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"Some Just Voted for Food"
BAGHDAD, Jan 31 (IPS) - Voting in Baghdad was linked with receipt of food rations, several voters said after the Sunday poll.
Many Iraqis said Monday that their names were marked on a list provided by the government agency that provides monthly food rations before they were allowed to vote...
[...three examples...]
There has been no official indication that Iraqis who did not vote would not receive their monthly food rations...
Calls to the Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq (IECI) and to the Ministry of Trade, which is responsible for the distribution of the monthly food ration, were not returned...
IPS appears to be an established news agency with a Third World emphasis. It's not known what their biases are, if any.
Needless to say, this story has received attention from sites like DemocraticUnderground.
However, there are few other news sources discussing this story.
The Washington Post devotes just fourteen words to it in the story "Iraqis defy insurgency": "Despite rumors that food rations would be taken away if residents failed to vote..."
And, from a Washington Post special correspondent:
A rumor spread [in Tikrit] that anyone who did not vote would lose his or her food rations. But that did nothing to boost turnout in ousted president Saddam Hussein's home town.
"It is a very weak participation in Tikrit," said Khalaf Muhammed, 43, the electoral commission official in charge of a polling station in the city's center -- who acknowledged spreading the false rumor to try to lure voters.
"Even though we spread a rumor in the city saying anyone who doesn't vote will be deprived of their food ration, only 10 people voted . . . mostly old men."
The rumor about food rations also was rife in the Sunni neighborhoods of Baghdad, gaining credence because voter registration rolls were taken from centralized records for the ration of rice, flour, oil and other staples...
(Note that that's from Tikrit, while the IPS report mentions voters in Baghdad.)
This story not directly related to the Iraq vote gives a clue to why this rumor (if it was indeed just a rumor) could be believed: ...All Iraqis were required to vote during Saddam Hussein's reign. Embassy officials told the students that Iraqis who refused to vote for Saddam lost their jobs or food rations...
Posted to Iraq at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)
Leticia van de Putte gets MSM attention
Today NBC broadcast an interview with Texas Senator Leticia van de Putte about her recent cry for nannyism and attention. From another report:
A Texas lawmaker filed a bill Tuesday that would require school districts to measure the body mass index of students and include the information in regular report cards, 1200 WOAI news reported today.
"We should be just as concerned with students' physical health and performance as we are with their academic performance," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio...
You can add your own comment about this: nannystatism, a cry for attention, privacy concerns, bullying concerns, etc. etc.
However, the only reason this is here is because Leticia van de Putte seems to be somewhat of a real piece of work. Here's what she said when Texas' Democrats fled to the safety of Albuquerque's "plush" Marriott to avoid a redistricting vote:
"It is unconscionable that these white Republicans would attempt to hurt
our constituents, even while we are making our stand to defend Texas."
Posted to Privacy at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)
Following up on the Coptics murdered in New Jersey
And, it's quite shocking: "Christians stalked on Islamic website: Murdered New Jersey man among several tracked by Muslims".
There's still no proof that this was a religious oriented crime. But, you'd have to be a complete "liberal" apologist to ignore all of the circumstantial evidence pointing towards that.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 05:23 PM | Comments (0)
Ward Churchill to spend more time with family
"Professor Resigns as Department Chair Amid Furor Over 9/11 Remarks":
DENVER (AP) - A University of Colorado professor who provoked a furor when he compared victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks to Nazis resigned as a department chairman Monday but will retain his teaching job, the university said...
Churchill resigned as chairman of Colorado's Ethnic Studies Department, telling university officials in a letter that "the present political climate has rendered me a liability in terms of representing either my department, the college, or the university."
University officials welcomed the move.
"While Professor Churchill has the constitutional right to express his political views, his essay on 9/11 has outraged and appalled us and the general public," interim CU-Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano said.
On the one hand it's good to see him go. On the other hand, he does have the right to say outrageous things about one of the only countries that gives him that right. And, this might invite retaliatory actions from the loony left establishment at other schools.
See also "And that's just the addendum".
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 05:13 PM | Comments (5)
ShrubCo gets to another blogger
Time to photoshop Marc Cooper out of all the group photos:
...Those of who opposed this war and who want to see the U.S. troops withdrawn as soon as possible should unequivocally encourage the tenuous political process now underway in Iraq. We should stand for more and better elections, not fewer. We should be encouraging the writing of a fair constitution, an inclusion of the Sunnis into the process in order to reduce the violence, and a bolstering of civil society (as a safeguard against fundamentalism). If we merely write off yesterday's vote as only potemkin or charade elections we take ourselves out of any serious debate and we degrade the legitimate aspirations of the Iraqi people. Indeed, the more one opposes the war and its pretexts, the more we should support the stabilization of a successful, pluralistic Iraqi state.
There is no “other side” to support. The Bush administration’s cartoonish characterization of the armed opposition is just that -- cartoonish. The insurgency is, indeed, rife with religious fundamentalists, revengeful Ba’athists and a certain foreign terrorist element. We can also be sure that there are other less politically defined “nationalist” strains who are just plain angry and humiliated by the dire economic conditions and by the presence of foreign troops. But taken together, this insurgency offers no evidence of supporting a political process that is somehow more open than the limited process imposed by the U.S...
Posted to Politics at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
MALDEF getting "moral support" from Mexico
The earlier post "Mexico may ask international courts to block Proposition 200" discussed Mexico's latest plans to interfere in our laws. Mexico's Foreign Secretary said "We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself" as well as a couple other prime things.
His statement prompted me to ask whether they're involved in MALDEF's various suits against Prop. 200, and the AZ Republic got out their teaspoon and did a little digging. From "Mexico threatens to take Prop 200 to court":
...The Mexican government has provided "moral support" but has not contributed any money to the legal challenge filed by the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said Danny Ortega, a Phoenix attorney who is helping the group with the lawsuit...
The rest of the article has a quote from Mexico's foreign ministry confirming their Foreign Secretary's statement and discussing how Mexico appealing to an international court might be a futile gesture. (On the plus side, perhaps they might eventually be declared a vexatious litigant.)
Once again, it would be nice if someone would look into this. Has Mexico given something beyond "moral support" to any of the groups trying to challenge Prop. 200? Based on the case of Pedro Marin that question isn't as far-fetched as it might seem.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
Today's Mink, Louisiana news roundup
In today's Mink, Louisiana news roundup:
Mink, La. — There's a fish fry today in this hamlet of 15 households to celebrate big news: phone service...
BellSouth Corp. has spent $700,000 — or about $47,000 per phone — to extend about 30 miles of cable through thick forests to Mink, about 100 miles south of Shreveport. All phone customers in the state will cover the cost through a small monthly charge on their bills...
Assuming every other Louisianans has a phone, that works out to just 28 cents per phone. Call it the Mink-can't-use-radio-phones tax.
In other Mink, LA news: there was no other Mink, LA news.
Previous coverage of Mink, LA starts here, although now you know the punchline.
Posted to WackyHumor at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)
Hot Properties: Barbara Boxer
"Boxer Not Willing to Pull Her Punches":
WASHINGTON — A new blog is promoting her for president. NBC's "Saturday Night Live" spoofed her hair and her props. Some senatorial colleagues are secretly urging her to "go, girl, go." And Democratic coffers are filling up with her every volley...
We'll know she's arrived when she's featured in the L.A. Times' Hot Properties column.
...Boxer professes to marvel at how she has suddenly become the hot Democratic celebrity. She is lionized by her blogger fans as "a true liberal, unlike the weenie-Dems in the Senate and House." She "has the courage of her convictions," one blogger wrote, comparing her favorably to the "conscience of the Senate," the late Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.)
... There is talk that she may be a dark horse candidate for president (http://presidentboxer.blogspot.com/ is promoting the idea) and her Senate staff says 30 bouquets from supporters arrived in her office after she contested the 2004 election results. But Boxer eschews any suggestion of ambition for higher office...
One blog doesn't make a swarm. Nevertheless, I fully support presidentboxer.blogspot.com. No "nofollow" tags here! Note also that that blog has the Rittenhouse Review as a contributor, so you know it's extra good.
See also barbara-boxer.dailykos.com ?????
Posted to Politics at 12:57 PM | Comments (1)
WND and the WSJ on Rush, Bush, and illegal immigration
WND and the WSJ discuss Rush's recent conversion to slightly critical of Our Leader. See this post for Rush's remarks with links to the underlying stories.
From WND:
Limbaugh has not been an outspoken critic of the president on this issue in the past. Neither has he focused much of his broadcast attention on the border and immigration issues during his nearly two-decade career as a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. Instead, Limbaugh is perceived as a champion of many Bush policies.
But, clearly, Limbaugh sees Bush as out of step with the public in his continued calls for implementation of a guest worker program...
As one might suspect, the WSJ is a bit more "nuanced" in their treatment. However, at least they don't try to smear Rush or call him a crypto-Nazi. From John Fund:
...Rush has 20 million listeners a week, so if he decides to attack President Bush's plan to regularize immigration flows through a guest-worker program, he could help kill the idea...
[...at about this point he enters stock WSJ open borders mode, albeit "nuanced"...]
Approaches like [Political Human Sacrifice], or Pat Buchanan's idea of a reverse Berlin Wall, are neither desirable or politically possible to implement (barring another major terrorist attack that is the work of illegal aliens). But the pressure to "do something" on immigration is mounting. While no incumbent is likely to lose his seat on the issue, three pro-guest-worker incumbents from Arizona and Utah faced primary challenges last year. As a result, many congressmen don't even want to hear about Mr. Bush's plan.
A clear-eyed analysis would tell them the political clout of anti-immigration activists is limited. The best showing by any of the anti-immigrant primary challengers was by state Rep. Randy Graf in Arizona, who won 43% against Rep. Jim Kolbe, a gay Republican who has always had difficulties with social conservatives. And more than 44% of Arizonans voted against Proposition 200, the initiative denying public services to illegal aliens, even though the state's border with Mexico has become the crossing point of choice for smugglers...
...Even though the political impact of anti-immigration sentiment can be exaggerated, Mr. Bush would be wise to take steps to ensure that immigration doesn't become what crime and abortion became for the Democrats: wedge issues that drove many voters to the other party. He will not come close to passing a guest-worker program until he proves his bona fides in areas of legitimate concern on immigration...
...Immigration is certainly more complex than many border-control advocates would have you believe. But supporters of rational reform that would regularize the flow of immigrant labor should recognize that it must be accompanied by measures to address the legitimate concerns of Americans who worry the federal government has completely lost control of the borders. Many voters don't trust any plan coming out of Washington, whether it's by Mr. Bush or anyone else. It's that concern that is driving Rush Limbaugh and other supporters of the president to send up political warning flares...
How "nuanced." Note the use of three instances of "anti-immigrant." And, referring to "reform" as "regularization", the same term used by the Bush and Fox administrations.
I sent the following response (see the links at the end of the article; there are no reader responses at post time and most reader responses to WSJ open borders articles are quite critical):
Rush finally speaking out about an issue that millions of Americans have been concerned about for years could certainly give the open borders advocates at the WSJ a run for their money. Perhaps that's why the article is so "nuanced": throw a few bones to the 75% of the American public who oppose illegal immigration and perhaps we could finally get our new and improved bracero program. Hopefully Rush supports real reform and not the quasi-"reform" offered by the WSJ.
Also, could I suggest you update your style guide? The article uses "anti-immigrant" three times, when what's being discussed isn't "anti-immigrant," simply anti-illegal immigration.
And, I note you use "regularize" twice. That's the euphemism used by the Bush and Fox administrations to refer to "massive illegal alien amnesty."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)
Yet another dumb survey
All blogdom is abuzz about "Some U.S. Students Say Press Freedoms Go Too Far":
One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today.
The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion...
Don't you just love these wacky studies? Like other studies, what's reported is different from what's actually in the study, perhaps intentionally.
Compare what's emboldened above with the actual (if their site is to be believed) question:
"Newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories"
A more intelligent survey would have split that into parts:
"Newspapers should be allowed to freely publish any story whatsoever without government approval"
and:
"Newspapers should be request government approval before printing stories that might endanger national security"
As it is, we're left wondering exactly what the students were thinking. And, this was probably by design as the surveyers wanted a catchy headline. What a dumb survey.
Note: you get to the page with the actual survey after going through a barrage of intervening sites. The hiding probably wasn't intentional, just bad design.
Posted to Politics at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
This is one of those things you save
I've kept this for over three years, and I'm still trying to figure it out:
If you manage to figure out what's going on here, please leave a comment and/or diagram.
Special bonus points: identify the publication under the ad. (That publication has nothing to do with the ad, I just used it as a backdrop.)
Posted to WackyHumor at 09:17 PM | Comments (1)
Hey, you might have to do this one day
You might as well know how to do it right, right?
Of course, if Lisa Franzetta wants to teach me how to eat wild plants instead I'll certainly consider it.
Posted to WackyHumor at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)
"Crossing Over: Bush's Other Battle"
Newsweek offers a short roundup of the state of Bush's guest worker plan. If you've been following this blog there's little new information there.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)
Arkansas congressman wants to train police in immigration enforcement
I know a governor who's not going to be happy with this:
State Rep. Michael Lamoureux has proposed legislation aimed at reducing illegal immigration problems in the state.
Lamoureux, a Republican from Russellville, is a sponsor of House Bill 1012, a proposal that would allow local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws. The bill will likely be assigned to the House of Representatives’ judiciary committee this week when the 85th Arkansas General Assembly convenes in Little Rock...
State Reps. Jeremy Hutchinson of Little Rock and Timothy Hutchinson of Lowell also sponsored the legislation. They are nephews of Department of Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson...
That last bit has me scratching my head. Was Asa Hutchinson just following orders that he didn't agree with? Do his cousins have their own minds about things? Is this a fake bill designed to fail or do the opposite of what it's billed as?
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
No more marbles left to lose
TalkLeft's Blogger Reaction to the Iraq Election:
The right-wing blogosphere, like President Bush, considers the elections a triumph for democracy. The top liberal bloggers, Daily Kos, Atrios, Josh Marshall, knowing better, are either ignoring the elections or have moved on. [Dr. Marshall hasn't covered Iraq for a week -- LW]
Other liberal bloggers express their criticism: Oliver Willis, Talking Dog; Maxspeak; Jerome Armstrong of MyDD; Armando at Daily Kos; Juan Cole...
Freepers, Fauxers and Bushites, say hello to the Iraqi Shiite Cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The new ruler of Iraq. Your fundamentalist brethern, of the Muslim brand, thank you for the invasion and occupation that ousted the secular dictator state of affairs in Iraq.
Even though it cost thousands of American lives, and over $200 Billion from the US treasury, all Freepers, Fauxers, and Bushites can be thrilled to their bones in having imperially freed the Muslim Shiite majority from their minority status under the Republican Guard, so that they may now freely reign the Kurdish and Sunni with a theocratic iron rule of fundamentalist law, under your seal of liberating approval...
The rest are even more far gone.
Posted to Politics at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)
College Republicans get Gramscians' goats
EDMOND, Okla. -- A University of Central Oklahoma student group is planning what it calls "Straight Pride Week" on campus...
"The general gist is that if you are a straight student on campus be proud, be loud, this is your time to shine," said college Republican Kyle Houts.
The group has posted fliers on campus that read, "we're here, we're conservative, we're out..."
Needless to say the Gramscians are not pleased:
Members of the Gay Alliance for Tolerance and Equality say they consider the College Republican's celebration an attack on gay and lesbian students.
"What is there to say about it, 'I'm proud, and I'm straight and I guess white,' I don't know?" said GATE member Jennifer Rodriguez. "I think they definitely are being discriminatory because there's probably a lot of gay Republicans out there..."
Ah, the subtle whiff of liberal racism.
And, the DU thread on this has inspired 227+ comments, most of which can be summarized with this one:
I live in Okla-HELL-ma, and I worked for a university here. This does not surprise me at all! It should be called "Hate Week" as that would be more appropriate.
This reminds me when I was a kid and I asked mom, why is there a "Mother's Day" and a "Father's Day," but no "Kid's Day?" She looked at me and said: "Everyday is kid's day!"
Shit like this is OK. People would scream bloody murder if there were a "White Pride Week." However, since it is just "fags" being the target of hate, then that is OK, especially in this state! I am all for people being proud of who they are, white, black, Jew, Christian, gay, straight....but when your pride is done to denigrate another group, that is not pride, that is plain ol' HATE!
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
Take it away, Maggie
Maggie Gallagher's performance on Thursday's NewsHour had to be seen to be believed. She had been lumped in with Armstrong Williams in several news reports, and she finally had a chance to get her side of the story out:
Gwen, thank you. I don't agree with the introduction that you just made. It's not true that I was paid to advise the Bush administration or to promote Bush marriage policies.
I'm a marriage expert. I've spent 20 years on research and public education on marriage. And three years ago HHS approached me and said, we don't have anyone with expertise on the marriage issue, and particularly on the social science evidence on marriage, would you produce some specific products for us? Would you write some, would you draft some brochures; would you draft an essay for Wade Horn gathering the evidence on marriage education; would you come down to Washington and speak to regional HHS managers, reviewing the social science evidence and how marriage matters.
And I said yes. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I don't think HHS did anything wrong. It's just not unusual for experts to be asked to do work for the government in their fields of expertise...
Gwen, you know, this has been retailed in so many newspapers and in the New York Times and the Washington Post, thank you. And the, you know, when Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post called me up, he did not ask me what he later published. He did not say, "Maggie, I'm going to write a story that says you took money from the Bush administration to promote marriage policy. What's your response to that?" which I think was a mineral [sic; probably "minimal"] responsibility; instead he called me up and said, Maggie, do you think you should have disclosed you had a government contract to do perfectly legitimate work when you later wrote columns, as I've been going for 20 years, on marriage, including some that support the Bush marriage initiative.
And I got off the phone; I spent ten minutes saying, if anyone had said to me, Maggie, do you think you should mention that you've done some work for HHS and the marriage issue, I would have said, sure, I have nothing to hide. I have no intention and motive to hide. I think it's true that I should have disclosed it.
But what we have now is a national coverage in which my name, you know, I'm not rich, I'm not that famous -- all I have is my reputation. And my name is, you know, in dozens of newspaper articles, in national nightly news reports, it's being reported - a completely false charge, which is that I took money from the Bush administration to promote its marriage policies. It's not true...
I think they cut her microphone off at the end of the segment. Nevertheless, it was good to see her have a chance to state her side of things rather than the wishful thinking propagated by, for instance, Salon:
One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged...
Posted to Politics at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)
Let the sob stories begin
The L.A. Times offers us 'I'm Sorry. . . . I Didn't Mean It.' Subtitle: Juan Manuel Alvarez showed up at the front door bloody and holding a scissors blade. Blocks away, bodies lay inside mangled trains.
The first thing I thought of - well, actually the second thing after "who cares, let's just fire up Ol' Sparky" - was that some people might assume a story like this would have been planted by his defense attorney. Now, despite several indications to the contrary, the LAT does have some journalistic standards, so I'd imagine they thought this one up themselves.
What comes next? Celebrities speaking out on his behalf? Is "free-alvarez.com" still available?
Posted to Los_Angeles at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)
An Ayn Rand Institute flashback: "U.S. Should Not Help Tsunami Victims"
Of course you all remember the libertarian classic "U.S. Should Not Help Tsunami Victims" from the Ayn Rand Institute from a few weeks ago:
As the death toll mounts in the areas hit by Sunday's tsunami in southern Asia, private organizations and individuals are scrambling to send out money and goods to help the victims. Such help may be entirely proper, especially considering that most of those affected by this tragedy are suffering through no fault of their own.
The United States government, however, should not give any money to help the tsunami victims. Why? Because the money is not the government's to give...
What's odd is that there are several sites linking to this article at this URL. However, when you go to that URL you hit an article entitled "The Appeal of Ayn Rand". Now, perhaps that URL - despite looking like a permalink - was some kind of a front page or something.
So, let's search for 'tsunami' at their page.
That's odd. Just two hits, both to the article "Clarification of ARI's Position on Government Help to Tsunami Victims":
On December 30, 2004, the Ayn Rand Institute released as a letter to the editor and as an op-ed a piece that condemned the U.S. government's use of taxpayers' money to help victims of the recent tsunami ("U.S. Should Not Help Tsunami Victims"). That piece was inappropriate and did not accurately convey the Institute's position. We would like to clarify our position.
Obviously, the tsunami, with the thousands of innocent victims left in its wake, is a horrible disaster. The first concern of survivors and of those trying to help them is to provide basic necessities and then to begin rebuilding. The American public's predictably generous response to assist these efforts is motivated by goodwill toward their fellow man. In the face of the enormous and undeserved suffering, American individuals and corporations have donated millions of dollars in aid; they have done so by and large not out of some sense of altruistic duty but in the name of the potential value that another human being represents. This benevolence, which we share, is not the same thing as altruism...
But, don't fret, for this nugget of libertarian thought is still available in full here, here, or here.
Posted to Politics at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
I just ducked into a church to get out of the rain...
What happened? It feels like there's a hood over my face...
I can't move. It feels like I'm tied down... I also feel a draft all over... Why the hell am I naked and tied down?
Don't panic, let's figure this out... It started raining so I ducked into a church to get out of the rain. I smelled the incense, then a nice older lady give me a cup of tea...
Then, I blacked out. I still smell the incense, so I'm probably still in the church...
But, why the hell am I tied down? Why is there a mask over my face?
What's that sound? It sounds like light slapping sounds, like people are putting their palms down on pews or something...
Now, someone's walking towards me... What do you want? Who the hell are you? No answer, I guess I'll just have to wait and see...
Now, the mask is being lifted off...
Posted to WackyHumor at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
Rush... disagrees with Bush?
Let's go to the tape:
...And as I look out there across the great wide spectrum that is this country and its electoral politics, you look at things -- realistically here, not looking for negativism, just looking realistically, things --- that might present a problem to the good guys, the conservatives, the Republicans in all this. And to me, there's one issue out there -- well, maybe two. Spending. This is something and I'm glad to see the president finally trying to get hold of it, but there's one real issue here that could break up the so-called Republican-conservative coalition, and that is immigration.
If something is not done, my friends, it simply is untenable. We cannot maintain our sovereignty without securing and protecting our borders. We simply can't. Not in an era where terrorists around the world seek entry to this country to attack from within. It is simply something -- you know, all these arguments that we've heard, "Well, you got to let immigrants in because they'll do jobs that the American people don't want to do," and there was a time I believed that. [Bush on Wednesday: "People are coming to our country to do jobs that Americans won't do" -- LW] There was a time economically that that was persuasive with me. But I think it's gotten to the point here where it runs the risk of defining downward a whole lot of pay scales on different jobs simply because we'll let people who will do it for next to nothing into the country do it, then it ends up depressing various pay scales or can if something's not done about this. [read up on the hideous ideas behind Bush's guest worker plan: Bush "guest worker" program to be "open to any type of employee" -- LW] There were two things recently that sent me to this. I've got one of them in my hand here. The other one, we laughed about it, but when the story cleared the wires that these 30 Hollywood people, these actors, writers and producers, tried to make the case that illegals ought to be given driver's licenses. What good are our laws? If we're going to send people to jail for avoiding taxes, for breaking the law, whatever we send them to jail for, why don't we look askance at people violating immigration law? And say, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We're just going to grant them temporary status and give them a chance to be good citizens and eventually become full-fledged." [See the interview with Asa Hutchinson: Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic' -- LW]
You see, these Hollywood people out there, they would revolt, they would literally revolt if the immigrants became camera operators and writers and producers for two bucks an hour. They wouldn't put up with that for a minute, or actors for minimum wage, but let them come in as caterers and limo drivers and nannies or whatever else the Hollywood people want them for and then it's perfectly fine for them to be illegal.
Now, get this story. This story comes today from the San Francisco Chronicle. At least that's where I found it. "Foreign Secretary Says Mexico May Ask International Courts to Block Proposition 200 -- Mexico may turn to international courts in efforts to block a new Arizona law limiting services to undocumented aliens, said Mexican foreign secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez. He said this on Wednesday on an interview on W radio, that Mexico might take such a step after it's exhausted all possibilities under US law to halt Prop 200." Now, these are not the first of these kinds of stories. It's just the latest, where the Mexican government is attacking the United States for enforcing our own immigration laws against its illegal citizens, entering our country illegally. [See this or this for a start -- LW]
"Mexico's foreign department lawmakers have repeatedly complained about Prop 200 which took effect this week. It requires proof of citizenship to vote or to receive state benefits and Mexico is demanding that international courts overturn this." Mexico is essentially sending illegal citizens, its own citizens, to this country illegally and now attempting, through international courts, to stop us from enforcing our own laws!
Now, I'm going to tell you something, folks. This issue, if not handled properly by this administration, it could be the issue that severs the existing Republican coalition and could see to it to create the rise of a new Perot or somebody, where a president only needs to get 43% of the vote to win, a'la Bill Clinton, because some of the Republican coalition breaks away and votes for the newcomer. This is the issue that could cause that to happen if they're not careful...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 07:49 PM | Comments (1)
AR Gov. Mike Huckabee goes on the attack
From this:
[AR] Gov. Mike Huckabee on Thursday heaped criticism upon immigration legislation in the Arkansas Legislature, describing it as "inflammatory . . . race-baiting and demagoguery." He also challenged the Christian values of its main sponsor.
Huckabee said the bill, seeking to forbid public assistance and voting rights to undocumented immigrants, "inflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there's a real problem. But there's not..."
...He singled out [Republican Sens. Jim Holt, one of the bill's sponsors], who often talks of his strong Christian beliefs, saying, "I drink a different kind of Jesus juice. My faith says don't make false accusations against somebody.
"In the Bible, it's called don't bear false witness."
In response, Holt said he was hurt by the governor's questioning his faith.
"I just want to uphold the law and protect the benefits that apply to citizens," Holt said.
