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What do the candidates eat?

In the photo above, we can see that John Kerry had what appears to be a medium Frosty. In a prior report, I had wondered whether he ordered a small Frosty off the Value Menu. Apparently he had not.

Also, in front of him you can see the chili.

The Edwards appear to have ordered burger combos; the exect burger configuration cannot be determined from the photo. Here is a better photo of their selections, shot in a product-up-front way that would make a Wendy's professional proud. And, here's a closer shot with Kerry's chili in the foreground. I would appreciate the input of any Wendy's aficionados who could identify John Edwards' sandwich.

Now, from this longer shot of the entire table, one can see the apparent sparsity of THK's selection. It appears she is just dawdling over tea or some such. Apparently, Wendy's selection of American food disagrees with her delicate continental palate. Of course, she also appears to be reaching for something. Could it be food, or just a napkin?

In non-Wendy's related pictures, here's John Kerry emoting, and here he is emoting again. And, here's a stylistic shot of the candidate.

And, here's a shot of close Kerry family friend Ben Affleck with a Wendy's drink in his hand. Mr. Affleck is, of course, no stranger to product placements!

And, here's a picture of John Kerry with some Marines.

Which all brings us to "Teresa Plugs Heinz Foods in First Post-Convention Outing":

The Heinz Kerrys were dining with John and Elizabeth Edwards at a Wendy's in Newburgh, N.Y., when the quirky ketchup heiress told reporters that the dish she ordered was surprisingly good. [This does not necessarily mean the disproval of the above theory. At this moment there is no proof - pictoral or otherwise - she ordered her own chili. She could simply have tasted a bit of John Kerry's chili. --LW]

"It's good chili," she announced. "It could even be made by Heinz."

Photos of the episode show Kerry, Edwards and Edwards' wife smiling as they toast the would-be second couple's 27th wedding anniversary with Wendy's sodas, while Mrs. Heinz Kerry looks on without joining in...

The [Marines linked to above], stationed at nearby Stewart Air Force Base, replied tersely, then later complained to reporters that Kerry had "imposed" on their lunch to burnish his credentials as a friend of veterans.

"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here and shaking our hands," one of the Marines told the New York Post. "I'm 100 percent against [him]."

Previous coverage of the visit to the Newburgh Wendy's starts here. Previous coverage of Newburgh itself starts in "Where can I buy crack in the mid-Hudson River Valley region of New York State?"

UPDATE: Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds is all over this story, and he directs our attention to this article:

[...non-Wendy's coverage deleted...]

[Kerry paid the bill]

Edwards and his wife had hearty meals of burgers and fries and shared a chocolate Frosty. Teresa Heinz Kerry pointed at a picture of chili on the menu and asked the cashier what it was before ordering a bowl. Her husband had the same, along with a Frosty...

YET ANOTHER UPDATE AND THIS ONE DOESN'T INVOLVE INSTAPUNDIT: VRWC operative "self" has paved the way for Kerry's upcoming visit to Dubuque, Iowa:

After a little research, it seems that the best restaurant in Dubuque seems to be a place called Mario's Italian Restaurant. It is a three and a half star restaurant and it should make for a decent meal after pretending to eat at some grubby Dubuque diner. Look, you have to take a bite at Wendy's or at Philly cheese steak stand, but then you have to really eat

Here is the address:

Mario's Italian Restaurant

1298 Main Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4729
ph: 319.556.9424

Posted to Politics at 11:40 AM | Comments (2)

ABC News: "Officials Fear Terrorists Could Try to Enter U.S. Through Mexico"

A national source finally picks up on the story:

The U.S. government has become increasingly concerned that al Qaeda might try to exploit security gaps at the nation's borders, especially the Mexican border, ABC News has learned.

Concerns about border security were highlighted on July 19, when officials at McAllen-Miller International Airport in southern Texas arrested a woman suspected of having ties to al Qaeda...

The arrest is one reason why U.S. officials are increasingly concerned al Qaeda may try to smuggle terrorists into the United States from Mexico.

"Al Qaeda has recognized that one of our vulnerabilities is our [in]ability to completely seal and control access through Mexico," said ABC News consultant Jerry Hauer, former director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management...

"It's easy for anyone, including a terrorist who really wants to get into the United States to do so by crossing the Mexican or Canadian border," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, former chief of antiterrorism in the Bush and Clinton administrations.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. has been trying to improve security at both borders with unmanned surveillance aircraft, increased vehicle searches and X-ray devices that scan vehicles for hidden illegal weapons or people.

Along the U.S.-Canada border in the woods of Vermont, sensors hidden in the ground trigger surveillance cameras that zero in on anyone trying to enter the United States illegally.

But it may be impossible to fully police the more than 5,000 miles of U.S. border with Canada and Mexico.

ABC News has finally noticed that our nearly-open borders are a security risk? Well, duh. There's years of backstory involved here that ABC has largely ignored until now.

Our administration officials have become "increasingly concerned?" So, they just noticed that their open borders policies have created a security risk? And, these are the Keystone Kops we put in charge of preventing another 9/11?

The problem here is not that the idea of terrorists coming over the border is a new thing. The problem is our "leaders'" willful attempts to ignore the danger. While 90-year-old grannies are strip-searched, the Racial Identity groups of the left and the serf labor lobby of the right have steadfastly ignored the very real probability of terrorists coming over the border.

Certainly, the administration has been "trying" to increase border security with the use of drones. At the same time, they've been trying to encourage as many illegal aliens as possible to come here via talk of amnesties and new giveaways for illegal aliens.

We've got over a million people coming illegally over the Mexican border each year. If that number were reduced to just thousands, those illegal crossers would stand out. Our present forces are able to handle thousands each year, especially when augmented with sensors, drones, cameras, and human intelligence. Our deserts provide a natural defense, as anyone who's attempted to hike even a few miles through one can attest.

The way to reduce the number of crossers is to - surprise - crack down on illegal immigration. Instead of doing just a dozen workplace sweeps each year, there should be hundreds, and companies that violate our immigration laws should receive heavy fines.

Those companies would be forced to hire citizens and legal residents. That would reduce the major incentive to come here illegally. Together with ending financial incentives to live here illegally, that would be good for American workers and it would make border control a great deal easier.

Previous coverage starts here.

This site contains dozens of examples of the Bush administration's unwillingness to enforce our immigration laws. Just one very blatant example can be found here. That post reports how a Bush administration official cynically and dismissively laughed when it was suggested that Bush enforce our immigration laws.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

Ah, Newburgh!

John Kerry, John Edwards, wives, entourage, hangers-on, and the press visited Newburgh NY today:

Kerry fielded questions about foreign policy, presidential politics, abortion and the death penalty in a 12-minute interview at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant in this GOP-leaning Hudson Valley community.

After polishing off a bowl of chili and a Frosty, the newly minted nominee took Bush and his Republican allies head-on...

[...ironic coverage deleted...]

A brief report from the Poughkeepsie Journal is here, and the MidHudsonNews weighs in with their own brief mention. Neither apparently were granted the same access as the AP reporter.

My experience of Newburgh happened at night during my Blogging Across America tour. You might be able to guess the tenor of my post from its title: "Where can I buy crack in the mid-Hudson River Valley region of New York State?"

UPDATE: The more I think about John Kerry's choices, the more questions I have. Was that a small frosty, or one of the larger sizes? Because, both the chili and the small frosty are on Wendy's Value Menu. Was Mr. Megabucks so cheap he just picked a couple of items from the Value Menu? Why not one of their more expensive items, like a triple burger with cheese and bacon, or - if he wanted something slightly more healthy - a grilled chicken sandwich? Or - even better - a salad? Did he deliberately choose from the cheap slate in order to send a subconscious message that he would govern this great land with the same New England parsimony?

And, what did the Edwards' select?

What about Teresa? Was her delicate European palate offended by American fast-food? Did she take umbrage at the fact that Wendy's uses Serv-a-Portion generic ketchup instead of the gen-u-wine Heinz brand?

ANOTHER UPDATE: If you can correctly identify the line "How's that Frosty[TM] treating you, Cecil?" you're a moke who falls for blatant product placements.

Posted to Politics at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

"Second passenger saw suspicious behavior" ("Terror in the Skies" Part #382)

From the WashTimes:

The second passenger, a frequent business traveler who asked not to be identified, provided a copy of her itinerary confirming she was on the June 29 Northwest Airlines Detroit-to-Los Angeles Flight 327...

The passenger, who was riding in first class, said the constant foot traffic and strange behavior she witnessed in the front cabin frightened her as much as it did Annie Jacobsen...

"I thought I was going to die," the second passenger told The Washington Times...

...[She] said the men were "up and down the aisles of the plane the entire time," and that one of the men pushed other passengers as he rushed toward the front lavatory. She said the man did not appear to be ill, and remained in the lavatory during her entire meal...

"There was more activity up and down the aisle through first class than I have ever experienced on any flight, including international flights," the second passenger said. "The most unusual part was that the flight attendants seemed to ignore what was going on..."

Posted to Terrorism at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)

"What if?!?!"

"What if? What if?"

He sounds like William Shatner just before he breaks into song.

What's this deal about one America, and ending divisions? Does that mean the Democrats are going to stop being the party of race and class baiting?

And, how are the delegates going to come down after the speed required to stay awake during the 46 minute screed?

UPDATE: Here's what Kerry said:

And that's why Republicans and Democrats must make this election a contest of big ideas, not small-minded attacks. This is our time to reject the kind of politics calculated to divide race from race, group from group, region from region.

Ohhhkaayyy. Maybe he should tell that to - just for a start - Al Sharpton and his own campaign co-chairman. The latter is the former president of the UCLA chapter of the racial separatist group MEChA.

Balloons! Give me the balloons! Go balloons! Go balloons!

BALLOON BOSS BLOWS HIS #@¢*ING TOP

It was planned with the precision of a military operation — but the drop of 100,000 red, white and blue balloons for John Kerry went so horribly wrong that the convention producer screamed out the F-word over national TV.

"Balloons. What's happening, balloons? There's not enough coming down. All balloons. Where the hell — there's nothing falling. What the f- - - are you guys doing up there?" shrieked the producer, Don Mischer.

The live feed was carried over CNN...

The balloons bit is just funny and no more. As I said on a post to VRWC-l, I would urge my fellow VRWC members to treat it as just a joke and not try to make a big deal of it. Anyone who's ever put on a show can identify with his top-blowing.

Posted to Politics at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)

Now, let's play Guess The Country

From Reuters' report "'Fahrenheit 9/11' Shown on Prime Time TV in [______]":

U.S. director Michael Moore's anti-Bush documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" was shown on prime time [______] television on Thursday after playing to packed cinemas for a week...

"We hope this film will lead Americans to see the reality of their government, and not only deny Bush reelection but put him on trial for the harm he has done to humanity," said [a] retired worker...

"The film is a work of love for humanity. It confirms what many of us believe, that George W. Bush is a real threat to the world," said [a university professor]...

Your answer is here.

Posted to Politics at 05:59 PM | Comments (0)

Let's play guess the state!

In the following news excerpt, you need to guess the mystery state:

[____]'s agriculture commissioner was arrested Thursday on charges of taking payoffs to protect a cockfighting ring...

Cockfighting is illegal in [____]...

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, called cockfighting barbaric and called for [the commissioner's] resignation.

"In exchange for thousands of dollars, he has allegedly used his connections and his stature not only to enrich himself, but also to provide protection for an organized criminal network of cockfighters," Pacelle said...

Your answer is here.

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:30 AM | Comments (2)

Schwartzenegger wants to know: do you oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens?

Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger is conducting a poll on "hot button issues," one of which is driver's licenses for illegal aliens.

To vote in the poll, call 1-916-445-2841 then enter 5, 2, and 2 at the prompts.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 11:21 AM | Comments (1)

Fanboys and fangirls at the convention

Can you spot what's wrong with the following TalkLeft post?

Wednesday night, just before John Edwards spoke, a group of bloggers were invited to interview Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL). We jumped at the chance since we think Durbin has introduced some of the best legislation in the past year and opposed some of the worst...

Here were the questions I wanted to ask him:

1. How will a Kerry Administration be better than a bush administration on civil liberties?

2. On the detainees--are you satisfied with the Bush Administration's proposals for military tribunals? Can the detainees get a fair trial?

3. What qualities will a Kerry Attorney General have that John Ashcroft lacks?

There'd be more spirited questioning at a StarTrek convention.

"Mr. Spiner, wouldn't you agree that Captain Kirk laid down the rules for future Starfleet captains and engaged (twitters from audience) new civilizations in ways that led to the Prime Directive that Captain Picard was simply forced to abide by? In summation, can't we all agree that Captain Kirk was a much more important captain in the broader Starfleet context?

In other fanboy news, Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds alerts us to a blogger supposedly having been fired by the DNCC because he wasn't fawning enough to Barack Obama.

Here is the offending post:

Barack Obama came in and gave a little speech to the bloggers at the Blogger breakfast. To be honest, I don't get the big deal. I've seen him speak a few times. He seems very charismatic, but I have yet to cross that bridge with him where I feel like he's saying anything really interesting or useful. He's a lot like Edwards - charismatic and demographically useful for the Democrats. But is there there there?

At this later post, the blogger says:

I am a volunteer and I didn't get fired. We decided that after the Convention started I wouldn't post to the DNCC blog (I had been using it somewhat to help coordinate the blogging component) so that I could post freely to my own. I'm a bit puzzled by the whole story, actually because we still have a great relationship and I'm still helping out the credentialled bloggers...

Geez Louise, all they had to do was just top up his Kool-Aid and he would have been fine.

UPDATE: TalkLeft partially redeems herself with some reportage. Regarding the other photo collection linked to in the first comment: the photos are OK, but the comments provided are just the flip-side to the trick some non-"liberal" bloggers use of going to "peace" protests and only taking pictures of the freaks. You know who you are.

Posted to Bloggage at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)

"Potential terrorists released due to lack of jail space, congressman says"

From the 7/23/04 Brownsville TX Herald:

Middle Easterners with possible terrorist ties have been detained after entering the country from Mexico but released for lack of jail space, said U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness.

“It is true. It is very reliable information, from the horse’s mouth, and it’s happening all over the place,” Ortiz, D-Texas, told The Herald on Thursday.

“It’s very, very scary, and members (of Congress) know about this. We have contacted several agencies, and I have talked to some people, but I can’t say who...”

Culberson’s spokesmen Tony Essalih and Jeff Morehouse told The Herald on Thursday that U.S. Attorney Michael T. Shelby of the Southern District of Texas told Culberson that several Middle Easterners have used Hispanic surnames to enter the country undetected.

“This was during a meeting in Houston May 25,” Essalih said.

The Middle Easterners are from Yemen, Essalih said.

Shelby is not issuing any statements, said Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Herrera of the Southern District of Texas, noting that the office is prohibited from confirming or denying any investigation...

I searched news.google.com for Solomon Ortiz, and I'm surprised I didn't spot this earlier. I also called Culberson's Washington office last week and, unlike the Brownsville Herald, they weren't able to offer me additional information...

In any case, earlier coverage of this subject is in "South African woman's passport prompts federal investigation" and "Congressman: Terrorists are infiltrating the U.S. via Mexico".

UPDATE: And, here's yet another report, "South African Woman Confirmed on Watch List":

NEWSCHANNEL 5 confirms that the name of a South African woman taken into custody while trying to board an airplane in McAllen last week appears on an FBI watch list.

A senior Homeland Security official confirmed that 48-year-old Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed is a “person of interest.” This information follows on the heels of Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) telling NEWSCHANNEL 5 Wednesday in Brownsville that Ahmed is “on a list of persons (investigators) wanted to talk to and possibly on a list of terrorists.”

..."She is a person of interest,” Ortiz said. “Thank God for the professionalism of these people from the border patrol, the customs officials who were able to detain this lady."

Investigators are trying to confirm Ahmed identity and nationality, while attempting to determine whether she has any ties to terrorism. Government officials said that name is on an FBI watch list and that it was put on the list after it surfaced during an investigation of an overseas terrorist incident...

Posted to Immigration_terror at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)

"Fattest Cat: Officials: Democrat's Biggest Money Man Has Mob Connections"

From ABC News:

...Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them...

...Democratic Party officials said they knew nothing about the man who law enforcement officials tell ABC News is Bing's friend and business partner... a New York [mob] figure currently in federal prison on racketeering charges.

"[His] main activity was murder. No question about it... He was one of the top hit men in the New York area," said... a former NYPD investigator.

Posted to Politics at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)

Are you searching for a reason to believe, Lauren Tewes?

"Hello everybody, this is Brad Williams! Welcome to Fantabulous Offers! You might remember me as Lorbock from Battlestar Gallactica. I have a question for you...

Are you searching for a reason to believe in John Kerry?

Join with us today as we explore all the reasons you should believe! And, with me to help in this quest is former Love Boat actress, Lauren Tewes!"

"Thank you Brad! It's good to be here supporting John Kerry!"

"I've got a surprise for you Lauren!"

"Oh, Brad, you know how I love surprises! So, what's in the box?"

"It's a new special offer from MoveOn Productions Bahamas Offshore Registry Ltd.! It's a brand spanking new Kerry Kit!"

"Wow! A Kerry Kit! What's in it?"

"Well, Lauren, The Kerry Kit shows you the John Kerry you have never seen before through exclusive, never-before-seen video, revealing articles, and literature that cuts through the spin!"

"Wow! What's on the DVD?"

"Featured on the DVD are excerpts from acclaimed director George Butler's forthcoming documentary, Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry!"

"Is that all? Don't you have another surprise for me?!?!"

"Yes, that's right Lauren! Your Kerry Kit also includes a booklet containing insightful and informative articles from David Corn (The Nation), Paul Krugman (The New York Times), and David Kusnet (former speechwriter for President Clinton)."

"Wow! But, with all that and more, how much is the Kerry Kit going to cost me?"

"Because we're desperate and overflowing with cash from George Soros, the first 100,000 Kerry Kits are completely free of charge!"

"Cut!"

Posted to Politics at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)

"Anti-War Activist Dragged off DNC Floor in Handcuffs"

Guess who!

Behind veneer of unity, Democratic leadership works to squelch anti-war sentiment

Boston -- As Teresa Heinz Kerry gave her prime-time address at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK: Women for Peace attempted to bring an anti-war message onto the convention floor. She unfurled a pink banner that read "End the Occupation of Iraq" -- a sentiment that is shared by the majority of Americans and vast majority of Democrats -- and was promptly dragged out of the Fleet Center by the police...

Inside the convention, the DNC has banned anything but "officially printed" banners and signs from the convention floor, and several anti-war delegates from the Kucinich campaign have been told to take off scarves that say "delegate for peace." Outside the convention, those who oppose the Democratic Party position on Iraq are relegated to a "protest pen", which is actually a cage surrounded by fencing and barbed wire...

Posted to Politics at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

"Randi Rhodes (Air America) Banished From Demo Convention Floor By Al Franken???"

This is a second-hand report by a listener to South Florida's Steve Kane Show. I couldn't find anything at the second link about this, so apparently it's radio-only:

I just heard Brian Craig (and Steve Kane) discussing the incredible humiliation of Randi Rhodes at the Democrat Convention yesterday. What happened was that some political comedian on the air invited Randi to walk among the delegates on the floor. Randi replied that she wasn't allowed on the floor and had to stay in the upper reaches of the hall. Brian and Steve were speculating as to whether Randi's floor pass was lifted by either a VERY JEALOUS Al Franken or nervous Democrats.

BTW, it was also mentioned that Randi is NOT allowed in the studio anytime Al Franken is there. Plus she is NOT allowed to talk to any of Franken's guests even off the air.

Apparently Al Franken has some major JEALOUSY problems concerning Randi Rhodes. I do remember when Air America first went on the air, the reviews for Franken were horrible but they also said that Randi was INTERESTING even though she is s WHACKO.

I don't know what they could be worried about... [Am I telegraphing this enough?] There are no Christmas trees at this year's convention.

[You might be wondering: what's all this about the Christmas tree thing? Your confusion is because this was originally posted to Randi Rhodes and her Christmas tree, and you'll need to go there and find out. Keep the above images in your mind, it will help the effect.]

Posted to Politics at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

Hold up there, Johnny boy. I saw her first

"And the Lord! Yeah, the Lord! Yahweh gave me this giant hand which I will use to smite all heathen Republicans throughout this great land! Amen, amen! And, with my giant hand I will sign all manner of social legislation! Amen! Can I hear an Amen?"

Posted to Politics at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

Kerry reveals his plan for Earth

"John Kerry, minion finalize their plan to enslave Mankind."

More details on Kerry's plan here.

(Props to Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds)

Posted to Politics at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)

"South African woman's passport prompts federal investigation"

There's a minor update to the previous post "Woman With Possible Terror Ties Arrested" [smuggled in from Mexico]. From the AP:

U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz of Corpus Christi, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, said "very credible" people told him Ahmed has traveled within the United States more than 250 times, and that federal authorities were investigating whether she had ties to terrorists.

The Associated Press reported earlier Tuesday that authorities believed crime syndicates operating within the South African government were believed to be selling illegal passports for as little as $77 apiece.

While it's believed the passports mostly go to poor people hoping to get into Europe or the United States a little easier, the director general of South Africa's Department of Home Affairs said South African passports had been found in the hands of al-Qaida militants and other terrorists traveling through Europe.

Eddie Rios, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol in McAllen, said the agency had not been told that South African passports were being used by terrorists...

See also the earlier post "Congressman: Terrorists are infiltrating the U.S. via Mexico".

(BugMeNot is your friend)

UPDATE: AP has a report from SA that doesn't mention the U.S. border, just SA and Europe:

Barry Gilder, director general of the Department of Home Affairs, said he has come across a number of instances in which South African passports were found in the hands of al-Qaeda suspects or their associates in Europe... They sell mostly to economic migrants... but terrorists appear to be tapping into these networks, Gilder said...

