK, no IAC link. However, here are some of the recipients of Tides money:

• Iraq Peace Fund and the Peace Strategies Fund ( funded MoveOn.org)
• Indymedia
• Institute for Global Communications
• United for Peace and Justice
• 'A Better Way Project' ("coordinated efforts of United for Peace and Justice and the... celebrity-laden Win Without War Coalition")
• "Democratic Justice Fund" ("established with the aid of George Soros’ Open Society Institute... [they seek] to ease restrictions on Muslim immigration to the United States, particularly from countries designated by the State Department as “terrorist nations.”")
• CAIR
• National Lawyers Guild
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Alliance for Justice
• Ruckus Society ("a group of anarchist Greens who rioted and looted Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization riots")
• Greenpeace

Posted to Politics at 01:51 PM | Comments (2)

California's failed assimilation policy

From California Insider:

Sixty percent of non-English speaking children who begin attending California schools after kindergarten never become fluent in English, according to a study released today by the Legislative Analyst. And even for children who begin school here in kindergarten, immigrants from different countries master English at very different rates. Native speakers of Hmong and Spanish, for instance, learn English far more slowly than speakers of Mandarin and Korean. The differences are clear by the second grade, when more than 80 percent of Mandarin- and Korean-speaking students score at a level 3 or higher (out of 5) in reading English on the state's special test for English learners. Among students who speak Spanish or Hmong, fewer than 30 percent reach that level by the second grade. The findings raise important new questions about the cultural differences that might lead to the different results, and about the different techniques used to teach children English...

The article includes a revealing chart. You can read the full report here. It includes the following:

The economy of our state will be affected by the education system's ability to help EL ["English learner" --LW] students quickly learn English and master the academic skills identified in the state's content standards. One-third of California's kindergarten students are identified as ELs. As the large cohort of "baby boomers" retire from the workforce, employers will look to the product of our K-12 and higher education system for replacement workers. If our schools are not successful with EL students, we may have failed not only the students, but also failed to adequately provide a trained workforce for the state's economy.

I'm sure if Nanci Pelosi doesn't have a plan, then John Vasconcellos does.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:27 AM | Comments (2)

How you can stop amnesty for illegal aliens

From "GOP senators, officials back alien proposal":

The administration rolled out its top immigration officials and several senior Republican senators yesterday to endorse publicly a guest-worker program offered by President Bush that could give legal status to the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens now in the United States.

One by one, the officials and the senators told the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, border security and citizenship that the Bush plan, outlined Jan. 7, would fix a broken immigration system, allow U.S. businesses to hire needed workers, bring illegal aliens into the mainstream economy and assure greater homeland security...

They're lying. Just plain, straight-out lying. See my 'Immigration' category for the details. For instance, see "Correcting the Record About President Bush's Immigration Proposal".

What can you do?

Call the Senators on the subcommittee and tell them what you think. No amnesties of any kind ever (and no lying about whether something is an amnesty or not).

Here's the contact info for the Senators:

Republican Members:

Saxby Chambliss, GA (Chairman)
416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
Phone 202-224-3521 | Fax 202-224-0103

Charles E. Grassley, IA
135 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3744

Jon Kyl, AZ
730 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521 Fax: (202) 224-2207

Mike DeWine, OH
140 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2315 Fax: (202) 224-6519

Jeff Sessions, AL
335 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4124 Fax: (202) 224-3149
E-mail: senator@sessions.senate.gov

Larry Craig, ID
520 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2752 Fax: 202/228-1067

John Cornyn, TX
517 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2934 Fax: 202-228-2856

Democratic Members:

Edward M. Kennedy, MA (Ranking Democrat)
317 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4543
E-mail: senator@kennedy.senate.gov

Patrick J. Leahy, VT
433 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4242
E-mail: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Dianne Feinstein, CA
331 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3841 Fax: (202) 228-3954

Charles E. Schumer, NY
313 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6542 Fax: 202-228-3027

Richard J. Durbin, IL
332 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2152 Fax (202)228-0400
E-mail: dick@durbin.senate.gov

John Edwards, NC
225 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3154 fax (202) 228-1374

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)

Women interns are our future!

UPDATE: On a more serious note, I just noticed that John Kerry has been endorsed by Antonio Villaraigosa. Villaraigosa is a current L.A. City Councilman and former candidate for mayor of L.A.