Originally I thought this guy was an illegal immigration supporter because he was on the take, given that major illegal alien employers are based in the state. Now I just think he's nuts.
Previous coverage of Arkansas' illegal immigration problem starts here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:04 AM | Comments (1)
Bank of "America"
From this:Bank of America plans to eliminate wire transfer fees for customers who send money to Mexico - the latest effort in the battle among big banks to win Hispanic customers.Many of "them" are illegal aliens who have been given Matricula Consular cards by Mexico in a scheme to get around our laws. See "Their money or your safety" for all the details.
Starting first in Chicago, the bank is eliminating a 3% foreign exchange fee and a $10 transfer fee for those who have checking accounts, and will roll out the program to New York and the rest of the country by year-end.
Until the no-fee program hits New York, the bank is also dramatically reducing so-called remittance fees to a flat rate of $8. That could result in a savings of $11 when a customer sends $300. The bank said it eventually will roll out similar plans to other countries.
The bank is doing this to "demonstrate a commitment to the community," said Marcos Rosenberg, a senior vice president of multicultural marketing. "It's important for us to build deep, long-standing relationships with them..."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)
Today in blog spam
I debated a bit before deleting this comment:
Its the second time I visited your web site. Looks interesting. However, Id recommend you thought of a new design.
Since the provided URL goes to a sports betting site and this was left on a year-old post, I decided that, despite the admittedly correct nature of the comment, it was just spam.
I did not check out the Indian porn URLs however, as they didn't have Mallika running slowly.
Posted to Bloggage at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)
barbara-boxer.dailykos.com ?????
She's a boxer, a fighter, a bodice-ripping good read, a purported mental midget, a crier, California's favorite nanny, and now... a Kossack: barbara-boxer.dailykos.com
I'm pretty sure that yes, that is indeed a diary from Barbara Boxer, albeit with just one entry:
I can't thank all of you enough -- the Daily Kos community, and the blogosphere as a whole -- for all of your effective work during the recent debate over Condoleezza Rice's nomination. Your support and participation in this critical debate meant so much to me.
More than 94,000 Americans from across the country signed my petition and stood together to demand the truth from Condoleezza Rice. It was truly an overwhelming response -- much more than I could have anticipated. You helped to get our message out to millions of Americans -- I couldn't have done it without you...
The fawning comments that follow give it that extra dollop of surreality.
(Via this)
Posted to Politics at 10:30 AM | Comments (1)
Have you ever met a meth-addled backyard mechanic?
"Yeah, dude, I'll turbocharge your Saturn for you, dude. $300, man, that's all. [...wait for the shuddering to stop...] I'm a little jittery because I've been up for the past five days trying to fix an electrical short in my Camaro... I think I got it figured out... I don't usually work on Saturns, dude, but it should work out OK. Just $300, man."
...Rumors are swirling all around that a compromise could be reached between the Republicans and Democrats, if some of the Republicans would help to amend the Constitution allowing former or current presidents to run for a third term, in exchange for amending the Constitution so Gov. Schwarzenegger of California, who is not a natural born citizen of the United States, can run for president, if he so desires...
Yes, but how would Arnold have a chance to serve as president? Wouldn't three-term presidents reduce the need to, for instance, start cloning Bush family members?
Ah, I hear you saying. The solution: we add a co-president office, or perhaps a King/Prime Minister-style arrangement. "The Prime Ministerator." Interesting...
Posted to Politics at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)
Terror in flippers
There was a recent ABCNBCCBS report (I forget which) on the DHS or a similar agency releasing their latest terrorist profiling information. The report said that for the first time the government had indicated that terrorists could use scuba diving to perpetrate attacks or that scuba lessons could be one profiling data point like flying lessons. I've searched for this but can't find it.
In any case, this is hardly the first time a possible connection between scuba diving and terrorism has been discussed or warned about.
See "Terror alerts on small planes, scuba divers", "Feds scour local scuba training files in terror alert", "War On Error: The Terror Alert They Won’t Issue", or "Alert for terror scuba divers as FBI orders inquiry into missed clues". Those are all from 2002. In March 2004 we waded in with "Diving for conspiracies".
Posted to Terrorism at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
"Mexican archdiocese criticizes Arizona law limiting migrant benefits"
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Mexico City has joined the nation's politicians in criticizing a new Arizona law that restricts illegal migrants' access to some public services.
"We have already said many times that (illegal migrants) are not criminals," Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera told reporters following Mass Jan. 16. "They merely leave their ... country in search of work and ... governments (should) respect their human rights."
An editorial in the Mexico City Archdiocese's weekly newsletter was more blunt in its criticism, saying the Arizona law "was another example of political arrogance and social selfishness that has characterized some governments in the United States."
Cardinal Rivera expressed concern that the new law could be adopted in other states.
"Fortunately, this is an isolated case up until now," he said...
Fortunately, he will probably be proved wrong shortly.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)
Bush now self-parody
From yesterday's press conference:
...QUESTION: Mr. President, the Senate Republicans recently listed their priorities, and immigration reform wasn't on it. Do you think this means it's dead for this year?
BUSH: No, I don't.
QUESTION: And why are you having so much trouble with your own party...
BUSH: No, I appreciate that question. It'll be one of my priorities. I believe it's necessary to reform the immigration system.
I'm against amnesty. I've made that very clear.
On the other hand, I do want to recognize a system where a willing worker and a willing employer are willing to come together in a way that enables people to find work without jeopardizing a job that an American would otherwise want to do.
BUSH: I also happen to believe immigration reform is necessary to help make it easier to protect our borders.
The system right now spawns coyotes and smugglers and, you know, people willing to break the law to get people in our country. There is a vast network of, kind of, shadowy traffickers.
And I believe by making -- by advancing a program that enables people to come into our country in a legal way to work for a period of time for jobs that Americans won't do will help make it easier for us to secure our borders.
And so...
QUESTION: Why the resistance in your party so much to this?
BUSH: Well, you know, I think -- I'm looking forward to discussing it with members of both parties.
BUSH: I believe it's a very important issue that we need to address. I've had a lot of experience with dealing with borders as the governor of Texas. I know there's a compassionate, humane way to deal with this issue.
I want to remind people that family values do not stop at the Rio Grande river. People are coming to our country to do jobs that Americans won't do, to be able to feed their families. And I think there's a humane way to recognize that, at the same time protect our borders, and at the same way to make sure that we don't disadvantage those who have stood in line for years to become a legal citizen.
And I'm looking forward to working with people of both parties on the issue...
I'd comment on how many dozens of times he's said these exact same things, except due to our "competent" press corps and his overall distance from them he hasn't been asked about immigration matters that much. However, each time he has he recites these same old lines. Pull his string and he plays back AILA slogans.
Now, over to our friends on the other side of the Rio Bravo:
Mexico may turn to international courts in efforts to block a new Arizona law limiting services to undocumented aliens [sic], Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Wednesday... "It's sad and it gives an idea of how we have to work to educate even our own Mexican-Americans about why it is important that these proposals are not accepted..."
There's nothing secret about this effort. President Vicente Fox once referred to himself as president of all 118 million Mexicans - the 100 million in Mexico and the (then-)18 million in the United States, the majority of whom are U.S. citizens. And this is a long-term proposition for them: In June 2001, Juan Hernandez, former head of Fox's cabinet-level office for relations with Mexicans abroad, said on ABC's "Nightline," "I want the third generation, the seventh generation, I want them all to think, 'Mexico first.'"
For more on Bush's guest worker plan, see The Big Show on the Border.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)
And that's just the addendum
...The preceding was a "first take" reading, more a stream-of-consciousness interpretive reaction to the September 11 counterattack than a finished piece on the topic. Hence, I'll readily admit that I've been far less than thorough, and quite likely wrong about a number of things.
For instance, it may not have been (only) the ghosts of Iraqi children who made their appearance that day. It could as easily have been some or all of their butchered Palestinian cousins.
Or maybe it was some or all of the at least 3.2 million Indochinese who perished as a result of America's sustained and genocidal assault on Southeast Asia (1959-1975), not to mention the millions more who've died because of the sanctions imposed thereafter.
Perhaps there were a few of the Korean civilians massacred by US troops at places like No Gun Ri during the early ‘50s, or the hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians ruthlessly incinerated in the ghastly fire raids of World War II (only at Dresden did America bomb Germany in a similar manner).
And, of course, it could have been those vaporized in the militarily pointless nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
There are others, as well, a vast and silent queue of faceless victims, stretching from the million-odd Filipinos slaughtered during America's "Indian War" in their islands at the beginning of the twentieth century, through the real Indians, America's own, massacred wholesale at places like Horseshoe Bend and the Bad Axe, Sand Creek and Wounded Knee, the Washita, Bear River, and the Marias...
Bear in mind, that's just the addendum. What comes before has to be read (or, more precisely, has to have its first few paragraphs scanned before you get an inkling of where it's going) to be believed.
Now, you might be asking, what's all this about? "CU prof's essay sparks dispute" explains it all:
A University of Colorado professor has sparked controversy in New York over an essay he wrote that maintains that people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were not innocent victims.
Students and faculty members at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., have been protesting a speaking appearance on Feb. 3 by Ward L. Churchill, chairman of the CU Ethnic Studies Department...
Churchill's essay argues that the Sept. 11 attacks were in retaliation for the Iraqi children killed in a 1991 U.S. bombing raid and by economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations following the Persian Gulf War.
The essay contends the hijackers who crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11 were "combat teams," not terrorists...
One of the VRWC members implanted at DU tries to oppose the professor, but is met with righteous resistance. Other VRWC members suggest the Prof.'s been hitting the pipe, but righteous liberals put them on the correct path.
Special Bonus Fun Tip for the Kids!
Peel back the URL containing the Prof.'s screed, and check out the kool t-shirts!
L'UPDATE: Et, pour les enfants francophones, les t-chamises, elles sont tout de meme disponible en francais! Pour zut!
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)
Rep. Chris Cannon is off the immigration subcommittee
...today it's being announced that Rep. [Chris] Cannon, the "point man" in Congress for the White House on immigration, is off the immigration subcommittee...
For the tens of thousands of American families already devastated by Chris Cannon's work in Congress, e.g., on H-1b visas, it's too late, of course, but the news of Cannon's exit has to be seen as another enormously encouraging sign that the transnational ideologues running the show at the White House will be unable to do much beyond duping the president.
The big losers with Cannon's exit are the immigration lawyers and the Wall Street Journal...
ProjectUSA has filed four formal complaints so far with the House Ethics Committee asking for an investigation into Congressman Chris Cannon, and we're working on a fifth. Requests for investigations are also pending or active with at least three federal law enforcment agencies. Chris Cannon, in other words, won't likely fade from the scene and we'll keep you updated on the progress of those investigations...
(Via this)
Posted to Immigration2005a at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
History's erasers
Yesterday, Instapundit linked to a post about Rep. David Dreier's social security card proposal. That post is at a group blog known as Liberty & Power which is part of the "History News Network", which doesn't appear to be a cable TV network, just a web site spun off from George Mason University.
I left a comment suggesting that Dreier was just proposing this bill expecting it would fail but that it would show to his constituents that he was trying to do something. I also left a comment on this thread. However, both comments have now been deleted, but thankfully I saved a copy of the first:
Dreier probably intends this to fail.From "Dreier race illustrates cautionary tale on immigration policy":
Tucked into last week's otherwise predictable California election results lay a cautionary tale about the election year's most uncovered issue: illegal immigration. Republican Rep. David Dreier, the 24-year Los Angeles-area veteran who chairs the powerful House Rules committee, won re-election to his House seat with just under 54 percent of the vote, down from 64 percent in 2002. His Democratic opponent, Cynthia Matthews, won almost 43 percent of the vote, despite spending just over $31,000 in her campaign, compared to more than $900,000 spent by Dreier. A Libertarian candidate won 3.5 percent of the vote.
The close result - his closest since 1980 - was because of Political Human Sacrifice.
The other comment was on this thread and noted that even someone as far gone as Badnarik didn't support physical open borders.
Not only have both comments been deleted but when I try to login I get the message "You could not be logged in because you have been blocked."
Three questions:
1. Did I violate History News Network's policy by using the pseudonym 'Lonewacko DotCom'?
2. If so, why wasn't the comment from 'Tom Anon' on the same thread deleted too?
3. And, is there any reason to believe the version of history provided by the History News Network?
UPDATE: I changed the links above to use that nifty new "nofollow" tag.
And, I received an email too:
Your account was blocked because you used a pseudonym.
We are checking into Tom Anon's identity. If this is a pseudonym, as seems
likely, his account will be deactivated as well.
Rick Shenkman
Editor
editor [atsign] historynewsnetwork.org
History News Network at George Mason University http://HNN.us
Man, and I thought the guys at KoolAidCentral were funny. (See also They can't ban all of us, about DailyKos doing an HNN.)
Let's look at HNN's FAQ entry:
...Only readers who register with HNN are able to post comments. They are required to post under their real names. To make sure they are who they say they are they have to provide their email address. Once a reader registers the system dispatches an email to their registered email address. They then have to respond in order to be able to post. Once a reader registers in this manner they can post as often as they like without reregistering. Email addresses are hidden, but the readers' names appear on the site...
It is our hope that by holding people responsible for their posts we will be able to discourage irresponsibility on the boards...
I certainly complied with the spirit of their rules. I took responsibility for my comments by including a very easy way for people to understand where they were coming from: Lonewacko DotCom. And, they've got my IP address and my real email address. What more do they want, a notarized copy of my driver's license?
Whether I complied with the exact letter of their rules is still an open question. "Lonewacko DotCom" is certainly the real name of my site. There are probably a large number of "John Smiths" posting at HNN, so my name is probably more real than many they already have there. Perhaps for the ultimate in Principal Skinneritis they should ask for a mailing address and double-check it with the Post Office.
And, in case you were laughing too hard before, here it is again:
"We are checking into Tom Anon's identity."
Once again, is there any reason to believe the version of history provided by the History News Network?
Posted to Bloggage at 10:36 AM | Comments (1)
Zev Yaroslavsky goes semi-sane
L.A. County supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky:
"I don't want to see anyone deported who has been acquitted for a crime, even if they are here illegally," Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. "But I have no sympathy for aliens who do commit crimes."
Here's the context:
LOS ANGELES -- Immigration authorities can train county sheriff's personnel to conduct jailhouse interviews to learn whether convicts are in the United States illegally, county supervisors ruled Tuesday.
The policy, approved in a 3-2 vote, also will allow county employees to learn to use a federal database of immigrants the government is seeking to deport...
You'll recall that Zev - together with his "liberal" buddies Yvonne Burke and Gloria Molina were the guiding lights behind capitulating to the ACLU's letter demanding that the county seal be changed.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:29 PM | Comments (1)
"[NC] DMV memo OKs licenses for illegals"
From this:
North Carolina examiners should not aggressively investigate illegal immigrants who might be seeking fraudulent driver's licenses, a top state executive suggested in a memo nearly two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In fact, Wayne Hurder, who supervises the state's driver-license section for the state Division of Motor Vehicles in Raleigh, sent an e-mail message in August 2003 criticizing some of his DMV officials for being too aggressive with immigrants who presented identification and other documents that examiners thought suspicious.
"As I stated for the last nine years, the fact that a person is in the United States without the permission of the Department of Homeland Security (formerly INS) is irrelevant as far as North Carolina DMV is concerned," Hurder said in the message to six other DMV officials, including several regional chief examiners.
"If local law enforcement wants to make an issue of their legal status, that obviously is their right and responsibility depending on the statutes under which they operate," Hurder said. "But let me make it clear -- for the umpteenth time -- North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 20 does not involve itself with a person's legal status in determining their eligibility to apply for a license."
North Carolina DMV Commissioner George Tatum, Hurder's boss, disavowed Hurder's memo in a Tuesday interview, saying that it doesn't represent the division's current outlook on identity fraud by unlawful immigrants.
"It is not representative of my vision or a statement I would make for what we should do here," Tatum said...
Posted to Immigration_dls at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)
"REAL immigration reform"
What's most remarkable about the top Senate Republican priorities for the new congressional session, announced Monday, is what was left out: not one mention of immigration reform. We're not talking about President Bush's doomed guest-worker bill. Even the agonizing energy bill made the list at No. 10. One would think that on an issue which unites Republican voters as much as immigration reform, that Republican senators would pay attention. We speak from firsthand experience. No one issue so enflames the passions of our readers, as evidenced by heated letters to the editor, than the country's backward immigration laws. Have Senate Republicans gone deaf?
...At their annual retreat later this week House Republicans have a chance to place immigration reform high on their list of priorities for the new session — and for the sake of the nation, we trust they will. Yet the difference in priorities between the Republican leadership on the Hill is unsettling. If Republicans aren't united on how to best protect the homeland, then it won't take the Democrats long to figure out that they should be.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
Mexico may ask international courts to block Proposition 200
Maybe it's time to start constructing a 100' high wall:
Mexico may turn to international courts in efforts to block a new Arizona law limiting services to undocumented aliens [sic], Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Wednesday.
He said in an interview on W Radio that Mexico might take such a step after it has exhausted all possibilities under U.S. law to halt Proposition 200.
"We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself and ... if that does not work, bringing it to international tribunals," Derbez said...
He expressed regret that, according to polls, about 40 percent of Mexican-Americans in Arizona had supported the measure.
"It's sad and it gives an idea of how we have to work to educate even our own Mexican-Americans about why it is important that these proposals are not accepted," Derbez said...
Someone needs to do some research on this bit: "We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself."
What exactly is he referring to? Something in the future, or something they've done in the past?
If he's referring to something they've done in the past, has Mexico brought suit in U.S. courts about Prop. 200? Or, could they be saying that their proxies have brought those suits? MALDEF has brought several suits. Could MALDEF be working with Mexico? Or, could some other U.S. group be working with Mexico?
There's the possibility he's just referring to something they're going to do in the future, but there's also the possibility U.S. groups are working with a foreign government. Someone needs to find out exactly which it is.
And, of course, note that he's claiming ownership of part of our population. Let's say Mexico's "education" program is successful with a certain number of U.S. citizens. Won't those citizens then simply be foreign agents?
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:19 PM | Comments (8)
Apache Nation, eh?
This picture was shot in or near the Apache Nation in Arizona a few years ago as part of the Let's go to Utah trip. The flag alerts foreign visitors that the gift shop it's advertising is Canadian-friendly.
Posted to WackyHumor at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
"Islam gains toehold in Mexico's Zapatista country"
SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico, – Islam has joined a battle for the hearts and minds of Mexico's volatile Tzotzil Indians in Chiapas state, home of Zapatista rebels and a hotbed of sectarian strife between Christians.
In an unlikely meeting of two worlds, an idealistic Muslim sect has converted some 300 Tzotzils, a Maya Indian group known for drink-fueled fiestas and religious fervor...
The growth of Islam in such a restive area has raised the eyebrows of Mexico's intelligence agency, wary of possible terrorist activity aimed at the neighboring United States...
Several dozen Spanish missionaries who introduced Islam to Chiapas and still live here hold radical political and economic views such as wanting to do away with currencies, taxes and the nation state, but church leaders and academics say the group has no connection to violence...
The group's site is islammexico.org.mx
Posted to Immigration_terror at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
"Border drone program being stopped for evaluation"
More "Sun to shine tomorrow" news:
MESA, Ariz. – Aerial drones patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border will be grounded after the current contract expires next Sunday so the federal government can evaluate the program's effectiveness, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection says.
Immigration authorities have been testing unmanned drones on the border for months, using them to help agents spot illegal immigrants and smugglers.
"It's undetermined when the program will start back up," said Mario Villarreal, spokesman for agency. "I would say sometime this year..."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:07 AM | Comments (1)
President won't add 2,000 border agents
Ah, today's "Sun to shine tomorrow" post:
Despite his signing a bill authorizing 2,000 new border agents, President Bush will not ask Congress for enough money to fund them.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told USA Today yesterday that the administration's new budget will propose "good incremental increase" in the number of agents but would not approach the 2,000 level...
"The notion that you're going to have 10,000 is sort of a fool's gold," Ridge told the paper. "It's nice to say you're going to have 10,000 more Border Patrol agents in five years, but what other part of Homeland Security do you want to take the money from?"
One of these days I'm going to have to go to the library and copy the Mother Jones article "Red Alert." I'm sure that lists several places where money could be found. If not, perhaps we can ask Clark Kent Erwin.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
"Abuses Against Workers Taint U.S. Meat and Poultry"
Workers in the U.S. meat and poultry industry endure unnecessarily hazardous work conditions, and the companies employing them often use illegal tactics to crush union organizing efforts, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
In meat and poultry plants across the United States, Human Rights Watch found that many workers face a real danger of losing a limb, or even their lives, in unsafe work conditions. It also found that companies frequently deny workers’ compensation to employees injured on the job, intimidate and fire workers who try to organize, and exploit workers’ immigrant status in order to keep them quiet about abuses...
The report is here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
GamingGeezer78, as always, led the smackdown
Somehow I missed this 9/7/03 righteous smackdown from the VideoGamesReview forums:
Wow...whine, whine, complain, complain. Do you want some cheese to go along with that whine?
You Xbots just don't get it do you? The power of hardware has nothing to do with the games. And games is what sells systems. Xbox has no games that appeal to the Japanese gamers out there. Japanese gamers not buying Xbox & Xbox games is no more prejudice on their part then not buying PC games. They don't like them. Would you buy a pack of liver at the grocery store even though you don't like it? Quit being a retard.
Your entire rant against PS2 owners & the games on the system is a moot point. In Japan, PS2 has games that appeal to the Japanese audience. In America, PS2 has games that appeal to the American audience. It's as simple as that.
Now you want to cry a river and say you will get out the console gaming when Xbox doesn't sell like mad this winter...which it won't BTW. Your opinions are your opinions. I prefer games on PS2 and Gamecube to most of the Xbox games. In fact, with the exception of Halo and a few others, the games I love on Xbox are Japanese games!
Then you bash EyeToy. What do you care? The point of EyeToy is that it is a new idea. An innovation in the console games industry. Xbox Music Mixer is just a Karaoke machine. Big deal. What's worse, looking like a fool on screen or sounding like a fool? It all boils down to who wants what? Who the F are you to say EyeToy is crap and Karaoke is "da bomb?" Loser!
Just like all your fellow Xbots, you cannot see that the quality of a game isn't determined by bump-mapping and pixel shading. Xbox games can look better than anything else out there, but most of the games are soul-less, redundant, cheap boring derivative drivel that tries it's best to emulate what everyone else is doing. Boring, lazy, no-fun games.
I hope you quit console gaming you little ass. Everyone is tired of hearing you whine about Xbox not selling well. Face it, Xbox is #3 behind Gamecube. And that gap only looks to get wider with Xbox selling a whopping 650 systems in a week! LOFL! [smiley expressing 'surprise']
Smackdown!
(A special prize to the first person who can tell me what google terms I used to arrive at that page. It's also good to know that while this blogger complains about BushBots, there are much more important fights to fight, such as those against the XBots.)
Posted to WackyHumor at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)
"No more border games"
resident Bush has again vowed to spend his political capital to grant legal status to the millions of illegal aliens who live and work in this country. The president rationalizes his guest-worker program by constantly referring to the nation's need to match willing workers with willing employers. The president's "proposed reform" has already met stiff resistance from the 109th Congress, which is apparently ready to finally take on the critically important issue of illegal immigration.
Many from the president's own party say they'll fight his guest-worker proposal, and many of our elected officials are finally grasping the importance of representing the views of working Americans--which, after all, is their responsibility. The latest USA Today /CNN/Gallup poll shows only 34 percent of those surveyed approve of President Bush's immigration policies...
After ignoring the realities of illegal immigration for nearly all of his long tenure in Congress, Republican [David] Dreier [R-CA] now says he will introduce legislation to stop American businesses from hiring illegal aliens, using a photo-embedded Social Security card, which employers would be required to check with a national database to determine whether the job applicant is legal or illegal.
It is unclear to me just why Dreier believes that any one of the 3 million illegal aliens who entered this country last year, or the people in businesses who hire many of them, would turn law-abiding. At this point, while we should welcome Dreier's conversion, his proposal amounts to nothing more than a diversion from the profoundly important reforms that must be enacted. We must take control of our borders, enforce our immigration laws, and ultimately take responsibility for our first line of defense in the war on terrorism, specifically our borders and ports...
FYI: Dobbs had a recent testy interview with Dreier on his show.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)
SinecureChat
In Greenfield, he commands the 7 p.m. time slot, right after ''Polka with Joe." In Holden, he follows two hours of ''Christmas with The Duttons." Needham residents can catch him at 10 p.m., immediately following ''Getting to Know Your Finance Committee."
The voice is unmistakable. So is the profile. But the setting is strange. No podium on the Senate floor. Just a cutout of Boston's skyline and a woebegone basket of flowers on a little caf table.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, one of the best-known figures in American politics, is now hosting his own community-access cable show, and he fits in perfectly amidst the weird, wacky, and unfailingly earnest...
I'm sure he's thankful for the media coverage. Otherwise his ratings would sink.
Posted to Politics at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)
Man, those furries are nuts
Previously in this space, links to some drawings from "furries" were posted.
Our internet sources have recently discovered a new furry creation. I'd put a WARNING: NSFW before this link, except... the naughty bits of this drawing have been pixellated out. Yes, that's right, it's obscene furry art made FCC-friendly. Here it is if you're ready.
Posted to WackyHumor at 09:55 PM | Comments (1)
Utah's loose Cannon is "working like crazy"
WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Cannon says he is determined to help President Bush reform the nation's immigration laws, despite resistance from Republicans and a barrage of attacks Cannon endured from immigration foes in his recent re-election.
The Utah Republican said reform-minded members of Congress are “working like crazy” with the White House to put together a broad immigration reform package to be introduced early this year.
Bush has also put immigration reform near the top of his agenda...
