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Guess who owns part of Liberman Broadcasting?
If you're a public school teacher in California, you just might have a financial stake in the company that owns KRCA, the source of the billboard that places Los Angeles in Mexico. And, anyone else who lives in California might have a stake in that company too.If I'm reading this PDF file from the California State Teachers’ Retirement System correctly, then CALSTRS invested $5 million in Liberman:
Attachments 3 and 4 provide executive summaries of action taken under delegation of authority for a $5 million co-investment in Liberman Broadcasting...I don't know the exact legal status of CALSTRS, but:
The State Teachers’ Retirement Board has exclusive control over the investment and administration of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. The Board makes rules, sets policies, and has the power and authority to hear and determine all facts pertaining to application for benefits under the retirement system. The twelve-member Board consists of four ex-officio members, including the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Treasurer, the State Controller, and the Director of Finance. The Governor appoints five members, including three public members, one school board member or community college trustee and one retiree. Three members are elected by CalSTRS members...So, they're at least a quasi-governmental agency. You can read their chock-full-o-loopholes "Statement of Investment Responsibility" for more.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 04:56 PM | Comments (1)
What's missing from this picture?
Can anyone tell me what's missing from the picture here?
Here's a hint. It's not missing from the pictures here or here. It's not missing from this large and not exactly pleasing picture. This picture is not missing that unknown factor, and the left-hand side of it is quite a bit better as well. The unknown factor is not missing from here, nor here, nor here nor here. As you can see from the last few links, that unstated factor is even available in clipart form. And, here's that unknown factor in GIF form.
I could care less about what some pizza chain in Texas does. But, if you asked a "liberal" to explain why the first picture is not like the others, well, I'm sure you can imagine the reaction. Words like "historical oppression" and "mean-spirited" would flow like water. So, I'm just providing yet another example of "liberal" hypocrisy, albeit being hypothetical in this case.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 04:15 PM | Comments (13)
Yes, why did Antonio Villaraigosa get $179,000 in campaign contributions from Florida?
In a very good article, Copley News Service wants to know "Why did Floridians give $179,000 to Villaraigosa?" It isn't exactly clear, but man this seems fishy:...Villaraigosa received $179,000 from Florida contributors as of April 5, the end of the city's most recent financial reporting period, with one of every six dollars coming from individuals affiliated with Travel Traders [a Miami-based company that operates hotel gift shops]. Yet some of those contributors had difficulty explaining, or simply refused to say, why they gave $1,000 or more to a mayoral campaign 3,000 miles away.It goes on. Of the three who said they supported Villaraigosa, one did so because Magic Johnson endorsed him. Yet, she gave "her" money 10 days before Johnson issued his endorsement. And, she apparently didn't know anything about Villaraigosa. The other supported AV out of racial grounds.
...Told that Los Angeles City Hall campaign records show that he gave Villaraigosa $1,000 on April 1, [one of the Travel Trader contributors] responded: "Wow. You probably called me at a bad time."
"Let me finish typing up my e-mail and then I'll get back to answering your question," said [the contributor], who put the call on hold and did not return, despite a 20-minute wait. He did not respond to follow-up calls.
...Neither the president nor the general manager of Travel Traders returned calls seeking comment about the contributions, which came from all levels of the company, from top executives to a help-desk manager...
...Moments later, [another contributor] told a reporter to call her in 15 minutes. She never came to the telephone in subsequent calls...
...Travel Traders applications manager Curtis McGough hung up the phone after he was asked about his two $1,000 contributions to Villaraigosa. But three others were more open about their support.
...[yet another contributor] said he learned about the candidate during a meeting held by his company in September.
"It was kind of like a meeting about possible business in Los Angeles," said the 25-year-old analyst, who would not provide additional details. "I'm not sure if a fund-raiser is the right word."
This might have something to do with concessions at LAX. Hopefully there will be a full investigation, but I don't expect much. AV has returned the money from Travel Traders.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 03:33 PM | Comments (3)
Schwarzenegger: KRCA should take down billboard; supports Minutemen
In an interview on today's John & Ken show on KFI Los Angeles, CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that TV station KRCA should take down the billboard in which the "CA" of "Los Angeles CA" has been crossed out and replaced with the word "Mexico."
He said that he understands why poor people from Mexico want to come here and that he welcomes business with Mexico. He blames the federal government for failing to secure the borders, not the illegal immigrants for wanting to come here. He called the billboard "divisive" and "unnecessary" and said that it promoted illegal immigration.
He said that Los Angeles is a city where "we should work together, live together" and that the billboard is a "disservice to legal immigrants" and that it "stirs up the issue of illegal immigration"
When asked about the Minuteman Project, he said that it had done a "terrific job." He said that "it's a shame that private citizens has to go in there and secure our borders."
He was asked about president Bush calling the volunteers for the Minuteman Project "vigilantes." He responded in a diplomatic manner and said that he can't say what Bush is thinking and that perhaps he knows something we don't know.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 05:01 PM | Comments (2)
Counting the lies in Moccio / Fennelly screed
Kathleen Moccio (a trustee of the American Immigration Law Foundation) and Prof. Katherine Fennelly of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs have a screed supporting immigration "reform" in the Minneapolis Star Tribune entitled "Facts, not fear, should guide U.S. immigration":We were appalled to learn that U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado was invited to make a keynote speech at a Republican fundraising breakfast in Minnesota's Third Congressional District this weekend.You know, the last group discussed here that attacked Tancredo in the same manner was ProgressNow ("Tying up the loose ends on Colorado's guide for the illegal alien"). I showed that they were lying and I believe anyone who believes anything ProgressNow says should lay off the KoolAid. I'd like to do the same thing in this specific case, but Moccio and Fennelly have given me nothing specific to rebut. All we have is their word that Tancredo engages in fear-mongering, and I don't think I'm willing to accept their word for much of anything.
His brand of fear-mongering about illegal immigration and his active encouragement of vigilantes should have no place in Minnesota politics. Immigration reform is sorely needed in the United States, but responsible proposals must be based upon facts and not incendiary rhetoric...
Note, of course, the use of the loaded term "vigilantes."
Tancredo rails against "illegal immigrants," but he doesn't address why so many undocumented workers come to the United States...I'm not going to bother to do the research because I'm pretty sure that's simply a lie. Note, of course, the use of scare quotes around illegal immigrants. Both Moccio and Fennelly should know that that's the correct, legal term and that "undocumented" is a Carter-era PC euphemism.
President Bush has called the militia "vigilantes," but Tancredo calls them "heroes" and has invited their leaders to address members of Congress in his Immigration Reform Caucus.Seriously, who cares what President Bush calls them? Everyone knows he's beholden to those companies that profit off illegal immigration. What did you expect him to say, something that most American citizens would agree with? (Here's an article on their meeting with the Caucus.)
Amongst all the lies and the logical leaps, the article's greatest attempt to lie to the reader stands out:
Among these so-called heroes are white supremacists from the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Members of the Alliance were at the project's kickoff, and some carried assault weapons in their trucks and boasted that they were scouting "sniper positions."Let's examine that in more depth. The word "among" implies membership in a set, and that set is those that are "so-called heroes." Therefore, Moccio and Fennelly are saying that those members of the NA were among the "so-called heroes." Who is the agent behind the "so-called"? Why, none other than Tancredo.
Therefore, we see that Moccio and Fennelly are saying that U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo called members of the NA "heroes," with the implication that he did so knowing that they were members of the NA. Which, of course, is a bald-faced lie.
It is also misleading to state that these aforementioned NA members were also members of the MMP. That is clearly stated above. There were members of the NA who attempted to attach themselves to the MMP but were rebuffed. There may well have been members of the NA who hid their affiliation and were able to join MMP, but if so that's because they made it past the MMP's screening process. Not even the screening process by the CIA or other government agencies is foolproof, and one would hardly expect the same level of scrutiny from private parties.
Some members of the media went undercover among the MMP as well and attempted to provoke the others. I note that Moccio and Fennelly didn't mention that.
Note that the major funders of Moccio's group include the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Ford Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Institute, so you would probably expect the above from anyone associated with such fine organizations.
However, Fennelly is an academic and presumably has some standards of logical reasoning, and if she wrote the above she should be ashamed of herself.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:06 PM | Comments (4)
Communist flag flying over Los Angeles' Chinatown
As previously promised ("1000 anti-Japan demonstrators. In Los Angeles?"), I visited Los Angeles' Chinatown earlier today to see the PRC flag that was recently raised there. The flag is flying over a non-descript two story building on Bamboo Lane, which is basically a one-lane alley connecting Hill and Broadway. On Hill going north it's about 1 or 2 blocks south of the 110 onramp.
As can be seen, the sun wasn't helping me. The meter was also running out, my batteries were dying, and my attempts to ask local residents about the flag weren't too successful.
I don't know the Chinese word for 'gaijin', but whatever that is a few of my prospective interviewees were probably saying it to themselves. A few others were helpful but didn't know about the flag. I managed to find one person who commented however. He didn't see it as a pro-Communist so much as a pro-China unification symbol. The communists in China today are not like those of yesteryear according to him. He saw the flag and, as he joined his fingers together, the merging of the two Chinas as a good thing.
I may go there again. I have no doubt that I could find some people who are opposed to the flag no matter the intended meaning if I asked enough people.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 05:44 PM | Comments (1)
Jeff Gannon, real reporter?
One of America's finest legislators, John Conyers, has released the results of an FOIA request concerning exposed gay person and alleged fake journalist Jeff Gannon, a.k.a. James Guckert. It appears he visited the White House many times without signing in or signing out each time. The usual suspects weigh in.Whatever the status of the current case, and whatever the status of the supposed softball questions he directed at Scott McClellan, let's see if we can find an example of some real reporting done by Gannon-Guckert.