Villaraigosa is also the former president of the UCLA chapter of the racial separatist organization MEChA. Here's a statement Villaraigosa signed on to:

In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal "gringo" invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlán from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny.

We are free and sovereign to determine those tasks which are justly called for by our house, our land, the sweat of our brows, and by our hearts. Aztlán belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans. We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continent.

Brotherhood unites us, and love for our brothers makes us a people whose time has come and who struggles against the foreigner "gabacho" who exploits our riches and destroys our culture. With our heart in our hands and our hands in the soil, we declare the independence of our mestizo nation. We are a bronze people with a bronze culture. Before the world, before all of North America, before all our brothers in the bronze continent, we are a nation, we are a union of free pueblos, we are Aztlán.

Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada.

El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán sets the theme that the Chicanos (La Raza de Bronze) must use their nationalism as the key or common denominator for mass mobilization and organization. Once we are committed to the idea and philosophy of El Plan de Aztlán, we can only conclude that social, economic, cultural, and political independence is the only road to total liberation from oppression, exploitation, and racism....

Nationalism as the key to organization transcends all religious, political, class, and economic factions or boundaries. Nationalism is the common denominator that all members of La Raza can agree upon.

Villaraigosa was given a chance to renounce MEChA, and he refused.

Should we assume then that John Kerry is in favor of Chicano nationalism?

Posted to Politics at 10:40 PM | Comments (2)

"Anti-Immigration Candidates Sue Sierra Club Over Board Election"

From the LA Times:

Anti-immigration candidates trying to take over the Sierra Club's governing board have filed a lawsuit against the national environmental organization, alleging that its leaders are breaking state law by using club money and resources to oppose them in upcoming board elections.

The legal maneuver, immediately denounced by Sierra Club leaders, is the latest turn in what has become a bitter battle for control of the 750,000-member group, one of the nation's oldest and most powerful environmental advocates.

If elected, the candidates — former Colorado Gov. Richard D. Lamm, Cornell University professor David Pimentel and Frank L. Morris, a former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation — would help form a new majority on the Sierra Club's 15-member board that would call for population control and curbs on immigration.

Most of the Sierra Club's current leaders vehemently oppose the takeover attempt, which has attracted support from an array of strange political bedfellows including animal rights groups and anti-Semitic websites...

..."You have to have disinterested elections," Lamm said in an interview, adding that he was greatly offended that Sierra Club leaders had linked him with extremist groups simply because he supports has [sic] immigration control. "I don't mind being blamed for what I believe in, but I am a hunter and fisherman. I am not an animal-rights activist. The biggest thing, of course, is that charge of racism. There is a terrible character assassination going on."

If you aren't a Sierra Club member, it might not be too late to join the Sierra Club in order to vote for these candidates.

Regarding the current LAT article, notice that the phrase "anti-immigration" is used no less than five times. However, it also says they would "call for population control and curbs on immigration." In other words, the article is internally inconsistent: they aren't really "anti-immigration," they just favor reduced immigration. Not the same thing, but what would you expect from the LAT?

Also, Lamm says he "was greatly offended that Sierra Club leaders had linked him with extremist groups." Which is exactly what the LAT article attempts to do: "...an array of strange political bedfellows including animal rights groups and anti-Semitic websites." I guess we know which way the LAT is going to vote.

Contact the LAT's reader's representative Jamie.Gold@latimes.com if you agree with my comments on the article.

[Also posted here.]

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:47 AM | Comments (0)

"America to Fight Fires with Russian Aircrafts"

According to Pravda:

...Hawkins & Powers, one of America's leading fire extinguishing companies based in California will use [eight Be-200] planes for fighting forest fires along the US western coast...

The Be-200 amphibian aircraft is meant for extinguishing fires, aid in emergency situations, search and rescue operations by sea, also for sanitary and freight transportation. The aircraft can take up to 12 tons of water while gliding during one flight, transport and drop it at a fire site; at that, the aircraft employs high-precision navigation and flight control systems...

Why should you care, you ask? Well, as I pointed out here, the Russians have different ways of doing things.

I don't know whether these planes damage forests or not, but I certainly hope that that possibility is being considered and we aren't just going to let them go out untested.