...Cannon said the punishment for undocumented immigrants should fit the crime. He compared it to traffic violations, where offenders could pay a penalty and remain in the country unless they are guilty of a serious offense...
Rep. Chris Cannon is truly a great American, and previous coverage of this great American starts here and here.
For instance, see Aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) solicits campaign contributions from illegal aliens.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:47 PM | Comments (1)
Actors, writers and musicians want you to pay all the costs for their cheap labor
"Actors, writers and musicians push for immigrant drivers licenses":
LOS ANGELES – Hollywood stars are joining the fight to get driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants in California with a new ad featuring a mock award for "Best Nanny."
More than 30 actors, musicians and writers, including Diane Keaton, Carlos Santana and "Million Dollar Baby" writer and producer Paul Haggis, took out the ad Monday in the entertainment industry trade paper Variety.
The group urges Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to approve a new bill that would allow illegal immigrants to get a license as long as background checks found they had no criminal violations.
In a nod to the Academy Award nominations, which will be announced Tuesday, the ad features a picture of a Hispanic woman and two young children with the caption, "Nominated: Best Nanny in a Supporting Role Rosanna Perez..."
...The ad was orchestrated in part by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, who has led the effort in favor of the licenses...
OK, first let's deal with the media bias. This is an AP report and the headline is a lie: these aren't "immigrants", they're illegal aliens. Likewise with the phrase "undocumented immigrants": they're illegal aliens.
Since these Hollywood stars have so much money, why are they unable to hire legal workers? Why do they want the rest of us to foot the economic and social costs of illegal immigration?
Do they support Gil Cedillo's real goals? Remember, Gil is a former member of the racial separatist organization MEChA, and he said we should give driver's licenses to Mexican citizens because "they were here first." Do these actors, writers and musicians support Aztlan and irredentism? Do they even know what those words mean?
Please contact the newspapers that published this AP report and suggest they review AP reports for accuracy.
Here's a list of papers that printed this report. The report's URL is first, followed by the email or contact form:
S.J. Merc
dsatterfield@mercurynews.com
SDUT
readers.rep@uniontrib.com
KNBC
knbc.news@nbc.com
Monterey Herald
cgarcia@montereyherald.com
Contra Costa Times
clopez1@cctimes.com
Also, try feedback@ap.org
UPDATE: I posted a scan of the ad here (126k JPG).
UPDATE 2: KRON from Frisco titles their version of the same AP report "Stars Pushing Licenses for Illegals". That's the good news. The bad news is their accompaning graphic of a California driver's license with Arnold's picture on it. Cute.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:01 AM | Comments (4)
Gosh, and he worked so hard to represent America's interests
"Asa Hutchinson to resign from Homeland Security Department":
Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, in charge of border and transportation security issues, submitted his letter of resignation to the White House early Monday morning, said a DHS official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the resignation had not yet been announced.
Hutchinson is a former Arkansas congressman and former federal drug czar who is believed to be considering a run for Arkansas governor next year. His resignation is expected to be effective March 1.
"It was just a good time to change for me personally and for the department," Hutchinson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which first reported his plans...
Hutchinson has not been looked upon kindly by those of us who think the U.S. has borders. However, he was basically just a symptom. The underlying disease is "compassionate conservatism" and the main carrier is Our Leader who, unfortunately, will not be resigning.
Maybe Hutchinson believed the things he said or maybe he didn't but Hutchinson was basically just doing what he was told.
Previous coverage starts here. See especially "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'".
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
Bush Knew! (As did Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton)
Nearly three decades before the September 11 attacks, a high-level government panel developed plans to protect the nation against terrorist acts ranging from radiological "dirty bombs" to airline missile attacks, according to declassified documents.
"Unless governments take basic precautions, we will continue to stand at the edge of an awful abyss," Robert Kupperman, chief scientist for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, wrote in a 1977 report that summarized nearly five years of work by the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism...
Posted to Terrorism at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
"What's Hugh Smoking?"
Professor Bainbridge has left the reservation:
I like and admire Hugh Hewitt quite a lot, but his knows no bounds enthusiasm for Bush's second inaugural speech is way too over the top. E.g.:
It is a speech that brought together the greatest themes of Lincoln, TR, Wilson, FDR, Truman, JFK and Reagan.
Aw, c'mon Hugh. You've GOT to be kidding. It was poorly delivered, even by Bush's minimal standards. He consistently accented the wrong words and mucked up the flow. There was no grace to his speaking style whatsoever; indeed, he seemed to be going through an unpleasant exercise.
How many months did it take him to figure out that Hugh is the King of the BushBots?
Posted to Politics at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)
"Spokane's 'creative class' plans to build a gay district"
SPOKANE -- Gay activists in this staid Eastern Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife, which religious conservatives complain will be at odds with Spokane's family-oriented culture.
A gay district would signal that Spokane is tolerant and progressive, proponents contend, the type of community that can attract the so-called "creative class" that will build the economy of tomorrow.
"We're talking about an actual physical part of town we would like to establish as a gay district," said Marvin Reguindin, owner of a Spokane graphic design firm, who envisions an area similar to the Castro district of San Francisco or Capitol Hill in Seattle...
...Or, perhaps the new non-straight district in Oaktown. See Oakland to create gay ghetto by government fiat, remove straights.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)
"The new grapes of wrath"
For the past century, raisins in California's Central Valley have been harvested in exactly the same way: a monthlong frenzy of hand picking that required more workers than almost any other crop.
Last season, many raisin growers turned to machines to do the work. Although they had long held out, they are now joining growers nationwide in embracing mechanization to fend off global competition.
But the switch to mechanical harvesting is taking a heavy toll on the Mexican migrants who fill most of the state's lowest-paying farm jobs. With machines picking more crops, the need for field hands is falling sharply. Where 50 men once were needed to harvest a field of raisins, five now suffice...
See also "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers" and "In Florida Groves, Cheap Labor Means Machines".
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
"The Guide for the Mexican Migrant" to go for its second printing
From this:
The [Mexican] Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE) will reprint the [The Guide for the Mexican Migrant], in spite of prompting from the U.S. government and claims by U.S. legislators and NGOs who classify it as a document that could promote illegal immigration.
While a date for the reprinting of a still undetermined number of the booklets has yet to be set, the guidebook can be found on the Internet page of the Foreign Ministry where it is listed as a recommended link to visit.
The first edition of the Mexican Migrant Guide was handed out free, plus it was included as an insert in two popular Mexican publications...
...the Mexican government decided that it would reprint the guide without modification, as it is convinced that it does not promote or induce undocumented immigration...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
"Efforts against illegals broaden" (in Arkansas)
Immigration-control activists announced a bill to crack down on benefits available to illegal aliens in Arkansas, the first in what is expected to be a wave of initiatives and bills following the success of a similar proposition in Arizona in November's election.
Arkansas state Sen. Jim Holt yesterday said he will sponsor a bill in the legislature this year to deny benefits and inhibit the ability of illegal immigrants to register and vote. And state resident Joe McCutchen promised to lead a grass-roots effort to support the bill.
Mr. McCutchen said he thinks it's up to citizens to take action on illegal immigration.
"If our republic's to be saved, we'd better," he said. "It's obvious the president has no intention to secure the borders, and I think this is by design. I think they're dedicated to destroying the sovereignty and heritage and culture of this nation for their own purpose, whatever that may be..."
The new organization is called "Protect Arkansas Now", but they don't appear to have a website.
Previous coverage of illegal immigration in Arkan$a$ $tart$ in "[AR Gov.] Huckabee plan would give aid to illegal aliens".
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)
Five Stooges Watch
"McCain urges Bush to make immigration reform a priority":
Arizona Sen. John McCain stressed immigration reform as a top priority for the start of President George W. Bush's second term and encouraged the Republican White House to focus on the issue.
McCain, business groups and Arizona U.S. Reps. Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe want to create some kind of federal guest worker program to license and document immigrant workers...
The Arizona Republic, in a completely unshocking turn, agrees in "Realistic reform: Arizona delegation positioned to push for a sensible border policy":
Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, along with Rep. Jim Kolbe, have a lot of insight to share with the president. McCain and Kolbe co-sponsored a thoughtful guest-worker proposal last year.
Etc., etc. It all depends on how you define "reasonable," "thoughtful," and "reform."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)
Do you like waterfalls?
Earlier today I hiked from the top of Lake Avenue in Altadena to Inspiration Point. I took the Lower Sam Merrill trail and then then Castle Canyon trail:
Distance: 10 miles
Gain: 2800'
Pack weight: 32 lbs. (2L drinking water, 1L Gatorade, 6L of weight water which was jettisoned at I.P. All drinking water and Gatorade was consumed.)
Tick worry: high moderate
Power glutes usage level: low
Snakes, bears, antelopes, etc.: none
Flesh pylons: lots and lots, even on the C.C. trail
Time up: <2:45 (blistering!)
Time down: ~1:30
As for the trail condition, there are a few good-sized slides across the lower portions of the S.M. trail. These slides look very similar to those in Griffith Park: a section of the top soil has sheared off. A narrow trail has been cut into these slides. For experienced mountaineers it's nothing, but for your average touron it might be a little too rough considering what's on the downhill side is a little steep and probably wouldn't feel too good as you tumbled. While I've biked up and down and even fallen off this trail (into bushes), anyone who'd MTB across these stretches would have to be either an advanced rider or just a bit crazy. Unfortunately, despite that there were many people on the trail.
In contrast, the C.C. trail shows very little storm damage.
The pictures above are, from the top: the viewing tubes at Inspiration Point, a runner crossing one of the slides, and a waterfall.
Unfortunately, the picture of the waterfall isn't that good; it looks better in person. Most of the hikers on the C.C. trail with that waterfall were men. That's a bit surprising, as I know there are large numbers of female hikers. If you're one of my female readers, I suggest you take this trail the next time you're in the area. By the way, if you are one of those female readers, what do you think of waterfalls? I realize that might sound like a bit of a strange question, but as for me waterfalls are one of my favorite natural features. I think there's something both wild and refreshing about them. I wish I'd spent a bit more time at that waterfall and taken a few better pictures. In fact, I wish I'd taken the opportunity to cool down a bit in the water there. Can you imagine yourself taking a break in that waterfall? Easing your hot skin into the cool water cascading down the hillside, feeling the bubbling water, feeling the thousands of tiny bubbles massaging your skin... Feeling at one with nature and experiencing your wild side as you let all your inhibitions and all your cares just slip away... Close your eyes and imagine that for a second... The feelings deep inside you as the water gently caresses your skin... Yes, waterfalls are certainly my favorite natural feature. Maybe you could write me an email and tell me how they make you feel?
Posted to OutdoorSports at 06:03 PM | Comments (3)
"Mexico's Undeclared War on America"
From this:
If a foreign country was sending more than a million of its people to illegally enter the United States every year surely that would be grounds for war. Mexico is doing that. It is no stretch of imagination to say that Mexico in engaged in an undeclared war on the United States of America...
[...massive illegal immigration, drug smuggling, etc...]
...All this was happening as the Mexican Foreign Ministry was publishing "The Guide for the Mexican Immigrant." It is a guide on how to enter the U.S. illegally. It is an act of war. It is part of a long-term plan to flood the U.S., particularly California and the Southwest, with illegal Mexicans in the belief that, once again, the U.S. will grant amnesty to them, thus putting into motion yet another human wave to follow. There must be no amnesty.
President Bush doesn’t see it that way. He calls illegal Mexican aliens "undocumented workers." That is just pure sophistry. It’s spin. He calls the flood of illegal Mexicans "a problem", but it is much more than that. It is an undeclared act of war...
The author is Alan Caruba.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)
Hey commenters: FU
The latest blogospheric craze is the "nofollow" tag. This is added to the HTML of links left in comments on blogs. The hoped-for use is to make leaving spam comments unprofitable: google and other search engines will not use links so marked to compute a site's PageRank. The upsides, downsides, and the possible futility of this new feature are discussed here.
The Lonewacko Blog's opinion of this feature can best be understood by referring to the following graphic:
This new feature throws the (perhaps unwanted) babe out with the bathwater. It's a good thing that comment spammers will be somewhat hurt by this. However, at the same time legitimate commenters will be hurt.
If you run a blog about, say, weasels you probably want to be at the top of the list of weasel blogs. And, you probably don't want someone to be able to leave comments about their weasel blog at your blog, thereby moving them up in the search results and giving searchers a choice between weasel blogs.
And, as noted at the thread above, some people might sell PageRank: pay me money and I'll remove the "nofollow" from your link.
However, if those or similar cases don't apply, any use of the "nofollow" tag is just a big wet Fuck You to those who bother to leave comments at your blog. So, unless comment spam gets way out of hand, I probably won't be using this wonderful new way to say Up Yours.
UPDATE: The preceding sentiments will not, of course, preclude me from changing some of the links herein to use "nofollow", such as those to KoolAidCentral.
However, let's consider a somewhat contrived example and see if we can discover some of the downsides.
Let's say a Big Blogger lies about something. Several other bloggers join in with the lie. However, a true truthseeker goes to each of those blogs and posts comments including a link to "the truth about weasel bloggers." A perfectly legitimate use of a link, even if it would be looked down upon by some of those bloggers. Unless other bloggers start linking to the same thing using non-"nofollow" links, the truth about weasel bloggers might be a bit hard to find using google.
I hereby coin the word "malletous" (and its synonym "hammerish") to denote hamfisted things like "nofollow" to which little apparent thought has been applied by either the designers or those using them.
Posted to Bloggage at 02:58 PM | Comments (3)
Traveling, Lonewacko style
The picture above is the MapQuest route between two cities 476 miles apart. It shows the short route in one direction, but not in the other. According to Snopes:
...the trip from Haugesund to Trondheim is an arduous two-day journey that involves crossing the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Baltic Sea; traversing seven different countries (the U.K., France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden); and traveling a grand total of 1,686 miles — all to get between two cities less than 500 miles apart in the same country...
That actually sounds like the much more fun route.
Posted to WackyHumor at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)
'Heal A Child. Plant A Tree.'
From this:
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Antonio Villaragosa spoke at Friday Night Live January 14. He was particularly vapid.
He urged us to "go speak to someone who doesn't speak your language."
If you don't share a language with somebody, how can you speak to them? If you happen to be bilingual and share a language, then your second language is your language.
Antonio urged us to "heal a child. And plant a tree."
He said "mitzvah" meant a deed of kindness, when it really means a divine obligation. It is mitzvah to not eat pork, but that is no deed of kindness unless you are a pig.
Antonio described America as "a country founded on slavery."
(Via a comment here.)
Posted to Los_Angeles at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
You might say it's a controversy in a circle
Controversy opens Harvard blog meet:
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - An invited group of bloggers and journalists began a two-day conference Friday morning at Harvard University amid cold weather (3 degrees) and controversy.
Alex Jones, head of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, acknowledged "contentious" comments have been made about the event's guest list of about 50 people.
Among the critics was a conservative blogger who said the meeting "is a hopelessly biased group of center-left academics/journalists who are once again getting overwhelmed by the marketplace." That statement was made to Ed Cone, one of the conference's participants...
The part where they form a circle and see who can post the fastest will not be webcast, unfortunately.
Posted to Bloggage at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
Patriarchical police state imprisons peace protester
America's favorite peace protester, Susan "Medea" Benjamin, is safely behind bars. Again:
WOMEN PEACE ACTIVISTS DRAGGED OUT OF INAUGURATION CEREMONY BY THE POLICE
MEMBERS OF CODEPINK: WOMEN FOR PEACE UNFURL BANNERS AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR DURING GEORGE BUSH’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS
Washington, DC – As George W. Bush gave his inaugural address in front of the U.S. Capitol, six women peace activists stood up on their chairs in the VIP section and shouted “bring the troops home!” The women also held up banners reading “No War,” “Out of Iraq Now,” and “Bush Mandate: Troops Home Now.” They were dragged out of the inaugural ceremony by the police, and two of the women are still in police custody.
“The killing in Iraq doesn’t stop because the inauguration is happening, so our efforts to end the war and occupation can’t stop either,” said Jodie Evans, one of the women who spoke out during Bush’s inaugural address.
“Bush’s occupation of Iraq has led to needless suffering of US soldiers and Iraqis, increased anti-American sentiment globally, and has made us less safe at home. We spoke out because the Bush administration needs end the occupation of Iraq and its bellicose policy towards Iran and other nations, and instead commit the United States to the rule of law—including the US constitution and bill of rights, the UN charter and the Geneva conventions,” said Medea Benjamin, who also spoke out during the inaugural address and is still in police custody...
Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
Conservatives somewhat mixed on Bush's inaugural speech
Jonah Goldberg retreats from his Wilsonian observations back into orthodoxy:
...What conservatives understood then and what President Bush understands now is that America itself is a radical nation, founded on the revolutionary principle that self-government is simultaneously the best form of government and the most moral. And that lovers of liberty in all parties should seek to conserve that legacy. The circumstances we face today are new, but the principles are eternal. So yes, George W. Bush is a revolutionary, but he is merely the latest in a long line of American revolutionaries.
However, from Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution:
...the speech was in almost no way that of a conservative. To the contrary. It amounted to a thoroughgoing exaltation of the state.
Bush has just announced that we must remake the entire third world in order to feel safe in our own homes, and he has done so without sounding a single note of reluctance or hesitation. This overturns the nation’s fundamental stance toward foreign policy since its inception. Washington warned of "foreign entanglements." The second President Adams asserted that "we go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy." During the Cold War, even Republican presidents made it clear that we played our large role upon the world stage only to defend ourselves and our allies, seeking to changed the world by our example rather than by force. Maybe I'm misreading Bush — I'm writing this based on my notes, and without having had time to study the text — but sheesh.
On domestic policy, a "broader definition of liberty?" Citing as useful precedents the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the G. I. Bill? Compare what Bush said today with the inaugural address of Lyndon Baines Johnson and the first inaugural address of Ronald Reagan and you'll find that Bush sounds much, much more like LBJ. He as much as announced that from now on the GOP will be a party of big government...
And, from George F. Will on ABC:
[the inaugural parade was like] something you'd see in a banana republic.
Posted to Politics at 08:43 PM | Comments (1)
"Can I lose weight and support Zimbabwean land reform... at the same time?"
Yes! From "'Obesity tourism' is Mugabe's answer to feeding Zimbabwe":ZIMBABWE has come up with a bizarre proposal to solve the food crisis threatening half its population with starvation. It wants to bring in obese tourists from overseas so that they can shed pounds doing manual labour on land seized from white farmers.I love it how they managed to diss not only Mugabe but Americans. Meanwhile, here's a (no doubt slim) British person who's both white and a supporter of Mugabe:
The so-called Obesity Tourism Strategy was reported last week in The Herald, a government organ whose contents are approved by President Robert Mugabe's powerful information minister, Jonathan Moyo.
Pointing out that more than 1.2 billion people worldwide are officially deemed to be overweight, the article exhorted Zimbabweans to "tap this potential".
"Tourists can provide labour for farms in the hope of shedding weight while enjoying the tourism experience," it said, adding that Americans spent $6 billion a year on "useless" dieting aids.
"Tour organisers may promote this programme internationally and bring in tourists, while agriculturalists can employ the tourists as free farm labour.
"The tourists can then top it all by flaunting their slim bodies on a sun-downer cruise on the Zambezi or surveying the majestic Great Zimbabwe ruins."
The notion that oversized, overpaid Americans could be enticed into paying to spend their holidays working free for those who seized the country's commercial farms illustrates how far the Mugabe regime has descended into a fantasy world...
"In my view, comrade Mugabe is the most important African leader since Nkomo. Under his leadership, he challenged the imperialists," he says, venting his feelings.
His decision to join Zanu-PF stems from the fact that he grew up in leftist politics and the communist party of Britain, having been recruited by Ronnie Kasrils, South African minister of intelligence.
"During my travels I met a Zimbabwean lady. As a communist, there is one party I can belong to in Zimbabwe, that is Zanu-PF.
"I first joined the party in 1989 when I was outside the country in Botswana. I started becoming active again in 1998," says Deddowes.
Born in Birmingham, England, in his 20s Deddowes lived in London and was an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and the construction unions...
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
"The border remains the problem"
President Bush will be inaugurated today for a second term, pledging one of his highest priorities will be the creation of a new guest-worker program with no provisions for securing the border that brought them here.
Americans will grow weary of these foreign wars designed to defeat the threat of Islamic terrorism when they know the border is wide open and inviting those same enemies into our own country...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
The liberal case against illegal immigration
Welcome liberal visitors!From Victor Davis Hanson's Illegal immigration is a moral issue:
...The hallowed assimilationist formula has too few overt defenders these days - even though measured, legal immigration, English emersion, multiracialism instead of multiculturalism, and integration have ensured that past legal immigrants from Mexico are among America's finest citizens.Now please see "The liberal case against illegal immigration, Part 2" for more.
The laissez-faire right still lectures on open borders as if it were a matter of robust lawful immigration - emphasizing global competitiveness that accrues from cheap labor. The minimum wage, not illegality, supposedly is its only problem: if only the self-correcting market could be set free to adjudicate wages, $2 an hour might not tempt any more from rural Mexico.
The therapeutic left will not even talk of "illegal immigration" - taboo nomenclature that supposedly denotes racism. "Undocumented workers" is the politically correct terminology, even though not all aliens are working or simply misplaced their certification.
If employers count on inexpensive industrious laborers in the shadows, chauvinists envision a revolving, but still permanent unassimilated constituency to enhance their own agendas. In response to the tired rhetoric, perhaps it is better to envision illegal immigration from Mexico not as a question of divisive politics, but of collective morality. Is it ethical for the Mexican government to export annually 1 million to 2 million of its unwanted citizens to avoid long-overdue reform - hoping to free itself of dissidents and earn $12 billion in subsidies from its poorest abroad? No wonder Mexico talks of the problem in terms of U.S. imperialism in lieu of its own cynicism.
Is it moral for employers to count on illegal industrious workers, usually without English or education, to undercut the wages of American citizens - as if a laborer remains youthful and hale in perpetuity with no need of social entitlements when disabled or impoverished years later? No wonder employers claim that they are only providing a service to Mexico's poor...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)
Say hello to GahpBlawgerz.com!
Say hello to gopbloggers.com, or as they shall be henceforth noted here, GahpBlawgerz.com. Yes, two slightly disgusting series of phonemes that sound even worse together.
GahpBlawgerz.com is from blogsforbush.com, the same site that frequently deletes my comments, the last one noted here and one of their more wacky posts noted here.
Of especial interest is the logo for GahpBlawgerz.com: Mount Rushmore background, Reagan midground, and GWB foreground. No, really, I'm not kidding, go check it out.
Posted to Bloggage at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)
Poll: How many more Bush administrations (this century)?
Please go here* and take the poll.
Note the rules:
1. The first two George W. Bush administrations don't count towards the poll total. Only select the number you think there will be after the current Bush administration.
2. A "President Bush" or a "VP Bush" counts as a Bush administration.
3. If there's both a "President Bush" and a "VP Bush" in the same administration, that counts as one Bush administration.
4. A clone of a former President Bush or VP Bush who then serves as president or VP counts as a new Bush administration.
* The poll was previously at redstate.org/story/2005/1/20/131945/811, but that page has been removed since I was banned by RedState.
Posted to Politics at 12:23 PM | Comments (1)
Senator Boxer Offers Flood Relief Assistance
Received via email:
Dear Friend:
Late December and early January brought record rain and snow to California. Sadly, 28 people lost their lives, and thousands more still suffer the consequences of the storm.
I wrote to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pledging my assistance in gaining federal assistance should the Governor ask for an emergency declaration. Under both State and Federal law, damage assessments are necessary to tell whether the scope of damage triggers the federal damage assistance.
I invite you to visit a feature on my Senate website that provides valuable links on ways to prepare for more rain, including a United States Geological Survey site that allows you to monitor streamflows while they happen. You can find this feature at http://boxer.senate.gov/flood.cfm
Most of us have seen the incredible film footage of our public safety heroes and family members as they have waded into swollen streams to save victims, flown helicopters into rough terrain, and in hundreds of other ways risked their lives to save ours. I hope you will join me in saying a big thank you to these heroes.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Previous BarbaraCares! emails here and here.
Posted to Politics at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)
I guess I need a scheduling program
Welcome doughty visitors who are using [the old address] rather than lonewacko.com!
It appears that I let the lonewacko.com domain name expire. Fortunately, it had entered the redemption period. Unfortunately, I had to pay a $50 restoral fee to re-register it, in addition to the normal registration fee. My registrar is eNameCo.com for some reason. They claim to have sent me over a dozen emails about this, but I only received one and that was three months ago. There's a good chance they're telling the truth and those emails just got trapped in my spam filters.
Anyway, lonewacko.com should be widely available within 24 hours of this post and will continue spreading the truth and enlightening the world. Please use lonewacko.com when accessing this blog or leaving links to pages here.
UPDATE: The email receipt from eNameCo was put into my spam folder by SpamAssasin 2.63. It looks like I'm getting between 10 and 20 megs of spam a day, so I guess I need to come up with some form of a verification deal as well, together with a whitelist for mailing lists and other known addresses.
Posted to Bloggage at 11:59 AM | Comments (1)
America's "amigo"
Presented in all its absurdity and overt threat to the U.S. is this Vicente Fox speech that he made in Madrid in May 16, 2002. Please take a moment and read it, noting that some parts have been omitted:
In recent years a new International System has been developing, oriented toward the establishment of norms and principles of universal jurisdiction, above national sovereignty, in the areas of what is called the New Agenda, such as human rights and democracy, questions of gender and discrimination, the protection of the environment or the war on organized crime and corruption.
.... The construction of new rules of international co-existence must continue.... we are actively participating in various forums in the construction of this international architecture.
Mexico is closely linked with the European nations for historical reasons and because of cultural affinity.
.....it is logical that Mexico approach Europe. We have an identity of values which unites us with the European nations, even more than with our neighbors of North America.