Just about a year ago, a mob organized by the National People's Action Coalition surrounded Karl Rove's house and banged on his windows in favor of the DREAM Act.
Shortly after that, the article "Officials Silent on Taxpayer-Funded Siege of Rove Home" appeared in Talon News. Their site has apparently been deleted, but you can read a copy at that link:
...The incident resulted in no arrests or charges against the group or its leaders, despite the trespassing and threatening acts against the presidential advisor. No permit was issued for the demonstration that blocked the street for more than an hour... A spokesman for the Secret Service directed Talon News to the Washington, DC Police for comment, but Second District Commander Jeffrey Moore did not respond to a request for information or comment... The White House was reluctant to issue any kind of statement... Last week, Presidential Press Secretary Scott McClellan told Talon News, "I would just say that we appreciate and understand concerns that people may have. I would certainly hope that people would respect the families of White House staff."Obviously, it's not at the level of, say, Dan Rather getting beaten up in Chicago or hanging on to a wind-blown lamp post in Florida. But, it did require making a couple phone calls, and that's more real reporting than most bloggers can ever claim to having done.
UPDATE: "Dan Rather getting beaten up in Chicago" referred to this:
Rather says one of the more interesting campaign events he covered was the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Rather was knocked down while reporting from the convention floor. "Don't push me," Rather said from the convention floor. "Take your hands off me unless you plan to arrest me!"
"I'm sorry to be out of breath, but somebody belted me in the stomach during that," said Rather, in his report. "What happened is a Georgia delegate, at least he had a Georgia delegate sign on, was being hauled out of the hall. We tried to talk to him to see why, who he was, what the situation was, and at that instant the security people, well as you can see, put me on the deck. I didn't do very well."
Posted to Politics at 10:31 PM | Comments (3)
13% of Sierra Club members support massive immigration
The AP reports that Sierra Club members have voted down an immigration-related provision sponsored by Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization. None of the five SUSPS candidates for the Club's board were elected either.
However, only 16% of the Club's members voted, and 84% voted for the status quo. Thus, only about 13% of the Club's members decided this issue.
The Sierra Club elections were last discussed in this post. If you read that and the current AP article, you'll see that they repurposed what is probably a convenient lie from the Sierra Club:
Opponents, including many current and former club leaders, argued that wading into the politics of immigration would alienate allies such as labor unions and civil rights groups, and will not slow population growth worldwide.
In the earlier post I discussed one David Gelbaum, who gave the Sierra Club Foundation over $100 million. Here's a quote from him:
"I did tell Carl Pope [Executive Director of the Sierra Club] in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me..."
In that spirit, allow me to annotate this quote from Sierra Club president Larry Fahn with my own personal opinion:
"Our member$ have once again di$played great wi$dom and made their view$ perfectly clear... Now we can put our focu$ back where it i$ needed mo$t, into $trengthening communitie$ and building alliance$ to protect our environment for our familie$ and our future."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)
At least it's not "Alta California"
WND has a picture of a billboard for Los Angeles TV station KRCA (62 UHF). The billboard contains the words "Los Angeles, CA". Except, the "CA" part has been crossed out and replaced with the word "MEXICO." And, a Mexican monument has been superimposed on the L.A. skyline.
The subtitle of the ad reads: "Your City. Your Team." Now, in the normal context of a local TV news broadcast that would be a normal slogan. However, in this context the bit about "Your City" takes on a whole new meaning.
The owner of KRCA appears to be "KRCA License Corp.", which appears to be a DBA for Liberman Broadcasting. You might have heard from them before: they produced Gana la Verde, the show where contestants ate worms in an attempt to get an immigration lawyer who might get them a green card.
And, in the "at least we have something in common" department, GLAAD issued this press release a couple months ago: "GLAAD, NCAVP Lead Coalition Calling on Liberman Broadcasting Corp. to Stop Airing Violent Anti-Gay Content". Perhaps as a result of their complaint, Nissan, Chevrolet and Kentucky Fried Chicken stopped advertising on the shows in question. Maybe those companies would be interested in U.S. sovereignty as well.
Corporate information on Liberman is here and here.
UPDATE: The thread about this at ALIPAC makes clear that Liberman does indeed own KRCA.
In the thread there's some confusion over what the subtitle means; I'm about 99% certain that my translation is correct. "Team" means the same thing as it does in "News Team 5!" or "News Team 7!" ("News Chopper 7!", "Storm Watch 2005!", etc. etc.)
I believe the thing to do here is to contact those companies that advertise on KRCA. The headquarters for Yum Brands (owners of KFC) were closed, so I left a message at Taco Bell's public relations department. It hasn't been returned. Finding someone to speak with at Taco Bell is quite difficult, apparently they get a lot of angry calls from various activist groups.
I'll try to watch KRCA and write down who advertises on their news show.
UPDATE 2: Here were the national advertisers on tonight's 9pm newscast:
Dodge (two different spots)
Coors Light
Chrysler
Kia
Those appeared to be fully national advertisements. I.e., they didn't say something like "sponsored by the Southern California Dodge dealers," although they might have been.
I'll try to contact those advertisers tomorrow and see if I can get statements.
UPDATE 3:
Dodge's customer service wouldn't connect me with anyone in their corporate offices. Even their WHOIS has that same customer service number, but I'll see if I can find a direct number.
Kia has not (yet?) returned my call.
Coors returned my call but said they only advertise on national networks. I did see one of their national ads, but it might have just been a space filler, a test, or placed by a local group or similar.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 06:36 PM | Comments (7)
1000 anti-Japan demonstrators. In Los Angeles?
Yes, indeed. Apparently I missed the announcement, but yesterday around 1000 anti-Japan demonstrators marched from City Hall to the Japanese consulate nearby:
The demonstrators held signs demanding that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals are enshrined along with Japan's war dead, and calling on Japan to mention its war crimes in school textbooks. They also called for a boycott of Japanese goods.
AP news brief here.
In absolutely, completely, utterly unrelated news, the flag of Communist China is now flying high above Chinatown. It was raised on the same day as the protest. The L.A. Times reports in "China's Flag Rises Without a Flap":
Peter Lau, who heads the group that organized the flag-raising, the China Unity Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, and who also marched in the anti-Japan rally, said it was coincidence that the two events took place on the same day. Still, he said, it was a sign of growing Chinese nationalism...
I might visit Chinatown tomorrow and report, so stay tuned...
Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)
Peaceful liberals climb onto Gen. Tommy Franks' SUV
This report describes an incident on April 19 in L.A.'s Echo Park:
A small but militant group of anti-war protesters confronted retired Iraqi war general Tommy Franks this morning as he left a student assembly at Logan Street Elementery School in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. General Franks, attempting to leave the school in an SUV with tinted windows, was totally blocked by protesters who climbed onto the hood and body of the car and blocked his departure with banners, signs and their own bodies. "War criminal! Murderer of the Iraqi People!" and other chants were directed at the car as it remained immobilized in the middle of the street. Parents and community people, outraged by the appearance of the general, joined in the direct confrontation which came as the vehicle was leaving campus.
There was apparently a legal observer from the National Lawyer's Guild on hand, and it appears to have been organized by CISPES, the Committee In Solidarity With The People of El Salvador.
From www.la.indymedia.org/news/2005/04/125382.php
Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)
"Too Controversial for the University of Denver"
Former CO Gov. Richard Lamm was a professor at the University of Denver before he became governor, and he returned there afterwards. At some unspecified date in the past he wrote an article entitled "Two Wands" that "was in response to a particularly offensive screed on white racism by one of our affirmative action officials. I felt it should not go unanswered."
However, it was repeatedly turned down for publication in the campus newspaper, from the lowest rungs to the chancellor of the university. He refused to publish the article as well. However, last year a journal published it, and you can read it here. Send it to the "liberals" you know.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 12:44 PM | Comments (2)
How about some Jennifer Aniston pictures!
Don't think of her as the portrayer of an odious yuppie. Think of her as a classic beauty. Here's my previous Jennifer Aniston collection.Because one or more of these sites might be a bit dodgy, I'm using tinyurl.com. Visit at your own risk:
tank top in window
sitting on floor barefoot
flashing... kinda
barefoot in lime
artsy closeup
in a bikini screengrab
leopard skin bikini
calf in the way
UPDATE: Br'er Drudge reports:
THE mystery of the Brad Pitt-Jennifer Aniston breakup has been solved, the NY POST reported on Wednesday. Aniston has finally broken her silence to Leslie Bennetts, who will write up the interview for VANITY FAIR.
Contrary to early speculation, "She told Bennetts she did want babies with Brad, and that starting a family wasn't the issue... The issue was Brad cheated . . . and she is appalled by the 'family photos' coming out in W."
Brad and Angelina Jolie posed with pretend kids as one big happy family in the upcoming monthly.
Posted to Celebrities at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)
Media Matters doesn't understand epidemiology, statistics, immigration
Media Matters for America is taking Bill O'Reilly to task for agreeing with a caller that the health and financial impacts of massive illegal immigration might equal or surpass the effects of 9/11.
On the site, Media Matters - which admits it receives money from George Soros - prints a supposed transcript from the Bill O'Reilly show.
Notably, O'Reilly says "I think you could probably make an absolutely airtight case that more than 3,000 Americans have been either killed or injured, based upon the 11 million illegals who are here."
And, I'd imagine that you could easily make that case, considering the numbers of crimes committed by illegal aliens, together with the health impacts of illegal aliens.