Dropping huge sheets of water is quite a bit different from what trees and bushes are used to. If these planes put out fires, but take small trees, bushes, and large quantities of soil with them that will only make it much worse vis-a-vis mudslides and future fires.

Posted to OutdoorSports at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)

"Veterans, Vietnamese unite to oppose Kerry"

OK, that's one heck of a funny headline. Here's the story:

A Vietnam veterans organization and a Vietnamese-American group have united in opposition to Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. John Kerry.

"We represent hundreds of thousand of American veterans who do not want to see John Kerry anywhere near the Oval Office," said Ted Sampley, founder of Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry. Sampley is a U.S. Army Green Beret and veteran of two combat tours in Vietnam.

Said Sampley: "I have personally dealt with John Kerry on the issue of U.S. POWs left behind in Vietnam. Kerry is not truthful and is not worthy of the support of U.S. veterans. Many Vietnam vets have been duped into thinking Kerry is their friend. He is not. To us, he is 'Hanoi John.'"

Dan Tran is president of the Vietnam Human Rights Project and a member of Vietnamese Americans Against John Kerry.

"John Kerry aided and abetted the communist government in Hanoi and has hindered any human rights progress in Vietnam," Tran said...

Posted to Politics at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)

"Entertainer looking for a job"

I received the following resume via email:

Sheila [rest of name deleted]

AVAILABLE TO TRAVEL FROM: Brazil

POST APPLIED FOR: Entertainer

AGE: 23
NATIONALITY: Brazillian
RACE: Latin
GENDER: Feminine
HEIGHT: 1,68m
WEIGHT: 58kg

Hmmmmm.....

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

"Hate crime possible in deaths of immigrant mother, daughter"

That's the title of the AZCentral/Arizona Republic version of the AP report I excoriated earlier.

As noted, the AP report appears in over 60 newspapers under titles similar to "Police see possible hate crime in California". The AZCentral report is the same as the AP report, except for the headline.

Apparently, an editor at AZCentral felt that the AP report wasn't biased enough, and had to be tweaked to make it even more biased. I sent a polite email to AZCentral, and I suggest you do the same:

AZCentral.com:

Leon Levitt
Executive Vice President/Digital Media
(602) 444-8396
llevitt@azcentral.com

John Leach
Editor, Digital Media
(602) 444-8746
jleach@azcentral.com
AZ Republic:

Ward Bushee Editor 602-444-8087
ward.bushee@arizonarepublic.com

Jeff Dozbaba News Editor 602-444-4379
jeff.dozbaba@arizonarepublic.com

Randy Lovely Managing Editor 602-444-8790
randy.lovely@arizonarepublic.com

UPDATE: There's more on AP bias here and here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

Cops arrest sea lion in Fresno - for speeding!

Thankfully, they were able to subdue the beast using tasers and shotguns. Shortly before it expired, it was also charged with driving without a seatbelt, expired registration, and sudden lane changes.

It had apparently swum up the sewer mains which connect Fresno with the faraway sea.

Some of the meat will be donated to charity.

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

"Border-Crossing Students Outrage Parents"

From this:

SAN DIEGO — Mexican teenagers have been crossing the border to attend school in America for years as the schools they attend collect more tax dollars for enrolling them...

A Fox News crew recently watched while students left Southwest High School for the day and got on a trolley that took them down to the border where they crossed over to go home for the evening.

Parents in the Sweetwater School District are outraged because they say students are now forced to go to schools that are overcrowded, and they say they've begged the district to implement tougher enrollment standards but the district insists the problem isn't widespread.

The district counters that they have very stringent residency rules and require students to show proof of residency before being enrolled. But the district admits it receives $5,400 each year from the state for each student enrolled, which some parents contend is the real issue.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:51 PM | Comments (3)

"Past has cautionary lessons for guest-worker programs"

From the CS Monitor:

...And today, with President Bush urging Congress to create a new guest-worker program, his tale highlights some of the cautionary lessons that similar programs in the US and Europe hold.

Among them, experts say:

• Such programs are often set up with the needs of employers in mind - making workers vulnerable to exploitation.

• Even if guest workers aren't put officially on a path to permanent residency, many stay in the host nation for good.

• The creation of a new legal status for guest workers doesn't necessarily slow illegal immigration.