The second axis of Mexico’s foreign policy has been the construction of a strategic association for prosperity with the United States and Canada....
The density and complexity of the themes of our bilateral agenda with the United States.... has a particular dimension for the presence of large Mexican communities settled in that country, more than 20 million Mexicans.
In the last few months we have managed to achieve an improvement in the situation of many Mexicans in that country, regardless of their migratory status, through schemes that have permitted them access to health and education systems, identity documents, as well as the full respect for their labor and human rights.
All this has meant, in the past year, an extraordinary conceptual advance on the subject of immigration and in the importance of moving gradually toward the regularization of the migratory situation of our fellow Mexicans in the United States, a number that is estimated at between 3 and 4 million Mexicans.
Eventually, our long-range objective is to establish with the United States, but also with Canada, our other regional partner, an ensemble of connections and institutions similar to those created by the European Union, with the goal of attending to future themes as important as the future prosperity of North America, and the freedom of movement of capital, goods, services and persons.
The new framework we wish to construct is inspired in the example of the European Union...
....we have to confront ..... what I dare to call the Anglo-Saxon prejudice against the establishment of supra-national organizations.
Nevertheless, I believe that with realism we can overcome the obstacles and construct a more prosperous and secure community for our peoples.
If you're a regular reader of this blog, you will probably have been fisking as you read. However, if you aren't familiar with this topic, I now suggest you read this article, which includes inline commentary on this speech and a large number of explanatory links.
According to the Cato Institute and many American politicians, there is no security threat from allowing millions of Mexican illegal aliens to settle in the U.S. To anyone who is intellectually honest, Fox' comments make it patently clear that that's false.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)
Racist liberals? Isn't that an oxymoron?
Since most "liberals" would jump to defend the people who made the following quotes, is there any reason not to call those "liberals" what they are: racists?MARIO OBLEDO - (1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and former head of Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund - MALDEF) "California is going to be a Mexican state, we are going to control all the institutions. If people don't like it they should leave."Many more here.
ART TORRES (former chairman, California Democratic Party) - "Remember, [Proposition] 187 [the measure to cut public benefits to illegal aliens] is the last gasp of white America."
GUS SAVAGE (former U.S. Representative from Chicago to a white member of the press) "I don't talk to you white motherf******. You bitch motherf****** in the white press. F*** you, you motherf***ing assh*** white devils."
And, from this:
"We are pioneers. We might as well be in covered wagons because 10 years from now, this state is brown,'' said Rep. William Delgado (D-Chicago).The next time a "liberal" starts the standard "racist conservatives" BS, send them this link. If they mean what they say, they'll attempt to drive people like Obledo and Torres out of their party.
". . . we have to fight for our race, we have to find the leaders who represent us." -- George P. Bush
"We are politicizing every single one of these new citizens that are becoming citizens of this country.I gotta tell you that a lot of people are saying, 'I'm going to go out there and vote because I want to pay them back.'" -- Gloria Molina, Los Angeles County Supervisor
"They're afraid we're going to take over the governmental institutions and other institutions. They're right. We will take them over. . We are here to stay." -- Richard Alatorre, Los Angeles City Council
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 10:13 PM | Comments (2)
"Dogmatic Libertarians: Over the edge."
I already posted this inside another post, but this May 9, 2002 column deserves its own post:
...Near the end of the NRO article Griswold [of the Cato Institute] insists that he is not for "open borders," but his record suggests otherwise. A story in the Christian Science Monitor (August 30, 2000) by Scott Baldauf is particularly revealing. Baldauf describes a new project of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's Border Patrol that specifically targets highly sophisticated criminal smuggling rings that employ infrared scopes, two-way radios, and computer databases. The project goes after smugglers associated with organized crime rather than simply individuals who cross the border illegally.
These criminal gangs have done enormous damage. One gang, headed by Mexican criminal Nick Diaz smuggled about 12,000 foreigners, most of them from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and India, into the United States. These illegal immigrants paid $20,000 a piece to be placed in safe houses in 38 different states. Senator Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) praised the new INS/Border Patrol initiative. So too, did Judy Marks, a spokeswoman for the National Immigration Forum, a left-wing advocacy group, that nearly always opposes any form of border control.
But not Dan Griswold of the Cato Institute. Instead, Griswold specifically attacked the new Border Patrol initiative that targets organized crime. Scott Baldauf records Griswold's response as follows: "Noting the INS's new strategy, he sighs, 'It's just another example of government trying to stop people from doing something that is natural, to better their conditions.'" In addition, Baldauf quotes Griswold as declaring: "The problem with illegal immigration is not the immigration; it's that it's illegal..."
Previous coverage in:
More Kato-Aid, senor?
That's enough Kato-Aid, thanks though
Drinking Kato-Aid on my veranda
Posted to Politics at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)
"I like being his amigo."
The titular quote is from:
1. A six-year-old George W. Bush.
2. A hopelessly naive and differently-abled eight-year-old.
3. Tom Ridge, yesterday.
[LOU] DOBBS: The Mexican government has made yet another outrageous demand of the United States. A top Mexican government official told Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Mexican workers have the right to work in the United States, to receive benefits and return to their home country. Mexico, in fact, is demanding the United States relax its immigration policy and standards.
Casey Wian has the report from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the last scheduled meeting between U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Mexican Interior Secretary Santiago Creel before Ridge leaves office in two weeks.
TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I like being his amigo.
WIAN: For advocates of tighter border controls, the chummy relationship can't end soon enough, as both officials continue to push for a freer flow of people and goods across the U.S. border with Mexico.
SANTIAGO CREEL, MEXICAN INTERIOR SECRETARY (through translator): The government of President Fox will continue to work with his American counterpart until we can come to a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) agreement. We have proposed as a government five central points.
WIAN: Those demands are what he calls the regularization of Mexican undocumented workers in the United States, a temporary worker program, an increase in the number of visas for Mexicans, better economic development of the border region and proper human rights for migrants...
Previous coverage in Recapping the 1/17/05 giveaway.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:50 PM | Comments (1)
"Boston terror threat probed"
Drudge is linking to this Boston Herald report. It sounds a bit questionable, but then again see the other entries in this category for examples of border infiltrations by potential terrorists. From the article:
Federal and state authorities are investigating a nuclear terrorist threat against Boston after a man calling from Mexico told California police that he smuggled two Iraqis and four Chinese over the border, the Boston Herald has learned.
``They got a call from across the border in Mexico to the California Highway Patrol and he said he brought two Iraqis and four Chinese (individuals) across the border and according to him, they stated soon to follow behind them would be some sort of material,'' said a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.
``He refers to some sort of nuclear material that will follow them through New York up into Boston.''
According to the source, the caller has not identified himself and did not show up for a meeting with federal investigators in California but he did leave pictures of four Chinese men and some names at a ``drop'' site at the Mexico-California border.
``They were dropped by the source at a location. He literally threw them over a fence from Mexico to the U.S. side,'' said the source. ``There are pictures of the four Chinese and some names but just how accurate they are remains a question..."
Posted to Immigration_terror at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)
Analyzing Rep. Chris Shays' questionnaire results
Rep. Chris Shays [R-CT] sent questionnaires to his constituents and got over 24,000 responses. Some of the results are discussed here:
His question #23. Do you support deportation of illegal aliens?
Answers: Yes 70.5%, Not sure 14.7%, No 13.3%, n/a 1.5%
24. Do you support amnesty for illegal aliens?
Answers: No 60.3%, Not sure 20.9%, Yes 17.0%, n/a 1.8%
...28. Illegal aliens should be entitled to public health services.
Answers: Strongly disagree 49.4%, Somewhat disagree 18.8%, Somewhat agree 17.4%, Strongly agree 9%, No opinion 4.2%, n/a 1.2%
29. Illegal aliens should be entitled to public education and access to higher-education benefits.
Answers: Strongly disagree 56.1%, Somewhat disagree 17.7%, Somewhat agree 13.3%, Strongly agree 7.8%, No opinion 3.8%, n/a 1.3%
You can download the results in this 800k PDF file.
On the downside, "Immigration" only got 5.6% of votes for the third-most important issue for Congress to address.
However, the results above and some of the other results might give our favorite Mayberry Machiavelli pause. Most of the responses to the other questions show that these constituents seem much more likely to be Bush voters rather than, for instance, Kerry or Dean voters.
For instance, "Would you have voted to support the use of force in Iraq?" got support from 53% vs. 36%. A similar question involving Afghanistan was 75% in favor, 15% against. I'll leave a deeper analysis to others.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)
She's a team player!
Rice said immigration reform would be an important issue for Bush, both for economic and security reasons. ‘‘But if we are not asking our border guards and our border personnel to deal simultaneously with immigration that comes out of economic circumstances and dangerous border infringement that comes out of terrorism, and they have a more regularized way to deal with the former, we think that that will make it easier to deal with some of the terrorism and concerns about bad people coming to do bad things,’’ she said.
Note for those just joining us: "regularization" is the euphemism that the Mexican government and the Bush administration use to denote "a massive illegal alien amnesty." For instance, here's team player Colin Powell using that word. And, here's America's favorite amigo Vicente Fox from just four days before 9/11:
...What we want. We want some agreement on migration, taking into considerations two universes: One has to do with those Mexican workers that are here in the United States but are contributing to the U.S. economy, that are paying taxes, that are behaving; those right now are illegal. We want to regularize their situation so that they can be here without having to hide away, without having to have their rights violated, and that they would have a status of regularization that will permit them to have all the rights, and keep on working hard, and at the same time go back and forth to Mexico...
The intentionally misleading terminology our leaders and our "friends" use is described here:
...Amnesty supporters have been working overtime to avoid the "A" word. Unlike in Al Kahn's playful approach, the result has been euphemisms only a policy wonk could love: "regularization," "legalization," "normalization," "permanence," "earned adjustment," and (perhaps most ludicrous) "phased-in access to earned regularization." Focus groups conducted by the National Council of La Raza, a leading supporter of amnesty, found so much resistance that the organization advised Mexican president Vicente Fox never to utter the word.
Other amnesty supporters have gone farther, challenging the very concept of amnesty and seeking to legitimize illegal immigration. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.), for instance, rejects the concept altogether: "Amnesty — there's an implication that somehow you did something wrong and you need to be forgiven." Cecilia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza makes the same point in a more sophisticated fashion; the word "conveys a sense of forgiving someone for a crime," she says, when in fact, crossing the border illegally is a civil offense, not a criminal one. A quick look at Title 8, Section 1325 of the U.S. Code shows this to be false: Illegal entry into the United States is a misdemeanor on the first offense, and a felony afterward...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)
How The Lonewacko Blog is celebrating tomorrow's "liberal" cry for help
Some "liberals" are threatening not to buy anything tomorrow in order to celebrate Our Leader's ascension to the throne: NotOneDamnDime.com.
Later today I'll sign their petition with a nice albeit over the top comment.
In the meantime, I left the following comment:
Not only am I not buying anything, I'm going to be conducting a massive yard sale and selling all my stuff at a steep discount to those gap-toothed, missing link troglodytic red staters. That'll show 'em!
Posted to Politics at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
MALDEF turns attention to most popular provisions of Prop. 200
Like an evil Energizer Bunny:
PHOENIX – Opponents of Arizona's new immigration law – stymied in their initial court challenges – are taking aim at the law's election mandates, claiming they'll virtually eliminate voter registration drives and place too many obstacles in front of minority voters...
"It hurts minorities, particularly Hispanics and Native Americans that do have a language barrier," said Democratic Rep. Steve Gallardo...
A separate objection filed by MALDEF said the polling-place identification requirement amounts to an illegal poll tax because low-income, minority and elderly voters – especially those living on Indian reservations and in extended households – are less likely to have the types of identification required by the law.
"With no vehicle, there is no need for a driver's license. With no plumbing, there is no water bill. With no telephone, there is no telephone bill," MALDEF attorney Steven J. Reyes wrote. "American citizens should not be denied the right to vote because they are poor..."
Methinks it's not the poor he's thinking about so much as illegal aliens who are of the same race as he is.
In polls, support for Prop. 200's voting provisions was above 90%. So, hey, good luck there.
More on MALDEF here, here, and here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
Head of the CT DMV steps down
HARTFORD (AP) — Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Gary DeFilippo, whose tenure was marked by a scandal involving fraudulent driver’s licenses and a troubled vehicle emissions testing program, will step down on Feb. 1...
He wants to spend more time with his family.
Previous coverage of DMV scandals in CT and other states starts here.
Posted to Immigration_dls at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
The dangers of non-native born presidents
From "Death penalty opponents demonstrate in Schwarzenegger's home country":
Activists in California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's home country voiced their opposition to capital punishment outside the U.S. Embassy in Vienna on Wednesday after the execution of convicted killer Donald Beardslee.
About a half-dozen protesters stood in the snow outside the embassy holding signs that read, "Schwarzenegger Terminates in Real Life," "Death PenaltyState Murder" and "No to the Death Penalty."
The Vienna chapter of Amnesty International urged Austrians to write letters of protest to Schwarzenegger's office, saying, "The death penalty is the most inhuman of all punishments..."
I hardly think six wacky protesters are going to change Arnold's mind about something. However, one can easily (depending, of course, on the individual) imagine cases where the interests of, say, Austria would be opposed to the interests of the U.S. If it were something popular and important, one likewise can imagine Arnold being called a traitor to his home country and perhaps legislation being passed to prevent him from traveling to Austria in the future. In that case it would create a conflict. Even if Arnold would make the right choice in such a case, there's no guarantee that others in the same situation would.
Posted to Politics at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
Cracks in the facade?
Michael Barone has a good op-ed on Bush's inauguration and second inaugurals in general. What I find particularly interesting is his suggestion that Bush's address will most resemble Woodrow Wilson's. Which reminds me of something that's been rattling around in my head for a while.
Intellectual honesty should force us to at least admit that A) Barone's right and B) the comparison should be at least a little troubling to conservatives. Wilson, by my lights, was the worst president of the 20th century and did more damage to that century than any other American statesman. Much of the damage he caused wasn't deliberate, but a great deal of it stemmed from his idealism and his arrogance. He got us into an idiotic war for high-fallutin' reasons and his incompetence in handling the aftermath created a parade of horribles we are still reviewing as it passes us by (He also laid the groundwork for the Welfare State, the National Security State, and the Corporatist State but that's a topic for another time).
That these traits and mistakes echo complaints about Bush is significant.
However, he goes on:
But I think we can draw important distinctions as well. Despite being a political scientist, Wilson's ideas were based on shockingly little empirical data about democracy and how it actually works. Wilson unleashed nationalism in not one nation but many and then refused to do the hard work of cleaning up the mess. Bush, on the other hand, is sticking it out to do exactly that. No one who denounces the "propaganda" from the Bush administration as if it is unprecedented or novel knows what he or she is talking about. Woodrow Wilson was the first president in American history to actually set up a bona fide propaganda ministry complete with secret agents and provocateurs. FDR's propaganda efforts were also obviously wildly more extensive than what should more properly be called Bush's PR offensives. And if you dislike the Patriot Act and other alleged civil liberties infractions, you must loathe the horror show that was the Wilson Adminsitration. If you think what Bush "does" to his "enemies" is bad you must shudder at the thought of what Wilson did to his. Valerie Plame may or may not have been "outed" in retribution, but Wilson would have undoubtedly put Michael Moore in prison.
Bush: "not quite as bad as Woodrow Wilson."
Bush: "not yet imprisoning his political enemies."
Posted to Politics at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)
280 voted "No"?
Lou Dobbs' current poll says: "Do you believe the Bush Administration should inform Mexico's interior secretary that there is no 'right' for Mexican citizens to work in the United States?"
Current results:
4713 (94%) Yes
280 (6%) No
One might wonder who those 280 people are. Relatives of administration officials? Mexican consuls? Members of the California Assembly? "Liberals"? Perhaps it's just people who misunderstood the question.
And, of course, the very fact that such a question is being asked should be shocking but unfortunately isn't.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:02 AM | Comments (1)
More Kato-Aid, senor?
The libertarian Cato Institute has emitted their latest "Handbook on Policy."
From the immigration chapter:
To better defend ourselves against terrorism and promote economic
growth, America’s border-control system requires a reorientation of mission.
For the last two decades, U.S. immigration policy has been obsessed
with nabbing mostly Mexican-born workers whose only ‘‘crime’’ is their
desire to work, save, and build a better life for their families. Those
workers pose no threat to national security.
Yes, the quotation marks are there in the original. And, yes, the rest of it is just as bad if not worse.
(For those just joining us, allowing a foreign country which used to own part of our country to resettle its old territory is a really bad idea. In addition, massive immigration from one country leads to more power for racial ideologues. I'm sure there are some libertarians who would consider that a clear "threat to national security."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 07:15 PM | Comments (1)
"Immigrants Hail Mexico's Migrant Guide"
The reviews are in, and 9 out of 10 illegal aliens praise the Guide for the Mexican Migrant. Note also the confirmation that the guide is available in the U.S.:
Many Mexican immigrants say that a 32-page comic book doesn't encourage more people to cross the border, but it saves the lives of people who do.
Mexico's Department of Foreign Relations distributed more than a million copies of the 'Guia del Migrante Mexicano' (Guide for the Mexican Immigrant), which gives advice and suggestions for those who have decided to cross the border into the United States.
The guide can be obtained at Mexican consulates in the United States. Representatives of the Mexican Consulate in Fresno said they didn't have copies of the guide but would probably receive some in the following months...
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that a guide showing how to illegally immigrant is being released into the target country. The State Department isn't going to complain.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 07:08 PM | Comments (1)
"Guest worker program promoted"
From this:
Hours after being named chairman of the Senate subcommittee on immigration, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he would work on immigration reform that would help legitimize the millions of illegal immigrant workers in the United States.
As head of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, Mr. Cornyn will be responsible for advancing President Bush's immigration reform proposals...
... Mr. Cornyn says he would like to continue a project he started in 2003 to create a guest worker program that would give temporary legal worker status to illegal immigrants in the United States... [...an interview was conducted...]
Question: What are the options?
Answer: During the last 20 years, we've done a very poor job of controlling our borders. In a post-9/11 world, we must do a better job at controlling them. Ten million people are living here outside of our laws. Some people suggest we ought to have massive deportations. But I don't believe that the American people have the stomach for that, nor have we calculated the damage [that would cause] to our economy.
In case you are right now having a case of deja lu, you're probably thinking of "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'":
Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson also said taxpayers "might be afraid" to learn how much it would take in manpower and resources to control the nation's borders and described as "probably accurate" a statement that no law-enforcement officials are looking for the vast majority of the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens thought to be in the country...
"It's not realistic to say we're going to reduce that number... But I don't think America has the will... I think they have too much compassion to tell our law-enforcement people to go out there and uproot those 8 million here..."
Continuing with Cornyn:
Question: What do you think of the role Mexican officials have played in shaping this debate?
Answer: Mexico has been very active on this front. I've enjoyed our meetings with colleagues from the Mexican government. But they need to understand how controversial the subject can be here and not add to controversy...
Not just diplomacy but friendly tips for our "friends" to the south.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)
He's dreamy!
From 1983's Teen Beat magazine. Another picture here, discussion here.
If you'd rather see a hot steamy dance from Steve Ballmer, click here.
UPDATE: According to Snopes, these are not from Teen Beat. Instead they're publicity photos, described by the MS-owned Corbis as follows:
"Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, reclines on his desk in his office soon after the release of Windows 1.0. 1985 Bellevue, Washington, USA."
Posted to WackyHumor at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
"Guest Worker Plan in Doubt"
The LAT has a rather uninteresting article on the guest worker plan's chances of passing. Their tone does seem to be a bit upset, but there's nothing overtly objectionable about it.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
Jeb in '08? Jeb in '12? P. in '16? P. in '20? Wilbur [Bush] in '24? Wilbur in '28? Cletus [Bush] in '32? Cletus in '36? W. [first clone] in '40? W. [first clone] in '44?
Professor Bainbridge weighs the possibility of Jeb in '08, and concludes we have just two other choices: Rick Santorum or Condi Rice.
Let's be frank. This democracy/republic thing isn't really working out, we need to return to our roots.
Posted to Politics at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
Recapping the 1/17/05 giveaway
As previously mentioned, Tom Ridge met today with Mexico's interior secretary. The AP offers this roundup of what was promised or just given away:
Mexico will continue to press for an immigration agreement establishing a right for Mexicans to work temporarily in the United States, the country's interior secretary, Santiago Creel, said Monday at his last meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
Creel also used the occasion to denounce [Arizona's Prop. 200]...
...Ridge, for his part, said an immigration agreement was a "high priority" for President Bush in his second term, but added that a temporary worker program would be an uphill battle in Congress without provisions for stricter enforcement of immigration laws.
He emphasized that the United States would reject any amnesty proposal for Mexicans who are currently living in the United States illegally or any plan that gives priority to temporary workers when they apply for permanent residency.
He avoided criticizing the Arizona ballot measure, saying that states have a right to deny state but not federal aid...
...Ridge said other states were unlikely to follow Arizona's lead if the United States introduces a program for temporary workers.
"There will probably be far less inclination by any states to vote a similar way again ... because the people that will be here will be here legally and they will certainly be in a much better position to support themselves without relying on any public funding," Ridge said...
These guys are simply out to space. I have no idea what he's talking about.
We've already covered the first part of Ridge's statement on this blog, but I have some bad news: "President Bush To Fix Illegal Immigration Problem By Removing Immigration Laws" was a satire. Yes, that's right, it was, in effect, a joke. In other words, they were not serious.
As for the second part, that's something that some enterprising reporter should really quiz him about. How exactly would waving a magic wand and changing someone's status affect their costs and benefits? And, if he's suggesting that our erstwhile illegal aliens would be given higher wages, wouldn't their cheap-labor-loving employers simply cause cheaper labor to be imported?
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)
Mexifornia
Posted to Bloggage at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
What the NYT isn't telling you (Part 1 of an infinite series)
You have to start somewhere, so, let's start with August 19, 2004's "Immigrants Face Loss of Licenses in ID Crackdown" by Nina Bernstein. Please read the following description of one Margaret Stock:
...But critics say the enforcement [of driver's licenses only for citizens and legal residents] will fall mainly on illegal immigrants who are hard-working members of society - and to local D.M.V. clerks with no understanding of complicated immigration laws.
"Nobody has considered the bureaucratic nightmare that they're creating," said Margaret Stock, an associate professor of national security law at the United States Military Academy at West Point, who is writing a paper on the driver's license issue. "It's actually harmful to national security to deny licenses to people on the basis of immigration status."
Ms. Stock, who is also a lieutenant colonel in the military police of the Army Reserves, said there was a better chance of tracking a terrorist with a driver's license than one without. Moreover, she said, "immigration status is a moving target - someone legal today can be illegal tomorrow and someone illegal today can be legal tomorrow," so motor vehicle offices can end up issuing and denying licenses to the wrong people.
Yet thousands of illegal immigrants denied driver's licenses will continue to drive, she said, and probably add to the number of hit-and-run accidents and uninsured drivers already on the road.
The real problem, she said, is that since 9/11, officials have been trying to turn the driver's license into "a backdoor national identity card." But, she added, "driver's licenses are really about road safety."
From the NYT, we learn that Margaret Stock is an "associate professor of national security law at the United States Military Academy at West Point" as well as being "a lieutenant colonel in the military police of the Army Reserves". All fine resume points. And, she gets five whole paragraphs in the New York Times to state her views.
However, Nina Bernstein and her editors failed to inform us of a couple other of Stock's resume points, highlighted here in her Congressional testimony:
Mr. Chairman and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, my name is Margaret Stock. I am honored to be here in two capacities: on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and as an expert in the field of constitutional, military, national security, and comparative law. I am an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. The statements, opinions, and views expressed herein are my own, and do not represent the views of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense...
...I am an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where I teach National Security Law, Constitutional Law, Military Law, Comparative Law, and International Law to future military officers. As an attorney and a graduate of the Harvard Law School, I have practiced in the area of immigration law for more than ten years, and have written and spoken extensively on the issue of immigration and national security. I am also a lieutenant colonel in the Military Police Corps, United States Army Reserve. Over the years, I have represented hundreds of businesses, immigrants, and citizens seeking to navigate the difficult maze of US immigration law...
To recap, the New York Times' Nina Bernstein and her editors failed to disclose that Stock was not just an immigration lawyer, but a member of the AILA or had testified on their behalf.
I already sent an email about this, but I urge you to do so as well: public@nytimes.com
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:03 PM | Comments (2)
"Que Ud. quiera, Senor?"
From a 1/17/05 DHS press release:
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge joined Mexican Interior Secretary Santiago Creel today at the Calexico port of entry to formally open dedicated lanes for cargo trucks enrolled in a key U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiative to counter terrorism, improve compliance and facilitate trade on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Free And Secure Trade (FAST) lane leading from Mexico into the Calexico port’s east cargo facility is the result of a bilateral initiative that seeks to ensure security and safety while facilitating commerce between the two nations.“Mexico [989] is one of our largest trading partners and [1034] it is critical that we prevent terrorists from [1149] infiltrating the commercial chain to launch [1327] an attack,” said Secretary Ridge. “This lane will enhance [1438] the security and safety of the commercial flow of goods along the Southern border, [1572] while enhancing the economic prosperity of both countries.”
Please pardon the numbers in emboldened brackets. That's just the running total of illegal aliens who had snuck over the border while Ridge was giving his speech.
Meanwhile, in parimutuel news:
Tom Ridge, the fastest trotter of all time, will stand in 2005 at Nandi Farm, New Freedom, Pennsylvania, under the management of Walnut Hall Ltd., Lexington, Kentucky.
The announcement was made today by Alan J. Leavitt, president of Walnut Hall Ltd., which is owned by his wife, Meg Jewett.