And, from Federal News Radio (apparently a private company owned by WTOP that covers the feds), we have this:

A South African woman picked up in Texas almost 10 days ago may turn out to be a key, high-level al-Qaida operative... Government sources tell FederalNewsRadio.com that capturing this woman could be comparable to the arrest of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11. It was revealed in court Tuesday that she was on a watch list and had entered the U.S. possibly as many as 250 times.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The News24 (SA) report SA woman 'on US terror list' ends with this:

"It is certainly true that this case has not been handled in the manner that normal immigration cases are handled," [her court-appointed attorney] said, adding he doesn't know why.

[U.S. Rep. Solomon] Ortiz said Ahmed's arrest has increased his concerns that terrorists could enter the United States along the southern border.

He noted that many undocumented people who are not from Mexico are routinely released because of a lack of detention space.

The NewsChannel 5 TV network reported that Ahmed had visited the US before, but that her visa had expired in 1996.

It added that she had, however, remained in the country for three more years.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: A newly-discovered article from last week with more information in is this later post.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)

Please make it stop

I posted an ad for a small, low-value job to losangeles.craigslist.com, asking people to send me URL examples of their work. I have an idea for an anti-Kerry bumper sticker.

I get 63 frigging replies.

That wouldn't be a problem, except now I gotta sort through all these goshdarn HTML-formatted emails trying to differentiate between the artists' URLs and the spam URLs inserted by their mailing software. I did a grep for http, but I'm sure I didn't get all the URLs. So, I need to search through each frigging message.

Once again, Tim Berners-Lee should be sent the bill for all the productivity lost courtesy of his "brilliant" idea.

Posted to Miscellania at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)

"Bill Jones speaks out against voting rights for non-citizens"

From Terence Chea of the AP:

Republican Senate candidate Bill Jones railed on Monday against a ballot measure that would grant non-citizens here the right to vote in school board elections, calling it a "slap in the face" to U.S. citizenship and the country's immigration laws.

Speaking on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, the former secretary of state said the charter amendment would violate the California Constitution and erode public confidence in the electoral process. He said encouraging immigrants to become citizens is the best way to expand voter participation...

Oddly enough, Barbara Boxer also opposes the measure.

Whether Terence Chea would characterize Barbara Boxer as "railing" about something is an open question.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:26 PM | Comments (1)

Sell Your Body to Science

Received via spam:

Easiest $20k You'll Ever Make.

Donate your body to science and profit while you are still alive. It's incredibly easy and perfectly legal.

Get your money immediately and enjoy life!

That's right. You can make $20,000 per year by donating your body to science while you are still alive. You make the money now and help advance science. It is good for mankind and great for your wallet.

Harvard educated instructor [name deleted --LW] ED.M shows you how. Tips and tricks and places to avoid, it is all included.
Be one of the first to capitalize on these secrets. It will never be this easy again after everybody knows how to do it.

If you don't agree this is the easiest money you have ever made, we will give you your money back.

Ha ha, that's funny. Let's see if their hosting company, webcrossing.com gets the joke too.

I did a search on this guy's name, and he has been mentioned in a few legit newspapers. But, not here.

IMPORTANT UPDATE, PLEASE READ: I will not email anyone any information on this program. If you're interested, please continue your google search, I'm sure you can find his site.

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:40 AM | Comments (147)

Hillary: 'Secure our borders'

During the Clinton administration, the INS became a virtual recruiting drive for the Democratic party, as described here.

So, when Hillary Clinton remarked in her speech yesterday that we should secure our borders, I laughed a bit. However, there's always the possibility that if they say it enough, they might actually mean it. Unfortunately, the non-liberal media will not press her to fully explain her comment and provide details of what we should be doing.

WND comments on that part of her speech here:

Hillary Clinton surprised a few people around the country and turned a few heads when she talked about how John Kerry would make America safer.

In a nationally televised speech from the Democratic National Convention in Boston, the New York senator and former first lady said, "We need to secure our borders."

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)

"Politicians Snub Latinos' Real Wishes"

I was working on a similar post, but Dan Stein of FAIR says it much better:

Ranking right up there with the proverbial "Dog Bites Man" headline, a new opinion poll released last week by the Pew Hispanic Center finds that Latinos in the United States are most concerned about education, jobs, the state of the economy and access to affordable healthcare � just like everyone else in the country. Eleventh on the list of things that Latinos are concerned with � several notches below the vague notion of moral values � is immigration...

With the stroke of Bush's or Kerry's pen, millions of illegal aliens can be instantly transformed into guest workers or green card holders, and the man holding the pen can take credit for having "delivered" something to Latinos, even if it is only the 11th item on their wish list. Ironically, in making item No. 11 come true, the politicians who are pandering to them will make their other wishes even more difficult, if not impossible, to attain. Because neither Congress nor the president possesses the authority to repeal the law of supply and demand, amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and their families, expanded guest worker programs and still higher levels of legal immigration would only exacerbate the very problems that most Latinos (and everybody else) worry about...

My post, however, would have wondered whether the "Hisp" part of "Hispandering" is accurate or not. Are Bush's and Kerry's "outreach" to Latinos via Open Borders initiatives really intended to get the "Hispanic vote" so much as to appease those who desire cheap labor at any cost?

And, in Bush's case, could he be looking to demographically change the U.S. in order to make a presidential bid by his nephew possible?

Or, are Bush and Kerry's plans part of their general globalist, NWO agenda? (Not that I believe in any of that black helicopter, Skull & Bones, Bilderberger stuff, mind you.)

In any case, a newly-enspined John Kerry could follow up on Hillary Clinton's remarks of yesterday (see the next post). He could announce a flip-flop on the Kerry Amnesty. Rather than attempting to flood the U.S. with low-wage workers, he could decide to use immigration to America's benefit. By doing so he would enrage the "Latino" "leadership." But, where would they go? And, how many Latinos who are not a member of far-left Racial Identity groups could he attract to his campaign? And, how many disatisfied conservative voters could he bring on board? And, by pledging to increase border security and decrease illegal immigration, he could point out Bush's glaring weaknesses in those areas.

I think he'd come out ahead, all things considered. But, that would require him to show true leadership and take a risk, rather than sticking with the safe bet of playing the usual Democratic race game.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

Partying down with the enemies of the proletariat

Far-lefty Marc Cooper on a DNC party:

Follow the money, they say. So I did. And it led right to the Wellfleet oysters and mango lobster cakes. And the grilled swordfish. And the stuffed figs and sushi. As well as the ham, turkey, pasta, grilled vegetables, smoked duck, jumbo shrimp, fresh clams, cream puffs, napoleons, and éclairs. And to the gourmet wine bar and two or three other free-flowing bars. Also to a couple of jazz bands, a handful of performing human mannequins, a spectacular view from the top of Boston’s highest skyscraper. And lapping all this up late last night, the California Congressional Delegation and much of the cream of Democratic “progressivism” – including Doctor Dean and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.(see the pictures in the posting below) By day they rail against special interests. By night, they party down with them.

While this blog has provided a wealth of Pelosi coverage, if I had to choose just one favorite Pelosi post it would be: "Nanci Pelosi, supporter of sweatshops, opponent of citizens and laws".

(Via this)

Posted to Politics at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

Maybe Open Borders advocates should read the 9/11 Commission Report

Here are a few excerpts that mention immigration, borders, or visas:

Page 213
Between late March and September 2001, the Intelligence Community identified numerous signs of an impending terrorist attack, some of which pointed specifically to the United States as a target:
...In May, the Intelligence Community obtained a report that Bin Ladin supporters were planning to infiltrate the United States by way of Canada to carry out a terrorist operation using high explosives. This report mentioned without specifics an attack within the United States. In July, this information was shared with the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Customs Service, and the State Department and was included in an intelligence report for senior government officials in August.

ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF REPRESENTATIVE MIKE CASTLE (R-DELAWARE)
...The State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Justice Department's Immigration and Naturalization Service have joint responsibility for the management of our visa program, yet this program's administration has been characterized by poor management practices, uneven enforcement policies, and inadequate coordination between these agencies and other elements of the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities. The majority of theSeptember 11th hijackers were wrongly admitted to the United States -- in violation of U.S. immigration laws -- as a result of decisions made and errors committed by responsible State Department and Justice Department officers. The fact that many of them entered and operated in true name, further emphasizes the extent to which the current system is broken...

...I strongly believe that significant legislative changes are urgently needed to redirect and reorganize our national visa policies.

JOINT INQUIRY STAFF REPORT/ADDITIONAL VIEWS/SENATOR JON KYL, SENATOR PAT ROBERTS
...The failures that led to 9/11 occurred not only in the intelligence community. The JIS was selective about what threads of inquiry it was willing to follow beyond the intelligence community. Failure to examine the State Department’s visa-issuance process must rank as the most glaring of these omissions because the answer to the question – could 9/11 have been prevented -- is yes, if State Department personnel had merely followed the law and not granted non-immigrant visas to 15 of the 19 hijackers in Saudi Arabia.

We repeat: If our own laws regarding the issuance of visas had been followed by the State Department, most of the hijackers would not have been able to obtain visas, and 9/11 would not have happened. Because the entire culture of the State Department is geared toward facilitating smooth relations with foreign governments, State Department personnel have tended to ignore the potential effect of their practices on national security.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(link) Neither the State Department's consular officers nor the Immigration and Naturalization Service's agents and inspectors were ever considered full partners in a national counterterrorism effort. Protecting borders was not a national security issue before 9/11...

(link) ...Set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as driver's licenses.

See, for example, the earlier post "Congressman: Terrorists are infiltrating the U.S. via Mexico". Due to political correctness and a desire for serf labor, are we doing all we can to prevent another attack?

Posted to Immigration_terror at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Fill in the PC blanks

Here's the blogosphere's latest craze. Can you fill in the blanks in the following quote from the COUNTERTERRORISM ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY section of the 9/11 Commission Report?

The [________] Extremist CT Operations Group, the CTC operational arm, tracks al-Qa’ida and other [________] radical groups. In 1996, the CTC created [the Bin Ladin Issue] Station to target Bin Ladin and his network, [________________________]. The CTC’s [________] Extremist Branch also follows a range of radical [________] groups...

Posted to Terrorism at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

John Kerry, civil libertarian. Part 2

The liberaltarians at Reason provide a run-down of Kerry's record on civil liberties:

Then it was Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.) who argued alongside the ACLU in favor of the individual's right to encrypt messages and export encryption software. Ashcroft "was kind of the go-to guy for all of us on the Republican side of the Senate," recalls David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

And in what now seems like a bizarre parallel universe, it was John Kerry who was on the side of the FBI, the National Security Agency, and the DOJ...

Although the encryption fight appears to be over, similar battles are being fought today. For instance, as with encryption, the FBI now wants preemptive design mandates so it can have an automatic mechanism to tap into Voice over Internet Protocol, the fledgling technology that allows people to make phone calls online. Once again, law enforcement wants tech firms to build a "back door" for the police. Wayne Crews, director of technology studies at the pro-market Competitive Enterprise Institute, notes that Kerry has been silent on the FBI's efforts. "The only thing I've heard from Kerry on technology regulation is continued investment from the federal government," Crews says...

Posted to Politics at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)

Snopes on "Terror in the Skies"

From Snopes:

Claim: Reporter encounters terrorists on airline flight who are making a dry run at assembling a bomb on-board.

Status: False.

Really. As I wrote in a letter to Snopes, does that mean that the Snopes organization has done a thorough background check on the musicians and determined that they were in fact innocent musicians and had no relation to terrorism?

If not, there's no way Snopes can call this "false."

I suggested that they change the status to "undetermined," or at least provide a note saying that the cover story provided by the musicians checked out. Feel free to use their feedback form to suggest the same.

Posted to Terrorism at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)

Is there anything the miraculous John Kerry can't do?

If I had gone to Boston to cover the DNC, right about this time I would be looking for the nearest exit. Sated with the stream of groups to which Kerry will grant benefits and the good that he will do, I would seek a breath of sanity.

Exiting the hall, I would attempt to find, photograph, and interview protesters from across the spectrum as well as colorful locals. If I could find politicians or members of the press behaving badly, that would be a bonus. If I could entrap a member of the press into admitting liberal bias, that would be a big bouns. Fully cognizant that the mainstream press is trying to feed mainstream bloggers, I would mercilessly chomp into that hand.

That said, let's see what the official bloggers are saying:

TalkLeft is as giddy as a schoolgirl: "The crowd is electrifed. We knew Bill Clinton would be worth the wait, and he is! We're trying to type but we keep jumping up off our stool to cheer and clap for him. What a giant..."

Dave says: "This is Dave from Boston. I missed Gore's speech because I was being interviewed for the Daily Show on the Comedy Channel. Look for it!"

Pandagon intones: "Okay, so one of my worries was that bloggers would embarass themselves by posting on the banal and silly as opposed to things that, even if funny, at least were of some import..."

Matthew Gross takes a trip to the cage where they keep the free speech.

Dave Winer alerts us that They're giving out these cool blogger visors.

The Stakeholder reports: "It will mean nothing if we elect John Kerry president, but leave Tom DeLay and his "Rubber Stamp" Republicans in the majority! ...That was the provocative and incredibly timely message that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and DCCC Chairman Robert T. Matsui delivered to a meeting of Labor Union presidents this morning..."

BOPNews says: "On CNN Jeff Greenfield anchors a throw to David Sifty (in the bloggers' booth?) to find out what the blogosphere thought of Al Gore's speech."

Etc. etc. etc.

You had your chance, blogdom. All I wanted was $3000 and I could have covered the shindig in the patented Lonewacko style. But, no. You want this instead.

Meanwhile, there are a few local Boston blogs listed here. See, for instance, the picture collection here.

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

Our artist made a mistake! Can you spot the error?

Help! We told our artist to draw an artist's conception of a car that can show feelings. But, our offshore artist made a mistake. Can you spot it?

In other Drudge-related news, Kevin Drum is trying to downplay Teresa's latest outburst (the "Shove it" remark).

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:48 PM | Comments (4)

"Additional [Border Patrol] roundups planned"

From this:

U.S. Border Patrol sweeps to round up and deport undocumented immigrants will continue in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, officials said Saturday.

A newly formed unit at the Border Patrol's Temecula station has arrested 505 illegal immigrants in Southern California since June 4, including a total of 154 in Ontario and Corona. The rest were arrested in Temecula and San Diego County...

"I know they have future operations planned and they have received the support of Washington, D.C. for future operations,' said Richard Kite, senior patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector...

Kite would not disclose when or where the sweeps will occur...

Sean Isham, a Border Patrol supervisor, said "an intelligence folder' has been approved for an upcoming operation.

"Whether it's based on citizen calls or agent experiences going out and surveilling a certain area, they compile that intelligence into a folder,' said Isham, who is based in San Diego. "That folder is sent to Washington for approval.'

Hmmm. Window dressing or for real? Will the Bush administration cave in to Racial Identity groups and the Mexican government again, or will they, er, stay the course? Stay tuned.

Previous coverage of the raids starts here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

John Kerry, civil libertarian

Talk radio favorite Matt Drudge is playing a recent interview ESPN did with John Kerry. Apparently the interview was done in relation to the Yankees-Red Sox game Kerry attended earlier today. ESPN has a report on the game, but it doesn't mention the most interesting part.

What's not featured in that report is where the interviewer asks Kerry what he thinks of the massive security precautions in Boston.

Kerry responds "that's fine." Kerry doesn't say much, other than to express that security precautions like that currently in Boston need to be carried out occasionally. Kerry is apparently OK with security precautions such as barbed-wire cages for protesters, bomb-sniffing dogs sniffing everything in sight, and all the rest.

When and if there's a written report, I'll post a link to it.

Posted to Politics at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

Yes, it does hurt quite a bit

My left ankle looks like it has a golf ball embedded inside it.

Earlier today, I hiked up the Old Mount Wilson Trail above Sierra Madre. On the way up, I dropped one of my water bottles over the side of the trail, and it skittered down into the bushes. I decided to pick it up on the return trip since I had a liter of some Gatorade-style thing. I also ran into a group from the Sierra Madre Search & Rescue on the way up; apparently one of a group of three had become dehydrated and had had to be airlifted. They were escorting the two other members of the party down.

Proceeding onward, I hiked up about two miles and 1300', then, since I was wet, it was hot, and the green Gatorade-thing was over half done, I decided to turn around.

Shortly after starting a moderate jog down, I spotted a (too) young lady coming up the trail. Momentarily distracted and jogging through a small gravel slide, my left foot twisted inward about 50 or 60 degrees.

Seemed OK. For about a second. Then, the massive pain began.

The young lady offered to walk me back down, perhaps to meet up with the Search & Rescue team. I had to sit down the pain was so intense, but, after assuring the young lady that I'd be OK, I was able to hobble down the trail towards "civilization," Jack London style. Walking down the rocky sections was a bit painful, but on the dirt sections I was able to achieve a slightly faster hobble.

On the way back, a young rattler slithered across the trail just two feet from where the water bottle had gone over. I decided not to go for it.

Needless to say, there could have been much worse places for something like this all to happen.

Posted to OutdoorSports at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)

Susan "Medea" Benjamin is (partially) right (for once)

Susan "Medea" Benjamin on the "free speech zones" at the DNCC:

"We don't deserve to be put in a detention center, a concentration camp," said Medea Benjamin of San Francisco. "It's tragic that here in Boston, the birthplace of democracy, our First Amendment rights are being trampled on."

Two fellow protesters from the anti-war group Code Pink, who dressed in pink Statue of Liberty garb, taped their mouths shut. Some activists said while they understand the need for security, organizers went overboard.

"We are on high, high red alert for the protection of our civil liberties," said Claryce Evans, national coordinator for United Peace and Justice. American Civil Liberties Union and National Lawyers Guild attorneys asked a federal judge to open up or move the zone...

The ACLU? The NLG? The guy on my left shoulder says they should go back to Russia. The guy on my right shoulder says they should be allowed to protest in such a way that both safety and their First Amendment rights are protected. Right-shoulder-guy wins. I just wouldn't call it "a concentration camp."

Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 12:22 PM | Comments (1)

"The Fastest Way To [profit from illegal immigration]"

FirstData is the parent company of Western Union, and they're now a major processor of credit card transactions in addition to their original business of money transfer.

As described here, they've also decided to attempt to unseat U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, who represents the district in Colorado where their headquarters are based.

They've been in the news recently because of this article: "Heckling, fistfight mar forum on immigration":

Organizers who brought together a panel of national experts for a forum on immigration reform sponsored by First Data Corp. on Thursday night billed the event as way to foster dialogue on a critical policy issue...

Halfway through, a fistfight broke out, and police arrested a woman friends described as a Hispanic activist after she struck a heckler on the head.

"All the other events have been perfectly calm," said Wendy Carver-Herbert, a slightly shaken First Data Corp. vice president, referring to similar panels in Washington and Chicago.

"We intended this to be a very thought-provoking forum on an important topic that needs to be debated," she said...

...critics blamed the organizers for staging a forum they said was one-sided and shut out the opinion of immigration opponents...

In February, First Data held a "debate" moderated by former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno. The panelists were:

Harry Pachon, president, Tomas Rivera Policy Institute * Cecilia Munoz, vice president, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) * Arturo Vargas, executive director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Educational Fund (NALEO) * Sal Gomez, board member, Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce * Raul Hinojosa, Ph.D, North American Integration & Development Center/UCLA * Robert Deposada, president, The Latino Coalition

Doesn't sound like there was much debate involved.

They've also created a $10 million "Empowerment Fund," as described in "First Data/Western Union and Latino Advocacy Organizations Call For Action on Immigration Reform"

But, the bottom line is the bottom line here.

At their site, First Data provides the article "The Fastest Way To Make Money" from Time Magazine:

About 100 miles south of Mexico City, in a valley framed by towering pre-Columbian ruins, sits Coatetelco, population 15,000, which has a beauty parlor but no bank. A few people grow maize, chilies and fruit, but remittances--mostly from agricultural or construction workers in Georgia and the Carolinas--account for a staggering 90% of the villagers' incomes. Patricio, 49, who stopped working in the U.S. three years ago, says sending money to Coatetelco has become more convenient and less expensive since his return. At the end of each month, he gets a call from his two sons, who are working illegally in Georgia....

Obviously, there's big money in enabling illegal immigration.

Witness the Bush administration trying to continue allowing banks to accept Matricula Consular cards:

Yesterday that amendment was sustained in the full committee by a vote of 26-25, despite major arm twisting by the Bush Administration to remove the provision. Treasury Secretary Snow wrote Appropriations Committee Chair, Rep. Bill Young, "The Administration believes as a general matter that Americans are better protected if consumers of all nationalities are invited into the financial mainstream."

Shouldn't Presidents support our laws, rather than helping them be broken?

Posted to Immigration2003 at 04:02 PM | Comments (1)

Wanted: Bloggers who were rejected by the DNCC

If that's you, leave comment. I have a... plan.

Posted to Bloggage at 01:47 PM | Comments (3)

"Al-Qaida May Have Had Network in California Long Before 9/11"

Or, they may not have. The L.A. Times spends an article offering speculation but no real scary bits.

The first visit to the U.S. by two of the 9/11 hijackers was to Los Angeles. Their first two weeks here are a mystery. However, they appear to have made acquaintances at the King Fahd mosque in Culver City. A former prayer leader at the mosque (and a Saudi consular official) was expelled last year because of links to terrorists. However, the article doesn't mention any direct connection between them and the prayer leader.

If you were from, say, Morrocco, and you went to the Morroccan district of a city, there's a good chance you could meet up with Morroccans who would take newcomers under their wing. Especially if they were from your part of Morrocco. As others in the article point out, that may have been all that was involved. Speculating...