...Since World War II, "the Swiss tried it with the Italians and Spanish, the Germans tried it with the Turks, and the French with the Algerians," says Paul Heise, professor of economics at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa. "Everywhere, it has been a disaster for both the welfare of the workers and the moral character of the employing country."

The biggest problem of all, some say, is that once workers and their families become established in a new country, they do not want to leave. "The main lesson of previous guest-worker programs in the US and across Europe is that there is nothing more permanent than a temporary worker," says Rosemary Jenks, of Numbers USA, which works to limit immigration. "History has yet to find an effective and humane way to make them go home."

Often, workers develop families and roots in their adopted countries but cannot become citizens and thus live a kind of second-class status...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)

A "Conservative" Statement of Principles on Immigration

A statement/open letter/mess of lies entitled "A Conservative Statement of Principles on Immigration" appeared in Friday's Wall Street Journal (more about the WSJ here and here).

The WSJ is subscription-only, but a copy is available here:

[America is a nation of immigrants, heart-warming platitudes, etc. etc...]

Conservatives believe in legal immigration.[related folderol deleted]

Conservatives oppose illegal immigration. We believe there is a right way and a wrong way to immigrate to the United States. However, as conservatives we believe that our laws must reflect reality and common sense, and be both fiscally responsible and avoid the loss of innocent life. Our current immigration laws do not pass this test.

Bzzzt! It's not the laws at fault, it's our current level of enforcement of them. See this for examples. For a quick example: "In San Diego County, only one owner, whose company hired workers for major hotels, has been prosecuted since 2000, and he was given probation. No business has been fined.".

Between 1990 and 2000, the United States increased the number of U.S. Border Patrol Agents from 3,600 to 10,000. During that same period illegal immigration rose by 5.5. million.

What statistic did they forget to include that would give a clear picture of the problem? Oh yeah, the bit about workplace enforcement being sharply down from past years. And, the several amnesties in the past two decades haven't done much good either, as illegal aliens have come here in droves expecting to be rewarded with yet another amnesty.

Moreover, over the past 8 years, more than 2,000 men, women, and children have died attempting to cross into America and seek the opportunity to work and achieve a better life. The status quo is unacceptable and clinging to the status quo – or tougher versions of it – is neither conservative, nor principled. It has become clear that the only viable approach to reform is combining enforcement with additional legal avenues for those who wish to work in our economy, while also addressing the situation of those already here in the United States.

It's unfortunate that those people have died. Perhaps if employers weren't able to employ people regardless of their immigration status, and perhaps if there weren't so many incentives to come here, many fewer would attempt to cross the desert. Most nations - especially those that have been invaded - would be quite grateful for such a natural barrier to invasion.

[Speaking for all conservatives, we support the Bush/Fox Amnesty, etc. etc...]

[We believe strongly in assimilation, etc. etc...]

signed by: Stuart Anderson, Jeff Bell, Linda Chavez, Larry Cirignano, Cesar V. Conda, Francis Fukuyama, Richard Gilder, Hon. Newt Gingrich, Ed Goeas, Tamar Jacoby, Hon. Jack Kemp, Steve Moore, Grover Norquist, Richard W. Rahn, Hon. Malcolm Wallop

Who?

UPDATE: The fact that the Other Side always predicates its arguments on omitting key facts makes their conclusions trivially easy to refute.

Perhaps just once someone on the Other Side could say something like, "We realize the laws work. It's just that we can't enforce them. Racist organizations will use the liberal media against us, and the large manufacturers, agbusinesses, and retailers whose teats we suck might dry up the milk. Plus, we like the idea of a serf class."

Fat chance of that happening, but at least it would be intellectually honest.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

John Kerry with Jane Fonda, September 1970

Jane sure was cute back in the day. Say, who's that dolicephalic fellow directly above her head? Why, it's John Kerry!

Of course, there's no indication that either one even knew that the other was at the rally.

UPDATE: Nowadays, Jane Fonda calls Kerry's speech at the rally "brilliant." There's much more on the rally and on Vietnam Veterans Against the War here.

Posted to Politics at 01:00 PM | Comments (5)

Does "AP" stand for "AgitProp?" - Part 1 of a long series

Part 1 of this series will discuss the article "Police see possible hate crime in California" by Justin Pritchard of AP. It concerns a brutal double murder in Northern California:

FREMONT, Calif. - Maria Esperanza Hernandez usually got a ride to her 5 a.m. shift at a nursing home, but this time, she had to walk the four miles through the night. Her daughter was so concerned, she joined her.