As we know, many liberals and other corrupt supporters of illegal immigration frequently use the strawman argument that today's immigration is the same as that of yesteryear. That is false for many reasons, and one of those is that most of those prior immigrants came through Ellis Island. Of those, some were found to have communicable diseases and they were sent home. (Only a small percent were sent home because the steamship companies did their own pre-screening. The steamship companies were fined for those who had to be sent back.) [SEE UPDATE]
Today, of course, millions of people have snuck over our borders without having been inspected for disease. And, many or most of those come from countries where diseases that have been eradicated in the U.S. are still common.
I posted the following links in comments there. Feel free to sign up for an account over at MMFA and educate them some more:
Illegal Immigration and Public Health
Leprosy in America: new cause for concern (Over 100 cases were found in immigrants last year, more than double the number in 2000, and, while the number of cases is still comparatively small, some researchers believe the trend could lead to leprosy spreading to the U.S.-born population.)
"Illegal Aliens and American Medicine"
UPDATE: The History Channel link above no longer works, but an archived copy is here:
web.archive.org/web/20040229010527/http://www.historychannel.com/
exhibits/ellisisle/reborn2.html
The page appears to have been authored by Pete Hamill of the NY Daily News. It says:
The steamship companies were required to pay for the return passage if an immigrant was rejected, a rule designed to force the companies to examine immigrants before they boarded.
The page also references The Huddled Masses: The Immigrant in American Society 1880-1921 by Alan M. Kraut.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 04:56 PM | Comments (3)
Breaking: Arby's Skin Gate Watch 2005
This one sounds like it might be for real. A guy in Dayton Ohio found a 3/4" slice of skin in a chicken sandwich from an Arby's in Tipp City.
Unlike Wendy's Chili Finger Gate Watch 2005, there appears to be some circumstantial evidence. Namely, the restaurant manager had cut himself when preparing the lettuce and was wearing a glove. And, according to a spokesman for the restaurant's owner: "(The manager) did destroy product that was in and around the slicer immediately, and did everything that he thought was appropriate to do."
The MSM report is here. Stay tuned to this blog for the in-depth coverage of this issue that you won't find in the MSM.
Posted to WackyHumor at 02:39 PM | Comments (0)
A Mexican military helicopter on U.S. soil?
See "Mexican military chopper lands on U.S. soil near Arivaca." No MSM link is available or will probably become available. Apparently the Border Patrol was already aware of this, so draw your own conclusions.
See also "Mexican Army Incursions Into The United States".
Posted to Immigration2005a at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)
"Blatant Racism by the Pro-illegal Alien Crowd"
This article has an interesting roundup of the titular topic. The footnotes are also of interest for future posts.
Also see "Racist liberals? Isn't that an oxymoron?" No, no it isn't.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 01:19 PM | Comments (2)
DA to public: "America should go back to eating at Wendy's"
*** UPDATE ***
Someone claiming to be with the company that supplies beef for Wendy's in the Western U.S. says on KFI AM Los Angeles: Coroner is involved in the case... says no finger could have made it through the meat grinding process... says finger was never cooked also...
In earlier news, police say this was a hoax... they say Ayala told two independent people that she faked this... investigators still at a loss where finger came from... developing...
*earlier post*
Our Wendy's Watch 2005 team is standing by... press conf. 1pm... updating...
Santa Clara County Chief Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu earlier said it is safe to back to eating at Wendy's. She had no further comment... Report here...
Previously: "Breaking: Wendy's Chili Finger Gate Watch 2005: Arrest made..."
Commentary: due to the presidential election being over, it is also safe to return to eating at the Newburgh NY Wendy's.
Posted to WackyHumor at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)
John McCain... or Asa Hutchinson?
McCain and Kennedy (or is that Kennedy and McCain, or is there a difference?) are moving ahead with their illegal alien amnesty plan, and they say they'll have something next week. Bear in mind their plan is even more of a giveaway than Bush's vague plans.This article has the details, and it also includes this:
...Deporting the 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country is not practical, McCain told midshipmen during a guest lecture in Annapolis, Md.And, there are a far greater number who say we should fine employers and reduce public benefits to illegal aliens, thereby discouraging future illegal aliens and encouraging those here now to self-deport. Of course, never let what people are really saying stand in the way of a good strawman argument.
"There are some who say send them back to their countries," McCain said. "It's not possible. It's not going to happen..."
Of course, the straw connoiseurs and aficionados out there will no doubt have recognized the straw McCain is using as the "Hutchinson variety" of straw, as illustrated in the September 9, 2004 article "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'":
The nation's border czar yesterday said it is "not realistic" to think that law-enforcement authorities can arrest or deport the millions of illegal aliens now in the United States and does not think the American public has the "will ... to uproot" those aliens...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 01:00 AM | Comments (5)
650+ new Border Patrol agents
From "Senate OKs border funds":...Byrd teamed with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, on an amendment that would add 650 new agents to the Border Patrol. The legislation easily passed the Senate, 64-35, on Wednesday .
Arizona's GOP senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, split their votes. McCain voted against it; Kyl supported it.
Under the Byrd-Craig amendment, the Homeland Security Department may spend $390 million this year to hire 650 additional Border Patrol agents, 250 new immigration investigators and 168 new immigration enforcement agents and deportation officers.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)
Scott McClellan: Minutemen are still "vigilantes"
Here's a question Les Kinsolving of WND asked at yesterday's White House news briefing:
Scott, WorldNet Daily quotes the largest local union of U.S. Border Patrol agents, Local 2544 in Tucson section, as saying this: "We have not had one single complaint from a rank-and-file agent in this sector about the Minutemen, many of whom are retired firefighters, cops and other professionals. Sensors have been set off by the ACLU sneaking around. If only President Bush were supportive of the rank-and-file agents." And my question, first question, has the president given any reconsideration to his reference to the Minutemen as vigilantes?
Needless to say, a large burst of hot air followed shortly thereafter, including this: "I think the president's views were made known, and I've expressed what our views are, as well." In other words, Bush is not going to retract calling the Minutemen "vigilantes."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:52 AM | Comments (2)
Breaking: Wendy's Chili Finger Gate Watch 2005: Arrest made...
This just in... police in San Jose say that Ana Ayala, the finger finder in the San Jose Wendy's chili, has been arrested... Charges not disclosed... Press conf. Fri. morn... Ayala sister says charge grand theft... breaking... must not credit Lonewacko Blog... stay tuned for updates throughout the day...
Previously: Finger Watch 2005: Wendy's ups the ante.
Posted to Miscellania at 12:19 AM | Comments (2)
Marla Ruzicka: Media bias and conspiracy theories
Earlier this week American peace activist Marla Ruzicka was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad. I first learned about this when I saw a large amount of hits on the May 2003 entry "American Woman Travels Door to Door to Count Iraqi Casualties". I thought she'd just done something stupid, and I was saddened to learn of her death. She was truly a brave young woman.
Unfortunately, everything I said in that post regarding media bias still stands. Both NBC's and ABC's Nightly News have run extremely favorable segments on her, and I'd be surprised if CBS has not done so also. None of those reports mentioned even in passing that at least her prior work might be a bit controversial, or that her former organization (Susan Medea Benjamin's Global Exchange) is rather far-left. Instead, it appears that the left-leaning networks would like to create a martyr out of her rather than giving their viewers a fuller and more accurate picture.
As for any conspiracy theories, see the article "Aid worker uncovered America's secret tally of Iraqi civilian deaths":
A week before she was killed by a suicide bomber, humanitarian worker Marla Ruzicka forced military commanders to admit they did keep records of Iraqi civilians killed by US forces...
Needless to say, that has caused the DU forums to go off the deep end.
Posted to Iraq at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
Maurice Strong steps aside
From this:Canadian Maurice Strong agreed to step aside Wednesday as a special envoy for the United Nations, but vowed to clear his name after being linked to Tongsun Park, a Korean lobbyist charged in connection with the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.Previously: "Who is Maurice Strong?"
At the same time, new details emerged about a Calgary oil company in which Mr. Strong and his son, Fred, were major investors during the 1990s together with Mr. Park -- whom the younger Mr. Strong described as "a spooky guy..."
More links and speculation here.
Posted to Politics at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)
The Wall Street Journal's tenuous grasp on reality
The WSJ has yet another open borders screed. This one's about the fight between the Sierra Club and the Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization entitled "Low Sierra". It appears to be subscriber only, but the first part is here....It's an irony of the anti-immigration movement that its most prominent voices, on the right and left, are often immigrants who want to pull up the drawbridge now that they've arrived...Thanks for that info on the "anti-immigration movement." Now perhaps you could discuss the 75% of U.S. citizens who are opposed to illegal immigration, or the smaller number who want reduced legal immigration as well.
While the Sierra Club insurgents probably lack the votes to prevail, their effort is notable for revealing the zero-population-growth roots of the anti-immigration movement. Their argument isn't about the "rule of law" or "securing our borders"; their main problem is other human beings... [...snarky comment deleted...]Once again, thanks for revealing that about the "anti-immigration movement." Now perhaps you could discuss the groups that actually have some members.
...Meanwhile, Republicans tempted to embrace the anti-immigration cause should understand the political and ideological company they are keeping...Unfortunately, that's where the excerpt ends, but I can only imagine what comes next. It's probably a rehash of the same smears they've printed in the past. See "The high-immigration Right is on the warpath" for a roundup.