Posted to Terrorism at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

Arizona hospitals to get reimbursed a fraction of money spent on illegal alien healthcare; employers will not be charged

The Feds are giving Arizona hospitals $42 million a year for four years to help reimburse the costs of (free) healthcare for illegal aliens.

In the past year, the University Medical Center in Tucson lost ten times that amount providing free healthcare for illegal aliens.

The employers of those illegal aliens could not be reached for comment, as they were on their way to the bank.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

" Bali bombers may be freed by ruling"

No kidding:

The convictions of dozens of Islamists involved in the Bali bombings two years ago could be overturned after Indonesia's highest court ruled that the laws under which they were tried were unconstitutional.

The constitutional court in Jakarta yesterday declared that the terrorism legislation was invalid as it had passed into law months after the bombings, in which 202 people died, including 28 Britons.

There is, of course, the possibility that covert state or private enforcement might occur if they are indeed released.

Posted to Terrorism at 08:36 PM | Comments (1)

"What are the mainstream bloggers thinking?"

In case you want to find out what the mainstream bloggers are thinking, head on over to Dave Winer's new "joint," Convention Bloggers. It's a "community site for bloggers participating in the DNC, July 26-29."

(Link via Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds)

Indeed. Heh.

Posted to Bloggage at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)

"Border watch group claims to sneak fake WMD into US"

I almost put this into the WackyHumor category because of the last bit, but this is indeed a serious demonstration of how our lack of border enforcement could lead to tragedy:

A border watch group claims it successfully sneaked into the United States carrying a fake weapon of mass destruction.

American Border Patrol spokesman Glenn Spencer told a Tucson newspaper the test was intended to show how easy it would be for terrorists to sneak deadly weapons across the border...

The Mexican government is checking a videotape and may enter a formal complaint with the United States government.

"If the incident can be confirmed," said Miguel Escobar, Mexico's consul in Douglas, "a formal letter of protest will be submitted to the U.S. government."

Note that despite that being an AP report that was filed yesterday, so far it's only appeared on three news sites...

Now, let's compare how the Bush administration deals with complaints from our own congressmen about Mexico violating our own laws.

From this 1/03 post:

The Mexican government, despite concerns by U.S. law-enforcement authorities and immigration officials, is handing out thousands of identity cards ["Matricula Consular cards"] to Mexican nationals in this country, including those here illegally...

Last week, in a letter to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, 12 House members questioned the propriety of the cards, describing them as an "issue of enormous significance that has massive implications for the nation..."

"While the issuance of national identification cards is nothing new, providing them with the express purpose of evading U.S. law is something entirely different," the lawmakers said. "The active lobbying of local and state governments by consuls of foreign countries is, at least, a breach of international protocol deserving of a serious response by our government."

This week, we have the administration trying to block Congressman John Culberson's attempts to prevent banks from accepting those Matricula Consular cards:

Yesterday that amendment was sustained in the full committee by a vote of 26-25, despite major arm twisting by the Bush Administration to remove the provision. Treasury Secretary Snow wrote Appropriations Committee Chair, Rep. Bill Young, “The Administration believes as a general matter that Americans are better protected if consumers of all nationalities are invited into the financial mainstream.”

Note that the Matricula Consular cards are only of use to illegal aliens.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)

"Who's Getting the New Jobs?"

Bob Herbert of the New York Times finds out:

A startling new study shows that all of the growth in the employed population in the United States over the past few years can be attributed to recently arrived immigrants...

Those most affected by the influx of new immigrant workers are young, less well-educated American workers and so-called established immigrants, those who have been in the U.S. for a number of years...

Simply stated, there are not enough jobs being created to accommodate the wide variety of demographic groups in need of work. With that being the case, and with some employers actively recruiting new immigrants, the inevitable result has been the displacement of previously employed workers, especially in the less skilled and lower-income categories...

Someone should alert Kerry's base to the effect the Kerry Amnesty would have on their lives. JumboJack90040 is working on that, but he needs your help. Moby-lize!

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:35 AM | Comments (1)

How many didn't get caught?

According to Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough:

U.S. border agents since October have picked up five Arabs trying to cross into the United States illegally from Mexico, according to U.S. officials. The arrests are raising new concerns that al Qaeda terrorists are trying to enter the country from Mexico.

However, officials at the Homeland Security Department's Customs and Border Protection section — formerly the U.S. Border Patrol — were quick to dismiss as erroneous an Internet report this week that said a "flood" of Middle Eastern men were caught recently trying to sneak into the United States across the Mexican border with Arizona.

[...they were Oaxacan Indians...]

Here's the report Gertz' sources are presumably referring to:

However, seasoned Border Patrol field agents have shared some disturbing information with the [Tombstone AZ] Tumbleweed...
The Tumbleweed has verified information that a flood of middle-eastern males have been caught entering the country illegally east of Douglas, Arizona. The increased patrols in the Huachuca Mountains area of Cochise County, seems to have diverted the flow of OTM’s, “other than Mexicans” east to the Chiricahua Mountains.
Adame, who says many of the agents in the area are “green”, questions why they would have shared the information with the Tumbleweed or any other source. “Our policy is to turn any OTM’s over to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security,” Adame said in a phone call made to the Tumbleweed Wednesday morning.
For reasons of National security, Adame said his agency cannot talk about the origin of nationaity, however Adame says that since October 1, 2003, the beginning of the fiscal year for Border Patrol, agents in the Tucson sector have apprehended 5,510 illegals from countries other than Mexico or other central or South American countries. Adame described them as “people from all over the world”.
In the last month, the Tumbleweed has confirmed at least two documented accounts of Border Patrol agents encountering large groups of non-Spanish speaking males in the Chiricahua foothills and on trails along the high mountain areas.
On or about the early morning hours of June 13, 2004 Border patrol agents from the Willcox station encountered a large group of suspected illegal border crossers, estimated to be around 158... 71 suspected illegal aliens were apprehended; among them were 53 males of middle-eastern descent.
According to a Border Patrol field agent, the men were suspected to be Iranian or possibly Syrian nationals. “One thing’s for sure: these guys didn’t speak Spanish and after we questioned them harder we discovered they spoke poor English with a middle-eastern accent; then we caught them speaking to each other in Arabic…this is ridiculous that we don't take this more seriously, and we’re told not to say a thing to the media, but I have to,” said the agent, who spoke to the Tumbleweed with the promise of anonymity.
Adame confirms the groups of illegals were apprehended on those dates in the same area but stated, “There were no middle easterners in the group. Every single one of them was Mexican.”

Posted to Immigration_terror at 10:48 AM | Comments (2)

"Woman With Possible Terror Ties Arrested" [smuggled in from Mexico]

From KRGV (near Brownsville,TX):

Federal agents believe a South African woman they have in custody may have ties to terrorists.

Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed was taken into custody Monday when she tried to board a plane at McAllen Miller International Airport. The Federal Bureau of Investigation would not release any information Thursday, but NEWSCHANNEL 5 obtained court papers filed by an FBI Special Agent assigned to the bureau's Joint Terrorism Task Force...

Investigators found travel itineraries showing that Ahmed flew from South Africa to London, via the United Arab Emirates on July 8. Six days later, Ahmed flew from London to Mexico City. After initially claiming her VISA was left in New York, Ahmed later admitted that she was smuggled into the United States through the Texas border...

See also the earlier post "Congressman: Terrorists are infiltrating the U.S. via Mexico".

Posted to Immigration_terror at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

"Bush Urges Blacks to Consider What Dems Have Done for Them Lately"

From this:

President Bush came right out and asked African-Americans for their vote on Friday. In his address to the National Urban League, Bush said he understands that the "Republican Party's got a lot of work to do." And he urged Democratic voters to consider some questions.

"Does the Democratic Party take African-American voters for granted?" It's a fair question, Bush said. Do Democrats earn your vote and deserve it, he asked?

"Is it a good thing for the African-American community to be represented mainly by one political party?

Another question Bush could ask: "The Kerry Amnesty will bring millions of low-wage earners here. What effect will that have on low-wage-earning blacks?"

Oh, wait.

Posted to Politics at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

Manchurian Candidate due to be released

I suggest you see the original version of the Manchurian Candidate instead. The Manchurian Candidate is a great film for those interested in the Manchurian Candidate.

Posted to Politics at 06:35 PM | Comments (1)

Air marshals: Annie Jacobsen, husband overreacted

From Eric Leonard at KFI:

Undercover federal air marshals on board a June 29 Northwest airlines flight from Detroit to LAX identified themselves after a passenger, "overreacted," to a group of middle-eastern men on board, federal officials and sources have told KFI NEWS.

The passenger, later identified as Annie Jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service...

"The lady was overreacting," said the source. "A flight attendant was told to tell the passenger to calm down; that there were air marshals on the plane."

..."In concert with the flight crew, the decision was made to keep [the men] under surveillance since no terrorist or criminal acts were being perpetrated aboard the aircraft; they didn’t interfere with the flight crew," Adams said.

The air marshals did, however, check the bathrooms after the middle-eastern men had spent time inside, Adams said...

"We have to take all calls seriously, but the passenger was worried, not the flight crew or the federal air marshals," she said. "The complaint did not stem from the flight crew."

Posted to Politics at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)

Gallup poll: 49% want immigration decreased

Here's the main findings of a new Gallup poll:

only 14% of Americans wanting to see immigration increased; another 33% want it kept at the present level while 49% want it decreased.

In a more detailed question:

Gallup asked respondents to rate the impact immigrants have on six different aspects of life in the United States. In all but one dimension, more Americans think that immigrants make the situation worse rather than better. This is especially true with respect to taxes and crime, on which close to half the public thinks immigrants make the situation worse. Immigrants are also viewed more negatively than positively in the areas of the overall economy, job opportunities, and social and moral values...

Only 6% think immigrants make the crime situation better, and only 22% think they make the economy better.

It would be helpful if Gallup would include questions about illegal immigration in their polls; I'm sure the numbers would be strongly opposing that form of immigration.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:19 PM | Comments (1)

"Foreign labor: for US, too much of a good thing?"

The CSMonitor crunches the numbers:

More than one-third of all people who ever immigrated to the US have come in the past three decades. Most have been men looking for jobs, legally or illegally, who compete directly with native- born men. George Borjas, a Harvard University economist and expert on immigration economics, estimates that between 1980 and 2000 immigration reduced the average annual earnings of native-born men by $1,700, or roughly 4 percent.

Because most immigrants in those 20 years had relatively little education, the impact of their arrival was greatest on natives who didn't graduate from high school, Borjas found. By adding to the supply of less-educated labor, immigration reduced their wages by 7.4 percent...

Immigration also exaggerates the gap between the rich and poor, Borjas determined. For example, while the poor and less educated in the US see their wages fall sharply because of the influx of new workers, the well-to-do and some businesses benefit from the cheap supply of gardeners, house cleaners, factory workers, day laborers, and so on. So wealth - in the "tens of billions of dollars" a year - is redistributed from labor to buyers of immigrant services, he estimates...

Then there's the drain on government budgets. Providing immigrants with things such as welfare, education, criminal justice, and emergency medical care costs taxpayers a net $11.4 billion to $20.2 billion, a 1997 National Research Council (NRC) report found. That's the total after accounting for the added taxes that immigrants pay into the system. And it surpasses the NRC estimate of $1 billion to $10 billion in benefits to natives - primarily the well-to-do - accruing from having so many immigrants in the labor markets...

A more recent Columbia University study pegs the net cost of immigration at $52 billion a year, or about half of 1 percent of gross domestic product, the nation's total output of goods and services.

"Generally, people don't want to hear these results," says David Weinstein, economist and coauthor with Donald Davis of the Columbia study...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:12 PM | Comments (1)

"Anti-migrant initiative backed"

Ah, the Arizona Republic outdoes itself yet again. "Anti-migrant initiative backed" is their report on a new poll showing overwhelming support for the Protect Arizona Now initiative.

First of all, PAN is not "anti-migrant." It simply attempts to limit illegal immigration. The opponents of the measure will certainly attempt to smear it as anti-migrant, and the Arizona Republic is just doing its part.

Also, considering that 74% of those polled support the initiative, the word "backed" is quite an understatement.

If the Arizona Republic were a supporter of PAN, they would, of course, highlight its broad support in the headline, instead they attempt to minimize it.

About 13% of the respondents were Hispanic, and they were evenly split on the initiative; the pollster (an ASU professor) expects 35% or 40% of Hispanics will support the initiative.

If you'd like to suggest that the Arizona Republic use the correct terminology and refrain from false and inflammatory headlines, click here to send various editors an email.

For a counterexample, the more balanced Douglas Daily Dispatch report "Poll shows voters would deny public assistance to illegals" never once uses "undocumented," and it has a far less inflammatory headline that doesn't attempt to downplay the poll results.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:50 PM | Comments (1)

I'm one of the good humans

I would like to make it perfectly clear that I have supported Primate Rights for decades now. I have marched; I have written protest letters; I not only fully support the Monkey, Macaque, and Gorilla Agenda, I also support the Orangutan Movement in all its forms. I support your attempts to reconquer Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe. However, I believe it should be pointed out that the weather in Southern California is rather hot and dry. It is quite unlike the tropics or the jungle. You are, of course, welcome to come here. However, I don't think the weather would suit you very much.

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:41 PM | Comments (3)

Socksgate is about to reverse its spinning direction

Br'er Drudge alerts us to this WaPo report:

After Berger's previous visit, in September, Archives officials believed documents were missing. This time, they specially coded the papers to more easily tell whether some went missing... Archives employees determined that that draft and all four or five other versions of the millennium memo had disappeared from the files, this source said...

Lonewacko predicts: the "wacky, absent-minded, always-buried-in-papers-that-lovable-absent-minded-professor" will change into "we had no idea." As I type this, Berger's name and likeness are being airbrushed out of Democratic archives and a show trial is being scripted.

Posted to Politics at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

"Aliens hiding in plain sight"

The Washington Times just ran a series of articles that offers an overview of the illegal immigration problem. They concentrate on our problems with enforcement, and they offer a stark contrast to the usual media blather featuring happy smiling serf laborers:

Aliens hiding in plain sight

Outnumbered in a hunt for aliens

Revolving door at border

Posted to Immigration2003 at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)

"'Perfectly Logical' Anti-Voter Fraud Bill Faces Tough Road, Says Lawmaker"

From this:

A Colorado congressman is praising a bill recently introduced in the House that would curb voter fraud by requiring voters to actually prove their citizenship.

It is called the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2004 (H.R. 4530). Introduced by Illinois Republican Henry Hyde, it is designed to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the "Motor Voter Bill." That Clinton-era legislation has been criticized because it provides no safeguards from illegal aliens being able to register to vote.
That is why one of the stated purposes of Hyde's legislation is to prevent fraud in federal elections. Tom Tancredo of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus says illegal alien voting has been a serious problem...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)

Syrian musicians, casino located

The Mystery Of Flight 327 has been partially solved:

Annie Jacobsen's recent piece for WomensWallStreet.Com made waves. Her account of flying with her family while 14 Middle Eastern passengers acted in a threatening and apparently coordinated manner makes for a terrifying read...

...I am nominally the "news director" for Stanford University's student radio station, KZSU, and I figured I'd help the Times out. There aren't that many casinos in southern California, so I had my research assistant, Mr. Google, take a look at some. An hour later I was talking to the nice folks at Sycuan Casino & Resort, near San Diego...

"Oh, do you mean Arab music?" inquired Angie, who answered Sycuan's phone. Yes, they had had an Arab act perform on July 1, an artist named Nour Mehana. Terry, Angie's supervisor at Sycuan, confirmed that he was there and that there was probably a backup band brought in, since there's no house band at Sycuan. In fractions of a second, Mr. Google found a website for Sycuan's event promoters, Anthem Artists, whose archive confirms Nour Mehana performed at Sycuan on 7/01/04...

Posted to Politics at 06:56 PM | Comments (0)

Kansas City Star: Let U.S. citizens eat cake

The Kansas City Star has an editorial about FAIR's suit to prevent Kansas from making U.S. citizens pay greater college tuition than illegal aliens:

Despite the group's acronym, there's nothing "fair" about the attempt by [FAIR] to challenge a new Kansas law regarding college-age children of undocumented immigrants. Misguided and hurtful are more appropriate adjectives.

FAIR filed a lawsuit Monday in a Topeka federal court to block legislation that would allow immigrant students who meet certain guidelines to pay in-state tuition at Kansas colleges and universities... [The plaintiffs] argue that it is not right for them to have to pay out-of-state tuition while students in the country illegally pay less...

What the plaintiffs fail to acknowledge is that they had a choice in deciding to pay higher tuition. If they wanted to pay in-state tuition, they could have attended colleges and universities in their home states.

[The "immigrants" had no free will...] ...The immigrant students aren't replacing or jumping ahead of American-born students. There is plenty of room in Kansas' colleges and universities for those who wish to further their education.

These immigrant students have spent at least three years in Kansas schools. [Some were model students, the slow U.S. immigration system is really to blame... ends on hopeful note.

Those "certain guidelines" are that the students are "illegal immigrants," not "immigrants" as the editorial repeatedly states. The word "illegal" only appears once in the editorial ("... students in the country illegally pay less...") And, they even use "undocumented."

These (illegal) immigrant students are indeed replacing U.S. students. There is only so much money to go around, and the idea that money should be spent on an illegal alien before a U.S. citizen is a patently anti-American idea.

You can send a letter to the editor at: letters@kcstar.com

For more contacts, see this or this.

Their Editorial Page Editor is Miriam Pepper: mpepper@kcstar.com

There's background information about the suit in Suit challenges in-state tuition for illegal immigrants

Knight-Ridder reports on the suit in Suit seeks to prevent tuition break for illegal immigrants in Kansas. While the report is somewhat fair, note how a) the second paragraph uses "immigrants" instead of the correct phrase "illegal immigrants." And, note how only one plaintiff is featured, yet comments from two people on the other side are featured, and the comment from one of the people on the other side comes first. And, the second comments is from Emira Palacios of NPA. That's the group that surrounded Karl Rove's house a few months ago, banging on his windows in support of the DREAM Act.

The author of the Knight-Ridder piece is: Steve Painter at (785) 296-3006 or spainter@wichitaeagle.com

His editor might be Sherry Chisenhall: schisenhall@wichitaeagle.com

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:35 AM | Comments (5)

Lonewacko wades into Socksgate

This has already been linked by a few more popular blogs, but not by the Pope. Thus herewith:

I have been cleared to reveal the following info. I'm not allowed to say where I got it.

I have a reader who is involved with the government's efforts to fight terror, and he has connections who tell him the big suspicion is that Berger took things he thought would help Kerry in the Presidential campaign. Also, the grapevine says not all of the documents taken were copies. Furthermore, I am told that an FBI agent described Berger as "a total asshole" who is not as cooperative as he claims.

Also, I am told that an effort is being made--either by the press or the Kerry/Berger camp; it's not very clear--to mount a sound bite campaign to put the matter to rest. The idea is to make it look like sloppiness, because the truth is that it was deliberate. And I am told that this scandal is much more serious than we have heard so far...

Of course, the reader is instantly reminded of Bubba's latest comments:

Former president Bill Clinton defends his embattled national security advisor as a man who "always got things right," even if his desk was a mess...

"...all of us who've been in his office have always found him buried beneath papers...

...[Berger] has always been up to his ears in papers..."

Kinda like the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. Except, instead of straw peeping out from his pants legs, it was documents.

That loveable wacky absent-minded former National Security Advisor!

Posted to Politics at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)

"Kinder, gentler deportation program might not work"

Under a new Bush administration program, we're flying deported illegal aliens back into the interior of Mexico rather than a border city. It's costing each of us at least $100 per alien.

The only problem is it looks like - in addition to education, health care, housing, and all the rest - we're subsidizing vacation pay for their employers:

"I will be going back in 15 days," said [a deportee]...

Seven of eight deportees interviewed within a half-hour period Monday said they would cross the border soon.

"I'll try again in a month," [said another deportee]...

"It remains to be seen what percentage of the thousands caught at the border each week will opt for a free ride home," said Wayne Cornelius, immigration expert at the University of California at San Diego. "But bus tickets are cheap in Mexico, and even from the southern part of the country it should cost only about $100 and take two or three days for the average migrant to get back to the border."

So, once again, here's what the Mexican government and those corporations that employ illegal aliens are taking us for:

• Free healthcare
• Free K-12 schooling
• College educations cheaper than some U.S. citizens receive
• Housing assistance
• Free vacation travel
• ...and much more...

Shouldn't those corporations that employ illegals be picking up those costs, rather than passing them on to the rest of us?

Shouldn't John "Corporate Responsibility" Kerry be calling these corporations to task, rather than proposing amnesties that will bring millions more illegal aliens here?

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

"Undocumented workers file suit against car wash"

From the Las Vegas Sun:

Fifteen undocumented Mexican workers filed suit in federal court last week alleging their supervisors at Green Valley Hand Car Wash failed to pay them adequate wages as required by state and federal law.

According to the group's lawyer, Jeffrey Fisher, the workers who filed the lawsuit, all men, frequently had been required to work almost 80 hours a week washing and buffing cars by hand. They were not paid minimum wage for all of the hours they worked, and they did not receive overtime pay, their lawyer said...

[...he said, she said...]

While federal and state law requires employers to pay all of their workers minimum wage for every hour they are at work -- regardless of their immigration status -- exposing the alleged injustice to the courts also means possibly exposing the workers' illegality to immigration officials...

A few of them had purchased Social Security cards for about $100 at the swap-meet on Bonanza Road, the workers said. They had used these forged documents to apply for work at the car wash, they said.

But if any of the workers past or present were illegal, supervisors at the car wash said they did not know that.

"They're all legal," Scully said. "They presented their two forms of ID (when they applied)..."

Uh huh. No, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just that... well, I don't believe you.

The most favorable outcome of this will be a) the plaintiffs will win several thousands each, b) the plaintiffs will collect after having been deported, c) the car wash will realize they could have saved money overall if they'd just hired U.S. citizens instead of illegal aliens.