They never made it.

Hernandez and her 19-year-old daughter, Maria del Carmen Castillo Hernandez, were bludgeoned to death with a 30-inch-long tree branch Sunday as they walked down a suburban street.

It sounds horrible. But, where could this AgitProp be? Let's read on:

Police searching for a suspect have not ruled out the possibility that the killings were a hate crime because the attacker was described as white and the victims were from Mexico.

That's certainly an interesting paragraph. I'm sure there are many things the police haven't ruled out. According to other reports, it could have been a botched robbery, a botched sexual assault, or many other things. There are no doubt an infinite number of possible motives that the police have not ruled out.

Why would the author of this article - and the person who wrote the headline - focus on it being a hate crime? And, should we assume that all white-on-Mexican crimes are hate crimes, as the author seems to be implying?

You might wonder why this paragraph would appear in a crime blotter report, but the reason shall soon become clear. Let's read on:

Because the victims were illegal immigrants, they could not have obtained driver's licenses even if they could afford to buy a car. That has become a flashpoint in the case among Hispanics because a law to allow undocumented immigrants apply for licenses was repealed after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took office.

"It's a very difficult political situation," said Fily Cuellar, Maria Esperanza Hernandez's nephew and the girl's cousin. "She was not able to get a license, so then they had to walk. And this happened."

Holy Moses! Here I thought this was a story about a crime, and it's suddenly been morphed into a heart-wrenching story designed to encourage us to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Should we blame Schwarzenegger for their deaths? Even if they'd had a license, they couldn't afford a car; should California now pass out automobiles to anyone who can make it over our border in order to prevent 1-in-a-million crimes like this from occurring in the future? How many similar cases have occurred in, say, the past decade? A dozen, two dozen? This is the Sally Struthers approach to policy: if it would prevent just one extremely rare tragedy like this, let's give driver's licenses to illegal aliens despite all the millions of people it would negatively impact. When is AP going to publish a story about them?

And, isn't it a bit unseemly to tie the deaths of these two people to the issue of driver's licenses for illegal aliens? I'd just like to discuss the issue without having obvious attempts to emotionalize the issue in the way.

Shouldn't the AP reporter be raising some of these same points, rather than basically serving as a spokesman for the movement?

Compare and contrast the AP report with a few articles written by Lisa Fernandez which appeared in various Northern California newspapers.

In the article "Fremont slayings present mystery" from Feb. 3 it just says: "Relatives at the Newark home, which was overflowing Monday with visitors, said Hernandez didn't have a driver's license." It doesn't go into Schwarzenegger, or Gil Cedillo's bill, or anything else like it.

However, on Feb. 5, the same author has this to say in "Cops ask help in double slayings": "The family... are frustrated that the mother had to walk four miles in the dark to work at a nursing home -- the result of California laws that prevent undocumented Mexican immigrants from getting driver's licenses."

Then, on Feb. 8 the same author breaks out a standard poor-illegal-immigrants-struggling-for-better-life story in "Slain mother, daughter struggled as immigrants" and "Slayings put spotlight on life in shadows" (same story, different title). It again goes into the driver's licenses:

``We came here to progress and be better,'' said Filberto ``Fily'' Cuellar of Hayward, one of the many relatives who followed the Hernandezes from Mexico to California. ``Why did this happen? Because she didn't have a license.''

However, it also contains a rather shocking statement about motives in the case, given the statements in the AP report:

Fremont police do not consider the boyfriend a suspect. They have no evidence the crimes were racially motivated, or a sexual assault, or a robbery.

It's not really a contradiction; the statement from AP and the above statement are consistent. However, what's different is the emphasis.

That last paragraph is also less presumptive than other reports. See "Mourners recall mother, daughter" and "Mom, daughter remembered" (same story, different title) by Robert Airoldi and Jennifer Kho:

Investigators have said the killings -- which occurred in Fremont -- do not appear to be the result of a robbery, sexual assault or domestic violence, but have not ruled out anything. They also have not determined if it was a hate crime, since the killer was described as white, Fremont Detective Bill Veteran said.

Is it the Det. Veteran who's leading the hate crimes charge, or is it the reporters? Is this part of the last report based on the statements made in the AP report?