A son of leading sire Muscles Yankee, out of the great producer Astoria Lobell, by Joie De Vie, Tom Ridge earned $886,144 at two and three, setting a new all-time world trotting record of 1:50.2 in the second heat of the $530,000 World Trotting Derby, after reducing the previous record to 1:51 in the first heat.
Trained by Jimmy Takter and driven in most of his starts by Ron Pierce, Tom Ridge raced in the ownership of Banjo Farm, Peter Heffering, Ken Ross, and Christina Takter...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 04:19 PM | Comments (1)
Bush's Open-Borders nominees
Michelle Malkin discusses recent nominees Gonzales and Johanns. I was considering writing something similar based on the comments I left on this thread (redstate.org/story/2005/1/15/94511/6703):From the Border Patrol union: White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, President Bush's nominee for attorney general, got the backing of a group that promotes driver's licenses for illegal aliens, no immigration law enforcement by local and state police and amnesty programs broader than the administration's proposal. The National Council of La Raza ["National Council of the Race" -- LW], which bills itself as the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., welcomed the nomination of Gonzales to succeed John Ashcroft... La Raza supports legislation such as the Civil Liberties Restoration Act, which would roll back policies adopted after Sept. 11 designed to protect national security. It supports the 'DREAM Act,' which would mandate states to offer in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens ďż˝ thus providing them with benefits not available to U.S. citizens from other states. The group opposes the 'Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003' and the 'Homeland Security Enhancement Act' would give state and local police officers the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
As described at the link, Gonzales was on the board of an affilate of the National Council of the Race.
Regarding LULAC, "there were legitimate grassroots Latino and Mexican- American organizations, like LULAC, the League of United Latin-American Citizens, a 1925 patriotic group, promoted the idea of simulation into the American ethic... [the Ford Foundation] bought them basically in the 1960s, and they were transformed."
The Ford Foundation also more or less founded the illegal immigration supporting MALDEF as well as the National Council of the Race.
So, what we have are "conservatives" consorting with and being supported by Ford Foundation-funded race hustlers...
...I note that the National Council of the Race has a downloadable Immigrant Access to Driver's Licenses: A Tool Kit for Advocates. "Why ever", you might be asking yourself, "Why ever would immigrants need to worry about getting a driver's license?" The reason, of course, is that they aren't talking about immigrants, they're talking about illegal immigrants.
And, here's a quote from AG's confirmation hearing: Personally, I would worry about a policy that permits someone, a local law enforcement official, to use this authority somehow as a club to harass -- they might be undocumented aliens, but otherwise lawful citizens. That would be troubling. That would be troubling to the president who, as a governor of a -- former governor of a border state understands and appreciates the roles that immigrants and undocumented aliens play in our society...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
Immigration lawyers in the news
From this:
A full-page advertisement in today’s News & Record paid for by backers of Greensboro lawyer Manlin Chee claims the criminal case against her sends a “threatening message” to other defenders of immigrants...
The ad also asserts that the government was suspicious of Chee because she had a large number of Muslim and Middle Eastern clients with whom she showed “solidarity” by wearing Muslim dress to work one day a week...
Chee pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of conspiring to defraud the United States by submitting false paperwork on behalf of immigrant clients. She admitted to arranging a sham marriage so one client could remain in the country and falsely depicting another in legal paperwork as a homosexual who would be persecuted if sent back to Egypt...
I'm as opposed to government overreach as anyone, but in the case of immigration lawyers... Chee's viewpoint of this matter is amply demonstrated in the messages here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)
Dude, they're just here to do the jobs Americans won't do, dude
One of the top 100 most influential newspapers in Southern California, the Hermosa Wave, reports on the recent kerfluffel involving illegal alien day laborers in Redondo Beach. It continually uses the phrase "anti-immigrant" and "illegal" only appears twice. One instance of the latter is in a quote.
Normally, I'd just ignore inconsequential reports in inconsequential newspapers, but it does have this absolutely hilarious bit:
Thomas Saenz, one of the MALDEF lawyers arguing the case on behalf of the day laborers, said that in his experience at least some anti-immigrant sentiment is usually behind the enactment and enforcement of anti-solicitation ordinances. The day laborers, he said, are “a visible manifestation of what they are uncomfortable with, which is immigrant presence in their community.”
Saenz said 50 communities in California have such ordinances, but few are enforced because of their questionable constitutionality. He suggested that even if Redondo Beach had no intention of stirring anti-immigrant emotions, its actions have inevitably had that effect.
“The city should reflect on who its allies end up being,” said Saenz. “It will tell them a great deal about what their actions have sanctioned. It does embolden people to engage in acts they otherwise wouldn’t – some of these fringe groups feel the city has officially sanctioned their cause by abusing the rights of these guys.”
Redondo should indeed watch who they're dealing with. They should start with MALDEF, a non-grassroots far-left pro-illegal immigration organization that was basically created out of whole cloth by the Ford Foundation.
You can contact the advocacy piece's author at news@easyreader.info
Posted to Immigration2005a at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
Scott Baio: "Look, I'm no idiot. Don't treat me like one."
Now this is a brush with celebrity I would have liked to have had: Scott Baio Doesn't Know How To Validate His Parking Ticket.
Posted to Celebrities at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)
"After downing 6-pounder, tiny teen is burger queen"
CLEARFIELD, Pa. -- A 100-pound female college student is the first to meet the Denny's Beer Barrel Pub challenge: down the restaurant's 6-pound hamburger - and 5 pounds of fixins' - within three hours.
Kate Stelnick, 19, of Princeton, N.J., made the five-hour drive with two friends from The College of New Jersey on Wednesday after they saw pictures of the monster burger, dubbed the Ye Old 96er, on the Internet and on TV's Food Network.
"I just saw it on TV and I really thought I could do it," Stelnick said after downing the burger in two hours, 54 minutes...
...nobody had finished the big burger in the three-hour time limit since it was introduced on Super Bowl Sunday 1998 - not even competitive eater Eric "Badlands" Booker. The 420-pound Booker - who has eaten such things as 49 glazed doughnuts in eight minutes and two pounds of chocolate bars in six minutes - tried three times to eat the burger and finally did on his third effort. But it took Booker 7 1/2 hours...
I know someone who's going to be very upset: Sonya Thomas is: "THE BLACK WIDOW" of Pro Eating.
This Fark thread includes a picture of someone I take to be Booker.
Previous coverage of this giant burger - yes, there has been previous coverage here - starts here.
Speculation about what Kate Stelnick did after downing the burger is left to your imagination, but I would imagine they do produce industrial toilets.
UPDATE: The picture that was here seems to have disappeared. There are more pictures here and here.
Posted to WackyHumor at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
"Activist wins national human rights prize [from Mexico]"
The subtitle is so funny I hope all my bloggees are sitting down:
President Fox honored Olga Sánchez Martínez on Monday for helping Central Americans who cross illegally into Mexico on their way towards the United States.
El Universal
Lunes 10 de enero de 2005
Mexico, which often complains about the treatment by U.S. authorities of its undocumented citizens who cross the border northbound, eloquently acknowledged Monday that its officials are often cruel, arbitrary and abusive with Central Americans entering from the south.
The admission came as Olga Sánchez Martínez, an activist on behalf of the Central Americans who cross Mexico en route to the United States, was honored by President Vicente Fox with the 2004 National Prize for Human Rights...
"Now, unfortunately, being an immigrant can equate to having to bear not only the burdens of social misfortune and inequality, but also the indifference of others and the enormous risk of being treated as a criminal," [Luis Soberanes, head of the governmental National Commission on Human Rights] said...
The official lamented that Central Americans transiting Mexico are subject to "discrimination, race hatred, mutilating injuries from falling off moving trains, robbery by bands of assailants, fraud by those who sell them transport that's never safe..."
Of course, if she were helping those same heroes stay in Mexico and take The Jobs Mexicans Won't Do, she probably would have gotten something far worse than a medal and a certificate. As long as they're transiting through to the U.S. - spending money along the way - it's OK.
See also the two earlier Irony on the Border posts here and here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
Now that's an apologist!
From Robert D. Knight, of Murrieta, who's "an associate faculty member in the political science department at Mt. San Jacinto College in Menifee":
Ethnocentrism appears to be alive and well at The Press-Enterprise. In the editorial "Migration mania" (Our Views, Jan. 7), you argue that the Mexican government is promoting undocumented migration to the United States. You further suggest that such efforts are irresponsible by your use of the term "mania," and demand that the Mexican government cooperate with the U.S. government in order to make immigration reform possible.
This position views the issue of undocumented immigration only from the perspective of those north of the border. The administration of Mexican President Vincente Fox has pursued dialogue with the Bush administration over immigration as one of its major initiatives since taking office in December 2000.
It has been the Bush administration that has not been cooperative, despite an initial move in this direction before 9-11. From the perspective of Mexico, failure of the U.S. to formulate an immigration policy that recognizes the reality of the labor market has put its citizens at risk. Mexicans view with indignation a policy by its colossal northern neighbor that results in unfair labor conditions for its citizens.
They also understandably resent their fellow citizens being subject to the indignity of being treated as criminals, when they are simply meeting the demand for labor in the U.S. market. When these workers die in the desert, not only do their families and communities back home suffer, but also a sense of moral outrage aggravates the long and difficult history of U.S.-Mexico relations...
[...etc..., continually evokes the phrase "barely useful complete idiot"... ...etc...]
The Mexican Migrant's Guide represents what any responsive government would do for its citizens under similar circumstances...
Here's the offending editorial, "Migration mania":
From Mexico's Foreign Secretary comes a dubious addition to the self-help genre: The Mexican Migrant's Guide. At best, the 36-page comic book-style pamphlet offers a mixed message: We don't condone crossing the border illegally, but since you're going to do it anyway, here are a few safety tips...
[...etc... describes the comic book, mentions remittances... ...etc...]
Congress has said it will make immigration reform a priority this year, as it should. But any reform will founder without cooperation from Mexico City. It's time for the two nations to start working from a common page, and it won't be found in a comic-book pamphlet.
The P-E's editorial is very close to those from the Arizona Republic, Dallas Morning News, and the Long Beach Press-Telegram, as linked to by Your "Guide for the Mexican Migrant". As with the other papers, they basically appear to support so-called immigration "reform" and they also appear to be mainly upset with Mexico for committing a tactical blunder. Apparently the P-E editorial doesn't go quite far enough for the taste of the associate faculty member.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)
"Sister of Daley insider gets sweet deal"
This story has it all: good old Chicago corruption (as usual inextricably linked to the name "Daley") as well as a peek behind the curtain of affirmative action:
Virginia Reyes -- the sister of Victor Reyes, Mayor Daley's key political operative -- was on the verge of snagging a contract as a minority-owned business to supply toilets and other plumbing items at O'Hare International Airport.
But she had two problems.
She needed City Hall to quickly certify her firm, Toltec Construction, as a minority vendor of plumbing supplies.
And she needed plumbing supplies...
[...was certified in two days...]
...City officials didn't need to ensure that Reyes -- an attorney then at City Colleges of Chicago -- actually had any plumbing supplies to sell.
Reyes, 41, the president of Toltec, told the city she would just be reselling items bought from a suburban plumbing supply company -- a firm owned by white men...
...Toltec didn't even have to deliver the supplies for the two O'Hare warehouses built for the city by Centerpoint Properties.
Toltec ordered the supplies from the white-owned business, Builders Plumbing and Heating Supply Co.
Builders then delivered the plumbing material to Cecchin Plumbing and Heating, the white-owned contractor running the O'Hare plumbing job.
Inserting Toltec into the deal cost taxpayers more money. How much is unclear. Overall, Toltec got about $218,000 for the work on two buildings, starting in 2003, city records show. Toltec got another $480,000 for helping Cecchin with the infrastructure at O'Hare, city records show...
Ain't "liberalism" grand?
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 09:45 PM | Comments (3)
"How much do you know about President Bush? Test your knowledge"
From the AP:
A president, a husband, a father and a sports fan – those are the basic facts most Americans could tell you about George W. Bush. How much more does the country know about its chief executive? Here's a quiz to find out:
...5. What trait does Bush hate?
Maybe Clark Kent Ervin could tell us.
6. What has Bush banned from the Oval Office?
OK, that's it. All of these questions admit to smart-ass answers. I'll leave that to the "liberals".
Posted to Politics at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
"The Red Sea"
Early in December, with a photographer and his assistant, I drove from Nebraska, near the geographical center of the United States, to the heart of Texas -- more than 700 miles, through empty spaces and sprawling cities and all or part of four states. We headed pretty much due south, no dodging or weaving. And never did we pass within 100 miles of a county that voted for Democrat John F. Kerry in the recent election.
We were voyaging on the Red Sea...
And, it continues on and on for five whole screens.
See the Blogging Across America category for a much longer and, at least for me, much more interesting trip.
Posted to Politics at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)
"Dumb Like a Fox"
Mexican President Vicente Fox is figuratively thumbing his nose at Washington, D.C., our sovereignty, our laws and the Bush administration. No doubt emboldened by the increasing number of illegal immigrants allowed to live in the United States, in December the Mexican government published a 32-page book titled “The Guide for the Mexican Migrant.”
...One reason this manual exists is because weak-kneed U.S. politicians won’t stand up to President Fox for fear of losing the ever-increasing Hispanic-American vote. But like most things in life, the truth can be found by following the money trail. And illegal immigration means money – big money. Unfortunately, that money doesn’t benefit us, the American citizens. In fact, it’s costing us dearly...
See Your "Guide for the Mexican Migrant" roundup for more.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
TROP Alert #439434529431
January 16, 2005 -- The father of a murdered New Jersey family was threatened for making anti-Muslim remarks online — and the gruesome quadruple slaying may have been the hateful retaliation, sources told The Post yesterday.
Hossam Armanious, 47, who along with his wife and two daughters was found stabbed to death in his Jersey City home early Friday, would regularly debate religion in a Middle Eastern chat room, one source said...
The other details seem to suggest this is a result of his online activities.
Posted to Terrorism at 09:36 PM | Comments (1)
Yes, it's sad. But, at least it's funny too.
Now. One might wonder: was alcohol involved? Or, perhaps B4B is just revealing itself as a deep-cover satire site?
And, one might close one's eyes and imagine a whole panoply of both BushBot and "liberal" blogs and pundits just going over the edge in like manner.
UPDATE: Team Bush!!
Posted to Politics at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)
"Driver's license scandals raise national security worries"
The AP offers a roundup of the recent driver's licenses scandals:
Connecticut had developed a reputation from as far away as Florida as a place where people could buy fraudulent driver's licenses for as much as $3,500 without having to produce any identification. DMV workers also took payoffs for stealing the identities of legitimate license holders, police say.
Investigators suspect hundreds of licenses were fraudulently issued, sparking worries about illegal immigration, identity theft and even threats to national security...
...Similar scams have occurred around the country:
_ In New Jersey, nine state motor vehicle employees pleaded guilty to a scheme that involved payoffs for bogus licenses.
_ In Illinois, a federal investigation into the trading of bribes for driver's licenses led to dozens of convictions and the indictment of former Gov. George Ryan on racketeering and other charges.
_ In Virginia, more than 200 people are losing their licenses because of suspected fraud by a former Department of Motor Vehicles worker who allegedly sold licenses for as much as $2,500 each...
...The fraud alarms officials amid fears of identity theft and terrorism. Fake ID cards made it possible for the Sept. 11 terrorists to board commercial flights...
In addition to those four states, there was also a scandal in Michigan.
Posted to Immigration_dls at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)
Canada, pizza, and a stripper
What ever could those have in common? This:
A failed refugee claimant convicted of crimes in India and found civilly liable in a credit-card fraud against Canada's five major banks finally forced embattled Judy Sgro to resign yesterday as immigration minister.
Ms. Sgro, already under investigation by the federal Ethics Commissioner for granting a Romanian stripper a temporary resident permit, became the first minister to resign amid controversy since the Paul Martin government took office last June...
Harjit Singh, a 49-year-old Sikh pizza-parlour owner from Amritsar, accused Ms. Sgro of reneging on a promise to help him resolve his immigration problems in exchange for free pizza and garlic bread from his Brampton, Ont., business, and for providing Ms. Sgro with campaign volunteers. He has spent 16 years exploiting Canada's immigration system and its numerous loopholes in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to stay...
More here.
A Reuters report ends with the following, so perhaps there's a bit more to this story than just a wacky tale of strippers and pizza:
...Sgro triggered headlines almost from the day she was appointed in December 2003, first by opposing the tradition of churches sheltering asylum seekers and then by saying that Canada's refugee system was being abused.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
"[Fox] to screen pro-Muslim spots"
The Beeb:
US TV network Fox is to broadcast public service announcements showing Muslims in a positive light after complaints about its drama series 24.
Fox has given spots to the Council on American-Islamic Relations after it objected to 24's portrayal of a Muslim family as a sleeper terrorist cell...
Unfortunately, CAIR's PSAs will not be followed by PSAs about CAIR's questionable statements, actions, and associations.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 08:23 PM | Comments (3)
Gosh, what could the race hustlers be worried about?
MALDEF - the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund - continues trying to block Arizona's Prop. 200.
Apparently the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals - surprise! - has turned down MALDEF's request for a preliminary injunction against 200.
At the same time, MALDEF appears to be attempting to complain to the DOJ about Prop. 200 violation the federal Voting Rights Act.
Their reason? Their attorney says "the identification requirements [of 200] will put an end to drives in which individuals can be certified to go into communities and register voters. He said that will harm Latino communities that, until now, have managed a sharp increase in voter registration." Perhaps it will. However, somehow I think that explanation is disingenuous at best.
In local news, L.A. mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg is a board member of MALDEF. There's more on MALDEF here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
Ag Sec'y nominee "Fought to Protect Giant Meatpackers from Immigration Law Enforcement"
In coming months, President Bush will be trying to convince the American people that U.S. immigration laws just cannot be enforced. In truth, though, they will not be enforced—and his choice for Secretary of Agriculture demonstrates the point...
...The president's choice for Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, while Governor of Nebraska, used the power of his office to protect large meatpacking and agricultural interests in his state who employ thousands of illegal aliens and violate countless other labor and occupational safety regulations.
During 1998 and 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service launched a campaign known as Operation Vanguard in which they conducted audits of Nebraska meatpacking plant personnel files. The operation successfully drove-off many illegal aliens who were employed in these processing plants. Gov. Johanns, who has accepted large campaign contributions from large agri-businesses (2002 Campaign Finance Statement), stepped in on behalf of these contributors and pressured the U.S. Department of Justice to end these enforcement efforts...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 05:01 PM | Comments (1)
It's a Griffith Park weekend
Our sources tell us the Angeles National Forest is basically shut down.
The Angeles Crest Highway is closed just above La Crescenta, and Highway 39 above Azusa is closed too. They mentioned something about the road to Wrightwood probably being open, but since that's partway to Vegas that's too far. Mt. Baldy Road might be open, but that's questionable.
They said there was 10' of mud in places, and that someone had attempted to go up the Lower Sam Merrill trail that heads from the end of Lake Avenue in Altadena to Echo Mountain earlier today and had said "don't even bother." Apparently the possibility of large mudslides will still be there for at least another week. Eaton Canyon is... a wash. They had no information on the Old Sierra Madre trail from Sierra Madre to Mt. Wilson, but they said that was probably in very bad shape and risky too.
UPDATE: Whatever you do, stay out of small canyons.
Posted to OutdoorSports at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)
CHRISTIAN!!! CHARITABLE DONATION (JOHN WILLIAMS)
Amongst the 5 or so Megs of spam I receive each day came this nugget:
Dear Beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I am formally Ahmed Usman from UAE.I was born into a devoted Muslim family.All through my life i have been doing business and I was into gold mining and selling.
I met our creator and the meciful one Almigthy God when i was having a business deal with one of my partners from Italy and from the day I became a born again christian my name changed to John Williams...
[...etc. etc. get to the friggin' bottom line...]
...i am taking this bold step to let you know that I want to leave in your care the sum of $12.6M(Twelve Million Six Hundred Thousand Dollars) i deposited!in a security company for the enhanc that will utilize this funds the way I am going to instruct here in...
Posted to WackyHumor at 02:44 PM | Comments (2)
"Bush taps Ariz. trio for border reforms"
Remember the Woody Allen movie 'Bananas'? Specifically, this part:
It is Allen's time in San Marcos when the political satire of Bananas really begins to kick in. Allen takes shots at all forms of government and war, and often to greatly humorous effect. In typical Allen fashion, he stumbles upwards in the movement, without particularly meaning to, and soon finds himself the unwillingly president of San Marcos. San Marcos realizes it's in need of a new leader, since their current leader has gone crazy and has used a recent public speaking event to announce that from now on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish, and that every one will have to change their underwear every half an hour. Of course, they will also be forced to wear their underwear on the outside of their clothes, so the government will be able to check.
Forward to someone's reality:
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Thursday said he's enlisting the aid of three Arizona lawmakers [McCain, Kolbe, Kyl] to come up with a detailed immigration-reform plan for Congress to consider, an effort he says will benefit undocumented workers and employers and improve border security.
"I can flesh out quite a few of the details. I can't write the bill for you right now," Bush told The Arizona Republic and other newspapers during a round-table interview at the White House. Other topics he touched on included Iraq, Social Security reform, Major League Baseball's tougher new steroid-testing program and next week's inauguration festivities...
"We haven't come up with the actual tactic," Bush acknowledged when asked to provide new details of what he would want in such a guest-worker bill beyond the broad principles he has floated for about a year.
However, Bush was emphatic that he is not talking about amnesty or automatic citizenship for the estimated 8 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants working in this country...
Bush also said, "I think once we get this in place we've got to help enforce it by holding people to account who illegally employ somebody."
...There also are questions about whether Bush's plan would include labor protections, such as minimum wage or benefits, and how many workers would be allowed to participate in such a program as well as whether they would be able to bring their family members with them.
Bush on Thursday declined to provide answers to such specifics...
Like it says in our official slogan, "Don't blame me, I wrote in Tancredo."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)
"Feds Find Millions Wasted On Border Camera System"
Just great:
A Team 7 Investigation into a defective camera surveillance system along the U.S.-Canadian border has sparked a massive federal probe.
Now, the results are in: Auditors say taxpayers paid millions of dollars for "phantom" cameras, missing parts and fraudulent repair bills...
According to the federal probe, straight north of Seattle, taxpayers paid for 36 remote video camera sites, but only 32 actually exist. Just that is $1 million in over-billing...
...KIRO Team 7 Investigators were also the first to expose how a Texas congressman's daughter grabbed a $200 million no-bid contract to install the camera surveillance systems first in Blaine, then nationwide...
That congressman is Sylvester Reyes (D-TX). There's more on his daughter's company here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
Florida's Sun-Sentinel: the newspaper that reads minds
Don't believe it? Here's an example:
...The meeting, called by the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board, did little, however, to quell mounting fears in the Hispanic and Haitian communities or satisfy their leaders...
That's from an article about immigration sweeps in South Florida. And, the excerpt raises several questions: are those "communities" comprised of legal residents, or of illegal aliens? How exactly do we know there are "mounting fears" among the legal resident communities? And, who exactly elected these "leaders"?
Continuing:
...While advocates say most immigrants are too afraid to come forward and report the problem fearing further action, some are speaking out...
And, what exactly would that "further action" be? Are illegal aliens afraid of being deported? What, they should be welcome to stay here?
Continuing our stay in Wacky World:
...Nationally, some police departments have been reluctant to take on immigration functions saying it often scares immigrants from reporting crime or providing information to law enforcement.
Moreover, some cities with large immigrant communities such as Los Angeles have drafted special ordinances to ensure police don't act as immigration agents...
The bottom line is this reporter has her own worldview which would seem to be inconsistent with, like, legal vs. illegal immigration. Please contact the Sun-Sentinel and suggest they change their coverage to reflect the truth and the laws rather than the wacky world of potentially ethnic-based advocacy. Their "reader liaison" is gbulfin@sun-sentinel.com .
I note that this type of coverage is similar to that that lead to the ending of the immigration sweeps in Temecula. Why spoil a perfectly good formula?
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:12 PM | Comments (1)
"Top Mexican official to meet with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Ridge in California"
Interior Secretary Santiago Creel said Thursday he will fly to a California border town to meet with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and again push for a plan granting legal status to millions of undocumented Mexicans living and working in the United States.
Creel said the meeting would take place Monday in Calexico, across the border from the larger Mexican city of Mexicali, 1,350 miles (2,160 kilometers) northwest of this country's capital, and would likely be his last face-to-face encounter with Ridge before the outgoing Homeland Security Secretary leaves his post.
He said the meeting would "pave the road to a prosperous migration accord," and added that sweeping reform in that area would help guarantee security along America's southern border...
So, what happens if we refuse to give them their "migration accord"? Does that mean they'll turn a blind eye to terrorists trying to sneak over the border? Is the last phrase a threat?
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:33 PM | Comments (1)
"Illegals and the State Department"
The Washington Times tried to get the State Department to condemn the Guide for the Mexican Migrant or to complain to the Mexican government.
Here's the result:
...Well, the State Department has responded. Apparently the answer is no. A spokesman said no action has taken place, and declined to tell us whether the department plans to take any measures outside routine meetings with the Mexicans. "We have regular communications with them on illegal immigration," he told us, "and we hope they continue to work with us on the need to use safe, legal and orderly means as the only way to migrate to the United States." Beyond those regular communications, the official wouldn't tell us about any department plans to discuss the migrant guide and its effect on illegal immigration. That's because there aren't any.
Given the State Department's lenient record on immigration, we can't say we're surprised. But does the department at least recognize that the "migrant" guide is a problem? To find out, we asked whether the department thinks the migrant guide is good or bad for the control of illegal immigration. The official didn't go so far as to tell us he thought it was good, which is reassuring. But he told us, in effect, that he doesn't think it's bad. "The Mexicans have made it clear publicly that this document was not intended to promote illegal immigration," he said. Apparently the department's policy is to believe them. Another spokesman offered this: "Both the United States and the Mexican government have a strong commitment to ensuring that migration into the United States is safe, orderly and legal..."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)
One down, ten thousand to go
Oliver Stone - upset over the reception received by his last two oeuvres - is moving to France.