Keep those suits a-comin'; if there are enough of them employers might wise up to the TCO of serf labor.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:20 PM | Comments (2)

More fun with MoveOn

Now that their last publicity stunt was shot down, MoveOn moves on, offering a commercial entitled "Debate." It offers a preview of the upcoming Bush-Kerry debate, where cardboard cutouts of the blood rivals morph into who they really represent. (MoveOn has not heard about morphing being a bit outdated.)

As can be seen from the outtake above, Bush represents the interests of three corporate types, whereas humble, man-o-the-soil Kerry represents the interests of normal, everyday Americans like you and me.

The fact that all three corporate types are white guys of varying ages and the Kerryites are a white actor trying to portray a white blue-collar worker, a white female, and a young black male (disabled with his inhaler to boot) is just a coincidence. I'm sure in some markets MoveOn will be airing commercials where all or even some of the bad guys are Of Color. Stay tuned, those commercials will be available any day now.

Posted to Politics at 03:15 PM | Comments (1)

"Statement of Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy J. Muris on the Complaint Filed Today by MoveOn.org"

From the FTC:

I am not aware of any instance in which the Federal Trade Commission has investigated the slogan of a news organization. There is no way to evaluate this petition without evaluating the content of the news at issue. That is a task the First Amendment leaves to the American people, not a government agency.

Time for a Lonewacko flashback: "My prediction: Fox will threaten to sue the New York Times over the slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print." The unbiased NYT will tell their operatives to stop. But, it won't be necessary because the FTC will just consider it a juvenile publicity stunt."

Posted to Politics at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)

Santa Cruz is truly a special town

Exhibit #1: The Santa Cruz Sentinel article "U.S. Border Patrol denies stepped-up enforcement":

When U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested hundreds of undocumented immigrants in Southern California, they touched off a wave of fear and anger that rippled throughout the state and across the nation.

But the agency, bound by a federal immigration policy frequently at odds with public sentiment, denies the actions it took last month in the Temecula area have been duplicated elsewhere.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the article's author, Donna Jones, is trying to state that the Feds are forced to pursue enforcement despite "public sentiment" being against it. That is, of course, completely wrong. The great majority of Americans want more immigration enforcement.

Unfortunately, quotes from Mario Villarreal, "spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection," make it quite clear that Americans are going to get less enforcement, not more.

Villarreal said the Border Patrol had a "substantial" presence in the Central Coast area in the past, but no longer. The Salinas office, whose agents conducted random stops of suspected illegal residents as late as 2000, has closed.

The nearest Border Patrol office to Santa Cruz County is Livermore, he said. The regional office, which is responsible for the territory between the northern edges of San Bernadino and Los Angeles counties and the Oregon border, has only a "handful of agents," and they are being reassigned in the near future, Villarreal said.

Well, that's a relief. He goes on to say that the border is protected, but the interior is not. Or, words to that effect.

Before reading the following, make sure you aren't drinking water or anything:

"We don’t make policy; we enforce the law," he said. "We are out there 24 hours a day, seven days a week protecting America from anyone who enters illegally and from anyone who wants to do us harm."

Posted to Immigration2003 at 07:29 PM | Comments (0)

"The Immigrant Gang Plague"

Heather MacDonald (author of the much-linked "The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave") has a new article entitled "The Immigrant Gang Plague". Too much to excerpt, but it's highly recommended. My most important recommendation, however, would be to somehow force community "leaders" and other apologists to read it. Or, even better, vote out of office those who support policies that lead to the situation described in her report. In fact, Santa Ana already did that. Unfortunately, Nativo Lopez still manages to get his name in the papers.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

"Now we have eyes everywhere"

Br'er Drudge alerts us to "Surveillance targeted to convention":

An unprecedented number of video cameras will be trained on Boston during the Democratic National Convention, with Boston police installing some 30 cameras near the FleetCenter, the Coast Guard using infrared devices and night-vision cameras in the harbor, and dozens of pieces of surveillance equipment mounted on downtown buildings to monitor crowds for terrorists, unruly demonstrators, and ordinary street crime...

An unspecified number of State Police cameras are also being installed, and more than 100 previously existing MBTA cameras will be used to monitor area subway and bus stations. Law enforcement officials will have as-needed access to as many as 900 cameras that have been operated for months or years by the Massachusetts Port Authority, the state Highway Department, and the Big Dig...

Live digital video from the State Police's new high-resolution, helicopter-mounted camera will be sent to the Multi-Agency Command Center, where law enforcement agencies will be coordinating their efforts. Boston, MBTA, and Coast Guard camera feeds will go to the command center. Several RV-sized mobile command vehicles also will tap into portions of the camera network.

On the water, the "hawkeye" technology is a vast improvement over the Coast Guard's old monitoring system, which relied heavily on what its vessels in the water were able to detect, said Andrew Shinn, a Coast Guard spokesman and petty officer. "Now we have eyes everywhere," Shinn said...

The picture is from a real ad campaign by the (London) Metropolitan Police. More on that here.

Posted to Privacy at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)

"Read MoveOn's FOX Complaint To The FTC -- Before It's Sent"

Cablenewser has the scoop:

In a document to be sent to the Federal Trade Commission Monday morning, MoveOn.org complains about "deceptive practices" allegedly used by FOX News. "The Commission should institute an enforcement proceeding against Fox News; order Fox News to cease and desist from using the slogan and mark “Fair and Balanced; and take such other action as may be appropriate to remedy the injury to consumers from Fox News’ deceptive practices." The petition complains about the "open partisanship of anchors and correspondents," "imbalance in guests and panelists," and "imbalance in selection of topics..."

He's got the PDF, and quotes from MoveOn's latest Whine-Across-America in the next post.

Here's part of the PDF:

The network makes no effort whatsoever to achieve any semblance of balance on its many interview shows. For example, a study of the interview show “Special Report with Brit Hume” for the last six months of 2003 concluded that conservative guests outnumbered progressive guests five to one; and a similar study of the program in 2002 concluded that conservative guests outnumbered progressive ones, 14 to one.

The networks’ coverage of current events is grossly distorted and biased. For example, a recent survey showed that much higher percentages of viewers whose main source of news is FNC have misperceptions about indisputable facts about the war, than do viewers of other news outlets...

"Progressives?" Why not "liberals?" Is MoveOn almost coming right out and admitting its Watermelon status?

After that excerpt, the whining and frothing even gets worse. They reference a few less-than-damning memos and the "unbiased" FAIR organization. Oddly Enough, the name "Al Franken" appears at several points in reference to Fox suing him over the title of his book; I wonder if he's involved in this in some way...

My prediction: Fox will threaten to sue the New York Times over the slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print." The unbiased NYT will tell their operatives to stop. But, it won't be necessary because the FTC will just consider it a juvenile publicity stunt.

Posted to Politics at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

Yes, but is a reeducation camp really the answer?

Al-Guardian reports that George Orwell's spinning speed has now reached 50 RPM. In other news:

90% of whites have few or no black friends

More than nine out of 10 white Britons have no or hardly any ethnic minority friends...

The poll found that 94% of white people say most or all their friends are of the same race, while 47% of ethnic minorities say white people form all or most of their friends. More than half of white people, 54%, said they did not have a single black or Asian person they considered a close friend.

More than eight out of 10 white people have no friends who are practising Muslims, and only one in 10 white people was close to a Hindu or Sikh...

The CRE chair, Trevor Phillips, said... the lack of close knowledge could lead white people to believe lurid tabloid headlines and racist propaganda. "When it comes to race and religion this clearly demonstrates we are dealing with a difference of which most people in this country have no first-hand experience, and therefore it is not surprising that they can be misled about blacks, Gypsies and Muslims, and it's not surprising that for no apparent reason they can become hostile and racist..."

Mr Phillips said integration could not be left to chance. He believed the government should fund US-style summer camp places for 16-year-olds where they can take part in activities with teenagers they would otherwise not meet...

Well, I guess that explains why all those whites are crypto-racists. And, given the UK's inability to stand up for minor things like privacy and against minor things like rampant political correctness, I'm sure they'll just get on trains and head right on down to the nearest reeducation camp.

Note also the name of the article's author: Vikram Dodd.

On a personal note, a couple of months ago Lonewacko briefly met an English lady of Indian extraction. If she had not gone back to London on a family emergency, Lonewacko would have eagerly added her to his (currently empty) Friendster clique.

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

"Multiculturalism Starts Losing Its Luster"

Per Theodore Dalrymple.

Read the whole thing, indeed.

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

"Cooking hearth found near site of cannibal camp"

The Scotsman doesn't have more information than other papers, but it does have a more entertaining headline:

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in the United States have unearthed a cooking hearth in the Sierra Nevada where they believe members of the Donner Party gathered for meagre meals in the months before starvation led to the country’s most famous tale of cannibalism...

And, according to the WaPo:

"Despite their desperate situation, they were trying to act like real humans, eating off of plates and drinking out of teacups," said Kelly Dixon, an archaeologist from the University of Montana and co-leader of the dig. "If we could identify the bones as human and could locate cut marks, we would have the grounds to settle this controversy once and for all."

Posted to California at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

Congressman: Terrorists are infiltrating the U.S. via Mexico

Al Qaeda-related terrorists are coming to the U.S. over the Mexican border disguised as Mexicans, Congressman John Culberson (R-TX) has disclosed. The terrorists are adopting Hispanic names and blending in with the hundreds or thousands of illegal aliens who enter the U.S. via Mexico each day.

Culberson made this statement on the John & Ken show (KFI-640 Los Angeles), and KFI is reporting his statement in their news segments.

A listener to the show offers this report:

Congressman John Culberson (R - TX), speaking on the John and Ken show in Los Angeles, tells the hosts that he's now authorized, for the first time anywhere, to disclose that Middle Eastern men with Al Qaeda links have been mixing with the stream of illegal aliens coming in via the Southern US border. Having changed their names from Islamic to Hispanic ones, and having obtained authentic Mexican Matricula Consular ID cards using faked Mexican birth certificates, the men are paying up to $30,000 to obtain entry into the US among the flow of Hispanic illegal aliens crossing. They're choosing this path because the screening process the US is using on incoming airline passengers is becoming increasingly effective. Once in the US, these men are burrowing into small towns, posing as doctors, lawyers, CPAs, and other professional occupations which are scarce in these communities, making them more accepted and welcome. These "sleeper agents" then await activation for terrorist acts.

Culberson says he was informed of this by federal prosecutors in Texas... Culberson adds that he's also been told that an Al Qaeda attack before the November election is "100% certain."

One of the prosecutors is reportedly Southern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby.

Culberson will have more information, including a letter presumably from federal prosecutors, on Tuesday.

Culberson is currently leading the fight in the House of Representatives to prevent the acceptance of the Matricula Consular card; the FBI says that card is inherently unsafe. The Matricula Consular card is only of use to illegal aliens, not to legal residents. Culberson's attempts are being opposed by the financial industry, pro-illegal immigration, and ethnic lobbies.

In the past, there have been rumors of terrorists planning to come over the border with Mexico. See, for instance, "Feds discount rumor of Iraqis lurking in Mexico"

However, the fact that these statements are coming from a U.S. Representative and reportedly from a U.S. Attorney give them quite a bit of weight.

A month ago, WABC reported the following:

The FBI has arrested an American citizen [a naturalized citizen from Pakistan --LW] living in Queens said to be a sleeper agent for Al Qaeda.

ABC News reports investigators have tied the man to a terrorist cell set to carry out a series of bombings and assassinations in London...

The man has told investigators that Al Qaeda is planning more attacks in the United States. He has also revealed a scheme to smuggle terrorists across the Mexican border...

In March 2003, I posted "Some 9/11 conspirators entered via Mexico?":

Some of the terrorists who helped with the September 11th attacks are now reported to have entered the country through Hidalgo County. State Representative Kino Flores, who sits on the state homeland security board, in an exclusive with Newschannel Five tells us these terrorists are said to have helped with the operation...

At the time, I unsuccessfully attempted to contact Flores for more information.

Over two years ago, Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) raised questions about Mexican trucks being used to transport hazardous materials or terrorists into the U.S.

The articles "Preventing the Entry of Terrorists into the United States" and the heavily-footnoted "Enchilada Lite: A Post-9/11 Mexican Migration Agreement" have background information on the issue of border security and controlling illegal immigration.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration is obviously not serious about controlling illegal immigration. While hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are turned away from the border each year, the Bush Administration recently halted very minor immigration sweeps in Southern California due to pressure from pro-illegal immigration and ethnic groups.

Asa Hutchinson, the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security and the person who reportedly halted the sweeps, refused to indicate if or when the sweeps would be reinstated. And, very few companies are even fined for immigration violations. While there have been a few high-profile cases where companies have been prosecuted for immigration violations (such as Wal*Mart), they are so small in number that one is forced to draw the conclusion that those prosecutions are simply for show.

For instance, both Asa Hutchinson and Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman were interviewed on KFI and asked about companies that were fined for immigration violations. Both provided Wal*Mart as an example that they were doing something. Neither however were able to provide examples of companies that operate in the Southern California area, where there are somewhere between one and three million illegal aliens.

Furthermore, the proposed Bush Amnesty has caused an uptick in illegal crossings, and Bush recently stated that "America is a nation of open doors".

On the other side of the fence, Vicente Fox and his predecessor have both claimed that the millions of "Mexicans" in the U.S. - including Mexican-Americans - are part of the greater Mexican Nation. In 2002, Mexico's foreign minister stated that he was instructing his consulates to begin "propagating militant activities" in order to obtain a "migration accord." None of these statements have been met with a public response from the Bush Administration.

UPDATE: I posted this at redstate.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2004/7/17/14157/5043, and that inspired a post (redstate.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2004/7/17/85722/8728) from someone else in reply. I also posted this at command-post.org. All three threads have comments as well.

UPDATE 2: Related posts here and here.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 10:31 PM | Comments (12)

"Back to Reality" for the Illinois GOP

The Illinois Leader editorializes:

The prospects of a Da Coach for Da Senate made this an interesting week in the soap opera that is Republican electoral politics in Illinois...

We know Republican primary runner-up Jim Oberweis met with party officials for his interview earlier this week. We’re sure he’s waiting with bated breath to see if the gang who can’t shoot straight will deem him qualified to be the GOP Senate candidate...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Topinka and GOP National disgrace, er, we mean National Committeeman Bob Kjellander are now wooing State Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Downers Grove)...

...as long as Judy Baar Topinka and Bob Kjellander are calling the shots with impunity-and make no mistake about it, they are-three things are clear: one, Illinoisans will not have a clear answer as to what it means to be a Republican in Illinois; two, as a result, Illinoisans will not have an articulate standard-bearer for GOP principles to consider as a US Senate candidate; and, three, the Republican Party in this state will continue to slouch towards electoral irrelevance.

Here's a quote from Dillard:

"...an Oberweis candidacy would present unique problems when it comes to immigration and race and ethnicity, [problems] which I'm not sure we want to take on at this time."

What a wimp.

Contact info for the IL GOP is provided here if you want to suggest they grow a spine. Ted Nugent - yes, Ted Nugent - would certainly be interesting. However, their best bet would seem to be to choose Oberweis and through all their weight behind him.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)

"Twenty-Four Americans Challenge Law, Claiming New Policy Discriminates Against American Citizens"

TOPEKA, Kan., July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- A law suit will be filed on Monday, July 19 in Federal Court in Topeka, Kansas, charging that a new state law permitting illegal aliens to attend Kansas public universities at in-state tuition rates violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and other federal laws. The suit is being filed on behalf of 24 American citizens who claim they are being denied the same benefits that Kansas is offering to illegal immigrants...

The suit will be filed by Kris Kobach, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City Law School, on behalf of the plaintiffs who were identified by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Professor Kobach was formerly a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Justice on immigration and homeland security...

"The new law in Kansas offers a better deal to illegal immigrants than it does to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, including some who own property and pay taxes in Kansas," said Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR. "Ironically, a foreign student who legally obtains a visa to attend a public university in Kansas will wind up paying a far higher tuition than someone who broke the law. While this suit is being filed in direct challenge to the Kansas policy, its outcome could affect similar policies in other states..."

The DREAM Act would be a national version of the Kansas law.

About the only argument supporters of the DREAM Act and the Kansas law have are emotional appeals and smears. Tactically speaking, I hope that the 24 plaintiffs are sympathetic, and also that a fair number of them are Of Color to help deflect the expected cries of racism from supporters of illegal immigration.

We'll have to wait and see if the non-liberal press will do stories on any of the plaintiffs with the same emotionalism that they write about the plight of illegal aliens.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 03:38 PM | Comments (2)

Tell it to the ICJ

From Editor & Publisher:

...In the latest development, MoveOn.org and other groups announced this afternoon that on Monday they will deliver "legal papers" to Fox News' studio in New York City, challenging the network's use of the tagline "Fair and Balanced." Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause, will lead a news conference disclosing two legal actions in this matter.

Posted to Politics at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

Officials concerned about dangers of "bathtub cheese"

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Health officials warned residents Thursday not to buy cheese and raw milk products sold on the streets and neighborhoods of San Diego County because they could contain harmful bacteria.

The illegal products, sometimes called "bathtub cheese," pose a health threat to consumers because unlicensed manufacturers use raw, unpasteurized milk that can promote bacteria growth, county health officials said.

"We have found these illegal cheeses being sold from the back of cars or trucks, at swap meets and from door-to-door salespeople," said Gary Erbeck, director of the County Environmental Health Department...

This is not a joke.

This is not the first time cheese inspectors have hit the streets. See July 5, 2002's "State cracks down on illegal cheese".

And, it gets even weirder. Public relations agency Fleishman Hillard produced a campaign for the California Milk Advisory Board entitled "The Cheese Is Good When The Cheese is Safe". Fleishman Hillard is involved in some local billing scandal or other. And, their campaign featured Edward James Olmos, who hugged me once (in a macho, manly way).

And, as can be expected, the libertarian loonies downplay the dangers of bathtub cheese.

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:41 PM | Comments (3)

"House panel blocks rule that lets banks take Mexican IDs"

From Knight-Ridder:

Banks would no longer be able to accept a Mexican identification card popular with illegal immigrants under a measure approved Thursday by a House subcommittee.

The House appropriations subcommittee that funds the Treasury Department, on a 9-7 party-line vote, blocked a Treasury rule that permits banks to accept the matricula consular as a valid ID document.

The measure's sponsor, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, said use of a foreign ID card viewed as insecure by the FBI and Homeland Security Department presents a national security threat...

...immigrant advocacy groups and bank trade groups vowed to mount a vigorous lobbying effort to derail the measure in full committee next week..

I say we hand them a defeat. Here's the full committee and here's Chairman C.W. Bill Young's page.

Posted to Immigration_consul at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

Remember, he's just an accused rapist

I received the following news report from frequent commentator LakersFan20044u269:

WHOO! KOBE JUST SIGNED THE CONTRACT!!!! SEVEN MORE YEARS!!!!!!!!! LAKERS RULE!!!! FLY YOUR FLAGS HIGH ON YOUR PHAT RIDE!!!!!!

It's true, I just checked. Kobe Bryant has signed another 7 year hitch with the Lakers. In other news, the NBA's image problem continues not to be a problem.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 06:33 PM | Comments (0)

Snopes on Jeremiah Denton

The Urban Legends site Snopes has a report on the Jeremiah Denton incident:

Claim: Vietnam veteran (and former POW) Admiral Jeremiah Denton was prevented from speaking before the California Assembly on Independence Day 2004.

They determine that, of course, the claim is true. Readers of this blog already knew this.

Unfortunately, the more popular mainstream blogs and the non-liberal media refused to pay any attention to this story for some reason.

The Snopes article excerpts an L.A. Times piece (also here) that mentions this incident. However, it's in their July 12, 2004 'Inside Politics' column. That column contains six stories, Denton's is the second. And, it refers to Campbell's email as a "screed." And, the tone of the article is one small step above Reuters' Oddly Enough category. That wacky Fabian Nunez!

I emailed the story to the L.A. Times on July 3. They didn't cover this until well after it had taken place, and it was basically buried.

On the other hand, the legal newspaper the L.A. Metropolitan News says: "Fabian Nunez Should Apologize to War Hero or Resign".

Posted to California at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)

"Smuggling Rings at LAX Targeted"

The LAT intones:

Federal authorities launched a crackdown this week aimed at breaking up smuggling rings that use Los Angeles International Airport to send illegal immigrants across the United States.

In the first coordinated operation to halt human smuggling at the world's fifth-busiest airport, uniformed Border Patrol agents and undercover immigration investigators arrested 64 undocumented immigrants on Tuesday and Wednesday...

"This is not about picking up large numbers of illegal aliens using LAX," said Kevin Jeffery, deputy special agent in the Los Angeles office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "This is about dismantling criminal organizations."

The complaints of ethnic profiling from the usual suspects are first referenced in paragraph 6. And, I want to stress just how much the DHS is going out of its way to assure everyone that they're only using intelligence to search for smuggling kingpins or principals. They are not racially profiling.

The SanFran Chronical story "Officials start crackdown on human smugglers at LAX" stresses the negative, pointing out that the raids will just push the smugglers to other airports in the second paragraph. Surprisingly, the Chronical story doesn't include quotes from the usual illegal immigration advocates.

The AP report, on the other hand, goes in the direction one would expect based on its headline: "More Arrests At LAX, Immigration Groups Fear Profiling". Concerns about racial profiling start in the second paragraph, and over a third of the article is devoted to their cavils. It even includes a quote from Mexico's consul general in L.A. (Someone should tell the AP's reporter or editor that "consul" is the person, "consulate" is the building or office pertaining to a consul, because in their report they confuse the two.)

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)

John Kerry accepts the Gold Medal

In addition to the 1968 Olympics, I'm vaguely reminded of the "clapping incident" in the California Assembly.