Whatever the status of the hate crime portion of the various reports, the fact remains that the AP and other reports are obvious attempts to influence the debate over driver's licenses for illegal aliens.

The AP report has appeared in over 60 newspapers nationwide. If you want to do a good deed, contact a newspaper near you, and suggest they stop spreading AP's AgitProp. You can contact AP at info@ap.org and Justin Pritchard at jdpritchard@ap.org.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:25 AM | Comments (0)

"Sheriff has volunteers shadowing school buses after attack heightens safety concerns in rural areas"

From the Sierra Vista [AZ] Herald:

County Sheriff Larry Dever said members of the Sheriff's Assist Team, a group of volunteers, have begun shadowing school buses in Palominas and Sierra Vista school districts.

The main purpose is to add another layer of protection to children from potentially dangerous illegal immigrants, Dever said...

Most recently, a Hereford woman and her daughter were allegedly accosted by three illegal Mexican immigrants The three men allegedly pulled the woman and her daughter from their vehicle, then stole it.

There have been other incidents. There was a carjacking at Valley View School in Palominas a few months ago. In a separate incident, a car was stolen from an elderly couple in Parker Canyon, Dever said.

There also have been numerous reports of groups of illegal immigrants passing near children as they waited for their school buses.

"The potential for conflict and tragedy is significant. Everybody in the community is concerned," Dever said...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)

"Another push to give illegals a driver's license"

From this:

There's another effort underway under the gold dome to allow illegal immigrants to get a Georgia driver's license. A similar bill died last year.

State Representative Barbara Mobley of Decatur authored the current bill which she said would just allow people who contribute to the state's economy to get to work...

"For homeland security we have to have the community accounted for. What better than having the driver's license with your name address, photo and finger print," Representative Pedro Marin of Lawrenceville said.

State Senator Sam Zamarippa supports the bill.

"We're only saying three things. We want to make the roads safer. We want to improve security, and we want to keep our economy strong," Zamarippa said.

In presenting its legislative wish list to lawmakers last week, Georgians For Immigration Reduction said it does not want illegal aliens to be issued a drivers license.

The group is also urging banks and other businesses to stop excepting Mexican-issued identification cards as legal U.S. ID's and pushing for more co-operation between local law enforcement and immigration agents...

For the scoop on Sam Zamarippa, see this:

A quote from closer to home from Georgia state Sen. Sam Zamarippa in 2000: “Your song may be, "We Shall Overcome.’ Our song is "We shall overwhelm.’"... Zamarippa was explaining how the Hispanic lobby would handle resistance to Hispanic “influence” in our region.

Barbara Mobley is an immigration lawyer by profession. You can contact her here.

For an extremely shocking accusation about Pedro Marin, see this:

State Representative Pedro Marin (D-Duluth) has failed to disclose his position as Executive Director of Centro Mexicano De Atlanta/The Mexican Center Of Atlanta, Inc., a non-profit corporation with a legal domicile at the Atlanta Mexican Consulate Office...

Supposedly he's drawing a $50,000 per year salary from them. In other words (in the immigration debate it's frequently necessary to repeat things over and over) a foreign government is paying a State senator money.

Doesn't that make him an agent of the Mexican government?

You can contact GA's State Senators from this page and the reps from here.

A similar effort is underway in California and Kansas.

UPDATE: I called the Georgia State Ethics Commission at 404 463 1985 and was told that the complaint against Pedro Marin will not be investigated until early May. I'll call back and check on the status.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)

"GOP slams Bush policies at retreat"

From this:

Growing frustration over President Bush's immigration plan and lack of fiscal discipline came to a head behind closed doors at last weekend's Republican retreat in Philadelphia.
House lawmakers, stunned by the intensity of their constituents' displeasure at some of Mr. Bush's key domestic policies, gave his political strategist Karl Rove an earful behind closed doors...

"They were all over Karl on immigration and spending," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican and a leading House proponent of controlling the nation's borders and curbing illegal immigration. "This is the first time I didn't even have to raise the immigration issue myself. Everyone else did."

Posted to Politics at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)

"U.S. soccer team hears Osama chants in Mexico"

From this:

ZAPOPAN, Mexico - The Mexican crowd hooted "The Star-Spangled Banner." It booed U.S. goals. It chanted "Osama! Osama! Osama!" as U.S. players left the field with a 2-0 victory.