Posted to Celebrities at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
"Gap-Toothed, Missing Link Troglodytes Delighted by Presidential Election Outcome"
Here's a happy-fun cartoon from Ward Sutton in the Village Voice.
Now, one might think this could be a satire on how VV readers view red-staters. Or, it could just be a desparate Rall/Morford-style call for help.
However, considering the last panels, it looks like this guy is actually serious.
You can contact the VV here. Rather than sending nastygrams, I'd suggest sending letters that agree with them, but which subtly make blue-staters - or at least VV readers - look bad. Crank it up a notch or two, they won't be smart enough to figure it out.
Posted to Politics at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
Dutch Euthanasia Doctors May Now Kill Perfectly Healthy Adults
UTRECHT, January 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Royal Dutch Medical Association has concluded, after a three-year investigation, that Dutch doctors ought to be able to kill patients who are not ill but who are judged to be "suffering through living..."
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
Hey, yahoo!
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A Romanian couple has named their son Yahoo as a sign of gratitude for meeting over the Internet, a Bucharest newspaper reports.
Daily Libertatea said on Thursday Cornelia and Nonu Dragoman, both from Transylvania, met and decided they were meant for each other following a three-month relationship over the net...
Posted to WackyHumor at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
And, the difference between this and affirmative action is...?
Bank of America is trying to block a shareholder motion that would limit ``white men'' to no more than half the nominations to its board.
The bank took steps to exclude the motion from the vote at the planned stockholders' meeting due to take place on April 27...
The bank, which last year acquired FleetBoston for $48 billion, has received outside recognition for its commitment to diversity.
Four years ago, it received the highest rating of any major bank in an NAACP survey based on minority employment and community reinvestment, among other measures.
Fortune magazine also rates BofA among America's top 50 employers for minorities.
Nick Rossi, the stockholder behind the motion, could not be reached for comment. He holds $31,000 worth of BofA shares.
Rossi is apparently a professional corporate gadfly who owns or co-owns a hardware store in Boonville, CA. He "described his politics as libertarian and fiscally conservative." Considering the information at the WSJ link, his proposal seems to be serious rather than a Swiftian satire.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)
Surveying L.A.'s storm damage
I didn't spend too much time surveying the damage from the recent heavy rains, but I did take my camera with me on today's hike in Griffith Park.
The park had been closed until today because of various factors including a downed tree on Riverside/Crystal Springs. There didn't appear to be too much damage on the fire roads and trails except for a few small mudslides and some downed trees.
The edges of the fire road that heads from the ranger station on Crystal Springs to Five Points were collapsed a few inches in places, as if they were about to go.
The hogsback trail that heads from near Five Points to Mt. Hollywood had very little damage. A few of the ruts were a little larger than before and there were a few small mudslides, but that's about it.
Herewith a few pictures.
Mt. Baldy partially obscured by smog:
"Two Sinkholes":
Two more pictures are in the extended entry.
A charming little lake I've dubbed Lake St. Louis Encephalitis:
A section of hillside (just below the center of the picture) about 100' high and maybe 5' deep appears to have just sheared away:
Posted to Los_Angeles at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight CD Tent (Closeout) : 3 Season Tent
I've never used this tent but for $127 it certainly seems like a bargain. See the four reviews here, and note that this is a three-season tent and that sometimes tent designs and manufacturing conditions change from year to year. Amazon has several other tents, including Biblers in case you're heading to the Himalayas...
Posted to Bloggage at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
"Feds say thousands may have lied to get Michigan licenses"
DETROIT (AP) — Thousands of people may have exploited a recently closed loophole in Michigan regulations to fraudulently obtain state driver's licenses, a federal investigator says.
Federal agents are investigating what they say are criminal rings that helped people get licenses without proof of residency in Michigan.
Last month, secretary of state offices began requiring adults applying for their first driver's license or personal identification card to provide documentation showing they live in the state...
In July, the Portuguese language Brazilian Voice newspaper in Newark, N.J., ran an ad offering Michigan driver's licenses for $1,000, and similar ads appeared in other foreign-language publications...
There was also a Brazilian connection to fraudulently obtained Connectictt licenses.
Posted to Immigration_dls at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)
"[Tancredo] to Lead Immigration Revolt Against Bush"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican member of the House of Representatives vowed on Wednesday to lead a revolt against President Bush's immigration reform proposals and predicted that up to 180 party members would support him.
Bush in an interview with the Washington Times published on Wednesday said he plans to force a debate in Congress this year on his proposal that would allow some illegal immigrants to obtain legal work permits in the United States.
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, who heads the House Immigration Reform Caucus, said he was determined to block the legislation. The caucus, which had 71 members in the last Congress, argues for stronger action to stop illegal immigration and a reduction of legal migration.
"Why is this so important to the president?" Tancredo said. "Is it just the corporate interests who benefit from cheap labor? Do they have such a strong grip on our president so that he is actually willing to put our nation at risk, because open borders do put our nation at risk?
"Is it petulance, because we were able to stop it in the last Congress? Why is it so important to give amnesty to people who have broken the law?" Tancredo said.
"I'm willing to lead a fight against this and I would say there are at least 180 members of our Republican caucus who are willing at least to stop amnesty for illegal immigrants," he told Reuters in a telephone interview...
Bush insists he is not offering amnesty to illegal immigrants but Tancredo said that was a "manipulation of language, the kind of thing (former President) Bill Clinton would have done. There is an issue of integrity here and an issue of honesty," he said.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)
"[AZ Gov. Janet Napolitano] critical of Mexican manual"
PHOENIX - A pamphlet put out by the Mexican government that purports to be a safety manual for those who cross the border illegally is harming Arizona, Gov. Janet Napolitano said Tuesday.
The government of Mexico is interfering with the state's security, she said in a telephone interview with the Herald/Review.
"It's a how to illegally cross, not how to legally enter (the United States)," she said...
See Your "Guide for the Mexican Migrant" roundup for more.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:34 PM | Comments (1)
"[AR Gov.] Huckabee plan would give aid to illegal aliens"
From this:
Gov. Mike Huckabee is proposing extending eligibility for state-funded college scholarships to illegal aliens who graduate from Arkansas high schools — an idea that several legislators predicted will go nowhere.
Huckabee said it’s "terribly unjust" for a child who arrived in Arkansas at a young age and graduated from high school to be denied state-funded college scholarships because of a "a status that he had no control over." "Do we want to change the future for these kids? Then let’s give them the opportunity. Let’s not say that our doors are open but our opportunities are closed," Huckabee said Tuesday in his State of the State Address to the General Assembly.
The governor never used the words "illegal alien" in his speech but referred to high school graduates’ "status," which confused some lawmakers. "We think he’s talking about illegal aliens, but we don’t know," said Sen. Dave Bisbee, a Republican who said he opposed the idea.
Huckabee’s spokesman, Rex Nelson, confirmed that Huckabee, also a Republican, was referring to illegal aliens.
Bisbee said he thinks his hometown of Rogers has done a better job welcoming Hispanic immigrants to its community than others in Arkansas. "So I’m not coming from a position of prejudice," Bisbee said. "But illegal is illegal... and even if the child came here when he was 3 years old or 4 years old, he’s still undocumented."
Rep. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, said citizens’ children should come first in college scholarship eligibility. "What kind of message are we sending to the people south of the border, you know?" Altes said. "Are we saying, ‘Yeah, come on,’ or are we saying, ‘No. There’s still a border there. ’"
Rep. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said she had already planned to file a bill granting instate status to the children of immigrants who live in Arkansas and have applied to state universities. "It’s nice to know we will have an ally in the governor’s office," said Elliott, chairman of the House Education Committee. "I did not know that was coming..."
*cough*Tyson's*cough*
Lest I be sued, I have no information that those who seek to employ cheap labor - legal or illegal - paid anyone off or anything like that. I am not stating that as a fact, just as the first thought I had for the reason.
See also the recent friendly visit from the Mexican consul: "[I came to Arkansas to] continue the negotiations with the state and city authorities for making sure that we are going to inaugurate a Mexican consulate in the coming year in Little Rock... Governor Huckabee was a large part of this... He went to Mexico City and met with President Fox and proposed this... [when you get your MC we] don’t care if you are documented or undocumented... I like Arkansas... It is so green. It’s so clean, nice, with very warm, open people, and many friends of Mexico."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)
"Bark and bite in city's new dog care laws"
Dog companaions by law are now required to provide:
* Clean, dry shelter with a floor, roof and three sides, with room for the dog to turn around
* Adequate food for maintaining body condition and daily fresh water in a tip-proof container
* Tethers must be 10 feet or more with a non-choke collar or body harness or a pulley-like system
Punishment if found abusing these laws:
* Fines start at $50 and mistreatment could lead to a misdemeanor charge punishable by a $1,000 fine and or jail time
Who is exempt:
* Homeless people
Other aspects of the new law:
* Vicious dogs. Grants authority to Department of Animal Care and Control hearing officers to prohibit owners of vicious dogs from owning a new dog for three years
* Dog bites. Requires dog owners to exchange personal contact information and rabies vaccine history with any person their dog bites, or the guardian of any bitten animal, as well as to notify Animal Care and Control
Source: [San Francisco] Board of Supervisors
From "Bark and bite in city's new dog care laws: Better treatment standards set for man's best friend." I searched for the legislation but couldn't find it. I'll search later, because I really want to see this.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)
"Mexican migration to continue in 2005"
From our "Sun to Shine Tomorrow" department comes this UPI report:
Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- An average of 1,000 Mexicans without documents cross the U.S.-Mexico border every day, a Mexican institution said Monday.
National Council of Population, or Conapo, predicted in a new report that during 2005, migration will continue constantly with a total of a little under 400,000 people.
According to Conapo, the majority of the Mexicans will emigrate to the neighboring country to the north "in seach of work or to reunite with their families..."
And the rest are coming for...?
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:14 AM | Comments (3)
JOIN THE PAULY SHORE STREET TEAM!
Are you Lonewacko material? What's your response to this craigslist ad:
Pauly Shore needs your help with his new official street team!
Pauly is looking for 50 Los Angeles area residents with reliable transportation to join his Official Street Team. Street team members will work directly with Pauly and some lucky members will have the chance to hang out with the Wiez himself, and possibly appear on his new TV show, "Minding the Store"!
For those of you who are interested in joining the Pauly Shore Official Street Team contact me immediately!
If you said, "Sure, I'll join his street team. And then I'll try to bring it down from the inside" you are indeed Lonewacko material. Developing...
Posted to WackyHumor at 12:13 AM | Comments (3)
Wikipedia Watch: You'd think she was Mother Teresa
Can Wikipedia be trusted? Here's their article on Hawaiian separatist and University of Hawaii professor Haunani-Kay Trask.
Until you get to the very last link you'd think everything was just haole-dory. But, there at the bottom - added by an unknown and lone contributor, appears a link to the article Hate America Professor:
“We need to think very, very clearly about who the enemy is. The enemy is the United States of America and everyone who supports it.”
The statement transcribed above is but a small sampling of the venom and hatred that typically spills from the mouth of Haunani-Kay Trask, a Professor at the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. A guru of the racial separation/ethnic nationalism movement, Trask routinely abuses her position an educator (and American tax dollars) to spread racist and anti-American doctrine throughout the University of Hawaii student body, sometimes violently opposing the dissenting voices that arise on campus and elsewhere on the Island...
...Professor Trasks' racial instigation is not restricted to mere verbal assaults. On September 5th, 2002, the Honolulu Advisor reported, “threats of violence had intimidated the director of the Academy of Lifelong Learning and frightened away the elderly students who had signed up for [Professor Kenneth] Conklin’s course on Hawaiian sovereignty.”[11] In response to this incident, Professor Trask not only expressed her outrage that a man who opposes the racist elements of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement would be allowed to speak at the Center for Hawaiian Studies but also overtly endorsed physical violence as a means by which to protect the racist agenda of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. When asked to comment on the cancellation of the class due to threats of violence, Professor Trask responded that, “it’s great that somebody came back at [Professor Conklin] and threatened him...”[12]
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 08:42 PM | Comments (1)
"The Crisis of 'Sam's Club' Republicans"
From Sully stand-in Reihan Salam in the LAT:
...What Pawlenty realized — and what President Bush apparently fails to grasp — is that the Republican Party has changed. The rich still vote for Republicans in large numbers, but they're not the party's heart and soul. To win elections, the GOP increasingly relies on socially conservative voters of modest means.
Which is why Bush's second-term agenda is so spectacularly wrongheaded. Social Security privatization (a good idea whose time hasn't come) and tax cuts for the rich (cast as "tax reform," of course) are on the front burner, and an amnesty for illegal immigrants (which would put even more pressure on native-born workers without college degrees) isn't far behind. The Freedom Club GOP is riding high — and the Sam's Club crowd is left in the dust...
Posted to Politics at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
"Prop. 200 racist? Don't trivialize racism"
The Arizona Republic clenches its teeth and prints this guest editorial:
The favorite ploy used by individuals who don't agree with a law is to condemn the law and its requirements as racist. Proposition 200 opponents constantly use this tactic, some even being disturbed that we insist public employees deny benefits when in doubt about a person's identity or legal status...
...Prop. 200 race hustlers should do us all a favor and get with the law.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:14 AM | Comments (1)
Dick Morris: Hillary can win
Hillary Clinton can't win - oh, and pigs can fly
Those who would stick their heads in the sand and maintain that Sen. Hillary Clinton could never be elected president are in for a rude shock, according to the latest data from the Fox News survey.
In a poll taken last month, Americans said they felt the New York Democrat was “qualified to be president of the United States” by 59-34 percent. Clinton showed strength among all traditional Democratic voters, winning the approval of Sen. John Kerry supporters by 80-13, blacks by 80-8, all women by 64-29 and unmarried women by 69-24 and people under 30 by 73-20.
But she also did well among more traditionally Republican constituencies. Men said she was qualified by 53-40. Southerners agreed by 55-36, as did those earning more than $75,000 per year, who felt she was qualified by 58-39. While 80 percent of liberals felt she was qualified, so did 59 percent of moderates and 43 percent of self-described conservatives. Incredibly, so did 33 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of Bush voters...
Via KoolAidCentral, at which I left the following perhaps short-lived comment:
Hillary's on the right side of immigration matters, something that most other Democrats and many Republicans are not.
It doesn't directly attack Bush, so the comment might be around for an hour or two.
1pm UPDATE: I forgot to check, and some time between now and post time my comment was replaced with the following:
Deleted - previously banned user
Moderator
That's not the first time, nor the second, nor probably the third or more that's happened. Those guys are just too funny.
Posted to Politics at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)
Can anyone recommend a good nude aerobics DVD?
I've searched and searched and all I've come up with is Totally Nude Aerobics:
I've seen many good reviews about this DVD, and I went ahead and bought it off Amazon. The verdict? HUGE disappointment!!! What's wrong with these people who say this Totally Nude Aerobics is any good at all?! The girls are heavily made up, the Asian one particularly looks like a 1960s Shanghai hooker. The music is downright cheesy, like straight from some home-made cheap porn...
...The women are heavily made up and look fierce, like they are about to kill you. The moves they do involve a lot of head shaking and they repeat the same movement over and over and over and over and over and over...
Posted to WackyHumor at 12:17 AM | Comments (2)
So, what's the exit strategy?
From "Hispanic supporters want President Bush to ease imigration rules":
When President Bush swooped into South Florida two months ago desperately seeking support in a close re-election campaign, some of the most fervent response came from immigrants who shouted their support in English and Spanish.
Hispanic voters in particular flocked to the Republican president in surprising numbers, helping to seal his victory. Now immigrant communities in Florida and elsewhere eagerly await his plan to allow undocumented arrivals from their countries to live and work here legally...
So. They want as many people of the same race to come here and be declared citizens. That means even more people of the same race will come. And, they will presumably want (or we will be told that they want) the same thing: even more people of the same race to come here. Eventually, we can assume, all those people of the same race will finally decide that they don't want to bring in more people of the same race. Then - and presumably only then - can we stop illegal immigration.
The article also mentions Lincoln Diaz-Balart as a guest worker program supporter. Although you'd never know it from the article, he's definitely in the minority:
Only one congressional Republican at the Philadelphia retreat [out of 218 Republicans --LW], Florida Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, spoke in favor of the president's immigration proposal, several members in attendance said.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)
Walter Moore Debate Video
Video of the L.A. mayoral debate featuring Republican Walter Moore as well as normals Richard Alarcon, Bob Hertzberg, and Bernard Parks is here. I would have gone to the debate but I forgot all about it.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History"
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History" looks like an interesting book:
From a reader's review:
...Although not a substitute for a comprehensive U.S. history, it effectively refutes many of the more common claims by leftists, such as the Puritans were racists and the U.S. Constitution was meant to prohibit states and localities from enacting laws concerning religion. He points out that Joe McCarthy (for all his flaws) was correct that large numbers of government employees were commies. As he notes, the same libs who have a cow about Joe McCarthy can't get worked up over the New York Times columnist Walter Duranty covering up the crimes of Joe Stalin. He even rescues Operation Keelhaul (in which the U.S. sent Russians back to Stalin to be murdered or worked to death) from obscurity...
Publishers Weekly huffs and blows and lets us know the author hit a nerve:
This book is not so much politically incorrect as it is contrarian, as well as utterly contemptuous of anything supported by Liberals or "Intellectuals." At every opportunity, Woods quotes government leaders, media sources and "distinguished" academics who have said something that he feels backs up his view. That view is, by and large, classically conservative, with a focus on states� rights and small government. Any flaws in or missteps by politicians become instant basis for rejecting them wholesale (i.e., Lincoln�s racial views; the fact that JFK�s two major books were ghostwritten), as Woods dredges up accusations both familiar and long-forgotten. The historical coverage is hardly comprehensive, since Woods focuses on telling the "truth" about issues Liberals have allegedly distorted, like the New Deal and the Civil Rights movement... Diehard Republicans may find this book an inspiring corrective to supposedly Liberal-biased history texts, but others will be put off by Woods�s cherry-picking approach and supercilious tone.
Plus, it's from Regnery so you can strike a double-blow against PC.
Posted to Bloggage at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
"Sultry activists bare their skin in freezing weather to protest wearing fur"
From this:
Sultry animal rights activists stripped down in the freezing weather to bear their skin Friday to try to save the hides of millions of animals slaughtered for fur garments.
Wearing nothing more than flimsy underwear, painted-on leopard spots, cat's ears and carrying a banner reading "Only Animals Should Wear Fur", two young women from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) marched down the street at the busy commercial block of Myeongdong.
A crowd of curious, mostly male onlookers feasted their eyes on the activists who braved the numbing winter weather to show their skins and shout slogans.
But several plainclothes policemen quickly forced their way through the group, wrapped the two naked women with blankets and overcoats and dragged them to a nearby police station...
Public order was finally restored. One of the activists is of course Lonewacko favorite Lisa Franzetta.
There's a small pic here, and a large pic here. The pic above is from this, and there's another pic here. A text-only report is here. There's an action shot of the arrest here.
Posted to WackyHumor at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
" Illegal immigrants inundate [NJ] hospitals"
From this:
New Jersey's escalating population of illegal immigrants is placing an ever-growing burden on the state's hospitals, which expect to lose $200 million this year on care to the underground community.
Doctors and administrators around the state are complaining that the cost of treating illegal immigrants has forced them to delay the purchase of life-saving technology or the addition of valuable staff...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)
He said "undocumented"
Earlier I provided an excerpt from Alberto R. Gonzales' confirmation hearing. The quote was largely correct, but it wasn't complete. Here's the NYT's transcript of that portion, which is even worse than the earlier version:
There is no requirement, of course, upon state and locals to enforce federal immigration laws. This is purely voluntary. In fact, of course, some states have prohibitions; they couldn’t do it even if they wanted to. In some cases the department, as I understand it, has entered into with state or local departments, in terms of memorandums of understanding in order to enforce this. We’re certainly -- I certainly am sensitive to the notion that some local law enforcement people don’t want to exercise this authority. Well, we’re not saying that they have to. But if they want to and they can assist in fighting the war on terror, that’s what this opinion allows us to do.
Personally, I would worry about a policy that permits someone, a local law enforcement official, to use this authority somehow as a club to harass -- they might be undocumented aliens, but otherwise lawful citizens. That would be troubling. That would be troubling to the president who, as a governor of a -- former governor of a border state understands and appreciates the roles that immigrants and undocumented aliens play in our society...
Note that "unlawful alien" from the earlier version has become "undocumented alien" and the bit about "who, as a governor of a -- former governor of a border state understands and appreciates the roles that immigrants and undocumented aliens play in our society..." wasn't in the earlier version. I don't know whether this is an accurate translation or not. Perhaps they applied some kind of "undocumented" filtering to it. Or perhaps it's verbatim.
In any case, holy Moses.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
"The Mexican-American War, Round 2"
For decades now, our bad neighbor to the south has aided and abetted its impoverished citizens in their efforts to enter the United States illegally – a process that pays handsome dividends to Mexico, but results in massive trauma and social upheaval for the gringos.
The latest attack on our sovereignty is a 32-page color comic book published by Mexico’s foreign ministry and designed as a self-help manual for illegal aliens...
See the roundup of the Guide for the Mexican Migrant for many more links.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
"Amnesty for Illegals Could Cost Bush and the GOP Their Base"
Within a week of his election victory, word began to leak from the Bush administration that the President is resurrecting a failed plan to amnesty the millions of illegal aliens in this country. Let me briefly summarize the consequences of President Bush's proposed policy of amnesty for illegal immigrants as it relates to his base of conservative voters: imagine a brick wall covered in long, poison-tipped, stainless steel spikes. Now imagine George Bush running towards that wall as fast he can, downhill.
What this metaphor lacks in nuance, it makes up for in accuracy -- because amnesty is a coming crisis in the conservative movement -- one entirely of Bush's making. Few subjects in American politics are charged with more emotion than illegal immigration. This emotion exists primarily because this is one issue on which our two-party and somewhat Democratic system of government has abjectly failed to reflect the will of the American people...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
Today's news from India
The following report from India Daily appears to be in English, but I have absolutely no idea what they're talking about:
For the famous Mallika – how could you! Recently Mallika has unveiled more sensational masala on the Bollywood!
Mallika Sherawat came out with a shocking revelation and outright confession that can rock your soul! She says Big B when running at a slow motion is an eye candy. She just can’t wait to work on a movie with Big B where she can run slowly with Big B?
Some say this may be a one-sided crazy crush! Mallika never stops at running! She makes every one run. Keep tuned the story has just started! We will keep you informed!
What?
In other breathless India Daily news:
Bollywood trending towards sex movies!
Katrina ready to show her skin in ‘Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye’
And, last but not least:
For other news from strange newspapers, see "Today in Trini news".
Posted to WackyHumor at 10:51 PM | Comments (1)
"It's nice to see that democracy is alive and well, at least on the People's Choice Awards"
Whoo hoo! Michael Moore has won a People's Choice Award! The people, script kiddies, and voting bots have spoken.
(Titular quote from Martin Sheen.)
Posted to Celebrities at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)
Take it like a Viking
Alternatively:
Posted to WackyHumor at 08:34 PM | Comments (0)
It's ice skating, but taken to the Richard Simmons-th degree
I have to confess to flipping past fewer things objectively gayer than "Kenny Loggins On Ice". From an eyewitness:
There have been many people and things put “on ice” in the past several years in various skating shows.
But possibly never has anyone so fully embraced that experience as Kenny Loggins, who performed with a star-studded cast of skaters in Century 21 Presents Kenny Loggins on Ice on Dec. 8 at the Broome County Arena in Binghamton, N.Y. (It will be broadcast on NBC on Jan. 9...)
...During one break in the action, one of the band members was talking with members of the cast and noted, “I can't even imagine being able to do the things you guys do — I love to watch skating whenever I get a chance, but I can't imagine how you do it,” while the skaters came back with equal awe about the multitude of talents demonstrated by the band...
...“Lea Ann told me what she wanted me to skate to,” said Boitano, who said he enjoyed trying something very different for him, the frantic, upbeat, “I'm Alright,” as well as a selection that was very definitely his style, the powerful love song, “Forever..."
...Steven Cousins took a quick break from his skating performance to “It's About Time” to join the band onstage and play tambourine, then took the tambourine with him when he returned to the ice, using it to add an exclamation point to a couple of split jumps, and Alexei Yagudin jumped onstage and grabbed a spare guitar during his performance to “Angry Eyes.” He “strummed” along with the band for a few moments, then jumped back on the ice to do a knee slide while still strumming the instrument...
...Sale and Pelletier changed that more somber mood into a very upbeat feeling with a charged-up performance to “Don't Fight It,” which included a triple twist and a big throw triple Salchow. Their performance merged into another ensemble program, with Sale and Sato flirting with Pelletier, Dungjen, Yagudin and Weiss to “Playin' With the Boys."
That playful program was a perfect introduction into Boitano's lively performance to “I'm Alright,” which included his Tano triple Lutz, along with triple toe and a couple of split jumps, accompanied by interaction with the audience and a huge grin. The half ended with Loggins inviting the audience to “sing along with me” to “Celebrate Me Home,” with Eldredge's smooth spirals, spins and triples (loop and toe) accenting the well-known favorite...
Could it get any better? Yes, it could. They could have built a large, transparent pool above the skating rink containing synchronized swimmers rockin' to the beat.
Posted to WackyHumor at 02:47 PM | Comments (1)
Does it get any better than Natalie Merchant?
OK, so there's reportedly a stridency problem, and smoking, meat, and smoking meat are right out. And, she purports to have never heard of National Review. Does it really matter?