Drudge, of course, goes for the Gold.

Posted to Politics at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

"Kerry Carved Out Tax Loophole for Heinz Foods"

Per NewsMax:

Tax legislation proposed by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry last year was designed to crackdown on companies doing business overseas - but the proposal had one giant loophole: an exemption for companies like the H.J. Heinz Foods Co...

The source of the claim is a three-month old TCS story:

The Kerry team clearly recognized the possibility that they were causing significant harm, because they added a loophole. If a U.S. multinational produces a product in a foreign country for consumption in that country, then they will continue to allow the firm to avoid U.S. tax until the money is mailed back home.

Think of all of the needless and duplicative activity this will generate. Multinationals will be forced, in pursuit of tax savings, to introduce newer and smaller production facilities in every country they serve. Transportation costs are low enough, and scale economies large enough, that most multinationals operate a few production facilities located in attractive hubs around the world.

So why would anyone propose such a thing? Some industries, like food production, already operate that way. Because of local food regulations, and concerns about spoilage, it is often the case that food companies locate a separate plant in each country that they serve. Chief among these is Heinz, which owns 57 plants outside of North America that, as the company states, "provide products to consumers in those markets..."

Posted to Politics at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

Cat Scratch Fever! chugga chugga chugga

Cat Scratch Fever! chugga chugga chugga

Cat Scratch Fever! chugga chugga chugga

Oh, sorry, just getting ready for Ted Nugent to replace Mike Ditka as the IL GOP's next glimmer of hope. Based, franky, on whether he can control himself enough to avoid saying something really bad, I'm considering throwing this blog's weighty support to the Nuge.

Of course, if that doesn't pan out, they could always choose Jim Oberweis, who finished second in the primary. The IL GOP would need to grow a spine first however.

Posted to Politics at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

Getting to the Facts About the Protect Arizona Now Initiative

OK, so you read the lies from the L.A. Times about Arizona's PAN initiative.

Now, here's "Proposition 200: Cutting Through the Rhetoric and Getting to the Facts About the Protect Arizona Now Initiative":

Large-scale illegal immigration is an important issue in Arizona and much of the rest of the nation, and it is crucial that the facts about Proposition 200 be reported accurately to the voters. What Proposition 200 says and does not say, what it would do and would not do, must be presented accurately so that voters can make an informed choice when they go to the polls on November 2.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the leading immigration policy organization in country, has prepared an analysis of what is contained in Proposition 200, and answers to key questions about the initiative and those who are behind it. "We fully expect that opponents of the initiative will attempt to distort and mislead Arizona voters about Proposition 200," said Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR. "Therefore, it is important for the media and the public to have access to the facts about an initiative that has local and national implications." FAIR staff attorney, Michael Hethmon, is available to discuss and provide additional information about Proposition 200. He can be reached at (202) 328-7004 or at attorney@fairus.org

There's much more. If you live in Arizona, or are otherwise interested, check it out.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 09:25 PM | Comments (6)

George Orwell's spinning speed now up to 45 RPM

It's hard to read the Telegraph UK story "TV code calls for 'bias' warnings" without constantly thinking Orwellian thoughts. Just a few snippets:

Foreign news channels such as Rupert Murdoch's Fox News may be made to carry on-screen "health warnings" under proposed new guidelines published yesterday covering accuracy and impartiality on television...

The rule would only apply to output that was made for an overseas audience rather than broadcasters such as CNN which tailor programmes for a British audience.

Fox News was notorious for taking a gung-ho, unashamedly partisan approach to the Iraq war with presenters talking about "good guys" and "bad guys". Last month, it was censured by Ofcom over complaints about anti-BBC bias...

A MiniTel spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Posted to Politics at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

How to make big money with illegal immigration

No, not the "normal" way such as that allegedly employed by Wal*Mart subcontractors, Tyson Foods, and the like.

There are millions to be made by following the laws, rather than trying to break them:

YAKIMA, Wash., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of legal immigrants residing in Washington state's apple-producing Yakima Valley won a major legal victory yesterday after a U.S. District Court judge certified a class action lawsuit against executives of one of the state's largest orchard owners charging that the executives conspired to depress farmworkers' wages by hiring large numbers of illegal workers to set low wage standards for orchard and packing house work.

The class action lawsuit was originally filed in United States District Court in March of 2000 under the Federal Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and is the first of its kind in the U.S. where legal workers have sued agricultural employers about intentional wage depression through the use of illegal labor.

Now certified as a class action, the suit represents an estimated 20,000 packing house and orchard workers of Zirkle Fruit Company, based in Selah, Washington and those legal workers hired by Selective Employment Agency to work in Zirkle's packing house operations.

Seattle attorney Steve Berman filed the lawsuit on behalf of three named plaintiffs...

Suits like these will raise the TCO ("Total Cost of Ownership") of illegal alien serfs. Hopefully Berman and lawyers who file similar class actions will clean up and the growers will decide that illegal alien serfs just aren't worth it.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:54 PM | Comments (6)

"Malaysia Announces Plans to Expel More Than a Million Illegal Workers"

From the VOA:

The Malaysian government says it is planning a massive expulsion of the estimated 1.2 million illegal foreign workers in the country.

The country's home minister say about 400,000 volunteer corps members will detain and deport the illegal workers. Officials say they are still working on the logistics of transporting and housing so many deportees...

And, from "Government to weed out illegals first":

[Home Affairs Minister Datuk Azmi Khalid] said new laws on the recruitment of foreign workers were also being drafted and there would be amendments to certain legislations to curb the inflow of foreign workers and illegal immigrants.

He warned employers to expel their illegal workers or face hefty penalties.

It's unfortunate that they're going to have a national ID card, but that doesn't mean the U.S. couldn't expel our illegal aliens if we wanted to. If we started cracking down on the employers, untold thousands of illegal aliens would self-deport.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:41 PM | Comments (1)

More on human trafficking

Knight-Ridder: 'Modern slavery' growing in U.S., panel told

Seattle Times: Washington state a hotbed for human trafficking, report says

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

Are Heinz Foundation staffers working for the Kerry campaign?

These rather poorly written blog entries have the scoop, including some real reporting:

"Heinz Foundation Still Working for Kerry Campaign?"

"Kerry Campaign Uh-Oh!"

Posted to Politics at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)

"How Socialist Unions Rule the Democratic Party"

It's not just another anti-union piece from Front Page Mag, they've got the dirt from SEIU's past. Check out "How Socialist Unions Rule the Democratic Party":

This biggest union in the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which by year’s end will have 1.8 million members, at its June convention in San Francisco agreed to spend $40 million for more than 2,000 organizers to work full-time against President Bush in 17 key battleground states. It also plans to supply 50,000 “volunteers” from its members just prior to and on election day. And SEIU will spend an additional $25 million on voter registration, “education” and getting out the vote...

The current president of the SEIU is Andrew Stern, a former New Leftist came out of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an anti-Vietnam War activist. One of the eulogies given at a Democratic Socialists of America memorial after the death of DSA co-founder Michael Harrington gave tribute to “the people who worked with or fought with Mike who now staff high councils of the AFL, like Andy Stern of SEIU….” Stern is one of many radical union organizers who came out of the Midwest Academy which was formed by SDS radicals Heather and Paul Booth to train community organizers and infiltrate the labor movement...

SEIU began as a Chicago-based janitors’ union. It was Stern, using New Left tactics of the 1960s with Sweeney’s approval, who shut down parts of Los Angeles with a “Justice for Janitors” strike that blocked not just one company but city streets as well. These workers, at Stern’s direction, wore red shirts and carried signs depicting brooms held in the clenched fist that symbolizes Marxism...

The article links to "The New Left Takes Over American Unions", quoting the following:

Like the industrial unions in the 1930s, the public-sector unions have pushed the entire labor movement to the left. The Service Employees International Union, or seiu, has embraced organizations with a New Left origin, such as acorn and Cleveland’s Nine to Five, and has even set up its own gay and lesbian caucus. "Most of the radicals who went into labor ended up in the public employee unions," observes one labor official.

The rise of these unions led to the elevation of SEIU’s boss, John Sweeney, to head of the labor federation. No George Meany-style bread-and-butter unionist, Sweeney is an advocate of European-style democratic socialism. He has opened the afl-cio to participation by delegates openly linked to the Communist Party, which enthusiastically backed his ascent. The U.S. Communist Party says it is now "in complete accord" with the afl-cio’s program. "The radical shift in both leadership and policy is a very positive, even historic change," wrote cpusa National Chairman Gus Hall in 1996 after the afl-cio convention.

That alone is enough to send shivers down the spines of many labor activists, particularly those old enough to remember the earlier struggles against the totalitarian left. "All the people we thought we got rid of 40 years ago are back in there," complains one Detroit area labor lawyer close to the United Auto Workers. "It’s like the 1930s all over again..."

Posted to Politics at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

The 'Outfoxed' memos

What purports to be the full text of the 33 Fox News Channel memos featured in 'Outfoxed' are available in a PDF file at this site.

Posted to Politics at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

Da Fix is in

Despite "storming" out of a meeting:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert and several top Republicans, including state house GOP leader Tom Cross, [are] expected to endorse the idea of a Ditka candidacy Wednesday night at the Navy Pier... unknown whether Ditka will attend...

Why would the GOP be so interested in Mike Ditka? Perhaps they think or know that he'll basically do what they want. He'll be colorful, but he won't rock the boat.

Meanwhile, 2nd place primary finisher Jim Oberweis is largely ignored. His apparent sin? Opposing illegal immigration. If the GOP leadership is behind Ditka, expect him to be "compassionate" just like Bush on this issue.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

"Placement save fail: Duplicate entry '1604' for key 1"

The previous post was originally from 7/10/04. I moved it forward in an attempt to solve a MoveableType problem that generated the titular error message.

I got that message when trying to set categories; none of the categories for the most recent posts seemed to stick.

After digging around, I found out that the mt_placement table (MySQL version of MT) maps between entries and one or more categories. The reason the categories I was trying to assign wouldn't take was because MT couldn't write to that table for some reason.

Originally I thought this was an MT problem. I looked at the latest rows in the mt_entry and mt_placement tables, and I couldn't find a problem. I hit on the brilliant idea of trying to insert rows in mt_placement myself, when I got the error message from the MySQL client: "Duplicate entry '1604' for key 1"

Aha! It's not an MT problem, it's a MySQL problem.

First, I archived the current MySQL tables.

Then, I issued the following command in a MySQL window:

mysql>REPAIR TABLE mt_placement QUICK;

That solved the problem.

Posted to Bloggage at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

"Boosting For Billions"

[This post is originally from 7/10/04; see the next post for an explanation]

After its Kerry-Edwards-Stahl kissyfest, 60 Minutes ran a segment called "Boosting For Billions":

"Boosting" is organized shoplifting, and if you think it's a petty crime, think again.

As Correspondent Steve Kroft first reported in February, approximately $10 billion in merchandise is stolen from stores every year -- and retailers are just beginning to realize that a huge chunk of it is being taken by gangs of highly skilled, well-organized professionals from South America...

There may be as many as a 1,000 of these teams operating every day, and about the only the place they are ever captured is on the videotape in store security cameras...

[A cop] has books containing mug shots, and surveillance photos of 2,500 South American gang members known to be operating in the United States. All of them have been arrested at least once; almost all of them are in the country illegally...

...retailers are trying to push a bill through Congress that would treat shoplifting by these rings as a federal felony with penalties of up to 10 years in jail.

Would it be mean-spirited of The Gap and the rest to suggest that - the horror! - the boosters should just be deported? No new laws necessary, just enforce those we already have.

Would Racial Identity groups hold protests in the streets? After, these gangs sound like they're doing the organized shoplifting Americans won't do.

On the other hand, perhaps these retailers who are losing millions of dollars a year might be willing to help get rid of lax immigration policies.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

"CAIR's Phony Petition"

Daniel Pipes discusses CAIR's "Not in the Name of Islam" petition, calling it "CAIR's Phony Petition":

The petition indeed won CAIR a fistful of kudos. Among others, the Associated Press, United Press International, Religion News Service, Washington Post , and Philadelphia Inquirer wrote admiringly of it. I found not a single skeptical word on the topic.

But a close look finds this petition lacking in several ways...

...In conclusion, "Not in the Name of Islam" seeks to clean up Islam's image without doing anything of substance. It manages to do two things at once: impress naive Westerners without upsetting anyone in Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Iraqi Islamist organizations, or other violent groups.

In this, the petition initiative fits CAIR's well-established pattern of obfuscation and insincerity.

I made similar points here.

Posted to Terrorism at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

"Bush official slammed for stopping illegals sweeps"

WND reports on John and Ken's valiant efforts:

Border Patrol agents who executed highly popular roundups of illegal aliens in Southern California last month – the first of their kind in recent memory – say they've been told to stop such enforcement action, and the Bush administration official in charge of the immigration enforcement has refused to say if there would be additional sweeps in the future.

In an extraordinary radio interview [if that link doesn't work, save or play this one --LW] Thursday on Los Angeles talk-radio station KFI, talk-show host John Kobylt grilled Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson about why the roundups had been ended. The official, a former congressman who works under Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, attempted to defend the Bush administration record on immigration enforcement, but was repeatedly pressured by Kobylt to justify the canceling of the sweeps...

Previous coverage starts here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

MoveOn.org and those wacky "liberal" Hollywoodians

The link-laden article "Hollywood Hate Group Assaults Bush" isn't about the K-Dawg concert per se. Rather, it discusses MoveOn's collaborations with certain Hollywood "celebrities." Did you know that Ed Asner was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America? For those fun facts and more, "move on" over to the link.

Posted to Politics at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

"What I Saw at the Kerry-Edwards Hatefest"

Speaking of Fox, one of their reporters rocked down with the K-Dawg, and has some interesting quotes from Meryl Streep. Her debriefing by VRWC operatives includes the following:

"The most cringe-worthy moment came when he actually got up out of his seat and grooved to the Dave Matthews band," Crowley said. "I could have lived without that image in my head."

See also "Rockin' with the K-Dawg".

Posted to Politics at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)

I'm a "reporter" (of a sort) and I don't care

The makers of the newest "documentary" Outfoxed tell us:

We are happy to provide here the full text of the 33 memos if Fox will give us permission. They have been made available by request to reporters.

Thankfully, we have people like an 18-year-old college student to do the heavy work for us:

Only on CableNewser: An initial analysis of the 33 internal FOX memos released on the "Outfoxed" web site suggests they are not as "damning" as some people have suggested. Here are the "highlights," grouped into three categories:

Some of the statements in the memos are questionable:

> 6/3/03: "The national forest as pot field story is pure Fox."
> 4/4/04: Fallujah: "We will cover this hour by hour today, explaining repeatedly why it is happening. It won't be long before some people start to decry the use of 'excessive force.' We won't be among that group."
> 04/28/04: "Let's refer to the US marines we see in the foreground as "sharpshooters" not snipers, which carries a negative connotation."

There are only three items in his "questionable" category, the remaining eight excerpts put Fox in a better light.

Note that if you go to the link above, he's got links to each of the memos. Except, those links no longer work. Whether they don't work because of complaints from Fox or because they found them inconsistent with the message of their "documentary" is unknown.

Posted to Politics at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

More smears, lies from the non-liberal L.A. Times

The LAT prints a guest commentary from Tamar Jacoby entitled "Anti-Immigrant Fever in Arizona":

Call it Proposition 187 redux. Last week, backers of a ballot measure dubbed "Protect Arizona Now" turned in petitions signed by 190,887 residents of that state calling for the initiative to be put to voters in November. The local political establishment was stunned. No one had expected the measure, which would deny state services to illegal immigrants, to garner anything like that kind of support — over 50% more signatures than required to get it on the ballot. If the signatures hold up, Arizonans will pick up where Californians left off 10 years ago, in another ugly battle over immigration...

More important, unlike in California, most Republican elected officials appear to be opposed to the measure. No member of the Arizona congressional delegation, or any other statewide politician, has supported it. And business leaders, who understand the value of immigrant labor, are adamantly against, at least in private meetings...

We owe a debt of thanks to Tamar Jacoby. That last paragraph neatly lays out where the problem lies, and who's responsible. Many current Arizona politicians and businesses are opposed to the will of the great majority of the people. Hopefully Arizonans will go against the wishes of the elites.

As for the L.A. Times, one wonders why they would print a guest commentary like this. They are supposedly an unbiased, non-liberal news source. Why didn't they change the headline of the commentary? It's obviously false and inflammatory: "opposed to illegal immigration" and "anti-immigrant" are two quite distinct things. Why didn't the LAT vet some of Jacoby's statements? Is it perhaps because the LAT agrees with her?

I urge everyone to send an email to the LAT's readers rep: Readers.Rep@latimes.com

Printing Jacoby's opinion is fine. Parroting her lies and smears is not.

See also:

Opponents of 'Protect Arizona Now': funded by a check-cashing firm

"Graf rips Kolbe at candidate forum" (Graf opposes illegal immigration)

(Via this)

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:57 PM | Comments (1)

"D.C. hamstrings border officers"

Here's today's scariest, most disturbing story:

WASHINGTON – Despite increased anti-terror demands, immigration inspectors guarding the nation's borders are laboring under an internal budget crisis that has forced freezes on overtime pay and new hiring – as well as the release of hundreds of illegal immigrants from detention centers.

The funding crisis, which some lawmakers blame on possible financial mismanagement at the Department of Homeland Security, is expected to last at least through the fall...

...detention facilities in some regions have been asked to cut their populations of detained illegal immigrants by as much as 50 percent to save money, according to internal DHS memos obtained by WorldNetDaily. More than 1,600 detainees are in the process of being released inside the U.S. Hundreds more are expected to follow before the election...

Some alarmed members of Congress aren't fully buying [DHS's explanation of problems related to the INS-Customs merger], however.

For example, U.S. Rep. Jim Turner, ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, last month asked the DHS inspector general to conduct an audit of the financial management of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP. The Texas Democrat says the committee has received "numerous reports" of financial problems at the new DHS bureau, possibly resulting from mismanagement.

...officials say DHS decided to freeze hiring at two of its bureaus: CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which is responsible for detaining and deporting illegal immigrants...

...inspections supervisors at major airports say they are under pressure to cut back on overtime staffing, especially for secondary inspections...

Even so, veteran immigration inspectors say morale has sunk to new lows since the merger, which they describe more as a "hostile takeover" by U.S. Customs management...

"Washington views the inspector in the field as the enemy," said a supervisor at another major airport, "and is trying hard to get rid of as many older inspectors as possible..."

Money is so tight, in fact, that some major airports have even begun cutting back on supplies used at inspections booths, such as copying paper, pens and latex gloves, officials say...

Worse, DHS is planning to release thousands of jailed illegal immigrants to save money. It spends about $550 million a year to hold the estimated 24,000 detainees around the country.

And headquarters is discouraging border patrol officers from taking new aliens into custody, according to both officials and internal documents.

"They don't want to capture anybody because they're running out of [jail] space and they don't have the money to hold them," a CBP official said.

An internal CBP memo circulated in the Midwest region reveals that the Detention and Removal division, or D&R, of ICE has been told to cut jail populations in half.

"D&R is feeling the budget crunch, too," said CBP official Richard J. Roster in a recent staff memo. "D&R has been told to cut back lock-up numbers by 50 percent."

"For example, down Kansas City way, they raided a chicken feeding farm and picked up 24 aliens. This will have to stop!" he said in his June 21 memo obtained by WND...

Victor Cerda, acting director of detention and removal operations at ICE, called the administration's new plan to release thousands of jailed illegal immigrants to home confinement "a compassionate alternative..."

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

"Alleged Terror Threat Operates in DC Suburb"

From CNSNews:

Fourteen miles from the U.S. Capitol, a basement-run organization with alleged ties to Hamas and al Qaeda is a crucial link in the planning of any future terrorist attacks against the United States, according to several terrorism experts who analyzed documents and other information obtained in a CNSNews.com investigation.

The United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), based in Springfield, Va., is publicly identified as a Muslim think tank but has multiple ties [warning: PDF file] to the terrorism underworld, according to the CNSNews.com sources, who are both inside and outside government...

I don't know if there's any relation with the recently-raided Islamic Center also in Virginia ("Feds Search Virginia Islamic Center", update here).

Posted to Terrorism at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

MoveOn.org's backup policy

VRWConspirator Matt Drudge is reporting that one of the Bush-Hitler ads is still on MoveOn's server. However, the .mpg file seems to have been moved since then.

Based on the file name (www.moveon.org/images/
renamed.again.renamed.mov.
FKbxnT3hzaHCcOR7vWvRYmZpbGUtMTM4OQ--.mpg) I believe I can come up with a logical explanation.

Obviously, this was just a backup copy. Sure, it's extremely foolhardy to leave your backups online, but - obviously - the kind, gentle folk at MoveOn were a bit distracted in their righteous fight against $hrubCo, his NeoCon handlers, and the Christian Taliban.

Some might point to the fact that moveon.org/images is a forbidden directory, meaning its contents cannot be read by surfers, and say that this link was distributed by MoveOn or its members in some way. How else could Mr. "Sludge" have found out about it?

I will leave speculation about the source for his link elsewhere, suffice it to say the VRWC moves in mysterious ways: "RNC Chairman Statement on Hitler Ad on MoveOn.org Website."

Posted to Politics at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

"I worked in a mill... in Vietnam!"

Now awaiting the merging of the Kerry/Edwards themes...

Posted to Politics at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

JumboJack90040 has a question

The newest member of the John Edwards community has a question:

I'm on the fence, and I hope someone can help me with a few questions.

I read a report where John Edwards said that John Kerry will restore corporate responsibility. That sounds good to me, but I'm worried about John Kerry's plan that would give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

Most of those illegal aliens were employed in violation of our immigration laws. Under Kerry's amnesty, those thousands of corporations that have employed millions of illegal aliens won't be held responsible for violation our laws for years.