See also "The WSJ gets desperate(r)" for an editorial in which they supported Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). That's the same Rep. featured in "Aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) solicits campaign contributions from illegal aliens", and from this post:
...a survey of Cannon's financial disclosures since 1996 shows Washington, D.C., and out-of-state interests steadily replacing his Utah support. Eight years ago, 85 percent of the individuals backing Cannon hailed from Utah; today locals comprise just 16 percent of his donor base... A close look at who is giving also shows a sudden jump in contributions from immigration attorneys - 23 of whom have poured $20,900 into Cannon's war chest... At least five of the attorneys serve on the executive committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which helped Cannon draft the "AgJobs" bill...I'd say the WSJ "should understand the political and ideological company they are keeping". Thankfully, Cannon's now gone from the immigration subcommittee.
See "WND and the WSJ on Rush, Bush, and illegal immigration", "The WSJ's libertarian fantasy world", "The WSJ is getting desperate", and "I can't believe it's not a free weekly" for more on America's premier national newspaper.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 09:47 AM | Comments (3)
JLo's giant inflatable beaver
Actually, it's PETA's beaver. PETA's VP explains:"On April 29, we'll be waiting for her outside Jay Leno's 'Tonight Show' studios at 4 pm with a 30-foot inflatable beaver with a banner saying, 'Fur -- Leave it to Beaver.' We'll have a massive protest at the L.A. premiere of 'Monster-In-Law' with posters showing Lopez in pelts and the logo of the movie adapted to read 'Monster-in-Fur.'Previously in PETA coverage: "It was horrible. There were fake chicken feathers everywhere." And, who can forget the classic "Checking in with... Lisa Franzetta of PETA".
"We'll also be at the Atlanta premiere she's supposed to attend with Jane Fonda on May 5. Maybe Jane can inform the apathetic fur hag what a protest is. She sure is keeping our interns busy! She's providing us with endless opportunities to show what happens when a star so thoughtlessly pushes such a violent industry."
Posted to Miscellania at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)
Be patient, my super wealthy friends, our time will come!
From "Soros says be patient":George Soros told a carefully vetted gathering of 70 likeminded millionaires and billionaires last weekend that they must be patient if they want to realize long-term political and ideological yields from an expected massive investment in "startup" progressive think tanks.They also want to create "training camps for young progressives." Russia's desperate, so they could probably license the Komsomol logo at a good price.
The Scottsdale, Ariz., meeting, called to start the process of building an ideas production line for liberal politicians, began what organizers hope will be a long dialogue with the "partners," many from the high-tech industry. Participants have begun to refer to themselves as the Phoenix Group.
Rob Stein, a veteran of President Bill Clinton's Commerce Department and of New York investment banking, convened the meeting of venture capitalists, left-leaning moneymen and a select few D.C. strategists...
Senior Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials were quietly briefed about the meeting in recent weeks. DNC Chairman Howard Dean was aware of it...
...Sarah Ingersoll, de facto spokeswoman for Stein's Democracy Alliance...
The Democracy Alliance will act as a clearinghouse and is expected to channel much of its money to new organizations and existing ones such as John Podesta's Center for American Progress and David Brock's Media Matters for America...
Other participants included former White House press secretary Mike McCurry and New Democrat Network president Simon Rosenberg. Andy Rappaport, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and reliable investor in liberal causes, did not attend the meeting, his spokeswomen said...
Previously: "The George Soros/Media Matters/David Brock network discovered". And, see the neat graphic I made for ODub and Hatrios.
Posted to Politics at 01:29 PM | Comments (1)
Arnold gives far-lefties the faints
LAT:SAN FRANCISCO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday urged that the U.S. "close the borders" to combat illegal immigration, though an aide quickly clarified his comment, explaining that the governor merely wants the borders better policed.The LAT ends with the relatively measured thoughts of CA state Sen. Gil Cedillo. Gil "one bill gil" Cedillo is the sponsor of innumerable bills to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Posts about him start in "Actors, writers and musicians want you to pay all the costs for their cheap labor". In addition to stating that we should give driver's licenses to illegal aliens because "they were here first," here's another one of his quotes:
Schwarzenegger, taking questions at the Newspaper Assn. of America convention, described border security as a "lax situation" and urged tougher measures...
"Latinos have displaced other work communities - clothing, hotel, and restaurant industries that used to be done by blacks and anglos... Since Latinos are now central to union revitalization, through immigration and high birth rates unions can be partisan for full Latino empowerment."Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronical reports:
Democrats were quick to react to the governor's statement with outrage. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez issued a statement saying Schwarzenegger should "ratchet down this rhetoric and retreat from this narrow-minded approach to immigration."You can read up on Nunez here and here. Tell me who's the extremist.
Nunez argued that the idea reflects the approach of "political extremists, not rational policy-makers,'" and said that "even President Bush rejects the idea of a closed border with Mexico."
The Chronical also includes outraged quotes from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 01:05 AM | Comments (3)
Yale senior opposes Lou Dobbs
Evelyn Shih - a senior at Yale - has some strong words for CNN's Lou Dobbs in "Lou Dobbs Fuels American Immigration Paranoia":...In between the dry segments of news and peppered rhetoric, Lou Dobbs peddles a latent racist agenda that is an easy trap in today's global economy...Thanks for your input Evelyn, and good luck at Yale Global!
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:51 AM | Comments (10)
Bloomberg opposes non-citizen voting for New Yorkers
April 16, 2005 - Immigrant advocates yesterday rallied to back a measure that would allow noncitizens to vote, but it was opposed by Mayor Bloomberg while the only Democratic mayoral candidate to back it was Virginia Fields.Whenever the topic's about non-citizen voting, you can be sure that some airhead reporter somewhere is busy speed dialing community college professor Ron Hayduk.
"Ultimately, we want all those who are legal to be able to vote. It's the democratic way. They pay their taxes," said Councilman Bill Perkins, who plans to introduce legislation next week that would permit noncitizens to cast ballots in municipal contests.
Ron Hayduk, a social science professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College, said the legislation is a "huge step in realizing the promise of democracy, which is everyone who is a member of that community will have a say in how the rules are made. The essence of democracy is inclusion..."
See his quotes in 2004's "Purging illegal aliens from voter rolls not easy" and "Immigrant Voters Could Change Election Landscapes".
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:43 AM | Comments (1)
"Legal Mexican Migrants File NAFTA Complaint"
MEXICO CITY -- More than a dozen legal Mexican and Central American migrant workers recruited by U.S. companies filed a complaint Wednesday alleging they were abused and denied rights guaranteed by the North American Free Trade Agreement.In case you missed that the first time: the complaint calls on the Mexican government to ask the United States to better enforce its own labor laws. Sure, I'm all for it. Do the Mexican government and those eight organizations mind if we enforce our immigration laws as well? Hey, where'd they go?
The complaint, filed with the Mexican government under the companion labor agreement to NAFTA, maintains that 16 migrant non-farm workers from Mexico, Guatemala and Panama suffered labor abuses in the United States but had no way to file a complaint or to access U.S. courts.
Lodged with the help of eight American and Mexican labor and migrant organizations, the complaint calls on the Mexican government to ask the United States to better enforce its own labor laws...
See the links in "Appeasing our cheap labor supplier" for more examples of the Mexican government's attempts to in effect tie us down with nuisance suits. No really, that's their stated plan to "eat the elephant", i.e., get a "migration accord."
Posted to NAU at 12:35 AM | Comments (2)
Why we have a national food pyramid
The new and improved National Food Pyramid has been released.
Now, at first glance you might get all libertarian and ask, "why the hell do we have a National Food Pyramid in the first place? I mean, it's not like we don't already have a bunch of stuff like sweeping vistas and magnificent monuments from which we can derive national pride, right? Why do we as a nation have to wrap so much of our national self-esteem in a National Food Pyramid? Frankly, isn't that a bit, 'third-worldish', this emphasis on food pyramids?"
But, you'd be wrong. Without the National Food Pyramid, there are literally hundreds of government nutritionists who would be out of work.
And, how else do you expect people to see the lies proferred by the (hypothetical) Frito's Food Pyramid? With our own National Food Pyramid, we can point to the Frito's Food Pyramid and discern its attempts to lead us astray. We can be assured that the National Food Pyramid would always be less beholden to special interests than the non-official competitors.
And, without the National Food Pyramid, kindergarten teachers would have nothing to discuss between filmstrips.
Posted to Miscellania at 07:05 PM | Comments (3)
"'Bomb-plot' Cuban seeks US asylum"
Beeb:A Cuban exile accused by President Fidel Castro of plotting to kill him has applied for asylum in the US, his lawyer has said.I vote "no", despite those who would agree.
Luis Posada Carriles is also wanted in Venezuela over the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976, in which 73 people were killed.
Mr Carriles has been in hiding for months and managed to cross illegally into the US from Mexico some weeks ago.
On Tuesday, Mr Castro demanded to know how he had breached US border security...
On Tuesday, Mr Carriles' lawyer said his client's asylum application would be based partly on his claim that he worked "directly and indirectly" for the CIA for years, and had thus helped US interests.
Mr Carriles once boasted of being responsible for a series of bomb attacks of Havana tourist spots in the 1990s...
NPR has a report here, The WSWS weighs in with "Bush silent as top terrorist seeks US asylum", and Cuba's Prensa Latina offers us "Fidel Castro Dares US to Justify Posada Carriles Asylum".
And, Rusty Shackleford (the real one) directs our attention to "Posada Carriles' US asylum application re-opens unsolved JFK assassination case". That ties everything - including the Bush family - together.
After reading that last link I immediately cleared my browser caches and prepared to deny ever having read it. In case you too would prefer to think very happy thoughts, here are some Gloria Estefan pictures: in a sexy hat, with the Muppets, in a pool, with the Carmen look, flipping her hair back, and reclining.
I never read the Kennedy link, I swear.