My recommendation: buy both The Wishing Chair (link) and Hope Chest (link), and compare and contrast at leisure:
Posted to Bloggage at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
Your "Guide for the Mexican Migrant" roundup
In reverse chronological order, here are the posts about the Mexican government's guide to being an illegal alien:
"Mexico publishes guide to assist border crossers": The Drudge-linked AZ Republic article that started it all; post includes quote from earlier article about consul general visiting a day laborer center.
"[WH] Spokesman to 'look into' illegal-alien guide": Scott McClellan weaves and bobs compassionately.
"Mexico's Border-Crossing Tips Anger Some in U.S.": The LAT weighs in, getting a B- for their coverage.
"Mexico and its illegals": a WashTimes editorial.
"A big cuchi-cuchi! from our "friends" to the south": I provide my own limited "translation."
"Mexico Defends Comic Book for Illegal Immigrants"
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) on "Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies": "[it's a] flagrant example of the Mexican government's lack of respect for U.S. laws."
"Illustrating folly": The AZ Republic seems mostly angered by Mexico's tactical blunder in this editorial.
"No Humor in Comic: Advice on breaking U.S. law is ill-advised": a similar editorial from the Dallas Morning News.
"Education and immigration": another similar editorial from the the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
"A Mexican Manual for Illegal Migrants Upsets Some in U.S.": the NYT weighs in.
"Migration pamphlet draws fire in U.S." the Houston Chronicle report includes this priceless quote from a Mexican official: "The Mexican government in no way encourages emigration."
"Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies" to be distributed in the U.S.? that's what one Mexican newspaper says.
Translations of the "Guide for the Mexican Migrant": includes two "translations" and one translation.
Apologists for the "Guide for the Mexican Migrant": it'd look something like this AZ Daily Star column.
UPDATE:
"The Mexican-American War, Round 2": from Don Feder
"[AZ Gov. Janet Napolitano] critical of Mexican manual"
"Illegals and the State Department": The WashTimes tries and fails to get the State Dep't to do something about the comic.
"Dumb Like a Fox": we should follow the money.
Now that's an apologist!: A very minor scholar wants us to see things from the Mexican perspective.
UPDATE 2:
"Immigrants Hail Mexico’s Migrant Guide": 9 out of 10 illegal aliens praise the guide. Also confirms that consulates are distributing the comic in the U.S. (source article)
More will be added...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:30 PM | Comments (1)
Apologists for the "Guide for the Mexican Migrant"
What sort of spin would an apologist for the Mexican government's guide to being an illegal alien provide?
Let's look at "Mexico's border comic book tells of rights, doesn't promote wrongs" for an example:
...The guide, published by Mexican Foreign Relations, contains similar directions to those we Americans hear at airports or receive from the Department of Homeland Security.
Do not trust smugglers, do not take packages from strangers, do not leave children with strangers, do not cross with false papers, do not lie to American immigration agents, do not resist arrest, do not carry guns or knives, do not attend loud parties...
For an example, I refer you to the State Department publications: "So, you've decided to go on an underage sex tour" (SDPub #237-AH-3494) and "So, you've decided to import drugs" (SDPub #933-AF-8327). We do it too!
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
Translations of the "Guide for the Mexican Migrant"
There are "translations" of the Mexican government's guide for illegal aliens here and here.
A fairly accurate real translation is here.
Previous coverage starts here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
"The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating"
On the other hand:
The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating is a certified "foodie" classic. In it, Fergus Henderson -- whose London restaurant, St. John, is a world-renowned destination for people who love to eat "on the wild side" -- presents the recipes that have marked him out as one of the most innovative, yet traditional, chefs. Here are recipes that hark back to a strong rural tradition of delicious thrift, and that literally represent Henderson's motto, "Nose to Tail Eating" -- be they Pig's Trotter Stuffed with Potato, Rabbit Wrapped in Fennel and Bacon, or his signature dish of Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad. For those of a less carnivorous bent, there are also splendid dishes such as Deviled Crab; Smoked Haddock, Mustard, and Saffron; Green Beans, Shallots, Garlic, and Anchovies; and to keep the sweetest tooth happy, there are gloriously satisfying puddings, notably the St. John Eccles Cakes, and a very nearly perfect Chocolate Ice Cream.
Posted to Bloggage at 12:50 AM | Comments (0)
Checking in with... Lisa Franzetta of PETA
(2003) Lisa Franzetta, campaign coordinator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), wears the Tiger Lady costume to protest the wearing of furs.
There's a picture of Lisa Franzetta wearing fur and drinking from a toilet
here, here, or here.
And, there's some background on her here:
...She's an Ivy League grad from an upscale New Jersey suburb who never did anything more radical than volunteer at animal shelters until she began working for PETA four years ago writing ad copy.
Her epiphany snuck up on her in her mid-20s, yet it is rooted firmly in a visceral disgust for seeing animals hurt or tortured. It first popped up in 10th-grade biology class: "We had dissected the fruit fly and the worm and the frog, and when we got to the pig, Lisa refused to do it," said Katherine Bell, who has known Franzetta since high school. Instead, Franzetta sat in the back of the class doing independent study.
"In high school, Lisa was the type of girl that high school boys in New Jersey wouldn't like too much; she was too smart," said Bell . "She was always brave and sexy and fun. It's just that in Randolph , New Jersey , there wasn't a lot of opportunity for that side of her to come out..."
I find myself... strangely seduced by her ideology...
Posted to WackyHumor at 12:49 AM | Comments (0)
SPOD: Have you sinned?
Continuing our Strange Pet of the Day series, we ask: have you sinned? I mean, a really good sin? Your penance is to live this, view it inside your mind, read it over and over until you have paid your due:
Hi, my name is Kiara. Thanks for coming to visit me! I just love having visitors! Now I know your first question is, what the heck is that?!?
Well, I am called a Kinkajou (kink-a-choo) although I am more commonly know as a "Honey bear." You see I just LOVE honey! Actually it probably has more to do with the fact that our fur is a pretty honey color. What type of animal do I remind you of? A monkey, cat and even a ferret? I've heard them all before:) Believe it or not kinkajou's are actually related to raccoons, coatis, ringtail cats and possibly even panda bears!
... At home I live in a LARGE cage. Mommy says to make sure you know how big we need our cages. Imagine a bathroom in your house, now go out and look for a cage that size... Mommy has 2 big parrot cages that she made into one big cage for me. I have lots of ropes and braches inside. There's also a couple pouches for me to sleep in and LOTS of water. I can drink A LOT!
When I get up at night I spend most of my time jumping and climbing all over the place.
Escaping from my cage is the best! I get to find all of the fruit snacks and goodies mommy has in the kitchen. When I hear her coming I just hide until she gets close the I jump out! I love to scare mommy, hehe. Then I give her a kiss and she lets me sleep with her for awhile...
...Every night I get 4 different kinds of fruit. [Fruits are enumerated...] are just some of the kinds of fruit I get.
I never eat strawberries. I really don't like them and mommy read somewhere that all kinkajous may be allergic to them! (Mommy has been recently hearing the same about avocado...)
...5-6 Zupreme monkey biscuits every night, I'm not sure what these are but mommy says they are good for me...
...Mommy says I need protein, whatever that is...
... Yogurt is SOOO good. I only get that 1-2 times a week. Good calcium mommy says...
Hup! Hup! Hup! What are you doing down here? Go back and read it again. And again. And again and all over again. Until you're absolved.
Posted to WackyHumor at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
Barbara Boxer: VRWC Member #3452
The secret can now be revealed. From "I'm the first to say it: Barbara Boxer is a DINO, with strong DLC ties-":
Yeah, I know, she's DU's "flavor of the week" but she is tainted as hell!
Fact: Boxer voted for the Patriot Act
She only has a 60%-70% rating from the ACLU-she's wrong over 30% of the time
She has a 22% rating from the Chamber of Commerce. In other words, in 1 in 5 votes, she sells out.
She voted for 1.15 million for COPS program, and we all know law enforcement is corrupt.
She voted to deploy National Missile Defense in 1998
She supported air strikes in Kosovo in 1999-innocent civilians died.
She only has a 78% rating from various animal rights organizations, indicating problems in her record.
Taxpayer for Common Sense (a right-wing group) gave her a 45% rating...
In related news:
"Is it possible to renounce citizenship and still live in America?"
"I have joined the Democratic Socialists of America this past week"
Posted to Politics at 09:35 PM | Comments (1)
Pesky little nerds
Some pesky little nerd who has administrative privileges at Wikipedia has twice deleted an entry I placed there. Here's more on the nerd ("Neutrality"):
My name is Neutrality (real name: Ben). I have been a Wikipedian since I was first welcomed by Meelar on May 15, 2004. On October 12, I became the 300th active administrator and member of the top sekrit sysop kabal. ("Wiki-janitor" is the term I prefer). As of December 2004, I was listed on Most Active Wikipedians as the 54th most active contributor to all namespaces, a positional change of +8 from the previous month. On December 18, I became an Arbitrator-elect following the December 2004 elections. My term began on January 1.
It helps if you read the first two paragraphs of the Instapundit page first.
Here's the text:
The Lonewacko Blog [http://24ahead.com] is a U.S. political weblog produced by one or more shadowy figures who use the name "Lonewacko." Unlike [[Instapundit]], it is one of the least widely-read blogs in the world.
The Lonewacko Blog offers non-"liberal" coverage of immigration [http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/cat_immigration.html], Iraq, terrorism, multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor.
The Lonewacko Blog frequently "disses" other bloggers - right, left, center, apolitical, wherever they may be. In addition, The Lonewacko Blog frequently "disses" Libertarians, "liberals", "progressives", BushBots,... As a result, very few other blogs link to The Lonewacko Blog. Despite that, The Lonewacko Blog gets a fair amount of traffic from google.
The Lonewacko Blog spent four months driving from L.A. to Maine and back, resulting in the posts in Blogging Across America [http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/cat_bloggingacrossamerica.html]. None of the other bloggers to whom The Lonewacko Blog sent emails suggesting they get together received the emails, or they were out of town.
The Lonewacko Blog has received [[Instalanche]]s in the past. However, there have been no [[Instalanche]]s after this post [http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/000829.html]
~~
External links:
lonewacko.com [http://24ahead.com]
No reason was given for the deletions. I'm going to appeal to his supervisor as soon as I find out who that is. I have to be careful though: he's in Meelar's sphere of influence.
Posted to Bloggage at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
What's Milhouse's login name?
I don't know if that relatively easy Simpson's trivia question is in "The Trivial Simpsons 2005 365-Day Box Calendar", but I'm sure with 365 trivia questions there's enough to keep you busy.
Posted to Bloggage at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)
It's good to know he'll represent American interests
From Alberto Gonzalez' confirmation hearing:
Gonzales: There is no requirement, of course, upon state and locals to enforce federal immigration laws. It is purely voluntary. In fact, of course, some states have prohibitions [against?]. They couldn't, even if they wanted to. [They couldn't what?] In some cases, the department, as I understand it, has entered into with state and local departments in terms of memorandums of understandings in order to enforce this [?]. I certainly am sensitive to the notion that some local law enforcement people don't want to exercise this authority. Well, we're not saying that they have to. If they want to they can assist in fighting the war on terror, that's what this opinion allows us to do. Personally I would worry about a policy that permits someone, a local law enforcement official, to use this authority somehow as a club to harass uhh they might be unlawful aliens but otherwise lawful citizens. That would be troubling. That would be troubling to the President.
He continued: "uhhh... it wouldn't be compassionate... yeah, that's it, it wouldn't be compassionate... they're, uhhh, kind-hearted people... they're here to do the jobs Americans won't do... we're working with our friends in Mexico to end illegal immigration... uhhh, we need a guest worker plan, but it's not an amnesty... I repeat, it's not an amnesty... patroling the borders is hard work... it's hard... we need to be, uhhh... compassionate..."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
Salon submarines Sid
From this:
Longtime Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal has left his post as Washington bureau chief for the online magazine Salon, a month after he suggested in print that President Bush wouldn't mind if Little Rock, Arkansas was vaporized in a nuclear attack...
..."We're still very fond of Sidney and very appreciative of his talents and deeply want him to continue to have a relationship with Salon," [Salon publisher David] Talbot said.
But he did note that "people at Salon" initiated the departure discussions a month ago.
That would be around the time Blumenthal offered a behind-the-scenes account of President Bush's arrival at the opening of President Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock:
"Bush appeared distracted, and glanced repeatedly at his watch," the former Hillary-aide reported. "When he stopped to gaze at the river, where secret service agents were stationed in boats, the guide said: 'Usually, you might see some bass fishermen out there.'
"Bush replied [according to Blumenthal's unnamed sources]: 'A submarine could take this place out.'"
The supposed comments prompted the Saloner to wonder feverishly:
"Was the president warning of an al-Qaida submarine? . . . Or was this a wishful paranoid fantasy of ubiquitous terrorism destroying Clinton's legacy with one blow?"
Previous Blumenthal coverage starts here.
UPDATE: In related news, Salon's stock rose .01 cents to close at 3.23 cents in light trading.
Posted to Politics at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)
The newest Harry Potter is due in July!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due for release on July 16, 2005. But, you can preorder it now and avoid the rush!
Posted to Bloggage at 12:21 AM | Comments (0)
"SaveOurState Rally to Support Redondo Beach and Their Efforts to Combat Illegal Immigration"
From this:
On Saturday, January 15th from 10am-2pm, grassroots activists from SaveOurState.org and SaveOurLicense.com will rally at the Redondo Beach Civic Center to support Redondo Beach and their efforts to crackdown on illegal alien day laborers and gather signatures for the SaveOurLicense initiative prohibiting illegal aliens from acquiring state drivers' licenses and other social benefits.
After receiving numerous complaints from citizens and business owners regarding the public nuisance created by illegal alien day laborers who congregated and solicited for work on their streets, the Redondo Beach Police Department conducted a two day sting operation in October in which many illegal aliens were arrested for unlawfully soliciting for work in public.
On behalf of the illegal aliens, the racialist Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund sued the city claiming that these illegal aliens and their First Amendment Constitutional right to free speech were being infringed upon. United States District Judge Consuelo Marshall issued an injunction citing "serious questions" about the city ordinance.
Although City Attorney Jerry Goddard has stated that he will aggressively defend the ordinance in court, we feel it is imperative that the citizens publicly show their support for the city and its efforts to eradicate the scourge of illegal immigration. Only then, will the rest of the politicians who represent us at various levels of government begin to understand the peoples' wrath over illegal aliens and the threat open borders and illegal aliens post to our national security, our economy and our quality of life.
SaveOurState.org is an anti-illegal immigration grassroots organization committed to educating citizens about the disastrous effects of illegal immigration and effecting change through activist advocacy...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:17 AM | Comments (1)
An overview of illegal immigration
There's a listing of articles about illegal immigration here.
One of the articles mentioned is "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers." As far as I know, the full text of that highly recommended article is only available at the library or by online purchase here. You can read an excerpt at the link here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:16 AM | Comments (0)
"Extremist Group Raises Fears in Indonesia"
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — An extremist Islamic group with alleged Al Qaeda has set up a relief camp on Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Sumatra island, raising concerns it could stir up sentiment against U.S. and Australian troops helping distribute aid.
The Laskar Mujahidin group posted a sign at its camp that read — in English — "Islamic Law Enforcement." Its members said Thursday they have been collecting corpses, distributing food and providing Islamic teaching for refugees here in predominantly Muslim Aceh province.
The presence of the extremist group, known for killing Christians in a sectarian conflict elsewhere in Indonesia, has generated fears that U.S. military personnel and others doing relief work could become terror targets.
It also underscores the fine line that foreigners, especially the U.S. military, must tread between being welcomed as Samaritans or viewed as invaders in a country where suspicion of outsiders runs deep...
Posted to Terrorism at 12:11 AM | Comments (0)
Rumpole!
Remember the series that ran on PBS?
Posted to Bloggage at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)
Dayyyyum!
Now that's a big ol' hog, I tell you what.
Posted to WackyHumor at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
"Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies" to be distributed in the U.S.?
According to the bad translation of a Mexican newspaper article:
...According to the dependency the comic will also be sent to locations like Atlanta, Dallas y Nueva Jersey, so that is can reach the countrymen already in ithe United States in an undocumented status.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 01:02 PM | Comments (2)
"Migration pamphlet draws fire in U.S."
...George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William and Mary, said the guide sends a message that the Mexican government endorses illegal immigration.
"It is a wink and a nod to illegal immigrants," Grayson said. "How would they feel if the Guatemalans published a guide on how to get into Mexico?"
Anti-immigration groups in the United States sharply criticized the Mexican government for publishing the pamphlet, saying it shows a flagrant disregard for U.S. border regulations.
"It is a thinly disguised how-to-do-it guide," said Robert Goldsborough, president of Americans for Immigration Control, a lobby group...
Barry Morrissey, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said it was surprising the Mexican government had released the pamphlet, considering joint U.S.-Mexican efforts on the border to discourage dangerous illegal crossings.
"I haven't seen the booklet, but based on what I've heard I certainly wouldn't endorse its message," Morrissey said.
A Homeland Security official who asked not to be named said, "It was a shock to us to hear of this." He said government-to-government contacts were being made seeking an explanation from Mexico.
But U.S. State Department spokesman Noel Clay said he was not aware of any talks with Mexico on the pamphlet.
"We have not commented to the Mexican government on this issue," he said...
...Rick Oltman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C., lobby, alleged that Mexico encourages illegal immigration because of the money Mexican workers send home.
Last year, Mexicans living in the United States sent a record $15 billion to their loved ones back home, providing Mexico with its second biggest source of foreign revenue after oil.
Undersecretary Gutierrez flatly denied the allegations.
"The Mexican government in no way encourages emigration," he said. "This administration had been pushing for economic reforms to encourage growth so that Mexicans won't leave their homeland."
Rene Mejia, Mexican consul in Laredo, where the pamphlet will be distributed, said the Mexican government had always given out advice like that found in the pamphlet. The only thing new is the comic-book format, which is designed to gain a wider readership, Mejia said.
"The Mexican government in no way encourages emigration." You really gotta hand it to these people.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:59 PM | Comments (1)
"A Mexican Manual for Illegal Migrants Upsets Some in U.S."
...But groups seeking stricter immigration laws argued that Mexican officials were being disingenuous in asserting that the pamphlet does not encourage illegal migration. They say that Mexico wants to continue exporting unemployed people and reaping the benefits of money sent home to their families.
"If the Mexican government were really very concerned about their citizens dying in the desert, why doesn't it use its army and police to prevent people from crossing in those areas?" said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors tighter borders.
Others said the pamphlet only highlighted the need to revamp the American immigration system, which seems to have no effective response to the yearly flood of Mexican migrants seeking jobs. "The publication is nothing more than another symptom of a broken immigration system," said Paul L. Zulkie, president of American Immigration Lawyers Association.
I'm sure he knows just how to fix it.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Do you know how to punctuate? I mean, really know how to punctuate? Very few people have that skill, and if you want to improve your punctuation skills, buy "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation":
"You don't need to be a grammar nerd to enjoy this one...Who knew grammar could be so much fun?" -Newsweek
We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? A look at most neighborhood signage tells a different story. Through sloppy usage and low standards on the internet, in email, and now text messages, we have made proper punctuation an endangered species. In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss dares to say, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset when it is mishandled. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, this lively history makes a powerful case for the preservation of a system of printing conventions that is much too subtle to be mucked about with.
Posted to Bloggage at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
The clock had just struck 13 and it was time for breakfast
From this:
Hi folks, world wide!
I'm Dick Henry, a Professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
and I can't devote a lot of time to calendar reform!
But I have become convinced that the world will be a (marginally) better place if we really implement the C&T Calendar, world wide, on 2006 January 1, and so I'm willing to help in accomplishing this. I hope you'll join me in this ... millions of you...
Here are the stats on the C&T calendar ("Common-Civil-Calendar-and-Time"):
- 7 days/week
- 364 days/year
- the calendar is identical each year: January 1 always falls on a Sunday, and so forth
- time zones would be eliminated
- we would all use UTC
So, when will this start?
...starting 2006 January 1, it is proposed that Universal Time, on a 24 hour scale, be used, everywhere on earth, and forevermore. As a result of this, beginning 2006 January 1, the date and time will always be the same, everywhere, greatly facilitating international understanding...
[what about those for whom the date changes when the sun is overhead?]
...those folks live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As things stand, they have an International Date Line to contend with. With my proposal, that will disappear forever. So they gain that!
The less wacky suggestion is "Newton Week", a sort of week-long replacement for the leap day that would appear between June and July every five or six years. That would involve mandatory bacchanalias in which even supermodels or Score girls would be required to be "nice" to people who kinda look like Nicholas Cage in certain limited forms of lighting.
Yes, I made the last sentence up. However, I do see a use for this calenarist's wacky plan...
He says the American Astronomical Society is considering endorsing this plan. Let me suggest even more fertile fields: the local Libertarian Party. C'mon, how difficult could it be to convince Libertarian candidates to become outspoken advocates for calendar reform? Wouldn't that be fun?
"I'm the Libertarian candidate, and I'm running on a platform of calendar reform. And, free drugs."
Posted to WackyHumor at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
"Eastie gang linked to al-Qaeda"
Drudge is linking to this Boston Globe article:
A burgeoning East Boston-based street gang made up of alleged rapists and machete-wielding robbers has been linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, prompting Boston police to ``turn up the heat'' on its members, the Herald has learned...
...In recent months, intelligence officials in Washington have warned national law enforcement agencies that al-Qaeda terrorists have been spotted with members of [the gang] in El Salvador, prompting concerns the gang may be smuggling Islamic fundamentalist terrorists into the country. Law enforcement officials have long believed that [the gang] controls alien smuggling routes along Mexico.
The warning is being taken seriously in East Boston, where Raed Hijazi, an al-Qaeda operative charged with training the suicide bombers in the attack on the USS Cole, lived and worked, prosecutors have charged.
Also, the commercial jets that hurtled into the World Trade Center towers in New York City were hijacked from Logan International Airport...
Posted to Immigration_terror at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
"Old, and rude, habits die hard for L.A. City Council"
From this:
It was the Los Angeles City Council's first day back in session since an appellate court chastised it for failing to pay attention to the public during its meetings.
But so far, it didn't look like a whole lot had changed.
As they discussed tsunami relief and rewards for crime victims, council members Tuesday continued their practice of walking around, using cell phones and talking to aides while they carried out the public's business...
"It was like the first day back to school after Christmas break." [Janice Hahn said.]
...Indeed, as Councilman Tom LaBonge was asking the city's emergency preparedness staff about the tsunami disaster in Asia, most of the council members had left their chairs.
Councilman Dennis Zine got on his cell phone, while Hahn went into the audience to speak to an aide.
Councilman Bernard Parks carried on a lengthy conversation with a former colleague, while others went missing completely.
Hahn defended her actions, saying she was having a private debate with her aide over whether to speak on the tsunami issue.
And LaBonge said he had no problem with so few of his colleagues sitting in their seats while he spoke.
"What bothers me at the end of the day is if we don't get our work done," he said...
Previous coverage here.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)
Wenn Parteimitglied angriffen!
PoliPundit's Alexander K. McClure's post starts like this:
Former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman has a book out criticizing the modern Republican Party...
The rest of the post can be summarized as follows:
Attack! Attack! Attack!
However, in more verbose language this turns out as:
According to the none-too-bright former EPA director... Obviously it’s easy for anyone with an IQ in positive territory to make fun of Governor Whitman, but I want to add two more things... [...Bush won, ergo he's right...]
In contrast, the post from BlogsForBush is positively diplomatic. Too diplomatic. The comments return things to normalcy.
Posted to Politics at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)
I want to be %OFFICE_NAME% of %CITY_NAME% in %YEAR%!
L.A. Mayor Jim Hahn's site appears to be (finally) operational. Here, have some headshots.
The problem is that the site appears quite generic. In fact, based on the structure of the URLs used by the site, it appears to use the same coding as many other sites from politicians. Perhaps it's just ColdFusion alone, or some kind of CMS built using ColdFusion.
What it needs is some kind of a blog or discussion forum that would lift it from the level of being a static, one-way site. Developing...
Posted to Los_Angeles at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)
Yet another angry comic book reader
From the Long Beach Press-Telegram editorial "Education and immigration":
Failed policy results in failing grades for California schools.
A Rand Corp. study showing how far California schools have slipped down the national ladder in recent years was reported Monday, about the same time as the news that Mexican authorities are distributing more than a million copies of a booklet showing illegal migrants how to safely cross the border ("Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies").
Is there a connection? Of course there is.
The Mexican government, which seems far more interested in protecting the corrupt and powerful than making life better for Mexico's working poor, clearly views the border as a pressure release valve. This how-to book makes it obvious. The poor are far less likely to revolt against an ineffectual and corrupt government when salvation, ostensibly, lies just to the not-so-distant north.
Then there are California's agriculture businesses, restaurants, and numerous other employers who are happy to look the other way on illegal immigration in exchange for cheap labor.
The relationship might work, at least on the California side, if the federal government started being honest about it, creating an above-board economy that recognizes migrant workers and collects taxes, through some sort of guest worker program...
Compare this with the largely similar editorials by the Dallas Morning News and the Arizona Republic.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 06:11 PM | Comments (0)
Another spurned comic book reader
From the Dallas Morning News editorial "No Humor in Comic: Advice on breaking U.S. law is ill-advised":
Thought experiment: What if the U.S. government produced a comic-book-style pamphlet ("Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies") for Americans headed to Mexico, advising them how to break Mexican laws safely and successfully? We'd never hear the end of the outrage. And we shouldn't, because it would be outrageous...
... The feds have long been soft on enforcement at the Mexican border, in part because American families and U.S. business interests depend on cheap migrant labor. If the booklet teaches Mexicans how to exploit the United States, our lax enforcement teaches American employers how to exploit illegal Mexicans.