And that was in a game against Canada on Thursday before just 1,500 people...

See also 'Anti-Americanism in L.A.' from 1998:

Why would about 91,000 of the 91,235 fans in the Coliseum on Sunday night act as though they hated the United States? Why would U.S. citizens and residents blow horns and boo loudly enough to drown out the U.S. national anthem? Why would those who attend U.S. schools and receive U.S. medical care feel it necessary to pelt any U.S. player running near the stands with water and beer?... What took place in the L.A. Coliseum was a two-hour orgy of anti-Americanism, an explosion of hatred against the United States...

And this, which also featured chants of "Osama":

Last month, another soccer match was held between the French and Algerian teams outside Paris. France's national anthem, the Marseillaise, was booed by 60,000. Spectators in corporate boxes were told to lock themselves in, as Algerians began to chant the name of Osama bin Laden. When youths ran onto the field waving Algerian flags, the stands erupted in wild cheering. Spectators fled...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)

"AP Poll Notes Decline in Support for Bush"

From this:

Washington (AP) - President Bush's public support dropped sharply over the past month, especially among older voters, political independents and people in the Midwest, an Associated Press poll found.

And for the first time, more voters in this poll's two years of tracking the question said they would definitely vote against Bush than said they would definitely vote for him.

Bush's approval rating stood at 47 percent in the AP-Ipsos poll taken in early February, down from 56 percent approval just a month ago. Half, or 50 percent, said they disapproved in the latest poll...

Posted to Politics at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)

Let Janet and Justin perform at the Grammy's!

And, why not? Maybe we'll see some bush this time. At the least, we might get to see Janet Jackson's other boob. Yes, that's right, Janet Jackson's tits. Yes, the teats of Janet Jackson.

But, seriously, would you like to sign the petition I just created? Here's the text:

To: CBS, The Grammy Awards, The American People
Let Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson perform to the best of their abilities at the upcoming Grammy Awards! Please do not attempt to silence or restrain these Superstars in any way!

The unfortunate incident at the Big Game was just that: an unfortunate incident. As Janet and Justin have stated time and time again, it was simply due to an equipment malfunction. Janet and Justin would not attempt to sully America's enjoyment of the Big Game in any way.

Let Justin and Janet - America's top and beloved Superstars - express themselves at the upcoming Grammy Awards free of hindrance, delay, or other restriction!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Posted to Celebrities at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)

The reachers next door

Slate has a whole series of articles written by Jack Shafer that attempt to call into doubt the recent NYT Magazine article 'The Girls Next Door'.

That article is about sex slaves in the U.S. and Mexico, and one of the people interviewed has this to say:

Andrea named trading hubs at highway rest stops in Deming, N.M.; Kingman, Ariz.; Boulder City, Nev.; and Glendale, Calif. Glendale, Andrea said, was a fork in the road; from there, vehicles went either north to San Jose or south toward San Diego.

In response, Shafer writes:

Other minor annoyances populate "The Girls Next Door." Landesman writes about a Glendale, Calif., highway rest stop that's used as a transfer point for sex slaves. Glendale is a densely populated Los Angeles suburb, like Pasadena or Burbank. If there's a highway rest stop there, it's news to me.

I think Shafer's reaching a bit, and I'm here to provide the news.

There are three freeways (to avoid confusion, highways and freeways will be called freeways henceforth) through Glendale: 2, 5, and 134. The 5 generally runs between San Diego and San Jose, so the smugglers would probably take that. However, they might get on the 2 or the 134 briefly.

There are no on-freeway rest stops in Glendale on any of those freeways, and there are none in Burbank or Pasadena either.

That is, as long as you define "rest stop" as the type you find on the 5 through the Central Valley, or on freeways elsewhere in California or the U.S. Those type of rest stops are almost always not associated with an offramp to a city street. They have their own dedicated on and off ramps, restrooms, picnic area, phones, and occasionally information booths or agents.

However, if you define "rest stop" as a place that many people use as a convenient stop, many places in Glendale, Pasadena, and Burbank qualify.

One that springs to mind is the street in Griffith Park across from the soccer fields. It provides access to the 5 and the 134. There are usually several cars parked there during the day. I don't know exactly what the people in those cars are doing, and I really don't want to kno