Posted to Politics at 05:35 PM | Comments (1)
Smells like phish
Received via email:Hello,Uh huh. While I've had similar situations (like ijits sending email to an unqualified subdomain of their domain which is the same name as my domain), I don't think this is for real. Especially since the to address is not to me but to another domain and I'm on the CC or BCC list.
First, Very Sorry for my bad English.
Someone is sending your private e-mails on my address. It's probably an e-mail provider error! At time, I've got over 10 mails on my account, but the recipient are you.
I have copied all the mail text in the windows text-editor for you & zipped then. Make sure, that this mails don't come in my mail-box again.
UPDATE: Snopes links to the Symantec page describing this as the W32.Sober.N@mm worm.
Posted to Miscellania at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)
If far-left domestic terrorism is the greater threat...
...then why did the NBC Nightly News mostly concentrate on "right-wing" terrorism? In a story broadcast tonight on domestic terrorism because of the anniversary of the Oklahoma bombing, they discussed both left and right wing domestic terrorism. (Similar story here; the one I saw is from a different "reporter" and is currently video-only). In fact, they even broadcast that left-wing terrorism is potentially the greater threat. However, that news was given in such a parenthetical, sotto voce manner that I'd imagine many people missed it. Instead, it was off to interview someone from the Southern Poverty Law Center (see also "The Church Of Morris Dees" from Harper's Magazine.)
Leaving aside whether all of those groups identified as "right-wing" are indeed "right-wing" at all, why would NBC soft soap left-wing terrorism being the greater threat? ... I have absolutely no idea why they would do this... I'm completely at a loss... There is absolutely no reason why they would downplay left-wing terrorism... None at all...
Posted to Politics at 07:00 PM | Comments (1)
L.A. Times to fire scapegoat; leave everyone else in place
Later today the Los Angeles Fishwrap-Enquirer-Times will be releasing their report on the fate of reporter Eric Slater, who wrote a story about hazing at Chico State. See "The L.A. Times got something wrong?" for the backstory.E&P reports on the latest developments:
Word spread in the newsroom today that Slater had been fired, but Goldstein would neither confirm nor deny that report. "We will communicate as soon as we have a statement to make," she told E&P this afternoon. "At this stage, we have nothing to communicate."Apparently the Times issued a correction on March 31.
Top editors at the paper spent several hours in a closed-door meeting to discuss Slater's future, according to several sources.
Calls to Slater, Editor John Carroll, and Managing Editor Dean Baquet were not returned Monday...
If they get rid of Slater, what of all the rest? What about the numerous other sins of omission and comission? The problem with Slater seems to be that he was just too obvious about it.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)
At least some "liberals" are getting a clue
Over at the not-quite-as-bad-as-Hatrios site MyDD, Chris Bowers offers us "Scapegoating Immigrants" about the REAL ID Act. I was going to reply, except I see that it's generated five comments, all of which seem to be from real "liberals" and four of which are opposed to illegal immigration, including this one:Dems need to get realOn a related note, Jerome Armstrong of MyDD is working for Antonio Villaraigosa.
...Illegal immigration is bad, bad, bad, for everyone.
It enslaves those illegals with low wages, poor living conditions, and working rights.
It drives down wages for low income Americans who are forced to "compete"
It depletes our revenues providing healthcare, and social services and education to illegals
It increases our vulnerability to attack to maintain porus borders intentionally.
It makes a mockery of our laws. If we are a nation of laws, good ones and bad ones, we must be duty bound to uphold them, and change them if necassary...
We ought to have a comprehensive program to stop illegal immigration, including massive border security, substantive fines for employers hiring illegals. And we must have an effective and policable immigration and worker program...
And, on a humorous note, in the post Bowers misspells our favorite word as "Demcorats."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:58 AM | Comments (1)
Smoking Chimp Tries to Kick Habit
From this:A South African zoo is trying to persuade its star chimpanzee to kick a smoking habit.
Charlie, a grown male chimp and the Bloemfontein Zoo, has been picking up cigarettes thrown to him by visitors and smoking them - a habit he probably picked up by observing humans, zoo officials told the SAPA news agency on Thursday...
...A zoo in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou reported last year that one of its chimps had taken up smoking and was desperately cadging cigarette butts off visitors.
Posted to WackyHumor at 03:01 PM | Comments (2)
"Nike lists abuses at Asian factories"
Fark.com directs our attention to the al Guardian article "Nike lists abuses at Asian factories", which contains this absolutely hilarious blooper: "In more than half of Nike's factories, the report said, employees worked more than 60 hours a day. In up to 25%, workers refusing to do overtime were punished."
Somewhere, there are libertarians probably getting ready to apologize for Nike's actions. I can already sense the digits typing away over at Reason. "Hey, at least they were employing people and they didn't have to work as sex workers!" They can use this idea as a template.
Meanwhile, you can probably find the referenced report somewhere at one of Nike's websites. Start here.
Posted to Miscellania at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
Feeling lucky, English?
From "3 held in LaGrange buggy heist":Three Elkhart County men remained in the LaGrange County Jail on Friday, accused of holding up a buggy and robbing its occupants of $1...
The men – two of whom wore masks – jumped out of the car and held the family in the buggy at gunpoint while they demanded money, the statement said. A man in the buggy threw his wallet onto the road.
The men took the wallet and fled the scene, police said. It contained $1...
Posted to Miscellania at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)
Don Peralta, Regency Outdoor in the news
LAT:California Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) intervened in a dispute with regulators to help a West Hollywood company maintain lucrative billboards on freeways in Los Angeles and Orange counties, records show.UPDATE: For some unknown reason, I've thrice misspelled his name. It's Don Perata.
Perata intervened in 2001 the day after the company, Regency Outdoor Advertising Inc., reported giving a $25,000 campaign contribution to a Perata-backed initiative. The company's co-owner said the contribution came in response to a request from the senator...
Posted to California at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)
BoingBoing joins the sleaze parade
The blog BoingBoing usually concentrates on semi-interesting but ultimately worthless junk. However, they occasionally swerve into politics, and it's usually about as funny as watching your average celebrity with their average IQ discussing something like farm subsidies.
Their latest attempt at commentary is a post on the Minuteman Project from Xeni Jardin entitled "Snapshots of volunteer "Minutemen" on US/Mexico border", which is sandwiched between posts entitled "Dada Dolls made from found objects" and "Bukkake Cookies".
In the post, Jardin juxtaposes two pictures of Minuteman volunteers with a poster that refers to "wetbacks." That's where the sleaze comes in. See, the poster says it's from the "Campaign for Public Awareness", and it has no other identifying information. It doesn't have the Minuteman name on it, and it runs contrary to the goals of the Minuteman project.
A search failed to turn up an organization with that name that could have produced these posters. Someone appears to have stamped a phone number on the poster, but it isn't clear whether that number is really part of the poster or was stamped there afterwards. The number appears to be associated with unionvoice.org, but whether they're the authors of the poster is probably unlikely. It's certainly possible that the poster was created by an enemy of the MMP in a rather pathetic attempt to smear them.
Isn't this false juxtaposition what is usually referred to as "yellow journalism"? Like much of the other MSM coverage of the MMP, I'm continually reminded of the glory days of William Randolph Hearst.
In her little post, Jardin also refers to the Minuteman volunteers as racists and sees no difference between them and lynch mobs. And, it includes this bit:
...these are the volunteer border patrol militias comprised of heavily armed, grumpy-looking white people who have self-organized to stem the flood of wannabe janitors, dishwashers, and nannies who threaten our national security...
Of course, as pointed out before, not all of the MMP volunteers are white.
And, if I were a big corporation (or a member of the corrupt elite) that was making money off illegal immigration (or was even just employing an illegal nanny), I know that I'd make the same arguments that Jardin attempts to make. I don't think that Jardin falls into the corrupt elite category, I imagine she's just parroting the comments of other, better pundits.
Posted to Bloggage at 07:25 PM | Comments (5)
U.S. AG disagrees with AZ Gov. Napolitano on Voter I.D. at Polls
Secretary of State Jan Brewer today received official word from the U.S. Department of Justice that her efforts to implement Proposition 200 provisions requiring proper identification at the polls, does not violate federal law. This opinion directly contradicts Governor Napolitano's veto message on April 1st which incorrectly concluded that S.B. 1118 "conflicts with federal law."This was apparently from an email from the AZ Republican Party. Continued here.
The letter from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sheldon T. Bradshaw of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, states: "it is our considered judgment that neither HAVA nor any other provision of federal law preempts states from imposing identification requirements at the polls, including identification requirements for the receipt of provisional ballots." The Civil Rights Division is specifically charged with enforcing and interpreting Title III of the Help America Vote Act, which includes the provisional ballot requirements.
Bradshaw's letter to Brewer also noted that, "if a State such as Arizona wishes to impose identification requirements that are stricter than HAVA, it may do so without violating the statute."
Stated Secretary of State Jan Brewer, "I told the Governor that this bill was not in violation of federal law, yet instead of working towards implementing the will of over 1 million voters, she chose to play legal games." "I was extremely disappointed that the Governor based her veto on her interpretation of HAVA and I'll remind her that the job of enforcing these laws lies directly with the U.S. Department of Justice, and they have spoken," added Brewer...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)
Finger Watch 2005: Wendy's ups the ante
Wendy's has raised the reward for information on the finger found in the chili at their Monterey Road store to $100,000.
The MSM reports here.
In other Finger Watch 2005 news, the finger of the lady who had an accident with a leopard in Pahrump Nevada has been absolved of all involvement in the matter.
Previously: "Finger Watch 2005: An Art Bell connection?"