We support President Bush's steps toward immigration reform, specifically his guest-worker proposal that would give migrant workers a chance at a three-year visa and, ultimately, a place in line toward citizenship. He risks angering many in his own party, and we applaud his courage.
We also recognize that the illegal immigration issue is vast and complex, with no cheap or easy solutions. A foreign government printing a how-to booklet for its citizens to sneak in and break our laws does not help.
Compare this with the recent Arizona Republic editorial. Both editorials seem to be mainly criticizing Mexico for a tactical blunder.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 05:57 PM | Comments (0)
Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives
Could "liberals" use NLP or perhaps involuntary hypnotism to convince people that their arguments have some slight merit? I don't know if "Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives" answers that question, but it was written by a linguist:
In the first of his three debates with George W. Bush, 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry argued against the war in Iraq not by directly condemning it but by citing the various ways in which airport and commercial shipping security had been jeopardized due to the war's sizable price tag. In so doing, he re-framed the war issue to his advantage while avoiding discussing it in the global terrorism terms favored by President Bush. One possible reason for this tactic could have been that Kerry familiarized himself with the influential linguist George Lakoff, who argues in Don't Think of an Elephant that much of the success the Republican Party can be attributed to a persistent ability to control the language of key issues and thus position themselves in favorable terms to voters. While Democrats may have valid arguments, Lakoff points out they are destined to lose when they and the news media accept such nomenclature as "pro-life," "tax relief," and "family values," since to argue against such inherently positive terminology necessarily casts the arguer in a negative light. Lakoff offers recommendations for how the progressive movement can regain semantic equity by repositioning their arguments, such as countering the conservative call for "Strong Defense" with a call for "A Stronger America" (curiously, one of the key slogans of the Kerry camp)...
Posted to Bloggage at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)
A quarter-mile scar across the Texas landscape
Say hello to the Trans-Texas Corridor:
In what sounds like another tall tale told by a Texan, the state has embarked on an audacious project to build superhighways so big and so complex that they will make ordinary interstates look like cow paths.
The Trans-Texas Corridor project, as first envisioned by Republican Gov. Rick Perry in 2002, would be a 4,000-mile transportation network costing $175 billion over 50 years, financed mostly if not entirely with private money. The builders then would charge motorists tolls...
...they would be megahighways — corridors up to a quarter-mile across, consisting of as many as six lanes for cars and four for trucks, plus railroad tracks, oil and gas pipelines, water and other utility lines, and broadband transmission cables...
...But as the plan rumbles along in the fast lane, some have called it a Texas-size boondoggle. Environmentalists are worried about what it will do to the countryside. Ranchers and farmers who stand to lose their land through eminent domain are mobilizing against it. Small towns and big cities alike fear a loss of business when traffic is diverted around them...
A quarter mile is four football fields...
Note also that almost all the land in Texas is privately owned. While the BLM and other federal agencies own vast swaths of other western states, Texas has no or very little BLM land.
(Via the loonitarians here, who have more to say and more links)
Posted to Miscellania at 05:19 PM | Comments (2)
Poisoning the MREs Americans won't poison
AP:An employment agency pleaded guilty to falsifying forms to get illegal immigrants jobs at the nation's top producer of U.S. military battlefield rations.Previous report here.
James Echensberger, vice president of San Antonio-based Tollin Group Inc., on Tuesday pleaded guilty on the company's behalf to one count of conspiracy to provide false and fictitious statements during an FBI investigation.
Investigators found that Tollin, which does business as Remedy Intelligent Staffing, was trying to cover up hundreds of fraudulent "I-9" employment eligibility documents. The illegal workers were hired by Wornick Co., which packages high-calorie "meals ready to eat" for troops in Iraq.
The FBI initiated the investigation after an al-Qaida operative arrested in 2003 was found with information indicating that McAllen and Wornick could be terrorist targets. Wornick had a $47 million Department of Defense contract to deliver more than 1.1 million meals between February and May 2003...
UPDATE: There are many more details in the local report "Company pleads guilty to fraud charges".
10/28/05 UPDATE: This says Tollin (dba "Remedy Intelligent Staffing") got five years of probation, were fined $20,000, and were ordered to pay $414,000 in civil penalties. And, they won't get DoD contracts for three years. It also says the FBI did background checks on all Wornick's employees and found no dirct terrorism links.
Posted to Immigration_terror at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)
She's not my Senator
Barbara Boxer is rumored to be willing to sign on to contest the election of Our Leader:
WASHINGTON -- A handful of House Democrats plan a long-shot effort to snarl President Bush's formal re-election by preventing Congress from counting Ohio's pivotal votes when lawmakers tally the electoral vote on Thursday.
No one expects the action to undo Bush's victory. Instead, it seems likely to do little more than call attention to Election Day voting irregularities, a growing frustration for Democrats who blamed similar problems in Florida for Bush's 2000 defeat of Democrat Al Gore.
In a measure of the dispute's political delicacy, proponents are considered unlikely to find a senator who will co-sign the objection, which is required to force Congress to act on the challenge...
The House Democrats' chief hope of finding a supportive senator may be Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. Her spokesman, David Sandretti, said Tuesday that she has been asked to sign the complaint "and she is considering it."
Apparently this is closer to "reality" per MSNBC. Discussion here and here.
Posted to Politics at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
"Illustrating folly"
The Arizona Republic has an editorial about "Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies". I'm no psychologist, so I'm not going to try to figure it out:
...With this book, Mexican President Vicente Fox has unwittingly produced a powerful tool to undermine efforts by President Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to win congressional support for a guest-worker program.
Mexico's booklet on how to sneak into the United States will be distributed free south of the border. Around the Potomac, it will be priceless to those opposed to a guest-worker program because it raises serious doubts about whether Mexico will ever help curb illegal migration - even if the United States creates a legal mechanism for large numbers of workers to obtain temporary work visas...
...By treating its citizens as an exportable commodity, Mexico waves goodbye to the kind of ambitious, resourceful citizens it needs to build a stronger Mexican economy...
... This comic book approach is not only an international flop. It's an illustrated guide to Mexico's domestic failures.
The Arizona Republic was all but an announced opponent of Prop. 200. So, one might wonder what they're really upset about. Have they finally seen the light? Or, are they just upset with Mexico for making a tactical error?
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
"Dreier introduces 2 immigration reform bills"
From this:Rep. David Dreier, who survived re-election last fall amid accusations he is soft on illegal immigration, introduced two immigration reform bills Tuesday to bolster the security of Social Security cards and to ease the immigration case backlog in federal courts...Previously: "An epistle directly from the hands of David Dreier".
The first bill would require the Social Security Administration to issue Social Security cards with photos on them, as well as an electronic identification strip for employers to verify the legal status of prospective employees through a national database...
The bill, called the Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act of 2005, also increases penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens from a maximum of $10,000 to $50,000. It also makes the hiring of a known illegal worker a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison per count instead of a total of five years.
The bill would also add 10,000 new Homeland Security personnel to ensure employer compliance.
Also called the Bonner Plan, the bill is supported by the nationwide Border Patrol union...
The second bill introduced by Dreier, the Citizens and Legal Immigrants (CALI) Act, aims to address the backlog of immigration cases by reinstating the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as the sole venue for challenges to alien-removal orders, Maney said...
...On Tuesday, some Latino activists criticized Dreier's legislation as pandering to political forces.
"In very simple and open language ... he allowed himself to be used as a pawn by these powerful nativist forces that have been pressuring him,' said Armando Navarro, a professor of ethnic studies at UC Riverside.
Dreier was targeted as a political sacrifice by talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou from KFI-AM'S "The John and Ken Show' before the November election for his record on illegal immigration.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
"[CO] Group seeks action on illegal immigration"
From this:
A group considering a 2006 ballot initiative to keep undocumented immigrants from receiving government services said it will move forward if legislators don't take a stand.
Defend Colorado Now sent a letter to all 100 lawmakers, who assemble one week from today for the start of the 2005 session...
If the legislature fails to act this session or next, the group would try to put the initiative on the 2006 ballot, Herron said. In addition, he said supporters would target lawmakers, making sure voters know "who the pro-illegal alien candidates are..."
"We will fight with every ounce of our being to defeat such a proposal," said Bill Vandenberg, co-director of the Colorado Progressive Coalition, a statewide civil rights group...
...Asked if the ballot item might be considered racist, Herron laughed. He said during secretary of state hearings last year on the initiative's wording, one opponent told him to get on the boat and go back to Europe.
"Who's the racist here?" Herron said.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:32 AM | Comments (3)
The newest Harry Potter is due in July!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due for release on July 16, 2005. But, you can preorder it now and avoid the rush!
Posted to Bloggage at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)
It's not racism, it's affirmative action in action!
From this:
JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) - On his first day on the job, the new sheriff called 27 employees into his office, stripped them of their badges, fired them, and had rooftop snipers stand guard as they were escorted out the door.
The move Monday by Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill provoked an angry reaction and prompted a judge to order him to rehire the employees...
...Hill, 39, defended the firings and said the new sheriff has the right to shake up the department in whatever way he feels necessary. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he fired the employees to "maintain the integrity of the department..."
...The firings had a racial overtone. Hill was among a spate of black candidates elected last year in the county once dominated by rural whites...
...The fired employees included four of the highest-ranking officers, all of them white. Hill told the newspaper their replacements would be black...
At post time, there appear to be just two blogs discussing this, and neither of them appear to be "liberal" blogs. I'm sure the "liberals" are just composing their profound thoughts.
To help them, please leave the bestest "liberal" excuse you can think up in the comments. Bonus points for using "oppression"; double-plus bonus points for using "dialectic" or somehow weaving Noam Chomsky or Noel Ignatiev into your tale.
UPDATE: The DU post on this story doesn't bring up the "racial overtones" mentioned above, despite linking to an AP report on the TBO AP feed and at al Guardian.
However, they have a good excuse: three paragraphs of the story linked to above have been omitted from most of the AP reports. Here are the missing paragraphs:
The firings had a racial overtone. Hill was among a spate of black candidates elected last year in the county once dominated by rural whites. The county seat was the setting for the fictional plantation Tara in "Gone With The Wind."
The fired employees included four of the highest-ranking officers, all of them white. Hill told the newspaper their replacements would be black.
Another of the newly elected black officials, Eldrin Bell, called the move illegal and filed for the restraining order granted by the judge. Bell is the new county commission chairman and former Atlanta police chief.
There are around 92 media sites with this report.
But, only ten of them include those paragraphs.
Gosh, that's interesting.
There's also a non-AP, local report in "Showdown seizes county government".
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) on "Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies"
From this:
Scottsdale Republican Congressman J.D. Hayworth is criticizing the Mexican government over a controversial pamphlet for migrants and undocumented immigrants looking to enter the United States...
Hayworth, a conservative who represents Scottsdale, Tempe and Ahwatukee, said Tuesday the migrant guide is a "flagrant example of the Mexican government's lack of respect for U.S. laws."
Hayworth is voicing his protest in a letter to the Mexican ambassador in Washington.
"The booklet is essentially a 'how to' guide for illegal entry into the U.S. that provides recommendations for illegal aliens in evading detection of federal authorities once in the U.S. Not once does the guide mention how a Mexican migrant can come the U.S. legally," Hayworth said in the letter...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)
Children younger than 14 can't patronize tanning booths
The SacBee offers that and several other earnest ukazi from our nannies in Sacramento.
Posted to California at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
"Mexico Defends Comic Book for Illegal Immigrants"
MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico on Tuesday defended a government comic book showing illegal migrants how to cross the border and live quietly in the United States against charges that it promotes undocumented immigration.
The 32-page color primer, published by Mexico's foreign ministry in December, gives would-be migrants tips including how to swim across the Rio Grande and avoid dehydration in the desert. It also sets out their legal rights on detention.
Some U.S. groups and newspaper editorial writers have slammed the booklet as a "how-to" manual for 1 million or more Mexicans who attempt the illegal crossing each year.
"It's reminiscent of the instructions to al Qaeda operatives to help their terrorists keep a low profile in safe houses in Britain," Ric Oltman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform told Reuters...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
A big cuchi-cuchi! from our "friends" to the south
Mexico's comic book "Illegal Immigration and Remittances For Dummies" continues to both shock and amuse.
Apparently Charo is now working for the Feds.
Meanwhile, Chester the Molester has a "package" he wants you to deliver.
And, after crossing the border in order to send back money to keep Mexico afloat, if you're stopped by the Border Patrol don't menace them with turtle shells.
Mannix is studying law.
The only explanation I can offer is that she only has one tit.
Get the door, the Aryan Uebermensch is here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)
True Border Security (WaPo style)
Try to stifle your laughter while reading this WaPo editorial:
AT HIS YEAR-END news conference, President Bush was passionate in his support for liberalization of the nation's immigration laws, and in particular for changes that would allow legal status for temporary workers in the country, on security grounds if nothing else: [...compassionate Jorge Arbusto quote deleted...] ...Yet only days earlier, he had agreed to help House Republicans pass more restrictive border control legislation in exchange for their support for a bill that reshaped the intelligence bureaucracy...
...There are Republicans who support the president's larger ideas too... [...list of RINOs deleted...] ...The details of their bills differ, but they have in common something that the House's narrower measures do not: They recognize that the flow of workers into this country is both permanent and popular, ensuring everything from inexpensive food to an abundant supply of graduate students -- and that true border security ultimately rests on documenting and legalizing that flow of workers. If the president actually believes in what he says, he should start now to work with Democrats, immigration advocates and those members of his party who want comprehensive rather than piecemeal change. That means either putting some details into his own vague reform proposals or throwing political weight behind one or more of the bills already on the table.
As can be expected, all eight messages discussing this oppose the WaPo's fantasy world.
I note also that the editorial uses the word "liberalize", which was also used in their "news" report of a couple days ago. I'm sure both the editorial and the "news" report were just reading from the same script.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
The Palm Beach Post goes off the deep end
The last immigration editorial from the PBP wasn't that horrible, even if it was wrong.
They've gotten quite a bit worse with "Jupiter trying to solve problem feds created":
Jupiter has a problem with migrant workers, most of them illegal, who live in the town, crowd older neighborhoods and gather daily at a pickup point on Center Street to take odd jobs in the community or low-wage landscaping and construction work. Administrators working for four years have proposed a series of solutions, including a labor center that would move the gathering point from a riverfront neighborhood to a more fitting commercial center.
Rather than force the migrants out — to become someone else's problem — Jupiter proposes a reasonable solution with the labor center. But the issue is becoming snarled in the national debate over illegal migrant workers. The town has the attention of the extreme anti-immigration group Federation for American Immigration Reform. And U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Jupiter, has weighed in with an unhelpful condemnation of the labor center. Rep. Foley seems more interested in political expediency than helping Jupiter deal with the local fallout of the federal government's failed policies. If Jupiter doesn't build a labor center, what should it do? Rep. Foley can't say...
I'm not familiar with the specifics of this case, but calling FAIR an "extreme anti-immigration group" is an outright lie. Let's all send an email to their managing editor: john_bartosek@pbpost.com
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)
Welcome to the wacky world of corruption
MILWAUKEE - In a pilot program described as the first of its kind, an agency created by the state government is making it easier for illegal immigrants in Wisconsin to obtain mortgage loans.
Immigrants who do not have Social Security numbers - a common requirement for loans - can use an alternative government-issued tax number to get financing for new homes, under the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) program...
...Some banks already issue mortgage loans to illegal immigrants, but WHEDA is believed to be the first and only quasi-government organization to buy such loans from the banks, said Geoff Cooper, director of emerging markets for MGIC Investment Corp., and Gary Acosta, president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals...
...But state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, is threatening legislative action if WHEDA doesn't kill the program, which he contends rewards people for breaking the law.
"It is an insult to border guards and immigration officials who are trying to enforce the immigration law," he said. "It is an insult to people who are waiting patiently to enter the country legally..."
Past coverage of banking corruption starts here.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
"Mexico and its illegals"
To keep good relations, neighboring countries must respect each others' immigration laws. The government of Mexico has repeatedly professed that it agrees. If it truly does, how does it explain last month's release of "The Guide for the Mexican Migrant"? The guide, published by the Mexican Foreign Ministry and distributed inside Mexico, gives tips to would-be illegals on how best to get to the United States safely. As such, it constitutes egregiously official assistance to Mexicans preparing to immigrate illegally, and undercuts its leaders' professions of goodwill and cooperation...
...Surely it's in both countries' interest to discourage illegal crossings. But we also think that when a government counsels its citizens on crossings that are illegal in character, that government is in effect offering an endorsement of the lawbreaking in question.
When Secretary of State Colin Powell gets back from his tsunami relief trip, he should call Ambassador de Icaza to the State Department to register the U.S. government's official complaint. A government can't advise its citizens to break a neighbor's laws and then call it "public safety."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
Let's be polite but firm with Readers.Rep@latimes.com
From Solomon Moore's LAT article "Mexico's Border-Crossing Tips Anger Some in U.S.":
Mexican authorities are distributing more than 1 million copies of an illustrated handbook that gives migrants illegally crossing the U.S. border safety tips, suggesting that they carry enough water, follow railroad tracks and utility lines if they get lost and wear clothing that will protect them from the elements.
The new handbooks, the latest effort by the Mexican government to educate people about the dangers of unsanctioned crossings, has angered some anti-immigrant groups that say parts of it read like a how-to manual...
Though anti-immigrant groups are complaining about the booklet, officials with the U.S. Border Patrol said they doubt that the advice will increase immigration from Mexico...
...The United States has also produced literature distributed in Mexico about the dangers of illegal crossings, but the emphasis has been decidedly different, said Andy Adame, a spokesman for the Tucson, Ariz., office of the Border Patrol.
Mexican authorities offer guidance on how migrants can overcome obstacles while crossing; American public service announcements broadcast and distributed in Mexico simply focus on the obstacles — not how to overcome them...
...Diana Hall, director of California for Population Stabilization, an anti-immigration group, said the Mexican government should focus on preventing immigrants from crossing illegally, not telling them how to stay safe...
On the plus side, the LAT's keywords for this article are: "ILLEGAL ALIENS, BORDERS, ILLEGAL ALIENS, BORDERS SAFETY, SAFETY." And, they do state that these are illegal immigrants. And, they do go into the differences between Mexico's pamphlets and those from the U.S. And, they even include a PDF scan of the booklet itself [alternative URL, or try this]. The guide is also available online courtesy of our friends to the south.
On the minus side, the LAT twice refers to "anti-immigrant groups".
And, they refer to "California for Population Stabilization, an anti-immigration group." The group is actually called "Californians for Population Stabilization". And, while I'm not familiar with them, they don't seem to be opposed to all forms of immigration, they just want limits.
Please send a short, polite email to Readers.Rep@latimes.com thanking them for the coverage but suggesting they do slightly better next time.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:47 AM | Comments (6)
"The Reality of Red-State Fascism"
Loony Libertarian Lew Rockwell:
Year's end is the time for big thoughts, so here are mine. The most significant socio-political shift in our time has gone almost completely unremarked, and even unnoticed. It is the dramatic shift of the red-state bourgeoisie from leave-us-alone libertarianism, manifested in the Congressional elections of 1994, to almost totalitarian statist nationalism. Whereas the conservative middle class once cheered the circumscribing of the federal government, it now celebrates power and adores the central state, particularly its military wing.
This huge shift has not been noticed among mainstream punditry, and hence there have been few attempts to explain it – much less have libertarians thought much about what it implies. My own take is this: the Republican takeover of the presidency combined with an unrelenting state of war, has supplied all the levers necessary to convert a burgeoning libertarian movement into a statist one...
...The vigor and determination of the Bush administration has brought about a profound cultural change, so that the very people who once proclaimed hated of government now advocate its use against dissidents of all sorts, especially against those who would dare call for curbs in the totalitarian bureaucracy of the military, or suggest that Bush is something less than infallible in his foreign-policy decisions. The lesson here is that it is always a mistake to advocate government action, for there is no way you can fully anticipate how government will be used. Nor can you ever count on a slice of the population to be moral in its advocacy of the uses of the police power...
I'm all for Bush-bashing, but is there a way to not give aid and comfort to either the libertarians or the "liberals" when so doing?
Posted to Politics at 12:40 AM | Comments (1)
"Unholy Border Alliance"
Roughly 60,000 illegal immigrants designated as 'other-than-Mexican,' or OTMs, were detained last year along the U.S.-Mexico border, including a sizable number from Arab and Muslim countries. And if recent reports are any indication, they may be getting some troubling new help in their efforts to enter the United States.
In a December 4 incident that received scant media attention, a Bangladeshi Muslim man named Fakhrul Islam was among a group of 13 illegal aliens arrested near Brownsville, Texas, just across the border from Mexico. Border Patrol agents have said that one of the men detained along with Islam was a member of... a violent Salvadoran criminal gang with more than 300,000 members across Central and North America, including powerful enterprises in several major U.S. cities...
Posted to Immigration_terror at 12:37 AM | Comments (1)
Barron's on illegal immigration
Michelle Malkin has more excerpts from the Barron's article on the underground economy. They're even more disturbing than the ones I posted yesterday.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)
Jackie Johnson pictures galore!
The above picture of Jackie Johnson - currently weathergal for KCAL 9 TV - appears on the site for the Paul & Young Ron morning show on 94.9 ZETA ("new rock alternative") in Miami. Do I have to tell you just how bad that probably is? I'm sure you have the sounds of generic gonzo ("The Indestructible Intern", "Pumpkin Smash", "ZETA listeners then tried to impress Johnny [Knoxville] by during Jackass stunts of their own for Halloweenie Roast tickets" - their gags probably come delivered in a plain cardboard box marked with nothing but 'Morning Show') running through your head right now. Instead, concentrate on weather forecaster Jackie Johnson's munificent talents as pictured in the pic above as well as those here.
UPDATE: Here's another picture of KCAL's weathergal Jackie Johnson.
UPDATE 2: Apparently Zeta has switched formats. The original picture location has disappeared.
Posted to WackyHumor at 11:06 PM | Comments (53)
"Immigration debate ready to heat up in Congress"
Surprisingly, Knight-Ridder tells it somewhat like it is:
With the 109th Congress set to convene Tuesday, members and lobbyists were revving up to debate two thorny immigration initiatives that strive toward seemingly contradictory ends.
The most sweeping immigration proposals of 2005 are likely to be sounded out with President Bush as he seeks bipartisan support for a plan to grant temporary work cards to hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals. Bush put the plan on the back-burner after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, then brought it forward again at his final formal news conference of 2004.
"We want our Border Patrol agents chasing, you know, crooks and thieves and drug-runners and terrorists, not good-hearted people who are coming here to work," he told reporters.
Those in favor of tighter immigration restrictions say such a program would pander to employers looking for an abundant supply of low-wage workers, while saddling the government with their health and education costs. They're also concerned the proposal might extend beyond short-term permits by providing a path to permanent residence...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)
"[WH] Spokesman to 'look into' illegal-alien guide"
This would be funny if it weren't so frightening:
At today's White House news briefing, WND asked presidential press secretary Scott McClellan about the Mexican government's distribution of a comic-book-style guide to illegal border crossers.
WND: [...asks about "The Guide for the Mexican Migrant"...] And my question: Since the president surely opposes this, what will he do about it?
...McCLELLAN: Well, I will look into it. I'm not familiar with it.
WND: [...asks about California State Senator Gloria Romero's concerns about the cost of incarcerating Mexican prisoners...] And my question: Is the president as concerned about this as this Hispanic American state senator, who is a Democrat?
McCLELLAN: [...prattles on for precisely 119 words: things are getting better, "guest" workers, compassion, etc. etc...]
WND: What about exchanging prisoners? This is done all over the world. If we have a foreign national, we ship them over, and they ship ours over here. But the Mexican government will not accept [this], except 109.
McCLELLAN: This specific question might be best directed to the State Department. I'll be glad to look into it, as well. But I'm not familiar with the details of it.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
Welcome visitors from ChangeLA.com!
I got a referrer hit from changela.com, the website of L.A. Mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg. I was a bit shocked, but I thought I might have been added to his blogroll by mistake or out of a sense of balance or something.
My response was going to thank them for the hits, and suggest that visitors from that blog click here.
Alas, it appears to have just been a sitemeter problem. Perhaps a "referrer" doesn't have to be from a link, it just could be the last site the person (in this case at usc.edu) was viewing.
Oh well. I guess I'll have to get hits elsewhere. In any case, check this out.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 04:15 PM | Comments (1)
The WaPo has finally overloaded my circuits
The WaPo offers us "Bush Immigration Plan Meets GOP Opposition", an article that contains several hidden assumptions just ripe for a fisking. However, it's not bad enough that I want to expend the effort. Therefore, a mini fisk:
1. Are you sure you want to use the phrase "[Bush's plans to] liberalize the nation's immigration laws"? Are you sure what he wants is "liberal"? Perhaps "feudalize", or "NWO-orize", or "elite-scam-ize" might be better terms.
2. You say "[some House Republicans are] seeking to ratchet up enforcement efforts against undocumented workers". Whew! First off, they aren't "undocumented workers." They're "illegal workers" or "illegal aliens." Even more importantly, that quote implies that they mainly want to crack down on the illegal aliens themselves. Most realize it's the employers and the sending countries that are the root of the problem.
3. You say "Congress will begin the year on an anti-immigration note". Yet, your entire article makes it clear the House Republicans and others are talking about illegal immigration, not immigration in general. In other words, you're not telling the whole truth.
4. You discuss the "ineffectiveness of the nation's immigration laws." Isn't correct to say that the laws are not the problem, it's the enforcement of them?
5. You refer to the National Immigration Forum as an "immigrants' rights group". Looking at the organizations who employ their board members, would other phrases be more appropriate to describe this group? Not that it isn't a respected group, just that its members might have their own racial or monetary agendas.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:09 AM | Comments (2)
MultiCulti tempest in a "liberal" yuppie hellcup
You will be pleased to learn that the