In most cases those corporations were fully aware that they were hiring illegal aliens, a federal offense. Does John Kerry intend to punish those corporations, or will he just let them get off?

Also, I read a statistic that I didn't know about before. According to Kerry, "Hispanic-American unemployment has soared more than 30% (and) 1.4 million Hispanic-Americans are out of work."

Yet, Kerry's amnesty will encourage millions more low-wage earning illegal aliens to come to the U.S. That will drive down wages for low-income Hispanic-Americans and African-Americans. How does Kerry intend to provide jobs for millions of low-wage earning American citizens if he's inviting millions of low-wage earning illegal aliens to come here?

Like I said, I'm on the fence, so I hope someone can answer my questions.

Let's see how long "JumboJack90040"'s question lasts before it's deemed not fawning enough. My similar posts were deleted from John Kerry's blog.

In any case, I encourage others to "Moby-lize" the cause, perhaps even doing it in a more subtle way.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

Scariest... photo... ever

If you're ready, click here.

If you need to get the uncomfortable feeling out of your senses, try this. (Just remember, I invented the Batman & Robin meme four days ago).

Posted to Politics at 07:35 PM | Comments (1)

NAACP Chairman Condemns Bush Policies... Again!

From this:

NAACP chairman Julian Bond condemned Bush administration policies on education, the economy and the war in Iraq on Sunday, imploring members of the nation's oldest civil rights organization to increase voter turnout to oust the president from office.
"They preach racial neutrality and practice racial division," Bond said Sunday night in the 95th annual convention's keynote address. "They've tried to patch the leaky economy and every other domestic problem with duct tape and plastic sheets. They write a new constitution of Iraq and they ignore the Constitution here at home..."

Leaders of the group are upset that President Bush has no plans to attend the convention...

Heh.

On the other hand:

...Mr. Bush said Friday he would not attend the meeting because his relationship with the civil-rights organization's leadership is "basically nonexistent" and because he had been ridiculed by some of the group's members.

Mr. Mfume acknowledged that many NAACP members disagree with Mr. Bush's policies, but said he hoped the president would change his mind. He promised a respectful atmosphere if Mr. Bush were to appear.

And, this:

"There are a lot of people I admire in the NAACP who support me," Bush said in an interview with reporters from the Allentown Morning Call and two other Pennsylvania newspapers. But he added: "The current leadership there has made their political decisions clear in very harsh ways. I describe my relationship with the current leadership as basically nonexistent because of their rhetoric."

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said he is disappointed in Bush's decision, adding that the president has refused every request for a dialogue with the group since he was elected.

"If the president has a new mandate that says he will only meet with people that agree with him, then God save our nation," Mfume said...

See also: coverage of the Hunker in the Bunker conference and, from 2001, "Bush to NAACP: maybe next year".

Posted to Politics at 07:32 PM | Comments (1)

"[Japanese] Schoolchildren to be RFID-chipped"

Relax! They aren't implants, they're just putting RFID chips on "kids' schoolbags, name tags or clothing in one Wakayama prefecture school":

RFID is more commonly found in supermarket and other retailers' supply chains, however, companies are now seeking more innovative ways to derive value from the tracking technology...

Indeed.

UPDATE: Drudge alerts us that CNET is basically reprinting this article in "Japan: Schoolkids to be tagged with RFID chips."

Posted to Privacy at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

"Congressman suggests Bush hiding Osama"

From WND:

In a speech to business leaders in India, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., gave credence to a rumor that the U.S. has captured Osama bin Laden and for political reasons is waiting for the right moment to reveal it, according to the Indo-Asian News Service...

The congressman, who made a controversial trip to Baghdad before the war, said the bin Laden scenario may not influence the electorate since Americans are disturbed by the pictures of U.S. soldiers mistreating Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison.

"It is hard to take away the impact that has had on us," he said...

Posted to Politics at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

More pro-illegal immigration puff pieces noted

A brief summary of the rules: a "pro-illegal immigration puff piece" (hereinafter "PIIPP") must mention the name of the person we're to feel Sally Struthers-level sympathy for in the first sentence and must be full of lies and/or vapid platitudes.

Bart Jones, the immigration reporter for Long Island's Newsday, appears to offer a treasure trove of such PIIPPs:

The Newcomers: El Salvador

Mirna ibarra, a junior at Central Islip High School, didn't come to the United States the typical way... Getting a visa to enter the United States was nearly impossible, so Ibarra was smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border and into Los Angeles..." (At least they're legal now.)

For these mothers, the decision to leave behind their children tortures them every day

"Alba Manzanarez hasn't hugged or kissed her children in four years... The goal was to work, make enough money to provide a better life, and eventually bring the girls here by paying a smuggler, which is how she arrived.

And, from the Seattle Press-Intelligencer:

Immigrants' safety net unravels: Elimination of state indigent fund puts many in jeopardy

"Aurelia Baltazar Loza slipped over the Mexican border into the United States with three of her children not long after her husband of 25 years was killed in a traffic accident..."

The earlier post 'Templates, patterns, and selling massive illegal immigration' links to two more.

If you spot a PIIPP, please leave its URL in the comments, I'm trying to collect the whole series.

SIGHTING 07/12/04:
Source:

Sacramento Bee

Title:

"Immigration bill falters as election takes center stage"

Excerpt:

"Peaches are in season, and Leticia Lopez has just spent six hours doubled over a bin, picking out the misfits... The 34-year-old widow finds it difficult and frightening without her family and without papers... She would prefer to be here legally, but economic realities compel her to stay..."

Background information:

John Kerry supports the AgJobs amnesty... Barbara Boxer supports the AgJobs amnesty too... I provide a list of the 400 big ag business, radical groups, and Racial Identity groups that support AgJobs here. Those groups are the ultimate in special interest groups.

Perpetrators:

"Emily Bazar -- Bee Staff Writer -- And Michael Doyle -- Bee Washington Bureau"

Contact:

ebazar@sacbee.com,ombud@sacbee.com

Coming soon: an XML schema similar in format to that above and a web service allowing these PIIPPs to be semi-automatically spotted and archived. Developing...

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

"Seattle labeled 'hot spot' for human cargo"

This is what happens when you refuse to enforce the immigration laws:

Sophisticated criminals are smuggling thousands of people from around the world into Washington -- from Canada, through Sea-Tac Airport and through the Port of Seattle.

Federal and local officials believe that many of them are victims of human trafficking -- working in sweatshops, massage parlors, restaurants and farms here and elsewhere. But because many local law-enforcement agencies have no idea how to identify trafficking victims, very few of them have been found. So the federal government plans to launch an Anti-Trafficking Task Force here in the fall to improve enforcement efforts.

Federal experts believe Seattle's many points of entry make the city one of the nation's top human-trafficking hot spots...

[A federal apparatchik says,] "People don't know that it's happening. A good percentage of those who are trafficked are being trafficked for labor reasons -- to work in migrant camps. They're being held in debt bondage. ... It really is akin to a modern day form of slavery."

Seattle being "immigrant-friendly" (in English: turning a blind eye to illegal immigration), leads to an environment where involuntary illegal immigration can thrive. Seattle - like Los Angeles and other big cities - has a "sanctuary law" and forbids their police officers from asking about someone's immigration status. And, like other political organizations, they'll fold at the first hint of a protest from Racial Identity groups or the Mexican government. If Seattle or the Feds want to get serious about reducing modern-day slavery, they'll start getting serious about illegal immigration.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:24 AM | Comments (2)

Kerry, Edwards doublethink immigration

From "Kerry promises Hispanics immigration plan":

John Kerry promised Hispanics on Saturday that he would send Congress an immigration overhaul plan to make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens.

"Today, our immigration system is broken," [courtesy Ted Kennedy and others --LW] [he told] the League of United Latin American Citizens.

"In my first hundred days as president, I will send a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress," Kerry said...

"Building a stronger America means protecting our values at home," Kerry said. "In the last three years, Hispanic-American unemployment has soared more than 30% (and) 1.4 million Hispanic-Americans are out of work... Millions and millions of hardworking Hispanics who have jobs are getting paid enough to pay the bills..." [sic; presumably that should be "are not getting paid enough..."]

Also Saturday, Edwards [said] "In November, middle-class families will be able to rest assured that John Kerry will look out for their interests, restore corporate responsibility and put our economy back in line with our values."

Both Kerry and Edwards are guilty of classic doublethink.

Edwards supports corporate responsibility, but at the same time they want to turn a blind-eye to those corporations which flagrantly violate our immigration laws. Those employers who've used illegal aliens for years or decades would simply get a pass under the Kerry Amnesty.

And, the Kerry Ammesty will not only not encourage illegal aliens to return to their home countries, it will encourage millions more to come here.

Since about 95% of those new illegal aliens who'll come here will be low-wage workers, they'll drive down already low wages. If Kerry truly cared about un- or under-employed "Hispanic-Americans," he'd seek to reduce the pool of low-wage workers. The Kerry Amnesty will have the exact opposite effect.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:46 PM | Comments (6)

Rockin' with the K-Dawg

From the Boston Herald's "Crude jokes, insults OK with Kerry camp":

When in doubt, play the Vietnam card. That's long been a tactic embraced by Sen. John Kerry and his aides in the face of political trouble.

It's what the Kerry camp resorted to again Thursday to excuse the vile criticism of President Bush by the Democratic nominee's Hollywood backers at a New York fund-raiser.

"Performers have a right to speak their minds even when we don't agree with everything they say. That's the freedom John Kerry put his life on the line to defend," Kerry spokesmen David Wade said...

That Kerry, by his silence, tacitly endorsed the content of his supporters' remarks says something troubling about the tone of his campaign. That he allowed his military service to be used once again like some prop in a movie, says something even more troubling about his character.

The Herald offers a report on the concert here, the NJ Star Legder weighs in, the NYT offers a music review of the concert here, and the Boston Globe article ("Kerry camp on the defensive after celebrities bash Bush") includes this priceless quote from Meryl Streep:

"I wondered to myself through the shock and awe, I wondered which of the megaton bombs Jesus, our president's personal savior, would have personally dropped on the sleeping families in Baghdad."

A full guest list is not provided, and it's not known whether ALF, Danny Bonaduce, Maureen McCormick, or Joyce DeWitt were allowed to visit former fellow Square Whoopi.

Posted to Politics at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)

Arizona: "Graf rips Kolbe at candidate forum"

From the Sierra Vista Herald:

SIERRA VISTA -The issues facing Congressional District 8 have changed, and U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe is no longer the man to represent the critical area that includes much of Arizona's border with Mexico, said Randy Graf.

As Kolbe's Republican primary opponent, Graf, currently an Arizona legislator and leader in the state House of Representatives, said although Kolbe has served the district for 20 years he is out of touch with his constituents and issues...

Graf said Kolbe is so out of touch with his constituents he has even "abandoned Cochise County."

It is ironic that the congressman has scheduled five town halls this month and not one of them is in Cochise County, Graf said...

...Graf said one of the main issues he will dedicate himself to is protecting the border from the influx of illegal immigrants.

He said he believes the military can be put on the border but it will not require the use of tanks, landmines and M-16s.

Rather the military will bring technology to help the U.S. Border Patrol do its job better by using systems to locate illegal intruders, Graf said.

He estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 members of the military would suffice to provide assistance along both borders - with Mexico and Canada...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)

Las Vegas: "Fake voter sign-ups increasing"

From this:

Nevada's position as a battleground state in the presidential election has sparked a surge in fake voter registrations, Clark County's top election official said.

"We've never seen anything close to this," said Larry Lomax, registrar of voters.

So far, the office has flagged several hundred suspicious registration forms, but Lomax believes many more escaped detection among the 5,000 forms coming through his office every week...

some groups are illegally paying for each registration form submitted instead of paying workers by the hour. The practice is against both state and federal law...

Lomax said people have brought completed registration forms to his office and told him they were paid by the form. One person mistakenly included his pay stub in a stack of forms, which showed him being paid by the form, not the hour...

Posted to Politics at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

Illegal or Undocumented: It Still Spells "Slavery"

From this:

A discussion about immigration sometimes ends in an argument over terminology and definitions. Liberals want to use the term ''undocumented workers'' to talk about what conservatives know to be simply illegal immigrants. Perhaps we might end our war of words and agree on a new term that better describes what is happening in America because of the huge influx of immigrants. I propose we go back and use the perfectly good word ''slave.'' Illegal immigrants are in fact the slaves of 21st Century America.

Many employers want illegal immigrants or undocumented workers for the very fact that they are illegal or undocumented. It is their illegal or undocumented status that makes them fit to be slaves...

U.S. society will face a crisis equal to another civil war if it does not deal now with the problem of illegal immigration. Shortsighted businessmen may turn a profit for their companies by employing the new slaves, but in the long term both these businessmen and their companies will suffer. Furthermore, the country itself will be caught in the throes of an upheaval tomorrow that is preventable today. We must emancipate the new slaves as we did the old ones.

The best way to this emancipation is by sending illegal workers back to where they came from and by enforcing our immigration laws. To free the slaves of the 21st Century, you must return them and then prevent employers from corralling new ones. A policy that emphasizes the 3 Ds of homeland security, will do just that: Detect, Detain, and Deport.

Deporting illegal immigrants may seem to lack compassion, but is slavery more compassionate? Compassion for our own citizens dictates also that we stop illegal immigration and then turn our attention to all forms of immigration. Those who seek justice and human rights for illegal immigrants should also seek the same for present and future...

I wouldn't go so far as saying that all illegal immigrants are "slaves," although thousands are. And, the rationlizations made for the continuation of slavery ("The South's economy will collapse!") are very similar to the decades-old plaintive wails of, say, California farmers.

(Via this)

Posted to at 10:39 PM | Comments (1)

In Cuba, they call him simply El Gordo

From this:

Havana, Jul 9 (EFE).- Cubans will no longer have to find pirated copies of the controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the island's illegal "private video libraries" because the government has decided to debut Michael Moore's documentary across the country this month.

The film, a harsh critique of U.S. President George W. Bush, will be shown at all the island's premiere movie theaters beginning July 22, official Cuban television news reported...

Coverage of other markets Mikey is conquering starts here.

(Via this)

Posted to Politics at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

Anti-nerd ordinance passed

The L.A. Times intones:

Worried that cyber cafes are turning into dens of truancy and breeding gang violence, Los Angeles City Council members Wednesday unanimously voted to regulate about 30 businesses where teens and others congregate to use computers.

Dens of iniquity, eh?

A supporter of the latest advances in nannyism can be found here, complete with a few comments. And, see "When cybercafes are outlawed, only outlaws..." And, SoCalLawBlog, source for this here news item, cites a case that will probably result in this being overturned.

UPDATE: Via this comes a report from the industry rep who negotiated the ordinance with our nannies. He thinks it's a victory for the industry, as it could have been worse. Yes, it certainly could have been.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)

"Candidates Court Illegal Immigrants"

From immigration lawyer Matt Hayes:

On June 30, John Kerry went to Phoenix and spoke before the national conference of the race identity group La Raza. By now most Americans know that “La Raza” is Spanish for “The Race,” and also that the media accept that groups such as La Raza are conspicuously race conscious while being intolerant of others for being so.

This may be why Kerry, a presidential candidate of a mainstream political party, didn't see much of a downside in speaking before such an organization. In Kerry's appearance, Americans can see just how far behind its politicians have left the truth. They can also see that most candidates for federal office will propose almost anything if votes are in the offing...

On closer inspection, it's clear that Kerry's pronouncement could have come right out of Orwell. Not a single individual who could benefit from Kerry's amnesty plan has by any definition "played by the rules..."

Posted to Immigration2003 at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)

Illinois GOP cedes senate race to Democratic challenger

Amidst all the talk about Jack Ryan and Seven-o-Nine and Mike Ditka, the craven stupidity of the Illinois GOP has been obscured.

It looks like they'd rather cede the race for Senate to the Democrats than nominate someone who's - horror of all horrors - opposed to illegal immigration:

The Illinois Republican Party took another body blow Thursday, as the candidate considered the favorite by a number of GOP leaders dropped out of the running to replace U.S. Senate nominee Jack Ryan.

State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger said his late entry into the race would have made it nearly impossible to raise the money required to compete effectively against Democrat Barack Obama...

Aurora dairy owner Jim Oberweis argues that his second-place primary finish makes him the "logical" choice.

But many Republicans remain uneasy over TV commercials Oberweis ran during the primary attacking President Bush's immigration reform plans. Oberweis insists he only opposed illegal immigration, but the ads drew fire from immigrant groups and Republicans alike.

"There is a group in the party which obviously is enamored with Mr. Oberweis because he finished second," said DuPage County GOP Chairman Kirk Dillard. "[But] an Oberweis candidacy would present unique problems when it comes to immigration and race and ethnicity, [problems] which I'm not sure we want to take on at this time."

After Oberweis, the remaining 10 names on the list are not exactly household names...

Awww, they're "uneasy..."

See:
Jim Oberweis And The Illinois Senate Race
Oberweis ads rile immigrant groups
Survivor Tribal Council snuffs out fourth torch [Oberweis won't be endorsed by paper]
Tancredo endorses Oberweis for (R) Ill Senate
Congressman helps Oberweis push immigration reform
Primary also-rans in line for ballot spot
GOP told thanks, but no thanks [by Rauschenberger].

Most importantly, contact the IL GOP and let them know what you think:

Judy Baar Topinka, Chairman of the IL GOP:
chairman@ilgop.org
Chicago Office
32 W. Randolph, Suite 1700,
Chicago, IL 60601-3405
Phone: 312/201-9000
Fax: 312/201-1271

(To prep you for your phone call, take a look at her book: 'Here We Dough Again'. Oh boy.)

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

Bush rebuffed by "Latinos"

President Bush hasn't learned:

President Bush made a pitch for his proposed temporary worker program before the nation's largest Hispanic rights group on Thursday.

Bush, via satellite, addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens convention in San Antonio.

Bush proposed allowing legal and illegal immigrants to work in the United States under renewable three-year permits...

On Saturday, LULAC members are expected to hear from Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry.

Some of the other reports of Bush's speech are similarly vapid.

However, the report "President draws criticism at LULAC convention" has some quotes from attendees:

"America is a nation of open doors, and we want it to remain that way," [Bush] said. "Immigrants bring great strength. For this administration, el sueno Americano es para todos (the American dream is for everyone) and we all deserve a chance at the American dream."

But C. R. Contreras, a LULAC member from San Antonio, said she wasn't impressed by Bush's speech or his Spanish phrasing.

"It was political," she said. "He wants my vote. He spoke one sentence in Spanish of which the tone of voice was negative. He confirmed my decision to vote for Kerry."

..."Current law says that we live in a massive undocumented economy," [Bush] said. "The system is not fair and it's not right. My proposal is humane. We need to bring people out of the shadow of American life."

Some members walked out during Bush's speech or didn't attend the luncheon because he was speaking.

Ray Mancera of El Paso left the ballroom when Bush came on the screen.

"As soon as he came on, I walked out," he said. "I'm not interested in what he has to say. I saw how he hurt minorities as governor and he's still doing that on a national level."

Ramiro Robles, the past national president of LULAC, said Bush has not helped Hispanics.

"He has nothing for us," he said. "He caters to the Hispanic community to break us. But we are educated now and we're going to vote."

These quotes reveal the core fallacy of the Bush/Rove Doctrine. Not all members of the same race, ethnic, or cultural-linguistic group think the same. Even little children can see that, but apparently Bush and Rove cannot.

If Bush were reaching out for the African-American Vote, would he cozy up to Spike Lee? Probably so, but, of course, it wouldn't work.

Likewise, rather than reaching out to "Latinos," perhaps Bush should reach out to those people who support border control and immigration reform. That will include large numbers of "Latinos," but it won't include the relatively small number of "Latinos" who support Open Borders. But, that latter group probably wouldn't ever vote for a Republican anyway.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:56 AM | Comments (4)

Socialists line up behind 'Fahrenheit 9/11': New group join Stalinists, Maoists in praise of Moore

From WND:

Already praised by the Communist Party USA and the Revolutionary Communist Party, Michael Moore's hit film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has a new honor – great notices in the today's edition of the Socialist Worker, the newspaper of the International Socialist Organization.

"Millions upon millions of people in the U.S. are terrified at what George W. Bush has in store for them if he wins another four years in the White House," the story reads. "This is the secret of the success of Michael Moore’s 'Fahrenheit 9/11' – a documentary film that exposes the crimes of the Bush presidency, from the war for oil and empire in Iraq to the attacks on working people in the U.S."...

An even worse source is presented here.

Posted to Politics at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

All people must speak out against Richard Riordan's racist remarks!

The protest over former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan calling a young girl a "stupid, dirty girl" is gathering momentum:

LOS ANGELES -- State Education Secretary Richard Riordan jokingly told a child her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl," prompting the head of the California NAACP on Thursday to call for his resignation...

Alice Huffman, president of the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday that Riordan "is not suitable to lead education in our state" and should be removed...

Democratic state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, who had scheduled a protest by civil rights organizations, canceled the demonstration after an apparent mix-up over the girl's racial background.

Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?"

The girl is white, with blonde hair.

Dymally did not return telephone calls. His office issued a statement Wednesday calling Riordan's remarks to the girl "outrageous and irresponsible," then issued another statement Thursday saying, "To err is human; to forgive is divine."

"Race is not a factor in this issue," Dymally said in Thursday's statement, adding that Riordan had apologized a second time. "It is time for us to move on."

What Riordan did was bad, but at least the race pimps showed where they're really coming from.

Dymally - a former Lt. Governor - was last featured here when a presumably private conference he was having with Jackie Goldberg and other "progressives" was inadvertantly broadcast live throughout the Capitol.