Posted to Miscellania at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
"It was horrible. There were fake chicken feathers everywhere."
Sometimes PETA's valiant efforts don't go as planned. From an April 12 press release:Brownsville, Texas — Holding signs that read, "The Colonel’s Secret Recipe: Live Scalding, Painful Debeaking, Crippled Chickens," members of PETA—including an activist wearing a body screen TV showing shocking undercover video footage of chickens on factory farms and in slaughterhouses—will protest KFC suppliers’ abusive treatment of chickens at a local KFC restaurant. A giant, crippled "chicken" will cross the road in front of the restaurant, while activists hand out leaflets...Flash forward to "PETA gets rude welcome in Brownsville":
...John Olivo, the manager of the [KFC], turned on the sprinkler system full blast to soak the curbside protesters. And a man who eats beef followed them around with his stepchildren and a microphone...(As you might have surmised, the title is not in the article. No chickens or people dressed as chickens were harmed.)
Armed with a microphone and a hand-held speaker, Ingersoll followed the protestors and outshouted them at a busy intersections.
"You bunch of crazy animal rights nuts!" he shouted. "You’re not going to win. Not in Brownsville!"
His two step-children passed out anti-PETA pamphlets to drivers stopped at the intersection...
Previously: PETA's Horrible Secret and "Sultry activists bare their skin in freezing weather to protest wearing fur".
Posted to Miscellania at 11:40 AM | Comments (1)
DHS: Naval contractor employed 86 illegal aliens
According to the DHS, out of 167 employees of a naval contractor, 86 are illegal aliens. The aliens painted Navy ships at the Naval Station San Diego and, of course, had some degree of access to the base and its 50+ ships. You know, those ships we use in battles and stuff like that.
The AP report is "Navy contract workers found to be illegal immigrants", and it mentions that the contractor seems to have been a bit lax in their vetting process: some of the aliens' IDs had smudge marks and [s]ome had misspellings. One phony Social Security card read: "Contac your local Social Security office for any other matter regar" [sic].
Considering this case and the generally porous borders, one is dumfounded to understand how anyone could have lost to Bush. The opportunities Bush gave were a bit like, if I might mix my metaphors, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lifting you up to the basket and Shaq handing you the ball. All Kerry had to do was drop it a vertical foot. Instead, he pretended not to see the basket and started pontificating on his days playing football.
Previously, just today in fact: "Illegal Workers Raise Security Concerns".
Posted to Immigration_terror at 10:59 PM | Comments (3)
Clear, copious, hyponatremia, and you
Drudge is linking to the NYT article "Study Cautions Runners to Limit Their Water Intake" about hyponatremia, also known as water intoxication. My suggestion is that while the article has some worthwhile information, if you hike in the southwest U.S. you might want to consider the source. No, not because it's Drudge, or even because it's the NYT, but because of the fact that the NYT is from the northeast and their suggestions might not apply to the southwest or might not apply to hikers.
I don't think I've ever had the problem of having had too much water to drink. On the other hand, I can think of at least a couple cases where I didn't have enough water and I felt really bad afterwards. If you're hiking in hot and dry weather drinking copious amounts of water is a necessity. The idea is that your urine should be clear and copious. See this, this, this, and this.
What I do is take about a liter of water per hour plus Gatorade or similar. For longer hikes I eat something sweet and something salty occasionally. Then again, I don't just perspire, I exude. And, I probably have a good deal more mass and surface area than the marathoners mentioned in the article.
Note also that both the desert and snowy mountains are generally dry areas. While snowy mountains are almost always colder than the desert at the same time of the day and year, I've also been less than clear and copious in that environment. So, I'll continue to drink enough to maintain my clarity and in large enough volumes, I just won't overdo it.
[DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional and this post does not constitute medical advice, simply person opinion. Consult your medical professional.]
Posted to OutdoorSports at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)
El Diablo is in the details
Someone from the North Bay has petitioned to change the name of Mt. Diablo to Mount Kawukum. Mt. Diablo is, of course, the highest peak in the S.F. Bay area at a whopping 3849'. Quoting from the application:
The proponent, a resident of Oakley, suggests that the existing name is "derogatory and profane" and should be changed, preferably to one of the names used by the area's indigenous population. The proposed name reportedly means, "laughing mountain, everywhere seen," although the specific origin or linguistic derivation of the name is not known...
That points to the article "How Did Mount Diablo Get Its Name?" To me, the name sounds a bit Turkic, as if it might be a corruption of karakum.
The MSM report is here. They discuss how a group tried to change the name for similar reasons back in 1866.
I "climbed" Mt. Diablo sometime in either Winter 2000 or Winter 2001. I think the elevation gain was about 2000'. I had "climbed" Mt. Tam earlier in the day, for about 1500' of gain. I don't think I wrote up either trek, but from memory: the first part of the trail up Mt. Tam was fairly steep. When I found the trail I wanted there was a sign saying "Danger! Closed!" I took it anyway. There was a brief hailstorm up top, but no snow.
However, when I got to the lofty peak of Mt. Diablo there was - believe it or don't - about a foot of snow on the top. The steps to the observation hut were icy as were the railings and since I hadn't taken gloves that was a bit uncomfortable. Unfortunately the snow had not deterred the hordes who, like me, were somewhat shocked to see such accumulation in the Bay Area.
Posted to OutdoorSports at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)
"Illegal Workers Raise Security Concerns"
The AP has a roundup of recent cases where illegal aliens were found to be working in sensitive facilities, including a nuclear power plant and as an airline mechanic. Surprisingly, the same AP headline is used in all of the dozens of newspapers that published the report. Story here or here.Note the quote from the AILA at the end:
"Part of reform needs to recognize that there are people here, living in the U.S., and working and paying taxes, who need to come out of the shadows," said Judy Golub, spokeswoman for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.Of course, in another context it wouldn't be out of the question to expect her to spout Lie #5: "they're just here to do the jobs Americans won't do."
"We're never going to enhance our security until we have immigration reform," Golub said.
Posted to Immigration_terror at 01:31 PM | Comments (1)
Fmr. NC Gov. wants citizens to pay more for college than illegal aliens
From "Hunt touts bill to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants":With North Carolina's Hispanic population booming -- and Hispanic children dropping out of school at alarming rates -- lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would extend resident tuition rates at public universities to the children of illegal immigrants.It's morally right to give illegal aliens a better deal on college education than U.S. citizens? Bear in mind that while qualifying illegal aliens will get a discount, out of state U.S. citizens will still have to pay the full price. I think his moral compass has switched poles while he wasn't looking.
Former Gov. Jim Hunt returned to the General Assembly to show his support for the legislation, which is sponsored in the House by two Republicans and two Democrats. The measure would give in-state tuition to students who attended schools in North Carolina for at least four consecutive years before graduation. Young people in the country would have to apply for legal immigration status to receive the resident rate.
"It is morally right and it is economically necessary for our state," Hunt said. "We need these students. They have worked hard. They have excelled in high school. We need them to get all the education they can get."
Posted to Immigration2005a at 01:05 PM | Comments (3)
Finger Watch 2005: An Art Bell connection?
Our coverage of the lady who found the finger in the San Jose Wendy's continues with this breaking news.
Police are looking into another lady who lost a finger in an accident involving a leopard. The hospital told her the finger could not be reattached. The hospital apparently tried to give her her finger back, but the victim didn't receive it or lost it. And, the hospital cannot account for the finger.
While the location of the hospital is not known, the lady apparently had her accident in... Pahrump, Nevada. Pahrump is, of course, the home of the giant antenna and the connection to Dr. Johnson Jameson's underground bunker in Saskatoon.
Previously: Wait. That's the Wendy's on Monterey Hwy?
UPDATE: The MSM weighs in with "Wendy's finger finder won't sue; possible link to leopard attack."
Posted to Miscellania at 06:31 PM | Comments (0)
Random notes on the Nick Denton blogging empire
I'm still getting the occasional hit at BoreAmerica.com from a year-old Wonkette entry about Air America.
Curious about the numbers at the end of that last URL, I visited Wonkette's home page and looked at the last five entries. These are the numbers at the end of their URLs:
039802
039800
039792
039769
039767
From that, Watson, I conclude that Denton is running at least one other - and perhaps all - of his sites off one copy of MovableType, because even if you have multiple blogs MT stores all the entries in one table using that number as the entries' unique key.
Then, Watson, I looked at the IP addresses of Denton's sites. I only checked four since I think I figured it out:
gawker 67.18.39.132
defamer 67.18.39.133
wonkette 67.18.39.135
gizmodo 67.18.39.136
Just to satisfy my own personal interest, I note that Wonkette's home page has a PR of just 6, and the second and third index pages have PRs of 0. However, the Air America page linked above has a PR of 4, and a more recent individual post has PR 5.
As for the picture of PBS NewsHour's Margaret Warner above, she's responding to my spurious questioning in which I proposed that she - and not Ann Marie Cox - is the model for the oh so sexy Wonkette graphic.
Posted to Bloggage at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)
No, Jackie Goldberg doesn't have anything better to do
The L.A. Times article "'Redskins' Face Possible Statewide Ban" describes CA state Assymbmn. Jackie Goldberg's attempts to forbid school teams being named after Indians. A stomach-churning taste:Dozens of civil rights groups and Indian tribes have endorsed the measure. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has endorsed a broad ban...
Goldberg has been backed by the Alliance Against Racial Mascots, a group that seeks the elimination of American Indian mascots, logos, team names and nicknames in all California schools and educational institutions...
"The genius of America is not about majority rules, it's that the minority is not allowed to be stomped on just because they have smaller numbers. That's a very different approach than most other countries in the world," Goldberg said. "We give that up every time we say, 'Gee, people like the name Redskins.' "
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 05:41 PM | Comments (1)
Ice cream van under attack!
Our Norwegian correspondent reports:Last Sunday, [ice cream truck driver Lars Dirks], 20, had a frightening encounter. A furious man ran up and tried to tear open the door on the right side of the van, which was locked. Then the man ran in front of the vehicle and around and managed to open the door on the driver's side.No major damages or injuries seem to have been involved, thus the category.
"He pulled me out of the car and tried to hit me, but I managed to dodge the punch. Then he started yelling me and saying it was unheard of driving an ice cream truck and making so much noise," Dirk recalled...
(I added the exclamation point to the story's title to make it funnier!)
Posted to WackyHumor at 05:36 PM | Comments (0)
Campaignin' large with the Rev. Al Sharpton
WASHINGTON - The FBI, as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the Rev. Al Sharpton, secretly videotaped him pocketing campaign donations from two shady fund-raisers in a New York City hotel room and then asking for more, it was reported yesterday...The Reverend denies all charges.
An FBI wiretap picked up Hawkins telling White he believed they had raised more than $140,000 for Sharpton in the previous quarter — but Hawkins fretted because Sharpton had reported only about $50,000 on his federal election filing...
"He's a train wreck — a plane crash waiting to happen," Hawkins told White about Sharpton, according to the [Philadelphia Inquirer]...
UPDATE: The DUmmies weigh in and manage to show a perfect example of doublethink. Not only is the FBI out to oppress The Reverend, but he's also a GOP tool. As proof of the latter, they point to this 2/05/04 article:
Roger Stone, the longtime Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount and helped make George W. Bush president in 2000, is financing, staffing, and orchestrating the presidential campaign of Reverend Al Sharpton...
Posted to Politics at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
Stalking the wild tabby
The cat ladies of Wisconsin have turned out to prevent hunting of feral cats:MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Feline lovers holding pictures of cats, clutching stuffed animals and wearing whiskers faced-off against hundreds of hunters at meetings around Wisconsin to voice their opinion on whether to legalize cat hunting...Previously: When cat ladies attack.
The proposal was one of several dozen included in a spring vote on hunting and fishing issues held by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. The results, only advisory, get forwarded to the state Natural Resources Board...
I think this idea could somehow be combined with internet hunting.
Posted to Miscellania at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)
ASCII art spam received
Received via email:
The first one's funny, but I'd imagine there will be many more and it will quickly lose its humor.
See the March 15, 2005 article "Spammers Use Dark Ages' ASCII Art Trick".
That's a screengrab from pine, in case you're wondering why it's not black on white.
Posted to WackyHumor at 10:49 PM | Comments (1)
Venezuela got WMD from Spain
So far all that's been discovered is 30,000 Euros worth, but there might be more. The details are in Remember the Maine?Spain's Europa Press news agency reports that Venezuela purchased "biological and nerve agents" as well as dual-use materials from Spain sometime during the first half of 2004. According to a report about defense expenditures obtained by Europa Press, Venezuela was the only country listed under the category of "states to which chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials were sold." An English translation appears here.UPDATE: From this: "Karl von Wogau, Chairman of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence, today urged the EU's plenary session gathered in Strasbourg to ascertain whether or not the sale of weapons by Spain to Venezuela violates the Code of Conduct on Arms Exports of the European Union..."
The accusation comes in the wake of Spain's announcement that it will sell conventional weaponry -- military transport planes and and patrol boats -- to Venezuela. I found the story through Iberian blogger Barcepundit...
Posted to Terrorism at 12:55 PM | Comments (2)
Deaniacs are special indeed
The Pew Research Center conducted an online survey of 11,568 Deaniacs and has the highlights in "The Dean Activists: Their Profile and Prospects":...Dean activists are far wealthier, better educated, more secular and much less ethnically diverse than other Democrats. A disproportionate number of Dean activists are white, well-educated Baby Boomers - fully a third are college graduates between the ages of 45 and 64, compared with just 9% of Democrats in the general public...
...Roughly eight-in-ten Dean activists (82%) describe themselves as liberal, compared with 41% of the convention delegates and 27% of national Democrats...
...most believe George Soros and other wealthy liberal philanthropists helped the party and progressive causes in general...
...They also support gay marriage by more than ten-to-one (91%-8%); half of national Democrats (50%) oppose gay marriage...
...More than three-quarters of Dean activists (78%) say U.S. foreign policy should strongly take into account allied interests. A plurality of Democrats (49%) agree, with 38% backing a policy based mostly on U.S. national interests...
Posted to Politics at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
What is the primary internet destination for the seafood industry?
While cruising around this here web, I happened to run across seafood.com. The front page looked a little templated, like it was part of a family comprised of pork.com, meat.com, and sweetbreads.com. (Like I should talk.)
Anyhoo, I clicked on the "About" link and boy was I surprised. It features a dry, detailed history of the site including their time during the dot-com boom:
...However, a shake out had started as the internet bubble collapsed, and we determined that a sale or merger of Seafood.com with another entity was desirable. In January, 2001. Seafood.com was purchased by iTradeNetwork, a company that provided transaction services to the produce industry. Between 2001 and 2002, iTradeNetwork acquired aqcuired Provision X, founded by major U.S. meat companies, and received a large investment from DTN. In 2004, iTradeNetwork partnered and received investment from EFS, the Electronic foodservice network funded by Sysco and McDonalds, among others. By2002, iTradeNetwork was the largest provider of integrated ecommerce between retailers in the U.S. and their meat and produce suppliers, and was rapidly adding foodservice distributors...
Posted to Miscellania at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
Ivor Manuel prophet has something to say. Will you listen?
Over two years ago I wrote the post "Fishing in Venezuela" about Judicial Watch suing Hugo Chavez about possibly sending $1 million to OBL after 9/11.
"Ivor Manuel prophet" recently left a long rambling, incoherent comment at that post about... Pope John Paul II.
I have no idea why Ivor chose that particular post or even what he's talking about. Go to his site at www.aleuzenev.com to see the more complete version.
To see an even more incoherent comment someone else left on an old entry, try this. I think she posted about 50k worth of text.
Posted to Miscellania at 10:45 PM | Comments (4)
Caption this pic!
Please caption this picture:
Now, caption this picture:
(Via the suddenly disreputable Captain Kevin Drum)
The second picture is of a robot jockey being tested in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The Captain says about as much about this as I do, but it's quite possible he's more interested in the neat-o techology of robot jockeys than the subtext. Of course, if it were, say, Swedes who gathered around a robot jockey who looked like the first picture, then and only then would we expect some outrage.
As for me, I'm less outraged than I am interested in the cultural subtext.
And, I'm wondering why the jockey has red lips.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)
Wait. That's the Wendy's on Monterey Hwy?
Since I've driven along Monterey Highway in San Jose a few times, albeit several years ago, it has suddenly struck me that I probably ate at the Wendy's where the finger was found in the chili... I ate at the Wendy's on El Camino Real many times, but I'm sure I stopped and enjoyed a Frosty or a burger combo or even some... chili... at the one on Monterey...
Anyhoo, the S.F. Chronical uses not just one but two of their reporters to let us know that "Some loyal customers still dining at Wendy's".
Previously in Wendy's Watch 2005: "Finger Finder Has History of Lawsuits".
Posted to Miscellania at 02:40 PM | Comments (1)
French mobilise to save cheeses under threat of extinction
Sauvez les Fromages!AFP reports:
PARIS - A worrisome trend is looming in this country of cheese-lovers, where the nation's rich palette of 1,000 cheeses is being nibbled away at with the annual demise of several varieties.
"In 30 years, more than 50 have been struck off the menus as the proportion of industrial cheeses continues to grow while cheeses made from unpasteurised milk only represent seven percent of our consumption," said Veronique Richez-Lerouge.
She is the president of an association formed to protect France's unique cheeses, the focus of Friday's fourth national cheese day...
Posted to Miscellania at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)
"Immigration resurfaces as issue for Sierra Club"
From Terence Chea of the AP:One year after failing to win control of the Sierra Club in a bitterly contested election, advocates for stricter immigration limits are back, arguing that the venerable conservation group can best protect the environment by reducing U.S. population growth.There might be a much more basic reason why the Sierra Club brass doesn't want to deal with this issue.
The club's 750,000 members are voting this month on whether the organization should push for tighter restrictions on immigration. Five seats are open on the 15-member board of directors, which sets club policy and commands the $100 million annual budget.
Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization, club activists seeking to limit immigration, are backing five candidates and pushing a "yes" vote on a measure calling for restricting immigration...
But opponents, including many current and former leaders of the 113-year-old club, argue that wading into the politics of immigration will alienate allies such as labor unions and civil rights groups and won't slow population growth worldwide...
"Who's behind the smears?" discussed the case of David Gelbaum, who said "I did tell Carl Pope [Executive Director of the Sierra Club] in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me..."
Gelbaum has donated at least $100 million to the Sierra Club.
Terence Chea would have mentioned this in his article, except Lexis-Nexis was down or something.
UPDATE: I originally said Pope had left the Sierra Club, but it turns out he's still there.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
"Finger Finder Has History of Lawsuits"
LAS VEGAS - The woman who claims she bit into a human finger while eating chili at a Wendy's restaurant has a history of filing lawsuits - including a claim against another fast-food restaurant...
There's what appears to be a picture of the found object in this report. You might prefer the text-only version provided by Fox.
Previously: "Wendy's finger food case takes a disturbing turn".