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 06:26 PM | Comments (3)

"A lesbian cruise to success"

Welcome google users! I don't usually feature stories about lesbianism, especially when there's kissing involved, but I do need some traffic. Herewith:

Judy Dlugacz knew she was onto something when the cruise ship she had chartered for 400 lesbians arrived in the Turkish port of Kusadasi.

Instead of meeting rejection, as they sometimes did in the United States, the travelers got a red carpet welcome from merchants eager to do business with the "lovely lesbian ladies." The half-million dollars they poured into Turkey's economy made the front pages of Istanbul's major newspapers.

In March, Olivia [the lesbian company Judy Dlugacz founded] became the first business owned and operated by gays to sponsor a professional athlete, signing an endorsement deal with golfer Rosie Jones on the LGPA tour...

This fall, for example, Showtime's lesbian drama "The L-word" will film part of an episode aboard an Olivia cruise to the Caribbean. Cast members are scheduled to socialize with guests at the company's first shipboard film festival and be serenaded by Shawn Colvin and Indigo Girls...

For many guests, an Olivia vacation is the first time they can openly hold hands and kiss while they travel...

Posted to Miscellania at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)

The Financial Times on John & Ken against the White House

From the Financial Times of London:

Asa Hutchinson, under-secretary at the Homeland Security Department, surely has a lot on his mind. Now he has to contend with the fall-out from John and Ken, the hosts of Los Angeles' most popular drive-time talk show, who told listeners to give him a piece of their mind.

Brimming with bile, they announced the White House had called to demand Hutchinson's phone number and e-mail address be removed from their KFI 640 station website.

Claiming they had been informed that "thousands" of messages were jamming the system and preventing Hutchinson from getting his job done, the hosts responded by repeating his contact details on air.

Hutchinson's first mistake, by their account, was to call off a series of sweeps by the Border Patrol - which had netted more than 400 undocumented immigrants in the LA area - and to propose that the patrolmen stick closer to the Mexican border. The duo had hailed the actions as a long-overdue counter to the flood of "illegal aliens", who, they have claimed ad nauseam, number 2m in southern California and cost taxpayers $5bn a year.

Hutchinson's second mistake was to imagine that a "swill-spewing spokeshole" (their generic term for all media officials) from the Bush administration would carry any weight with them. "We're terrified!" bawled John Kobylt, relishing the recognition. "It's John and Ken against the White House."

Previous coverage starts here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

"Bush Ties to Enron, Big Business Back in Spotlight"

That's the headline of a new report from Reuters: "Bush Ties to Enron, Big Business Back in Spotlight."

The title "Teresa Heinz-Kerry Ties to Enron, Big Business Back in Spotlight" apparently got lost on the editing room floor.

Posted to Politics at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)

"Slavery in U.S. is growing, Senate told"

From Knight-Ridder:

WASHINGTON - The trafficking of human beings constitutes a "growth industry" in the United States, with more than 15,000 people forced into bondage each year as sex slaves or captive laborers, according to testimony before a Senate panel Wednesday...

Previously: a discussion of the controversy surrounding the NYT report about sex slaves in the U.S.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

Opponents of 'Protect Arizona Now': funded by a check-cashing firm

The 'Protect Arizona Now' initiative seeks to limit illegal immigration by requiring proof of citizenship before voting or receiving some public handouts. They recently turned in more than enough signatures to get on the ballot, and, since 70% of Arizonans support the initiative, it stands a good chance of being passed.

On the other side is a group calling itself the "Statue of Liberty Coalition." The Sonoran Times follows the money:

[The "Statue of Liberty Coalition"] have spent all but $76.45 of the $38,480 they've received in contributions, $15,000 of which was paid to Joel Wright and Associates for polling, with $23,000 to Wright Consulting, at the same address in Strawberry, for consulting fees. STC spent $267.55 on video equipment rentals. The rest was paid to Wells Fargo for bank fees.

Over half of STC's contributions came from two sources,
Los Abogados, the currently defunct Hispanic Bar Association of Maricopa County, contributed a total of $10,000.

The nonprofit organization was dissolved by the Arizona Corporation Commission on January 13, 2004 for failure to file their last two annual reports.

Members include Rep. Ben Miranda, D-16, who called Rep. Randy Graf, R-30, a "racist and an uneducated fool" because of his support of the PAN initiative...

Cambrio Express, listed on the campaign finance report as a check-cashing service, also contributed $10,000.

There is no record of a business by the name of Cambrio Express listed with the Arizona Corporation Commission.

However there is a listing for Cambrio Express under the Cash Now.com website, calling it "a foreign exchange business that can be operated as a stand-alone business or in conjunction with a Cash Now or Cash Express business."

The chairman of the "Statue of Liberty Coalition" is Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, last mentioned here. At the time, I sent her a polite email asking for clarification of the smears she stated in the article and, naturally, no reply ever came.

And, as can be expected, an Arizona Republic columnist came out in support of the check-cashing funded PAC in "Protecting Arizona from Protect Arizona Now."

Another member of the "Statue of Liberty Coalition" is Chad Campbell. A web search shows a person by that name as the Program Director of the Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation:

The Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation is a broad-based, non-partisan coalition of grassroots and advocacy organizations, individuals, and leaders that promotes social justice and articulates and advocates a people's agenda.

Their "Current Organizational Members" include a few mainstream "progressive" organizations as well as the Young Democratic Socialists.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:33 PM | Comments (3)

"Weapons of Mass Distortion: The coming meltdown of the liberal media."

National Review has an excerpt from Brent Bozell's new book "Weapons of Mass Distortion: The coming meltdown of the liberal media." Here's an illustrative anecdote:

...The media's pervasive bias determines precisely which stories are (and are not) covered, and in how much detail. Indeed, the media elite deliberately attempt to set the national agenda through their coverage of the news.

I have learned this firsthand in a career spent closely analyzing the news media, but the point was driven home to me several years ago at a meeting with a Los Angeles newspaper. The Media Research Center had just released an exhaustive study regarding liberal bias in the news media, and I was scheduled to meet with the editorial board of the (now-defunct) Los Angeles Herald-Examiner to discuss the report's findings. When I arrived, however, I was ushered into the conference room and met by a solitary figure, a member of the editorial board obviously pegged with the unsavory assignment of listening to this pesky conservative. The ponytailed hair and the cold body language - he silently pointed me to a chair - hinted that this would be anything but a productive meeting. I made an opening statement, then passed him the voluminous report we were to discuss. Without bothering to open it, the editor shoved it back at me and unleashed a vitriolic harangue against conservatives. Niceties flew out the window as he snarled, "All you conservatives care about is making money!" Clearly we weren't going to discuss the report, so I asked him what liberals like him cared about. Without bothering to deny my description of his ideological persuasion, he quickly shot back, "You just don't get it: We are the social conscience of this country and we have an obligation to use the media..."

Posted to Politics at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

John Edwards, One-Worlder

From "Bilderberg 'performance' key to Edwards VP pick":

Sen. John Edwards' standout "performance" at the super-secret Bilderberg meeting in Italy last month may have been a key reason for his selection as John Kerry's vice presidential running mate, according to the New York Times.

The 50th anniversary conference of the elite group - which many believe conspires semi-annually to foster global government - met June 3 through June 6 in Stresa, Italy, at the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees...

The NYT report is here, the full Bilderberger guest list is here, and a web site with more Bilderberger information than it's safe to know is here.

Posted to Politics at 10:11 AM | Comments (1)

Lonewacko, Art Bell taken for ride through Chernobyl

Remember the previous post about plucky Ukrainian 'Elena' and her site featuring pictures supposedly taken when riding her motorcycle through Chernobyl?

Via our giant antenna, we've just learned that her site was a hoax:

PRIPYAT, Ukraine — Kate Brown began thinking about visiting this high-rise ghost town in the mid-1990s, when she was researching a book about the region before it was evacuated after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Then she saw a website about a young woman's lone motorcycle rides through Chernobyl's exclusion zone. The site, http://www.kiddofspeed.com , attracted tens of millions of viewers and became the most-visited site on Angelfire.com, a Web page hosting service...

"Elena," whom several Internet sources identified as Lena Filatova of Kiev, has been described as "fearless," "heroic" and "seriously whacked" in the virtual chatter the website generated...

"That story is not true! She did not ride a motorcycle alone in the zone! She came with her husband and a friend on a regular tour," insisted Rimma Kyselytsia, who was the group's official guide. She identified the woman in the images on the website as Filatova and has the documents to show that Filatova's tour was organized by a Kiev travel agency and that her party traveled in a car provided by Chernobylinterinform, the agency that ushers all visitors to the exclusion zone...

On behalf of myself, Art Bell, George Noory, John Lear, Richard C. Hoagland, and all the ships in deep space, dwelling beneath the earth's crust, and on either side of the Rockies, I apologize for any confusion. And, remember, if you don't read it in a quality news source like the L.A. Times, it might be false. Especially those things you find on that Internet thing.

Posted to Miscellania at 09:33 PM | Comments (2)

Searchable transcripts of John Edwards' trials?

Wouldn't that be fun? I'm sure someone somewhere is combing through the public records as we speak.

In the meantime, Ann Coulter's starting on the work:

In one of Edwards' silver-tongued arguments to the jury on behalf of a girl born with cerebral palsy, he claimed he was channeling the unborn baby girl, Jennifer Campbell, who was speaking to the jurors through him:

"She said at 3, 'I'm fine.' She said at 4, 'I'm having a little trouble, but I'm doing OK.' Five, she said, 'I'm having problems.' At 5:30, she said, 'I need out.'"

She's saying, "My lawyer needs a new Jaguar ... "

"She speaks to you through me and I have to tell you right now – I didn't plan to talk about this – right now I feel her. I feel her presence. She's inside me, and she's talking to you."

Well, tell her to pipe down, would you? I'm trying to hear the evidence in a malpractice lawsuit.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde on the death of Little Nell, one must have a heart of stone to read this without laughing. What is this guy, a tent-show preacher? An off-the-strip Las Vegas lounge psychic couldn't get away with this routine.

Posted to Politics at 06:50 PM | Comments (0)

"American Hero Treated With Shameful Disrespect"

California Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy on the largely ignored Jeremiah Denton story:

In March, the Democrat leadership gave its blessing to a boisterous martial arts demonstration in the Assembly chamber. This week, they refused to allow one of America's great war heroes to give a patriotic speech at a Fourth of July celebration in that same chamber...

Ironically, [the Democrat leadership] are afraid of giving aid and comfort to their own nation. They even seem to fear that we will be successful on the battlefield. What's good for America is bad for Democrats.

So they tried to silence Admiral Jeremiah Denton. They didn't succeed. They did force the speech to be moved from the spacious Assembly floor to a cramped conference room. It was a moving ceremony. One courageous Democrat, Assemblyman John Dutra, gave the invocation. World War II veterans -- including Pearl Harbor survivors and Tuskegee airmen -- responded enthusiastically...

Previous coverage starts here.

Posted to California at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)

John & Ken take on the White House's Director of Radio

From the website of KFI (AM-Los Angeles) talk jocks John & Ken:

Trey Bohn is the Director of Radio, Office of Media Affairs, for the White House and he wants you to stop e-mailing Asa Hutchinson, Undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Trey wants you to use a generic e-mail address, where you letters may or may not be seen. If you get a chance, why not give Trey a call and remind him who pays his salary. Call Trey at (202) 456-3851

If you're completely confused, here's the summary: John & Ken posted the emails and phone numbers of various officials, encouraging their listeners to give those officials a call in support of the recent sweeps against illegal immigrants.

Someone claiming to be from the DHS called and complained, asking that Asa Hutchinson's email be removed. He supposedly couldn't get his work done because of all the calls and emails.

Then, Trey Bohn from the White House called and asked that they stop it.

UPDATE: The Financial Times of London has a report here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

Fahrenheit 9/11 gets rave review!

...Where the film really shines is in its main objective of painting a portrait of the American president. Bush is presented as a man ill-equipped for his position, who stumbled his way into power, while lacking the basic intellect, charm and proper etiquette expected from a statesman.

Through the subtle use of off-air footage of Bush in his natural state, viewers are shocked as they witness his hardly appropriate behavior and often-juvenile mannerisms. An extended scene in which a befuddled Bush continues to read along with a classroom of children upon learning that the US was under attack on September 11 is especially painful to watch, even for his opponents...

Continue reading "A searing portrait of Bush's America"

In earlier reviews, People's Daily Online's review is here.

Posted to Politics at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)

Schwarzenegger makes yet another bad choice

Governor Arnold has come out in favor of Proposition 69:

Proposition 69 requires convicted felons and those arrested for rape and murder to give DNA, collected by mouth swab, not blood, for a statewide database.

Starting in 2009, all felony arrestees will also be tested, but those not convicted can have their sample removed from the database. Taking DNA during the booking process at the same time as old-fashioned fingerprints and mug shots provides police a proven high tech suspect identification tool that results in accurate investigations. No wasted time chasing false leads, the 21st century DNA fingerprint provides proof-positive evidence of innocence or guilt...

Bear in mind what it says above. All those arrested for felony crimes will have their DNA taken. Sure, they can supposedly have it removed, but, many's the slip twixt the request and the response.

If there was ever a John Walsh proposition, this is it. Some people will no doubt feel all warm and safe inside while the government is demanding more and more private and personal information from them.

(Via this)

Posted to California at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)

Batman, Robin ask: "Are you ready to rock, Cleveland?"

Posted to Politics at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

Bubba tells them what they want to hear, Part #8,492,125

It's the small things that tell you so much, ain't it?

A claim by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in his biography "My Life" that his wife Hillary was named after New Zealand's Edmund Hillary, regarded as the first man to climb Mt Everest, has been questioned...

Clinton recalls visiting New Zealand in 1999 for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and wrote that his "biggest thrill" of the visit was meeting Edmund Hillary. However, the book fails to mention that the New Zealander reached the summit of the world's highest mountain in 1953, about six years after Hillary Clinton was born, NZPA noted. (Kyodo News)

Posted to Politics at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

"What was the key lesson learned on the Blogging Across America tour?"

People frequently ask me, "What was the key lesson learned on the Blogging Across America tour?"

And, I tell them in all seriousness, the key lesson learned - the one bit of info I find most perplexing - is this: there are no Chinese steam table restaurants outside California.

For those "foreigners" among you, these restaurants are generally located in small mini-malls. They feature a small seating area with about a dozen seats. There's a counter containing a steam table in which are set several dishes. For about $4 you can get rice, chow mein, and two main dishes. Note that that's not the same as a "Chinese buffet" where one can expect to pay more; most buffet places are also more sit-down oriented.

In all my travels throughout the entire four month Blogging Across America tour, I did not find a Chinese steam table to-go type of place except in California. The moment you enter California - in Blythe - suddenly there it is. Perhaps it has something to do with health codes, or perhaps California is just leading the nation. Yet again.

Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 08:46 PM | Comments (1)

Iranian Intel Officers Captured in Iraq

From this:

American and Iraqi joint patrols, along with U.S. Special Operations teams, captured two men with explosives in Baghdad on Monday who identified themselves as Iranian intelligence officers, FOX News has confirmed...

(Link via Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds)

Posted to Iraq at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)

L.A. panel on journalist visas Wed. July 7, 2004

Via Matt Welch:

I'm writing to encourage you to attend the L.A. Press Club's news-making panel about how LAX border guards have been stopping European and Australian reporters at the airport, cuffing and searching them, and shipping them back home, for failing to have a previously undemanded Journalist Visa. Its tomorrow (Wednesday) night at the Press Club's seminar room, 6464 Sunset Blvd., 8th floor. Drinks & snacks are served at 6:30, and the discussion begins at 7:30; $5 for members, $20 for non- (price covers drinks). RSVP to info@lapressclub.org, or call 323-469-8180 (more details pasted below). I'm moderating.

It sounds interesting, but... $20? In 99 Cents Only Store terms and speaking about drinks, that's almost 130 pounds worth of Diet Shasta cola. I might go, but the admission fee is a strong disencentive.

Previous L.A. Press Club coverage starts here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Far-lefty Marc Cooper prints the other side of the story from an anonymous DHS employee. (Via this)

Posted to Los_Angeles at 05:25 PM | Comments (3)

The White House is complaining about KFI's John & Ken

The previous report "The Feds threatened L.A. radio station KFI?" has been partially confirmed.

According to today's John & Ken show (KFI-Los Angeles), a press secretary at the White House has contacted Ray Lopez, John & Ken's producer, and asked them to stop giving out Asa Hutchinson's phone number. No mention has been made of whether the threat to ban KFI reporters from DHS press conferences stands. However, the fact that the White House is now complaining strongly indicates that the call mentioned in the earlier post was not a hoax.

Apparently Asa can't get his work done because of all the calls from KFI listeners complaining about lax immigration enforcement.

Perhaps if they listened to the vast majority of citizens they wouldn't be facing this problem.

Thankfully, John & Ken don't appear to be giving in.

The White House has offered an alternate email address for Asa, but it apparently is just an unread drop-box.

UPDATE: The complaints are coming from Trey Bohn, the White House's Director of Radio.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:15 PM | Comments (6)

"Edwards One of the Privileged, Data Show"

The AP has details about Edwards' wealth:

John Edwards rose to political prominence criticizing President Bush for creating ``two Americas,'' one for the privileged and one for everyone else. A look at his finances shows he's one of the privileged...

Posted to Politics at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

"[California's] biggest threat is illegal immigration"

From U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly:

Illegal immigration, more than any other single factor, is crippling major segments of California's economy, from health care to higher education to jobs. That's why, regardless of the security concerns -- and there are many -- Schwarzenegger should not sign any bill granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

This is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue. Exit polls conducted during last year's recall showed that 39 percent of the recall voters identified themselves as Republican. Yet 70 percent told pollsters the license law that was then in effect should be repealed...

A driver's license would be one more enticement. Instead of offering driver's licenses, we must remove the enticements we now offer.

Anyone, whether here legally or not, should not be denied emergency care. But illegal immigrants use hospital emergency rooms for general care. As a result, 82 percent of the state's emergency rooms lost money in 2002, according to the California Medical Association...

Illegal immigration also hurts our native working poor's ability to attain Section 8 housing. By state law, illegal immigrants are barred from Section 8 housing. But the law is not enforced. So illegal immigrants fill public housing while a several-generation U.S. mother lives in her car with three children because she's on a six-year waiting list.

In California, illegal immigrants attend state universities at in-state tuition rates. That's grossly unfair to a legal high school student who moves out of California for a year, then returns to attend college. That student will pay $16,956 a year more than an illegal student -- who shouldn't be entitled to attend anyway...

It's impossible to return California's economy to a solid footing without addressing illegal immigration. It's true that the federal government needs to step up enforcement, and I am working with my congressional colleagues to do so. But as long as we offer free health care, jobs, heavily subsidized higher education, subsidized housing and other enticements, illegal immigrants will risk life and limb to come here.

For the health of our state's economy, Schwarzenegger should declare any future driver's license bill dead on arrival and begin reversing state laws and policies that serve as a lure to illegal immigrants.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:36 PM | Comments (5)

* Edwards Has "Never Done Any Serious Farming."

This anti-John Edwards Talking Point (#492 of a series) was brought to you by the RNC.

(Via the wacky liberaltarians at Reason)

Posted to Politics at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

Edwards and MALDEF

Last year, John Edwards spoke to MALDEF, and the speech is here

What's interesting is that he's speaking to MALDEF, a far-left group which is not a grass-roots group, but which was founded by the Ford Foundation.

In his speech, Edwards praises affirmative action; Kerry - for a brief moment - said there were problem with AA, but then quickly changed his mind.

Edwards states "I'd reduce the size of high schools..." California recently passed a $10 billion bond measure to build new schools. After that money is spent, the LAUSD will still be 35,000 seats short...

Edwards affirms his support for the DREAM Act, which would in effect take discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens - many of them Hispanics and African-Americans - and give those discounted college educations to citizens of other countries.

Posted to Politics at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)

KERRY PICKS BOREDOM, DEFEAT TRIAL LAWYER

Oh, I'm sorry, here's the correct headline:

KERRY


PICKS


GEPHARDT

KERRY


PICKS


TRIAL LAWYER

I don't want Bush to win, but I certainly don't want Kerry to win. But, as when we're watching baseball and the score is 11-3, we frequently wish the other team would get just a few more runs just so it was at least a game. While I don't dislike Gephardt personally, for the sake of having at least a contest it would have been nicer if he'd chosen Edwards or even Howard Dean. On the upside, Gephardt will help Lurch look like Mr. Excitement.

Of course, this could all be a false rumor started by either Kerry, Gephardt, or even someone else. A likely suspect might be Howard Dean, in an attempt to give Kerry last minute second thoughts.

"Of course, this could all be a false rumor"

Indeed.

UPDATE: Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds weighs in with a roundup here. TalkLeft is "ecstatic" here. PoliBlogger has another roundup.

Posted to Politics at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

What happened to the Lone Wacko Wilderness Guide?

As you may note from the address bar in your browser, this page is in the blog folder in the lonewacko folder.

Some of you may have never been to the upper reaches of the lonewacko folder; some of you may have never been to the blog, prefering to stay in the lonewacko folder.

Now, they are one and the same; the Lonewacko Blog has consumed and subsummed the Lone Wacko Wilderness Guide into the greater Lonewacko Blogging Collective.

The few pages from the main lonewacko folder are available in the sidebar in the 'Permanent Features' section. For those who want to reminisce, what was formerly lonewacko.com/index.html is now lonewacko.com/lwwg.html.

If there are problems with the new scheme, please leave a comment here.

Of course, one of these days I'm going to use a hosting company that doesn't restrict me to just one domain name. In that case I can have real sites for each of the ten or so domain names I have. Some of those domains are just parked or redirects from a .net to a .com, but it'd be nice not to have to deal with all of these redirects and circumnavigations.

Posted to Bloggage at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

The Petition for the L.A. County Seal is Now Available

...In the 'Downloads' section of OurFirstAmendment.org

Posted to Los_Angeles at 07:39 PM | Comments (1)

Templates, patterns, and selling massive illegal immigration

You read enough newspaper reports about immigration, and you start noticing certain patterns.

For instance, I've read several articles that have all or most of the following characteristics:

• They're all designed to make massive illegal immigration acceptable.

• They're all based on one or two sympathetic illegal aliens.

• Those aliens are only identified by first name, because the illegal aliens state in the article that they're afraid of being deported.

• The very first sentence of the article mentions the name of the illegal alien and includes some reference to their plight.

• The phrase "American dream" is used somewhere.

• Other lies, platitudes and the like are sprinkled throughout: we're a nation of immigrants, illegal aliens take the jobs Americans don't want, etc. etc.

• The general weepy tone of the article would make even Sally Struthers ashamed of having written it.

Having seen several articles like this, I get the feeling that it's more than just a coincidence. Unfortunately, we can't count on the non-liberal media to investigate these type of stories, since the media are the ones perpetrating them.

Maybe it's the AILA or a similar organization feeding these stories to the media, or maybe the reporters just read each others' advocacy pieces and - rather than thinking - decide to churn out something along the same lines.

Here's the latest example, from today's Duluth News Tribune:

As Maria watched her children play along the beaches of Moose Lake on Independence Day, she recounted how she nearly made the ultimate sacrifice for their freedom...

Now, compare that article to the one I discussed just a few days ago:

College shouldn't be difficult for Joaquin, who mastered Advanced Placement classes in a language he learned only four years ago and recently graduated 12th in his high school class...

I'll search my archives and the web for other articles that fit this template. Stay tuned for the Grand Unifying Theory of mass-illegal immigration advocacy.

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 07:28 PM | Comments (1)

"Almost 2m living in France's angry ghettos"

From al-Guardian:

Almost 2 million French citizens are living in newly created urban ghettos in an environment characterised by anti-French feeling, racial hatred and the oppression of women, according to a French intelligence agency report leaked yesterday.

The report, parts of which were published in Le Monde, concluded that approximately 1.8 million people across France were living in places which were either "already ghettos or on the way to becoming them".

The study is set to reignite the debate over France's struggle to integrate its immigrant population and its inability to cope with rising unemployment, sexual inequality and growing fundamentalism in its urban sink estates...

...Most of the "sensitive suburbs" are run-down housing estates built by the French government between the 50s and 70s to house immigrant workers.

The intelligence body based its definition on a range of criteria encompassing high immigration levels, high levels of non-French speakers at school, the presence of anti-semitic and anti-western graffiti, growing numbers of inhabitants wearing religious or oriental dress, and a growth in Muslim religious institutions. They reported that more than 300 areas were already ghettoised. The report added that the wealthier inhabitants "usually of European descent" were moving out en masse...

See also the almost two year old article 'The Barbarians at the Gates of Paris'.

Previous coverage of Europe's immigration problems starts here.

Posted to Immigration_euro at 07:03 PM | Comments (1)

The many uses of the ballot box

From the SacBee:

A Republican running against U.S. Rep. Howard Berman wants to place a measure on the November ballot that would return the tiny image of a cross to the Los Angeles County seal...

Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Don Knabe supported keeping the cross, saying ACLU's threatened lawsuit was akin to religious censorship. Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Gloria Molina and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke voted to seek a compromise with the ACLU to replace the cross with other historic images.

Now, GOP candidate David Hernandez is trying to collect 170,606 signatures by Friday to get a measure on the ballot that would restore the cross to the county seal...

The longer-term solution is to vote out Zev, Gloria, Yvonne, and other politicians who share their viewpoints.

(Via this)

Posted to Los_Angeles at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)

More sleaze from the non-liberal media

Per Drudge:

VP Cheney dropped his personal physician from his medical team, his aides said Sunday, as NEW YORKER mag reported the doctor has 'history of abusing prescription narcotics'...

Drudge reports that the physician in question is Dr. Gary Malakoff. Note, of course, that the allegations are only against the doctor and Cheney is not under suspicion.

Meanwhile, stories like the ties between Teresa Heinz-Kerry and Ken Lay remain uncovered.

Posted to Politics at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)

John Kerry takes aim at "big-city liberal" image; a moose looks on

Posted to Politics at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

"Iraq Official Heading Oil-For-Food Probe Killed"

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi official heading the investigation into alleged corruption in the United Nations oil-for-food program was killed in a bomb attack earlier this week, officials familiar with the probe said on Saturday.

Posted to Iraq at 03:36 PM | Comments (0)

Make an easy $560,000 now, ask me how

Michael Moore is considering offering a reward:

"There is not a single factual error in [Fahrenheit 9/11]. I'm thinking of offering a $10,000 reward for anyone that can find a single fact that's wrong."

Here's a list of "Fifty-six Deceits in Fahrenheit 911". And, there are several other errors noted in "More Distortions From Michael Moore".

Posted to Politics at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)

"Calif. Dems Block July 4th Tribute to Vietnam Hero"

NewsMax has picked up the story covered in yesterday's post: "Calif. Dems Block July 4th Tribute to Vietnam Hero". It's based on John Campbell's report, with no new information. But, to recap:

Democrats usually turn livid over the slightest hint that their patriotism is being challenged. But the actions of California's Democrat-controlled State Assembly this week have certainly given critics a lot of ammunition...

Republican Assemblyman Jay LaSuer of San Diego had arranged for Vietnam war hero Admiral Jeremiah Denton to come to California to be a part of a 4th of July ceremony held on the Assembly floor...

According to Golden State Assembly Republican John Campbell, "the Democratic leadership refused to allow [Denton] on the Assembly floor and there will be no 4th of July celebration."

A memo from the Democratic speaker's office cited "problems . . . with regards to the spirit, content and participation of various individuals with regard to the ceremony..."

WorldNetDaily has also picked up on it: "California GOP: Democrats shunned war hero". That too is based on Campbell's article.

Human Events reprints John Campbell's article.

The Washington Times adds a bit more information:

Nick Velasquez, spokesman for Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez, Los Angeles Democrat [contact info here --LW], said the issue was resolved because the governor agreed to honor Adm. Denton in his office. Mr. Velasquez also said the Assembly honored the holiday by passing a resolution Monday, but didn't have time for other ceremonies because they were in the midst of budget negotiations and other pressing business.

But Mr. Campbell notes in his memo that on the day Republicans wanted to honor Adm. Denton, the Assembly held a nearly 20-minute ceremony honoring a Los Angeles Times reporter.

Now, let's turn to the non-liberal media and see how they're covering this story.

The non-liberal L.A. Times' last mention of "Jeremiah Denton" was in CalendarLive in 1999.

OK, maybe their search isn't working. Let's try SFGate.com. Oops, nothing at all there. SacBee.com? One result: a list of undeliverable tax refunds from 2003.

I'm sure the non-liberal media would cover this story if it were important enough.

Posted to California at 10:51 AM | Comments (3)

Yes, but will he be burned at the stake?

John Kerry has been indicted - for heresy.

It gets even more interesting:

On 14 June 2004 DE FIDE filed its first Libellus Litis (Bill of Complaint) in the Ecclesiastical Court of the Archdiocese of Boston. The Criminal Complaint alleges that United States Senator JOHN F. KERRY, as a baptized Catholic, has committed a court-martial offense under Canon Law by professing the Right-to-Murder heresy, commonly known as the "Right to Choose" doctrine.

The Complaint is currently under review by the Archdiocese of Boston. Once accepted, the arguments and evidence will be considered by a collegiate panel of three judges nominated to evaluate the merits of the case. When created, the Court will summon Defendant KERRY to trial for the presentation of any arguments the Defense may attempt to invoke.

As this criminal case is unprecedented both historically and procedurally under the new Code of Canon Law of 1983, all Catholic and Protestant Christians, even the non-baptized, may, and are invited to join this class-action suit...

The WashTimes' report is here, and Mother Jones plays the Papist card here.

Go to this page to join the suit.

Posted to Politics at 06:29 PM | Comments (0)

"Democrats Block Independence Day Celebration"

From Assemblyman John Campbell:

In each of the 4 years that I have been a member of the state Assembly, we have had many "celebrations" on the Assembly floor. These "celebrations" are orchestrated by the Democrats who control the House and often involve singing and dancing. Every one of my 4 years have seen substantial celebrations of Cinco de Mayo (Commemorates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla), St. Patrick's Day (for the patron Saint of Ireland) and Chinese New Year's Day, among others. But never once have we celebrated America's Independence Day, the 4th of July.

So, this year, Republican Assemblyman Jay LaSuer of San Diego arranged for Vietnam war hero Admiral Jeremiah Denton to come to California to be a part of a 4th of July ceremony. As you may know, Admiral Denton was a Navy pilot in Vietnam who was shot down and spent 8 years in a Vietnamese prison...

The Democratic leadership refused to allow him on the Assembly floor and there will be no 4th of July celebration. A memo from the Democratic speaker's office said "problems have arisen both with regards to the spirit, content and participation of various individuals with regard to the ceremony." Apparently, they said that he did not believe in the "separation of church and state" and they didn't like the policies he supported as a United States Senator and therefore they would not allow him to be on the Assembly floor or to speak.

Upon hearing about this, Governor Schwarzenegger offered his meeting room last Monday for a ceremony with Admiral Denton. The room was overflowing with people. Only one elected Democrat was in attendance. A number of veterans of the last 4 wars were present. Admiral Denton gave a very moving speech about the 4th of July and about the undeniable commitment of our founding fathers' to their faith in God. He talked about how the war on terrorism may be the most difficult war we have yet fought. And he went on to say that he fears that partisan attacks on our mission and our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan sound too familiar to what he experienced in Vietnam. Following his speech, The Governor came out to personally spend time with him.

And, here's the email sent out by Democrat Speaker Fabian Nunez:

"Problems have arisen both with regards to the spirit, content and participation of various individuals with regard to the ceremony on June 28th. More importantly this celebration was intended to celebrate the Fourth of July. The celebration was represented as one resolution, a couple of speakers on each side of the resolution and a song. It has now turned into a ceremony more in line with Veterans Day and with ideological overtones that were not presented or agreed to. We are hoping these issues can be resolved - if not I doubt the Speaker will ok the proceedings."

Part of the Democrat's problem is certainly caused by partisanship. However, confusion probably also plays a role. Many of these Democrats are simply confused over which country they represent.

If you'd like to send a polite message to Nunez, here's his contact information:

Capitol Office
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0046
(916) 319-2046

District Office
320 West 4th Street
Room 1050
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 620-4646

Assemblymember.Nunez@assembly.ca.gov

Posted to California at 04:40 PM | Comments (5)

Uh oh, here come the Intolerance Police

The WaPo article on yesterday's raid at an Islamic institute puts things in a rather odd way:

Federal agents yesterday swarmed into an Islamic institute in Northern Virginia that has been the target of a joint U.S.-Saudi crackdown over allegations that it promoted an intolerant brand of Islam...

Last I looked, promoting intolerance per se is not a crime. I certainly hope the WaPo just got that wrong.

While arresting and deporting people based on visa violations may or may not be a pretext, one hopes that the Feds have evidence of a tangible connection between those at the Institute and terrorists or planned terrorist activities.

Based on past reports, there might just be. However, just being intolerant is not yet a crime.

Posted to TheSaudis at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)

Is it possible to dislike all of these people?

First there's this:

"The Carlyle Group - which [Moore] bashes in the movie as some sort of shadowy war profiteering company - has become part owner of Loews Cinemas, which is currently showing his film."

Then there's this:

According to the firm's web site , 5.5 percent of the Carlyle Group, one of the primary villains alleged to have provided the Saudi-Bush link in Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11, is owned by the California Public Employees Retirement System.

UPDATE: On the other hand, due to the agreement between Disney and Miramax, 60% of the net profits from the movie will go to charity, and Disney will choose the recipient or recipients. Note that that's 60% of the net profits, and also note that Hollywood has its own accounting standards.

Posted to Politics at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)

"Dean for VP Group Plans Floor Fight at Convention"

Scream along with Dean:

The National Draft Dean for VP Committee (NDVPC) announced today that it would use Democratic party rules allowing draft petitions to mount a floor fight at the Democratic National Convention in Boston July 25 to put former Vermont Governor Howard Dean's name in contention for the party's VP nomination.

Recent polls show Nader's candidacy engulfing Kerry's slim margins over Bush in 15 out of 18 battleground states. "People are suddenly realizing that Nader is going to cost Kerry this election. Zogby and Fox polling show that only a Kerry/Dean ticket neutralizes the shift to Nader," says NDVPC member Melinda Lachance. "A draft Dean movement in Boston is essential to make this Kerry/Dean ticket a reality..."

"Reality?" What's that?

Indeedily.

Posted to Politics at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

"Feds Search Virginia Islamic Center"

From Fox:

Officials from the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (search ) were serving a search warrant Thursday on an Islamic center in Fairfax, Va., as part of a terrorism probe, four government officials told Fox News...

...The key part [of the search] is a probe into the possibility of terrorism financing.

Another part is the search for evidence that people associated with the organization may be helping — and perhaps harboring — illegal aliens...

The Defense Department used to do business with the school — an arm of the Saudi government — to recruit chaplains to run Pentagon programs for Muslim soldiers. The institute is part of Saudi Arabia's state-run university system and is funded and controlled by the kingdom's Ministry of Higher Education.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the institute's published curriculum calls for studying "the ruinous effect" of Christian beliefs. Lecturers have included a cleric who congressional investigators say was a spiritual adviser to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. And the Muslim-American activist who helped arrange for the institute to train Muslim lay leaders, Abdur Rahman Alamoudi (search), was indicted in October for taking from Libya money that prosecutors suspect was intended to finance terrorism...

And, from January, there's "U.S. has quietly expelled dozens
of Saudi diplomats":

The Saudi diplomats, in a determination made by the FBI and Homeland Security Department, were said to have abused their diplomatic privileges in the United States. The sources said most of the diplomats were responsible for operations of the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America [IIASA] located in Fairfax, Va.

Posted to TheSaudis at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

Rewriting the Bush-Hitler-MoveOn story

Captain Drum quotes this LAT report:

Last week, the Bush campaign e-mailed a 78-second video to millions of supporters that included images of Adolf Hitler amid a stream of Democrats inveighing against the president.

Ensuing protests over the video's use of images of the Nazi dictator led Bush aides to add a 20-second disclaimer saying the Hitler clips had first been used against him by liberal opponents.

To which, the Captain has this to say:

This, of course, is a lie, although Anderson does not bother to point it out. The clips are from an ad that was submitted to a MoveOn contest and then specifically rejected and denounced by MoveOn, so the Hitler images were first used by "liberal opponents" only if "liberal opponents" means "some guy with access to the internet."

Let's take a trip through the Drudge archives and see what we can find.

First, we get Margaret Cho at a MoveOn fundraiser from Jan. 14, 2004 (not 2003 as the text says):

"Despite all of this stupid bullsh-- that the Republican National Committee, or whatever the f--- they call them, that they were saying that they're all angry about how two of these ads were comparing Bush to Hitler? I mean, out of thousands of submissions, they find two. They're like fu--ing looking for Hitler in a hawstack. You now? I mean, George Bush is not Hitler. He would be if he fu--ing applied himself." big, extended applause) "I mean he just isn't."

OK, so that doesn't have much to do with the videos, other than pointing out that comparisons between Bush and Hitler are considered comedy material by the MoveOn crowd.

Moving on, this entry (Jan. 4) refers to the first Bush-Hitler video, but only after it had been removed. However, that was before MoveOn's apology.

The next day (Jan. 5), Drudge finds that a second Bush-Hitler ad had been streamed on MoveOn's site: "THE NEW HITLER SPOT FEATURED THE GRAPHIC 'SPONSORED BY MOVEON.ORG.'" (I saved the MoveOn finalists, and none of them had that same graphic. People can claim things that aren't true. Or, perhaps it was truly sponsored by MoveOn.)

Two days later (Jan. 7), Drudge has this to say:

NEW VIDEO UNCOVERED: MOVEON.ORG FINALIST IS PRODUCER OF ANOTHER BUSH/HITLER AD Wed Jan 07 2004 17:06:59 ET One of the finalists of the MoveOn.org ad contest is responsible for another heinous web video that compares Bush to Hitler, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

An ad by "Take Back the Media" is one of 15 Finalists in MoveOn.org's Bush in 30 Seconds Commercial Contest. The ARMY OF ONE flash animation has been chosen out of over 1000 submission by nearly 3 million votes online.

But currently streaming on the Take Back site with ARMY OF ONE is another shocking advert -- alleging Bush/Nazi ties!

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/bushnonazi.html

The Bush-Hitler ads were "specifically rejected" by MoveOn only after they received complaints. Whether MoveOn's management was aware of them before receiving complaints is still an open question.

Screengrabs of MoveOn's site or of discussion forums could be of use if we want to find out what they knew when. Their complete innocence in the matter - such as that proferred by Kevin Drum - is still open to debate.

And, still unexplained is why there were 15 finalists, but they were numbered 1 through 17 with two empty spaces.

Posted to Politics at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

"Air America's hosts are armed to the teeth..."

With "hard, up-to-the-second facts," that is! Or, so sayeth a Guardianista named Paul Carr:

Last month, the Boston affiliate of America's Fox TV network ran a news item about a new craze sweeping cyber space...

...as Fox's breathless reporter put it, "to catalogue the details of their lives on web pages created for them, by them ... just blah-blah-blogging".

Incredible. I wonder what burgeoning technological trend Rupert Murdoch's news machine will uncover next? Mobile tar-tar-telephony? The rah-rah-radio? Far-far-fire?

...Fortunately in most other sections of the media, attitudes towards blogging - and online journalism in general - couldn't be more different. Not only are news organisations rolling out blogs of their own, but in the past year the influence of bloggers over their print, television and radio counterparts has grown massively...

An even more impressive example of how web journalism has started to influence the mainstream media comes from the US's newest radio network, Air America Radio. The New York-based station was set up as a liberal challenge to the dominance of right-wing talk radio in the US.

Through affiliates in cities from New York to Honolulu [except for the #2 and #3 markets in the U.S., but your editor quibbles], angry liberal voices such as Al Franken, author of the anti-Bush bible Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, and Hollywood's Janeane Garofalo are taking on right-wing blowhards such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly.

But unlike Limbaugh and O'Reilly, who frequently replace research and reason with rage and rhetoric, Air America's hosts are armed to the teeth with hard, up-to-the second facts to support their relentless Bush bashing. Their sources? Blogs. And the blogging bloggers who blog them...

Yes, like Daily "mercs" Kos and Hatrios, both of whom are linked to from AA's blogs and referenced by AA's hosts.

[Cross-blogged to BoreAmerica]

Posted to Bloggage at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)

New acronyms from The Lonewacko Blog

The Lonewacko Blog is trying to make the following acronyms part of the national discourse. Please do your part:

M.A.L.T.
"M0thers Against L0tsa Things"
- A swipe at MADD.

B.0.M.B. "Big-0n-Midget B0ndage"
- A subgenre of the gonzo porn genre

M.0.B.B. "Midget-0n-Big B0ndage"
- A similar subgenre, only even more disturbing

(Zeroes instead of Ohs used to avoid these coming up in searches and thus revealing these as plants)

Previous Bridget the Midget coverage starts here.

Posted to WackyHumor at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)

Non-"liberal" coverage of immigration, Iraq, terrorism, multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor...

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Immigration 2008a · Immigration 2007b · Immigration 2007a · Immigration · Immigration (6/05 to 12/05) · Immigration (1/05 to 6/05) · Immigration (8/04 to 12/04) · Immigration (before 8/04) · Immigration & Terrorism · Immigration & Driver's Licenses · Immigration & Consuls · Immigration & Media Bias · Immigration & Europe · North American Union

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• 2008: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 
• 2007: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2006: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2005: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2004: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2003: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2002: 9  10  11  12 

All Posts(links to each post by title)

• What do the candidates eat?
• ABC News: "Officials Fear Terrorists Could Try to Enter U.S. Through Mexico"
• Ah, Newburgh!
• "Second passenger saw suspicious behavior" ("Terror in the Skies" Part #382)
• "What if?!?!"
• Now, let's play Guess The Country
• Let's play guess the state!
• Schwartzenegger wants to know: do you oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens?
• Fanboys and fangirls at the convention
• "Potential terrorists released due to lack of jail space, congressman says"
• "Fattest Cat: Officials: Democrat's Biggest Money Man Has Mob Connections"
• Are you searching for a reason to believe, Lauren Tewes?
• "Anti-War Activist Dragged off DNC Floor in Handcuffs"
• "Randi Rhodes (Air America) Banished From Demo Convention Floor By Al Franken???"
• Hold up there, Johnny boy. I saw her first
• Kerry reveals his plan for Earth
• "South African woman's passport prompts federal investigation"
• Please make it stop
• "Bill Jones speaks out against voting rights for non-citizens"
• Sell Your Body to Science

My trip to Alpine County What not to do, again (September 1-2, 2002)

Boston Market Cornbread Temperatures Please help contribute to this important study (August 28, 2002)

Did The Gap Put Celebrities at Risk? An Open Web Letter to The Gap (May 20, 2002)

Humphreys Peak Arizona's highest point (May 19, 2001)

Go Heavy, Go Slow, Get Lost Bay Area highpoints (December 14, 2000)

Hubris in New England The highpoints of RI, CT, and MA (October 8, 2000)

Let's go to Utah Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon (August 14, 2000)

Your host, climbing Monkey Face (5.14d)

Your host's arm (circled)

Your host's hopelessly outdated conditioning progress

BigMediaBlog.com : "Comments for sites that don't have comments."

BoreAmerica.com: monitoring Air America Radio

tolstoy.com : my business site

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