Posted to Miscellania at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)
"Cost of retreats by legislators is questioned"
SACRAMENTO - Sequestered in private policy retreats at posh resorts in San Diego and Newport Beach, Assembly lawmakers billed taxpayers $2,000 for a Mexican buffet, $1,900 for shuttle van service, $26 for a pound of deluxe mixed nuts and $22 for valet parking.
And $42 for a dozen cookies.
The separate getaways for Democrats and Republicans cost at least $40,000, plus about $200 each in round-trip airfare for dozens of legislators and staff, according to receipts released yesterday by the Assembly Rules Committee...
Posted to California at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
Texas bans hunting over Internet
From this:The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously Thursday to ban remote hunting for game animals. The new regulation requires that anyone hunting a game animal or bird be physically present and in control of the firearm...Because of the loopholes, CA Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey)'s wacky "feel good because I'm micromanaging your life" legislation to ban various aspects of internet hunting in California is still as crucial as ever.
The new parks and wildlife regulation does not apply to non-game animals, such as exotics. Lockwood said Thursday that he plans to conduct a hunt for an exotic black buck antelope this weekend for an out-of-state disabled hunter...
Posted to Miscellania at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)
My picture with Michael Dante? I'd pay for that.
Professor Bainbridge directs our attention to the L.A. Times article "'Star Trek' Bit Players Cling On" (about StarTrek conventions) and intones: "What a way to make a living. I'm not quite sure for whom I feel sorrier: The has beens who make their living this way or the crazies who pay them."That's nice. Except Michael Dante is Maab. Maab! From Friday's Child! And, even though the episode originally aired in 1967, it's since aired in almost every year since up to and including 2005.
On the other hand, I'd trade a hundred photo ops with Michael Dante for one with Roxann Dawson.
Posted to Miscellania at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)
Foreign Policy: "Gang World"
Street gangs are proliferating around the world. The United States has unwittingly spurred this phenomenon by deporting tens of thousands of immigrants with criminal records each year. But that only partly explains how gangs went global. Credit also goes to the Internet, where gangs are staking out turf and spreading their culture online. Gang members may have never heard of globalization, but it is making them stronger...
Posted to Immigration_terror at 12:11 AM | Comments (1)
"FAIR Responds to Sham Immigration Poll"
A new poll conducted on behalf of the open immigration advocacy group, the National Immigration Forum, reveals that even reputable polling organizations will conduct push polls to generate revenue in political off-years. The "National Survey of Voter Attitudes on Immigration," released Thursday, also reveals that pollsters can get their clients the desired results by the questions they ask.Continued here.
In an effort to create the appearance of public support for President Bush's illegal alien amnesty and guest worker proposal, the poll conducted by Lake, Snell, Perry, Mermin & Associates, in conjunction with The Tarrance Group, asked respondents to choose from among very limited options for dealing with the illegal immigration crisis facing the nation. The choices presented to respondents "registering" millions of illegal aliens, or mass deportations of millions of illegal aliens. The poll ignored many other strategies for addressing mass illegal immigration that have wide support among the American public...
Oddly enough, those are the same false choice that Bush administration officials and supporters have presented, including such luminaries as Asa Hutchinson and Tamar Jacoby.
I saw the subscription-only article from Morton Kondracke entitled "Surprise! Voters Favor Work-Permit Immigration Reform" yesterday, and I knew there must be something wrong with it but since I'm not a subscriber I couldn't find out. Now we know exactly what that was.
Mon-TON! was last mentioned in "Mor-TON! Didn't you get the memo?"
UPDATE: The PDF of the poll is not organized in a nice way, so a more in-depth analysis will have to wait. However, one of the questions is "Deporting all 10 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States is unrealistic." Fifty-two percent agreed. However, note, of course, the use of the phrase "undocumented immigrants" rather than the correct "illegal aliens." There are many other questions and I'll look at them later.
Posted to Immigration2005a at 12:03 AM | Comments (8)
When Junior designs software
When Junior designs software you get things like Netscape and their wonderful innovations like javascript and cookies. And, when not-quite-as-bad companies like Macromedia do it, you get a workaround for those users who like to delete their cookies:It's early to be talking about the dumbest technology of 2005. But United Virtualities has set a mark that it's going to be tough for other vendors to beat.This page describes how to disable Macromedia's innovation. To disable Netscape's various innovations, get into a time machine.
United Virtualities makes technology that allows marketers to un-delete cookies that users have chosen to delete. Their rationale — and I am not making this up — is that users are too dumb to make these decisions on their own.
As reported by TechWeb's Antone Gonsalves, United Virtualities has developed what it calls a Persistent Identification Element, or PIE (get it? cookies? pie?), which gets uploaded to a user's browser when he visits a site. PIE makes a backup copy of that site's cookies, and if a user deletes the cookies, PIE restores them...
Posted to Miscellania at 11:54 PM | Comments (1)
"Border crossings hinder training at Ariz. bases"
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- Marines preparing for combat in Iraq or Afghanistan have lost significant amounts of training time because undocumented immigrants from Mexico have constantly wandered onto a bombing test range in Arizona, according to the commander of this base along the border.
Virtually every Marine squadron headed to Iraq or Afghanistan receives combat training at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, which for nearly 40 miles touches the US-Mexico border in the southwestern corner of Arizona. The Border Patrol's focus in recent years on tightening the border in the eastern part of the state, where volunteer citizens this month have established their own observation posts, has pushed more undocumented immigrants westward.
Since July 2004, the training range has been shut down more than 500 times because of immigrants spotted on the range, causing a loss of more than 1,100 training hours, said Colonel James J. Cooney, the base's commanding officer...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)
"Illegal Immigration Costs Texans $4.7 Billion a Year"
Mass illegal immigration is costing Texas more than $4.65 billion a year finds a new report released today by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Texans, examines the fiscal costs being borne by the state to provide education, health care and incarceration for an illegal alien population now estimated to exceed 1.5 million...
Posted to Immigration2005a at 11:43 PM | Comments (3)
Wendy's finger food case takes a disturbing turn
Remember this from April 1?...A woman found the finger in her [chili] at a San Jose Wendy's last week. Tissue samples of the finger have been sent to federal agents for DNA testing. A search of fingerprint databases have turned up nothing so far.Well, if that isn't sick enough, this just in: apparently authorities in Las Vegas served a warrant against the person who found the finger. They suspect it might have been from her deceased aunt.
Meanwhile, investigators are contacting food-supply companies to see if there have been any industrial accidents that may have led to the incident.
Yes, ewwww indeed.
Previous coverage of Wendy's - albeit of the much lighter John Kerry-related variety - begins in "President Bush don't need no take-out grilled diver sea scallops, pardner." Be sure to see "What happened to Ben?". UPDATE: The AP report is "Police search home of woman who claimed to find finger at Wendy's":
...Wendy's maintains that the finger did not enter the food chain in its ingredients. All the employees at the San Jose store were found to have all their fingers, and no suppliers of Wendy's ingredients have reported any hand or finger injuries, the company said...
Posted to Miscellania at 06:35 PM | Comments (2)
"Huge toxic pile by river to be moved"
No, it's not a headline from Eye on Springfield. It's in Moab, Utah:
A 10-million-ton pile of radioactive waste that has been polluting the Colorado River for decades will be moved under a plan announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of Energy.I briefly visited Moab during the Blogging Across America tour, but I had no idea there was something like that there. If I'd known I surely would have covered it. As it was, all I did was take some bad shots of Arches National Park. You see the "best" one to the right.
The decision comes after years of heated and emotional debate over what to do with the pile, which sits 750 feet from the river near the tourist town of Moab, Utah.
The decision is being hailed as an environmental victory that will safeguard the drinking water of more than 25 million people, including most San Diego County residents [and those in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and many other cities in the Southwest]...
Posted to California at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
I'll take "Are you an enviro-whacko?" for $2000, Alex
Welcome to today's edition of "How not to write a press release." It features an emission from In Defense of Animals with the title "Activists Ask Jeopardy! Game Show Host Alex Trebec: 'What is wrong with keeping elephants at the L.A. Zoo?'"Los Angeles- On the heels of the first-ever release of medical records indicating the life-threatening physical condition of 47-year-old Gita, one of three elephants suffering at L.A. Zoo, activists will greet television game show host Alex Trebec and zoo guests to highlight the jeopardy elephants are in at the Zoo.It continues on with an exciting discussion of recurring foot infections of zoo elephants. But, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on here. I assume that Alex Trebek is going to be one of the protesters. But, what are the "zoo guests" doing in there? Doesn't that imply that Alex and the zoo guests will be on the same side and will be protested against or in front of? And, doesn't the fact that activists will be asking him questions imply that he's the one being protested against? Is Alex Trebek a supporter of enzooing elephants? Frankly, that's the interpretation that I'd prefer as I'd prefer not to put America/Canada's favorite game show host in the same category as Pamela Ferdin or Linda Blair. If the IDA wants to learn how to write a good enviro-whacko press release, they should learn from the masters:
When: Saturday, March 19th, 8:45 a.m.
Where: Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park at main entrance
Toronto — Wearing nothing but a skimpy toga, wings, and a halo and holding a bow and arrow and a sign reading, "Have a Heart—Boycott KFC," PETA’s sexy Cupid will lead a protest outside a Toronto KFC on Valentine’s Day...Oh yeah, that's good press release.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 09:36 PM | Comments (1)
California to be saved from internet hunting
Never let them say that California's legislature isn't looking out for you. Very, very closely looking out for you.
Under legislation sponsored by CA Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey), sites like live-shot.com would be banned from setting up in our fair state. Not only that, but quoting from the bill's text:
This bill would make it unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of this state to take birds or mammals, located both in state and out of state, by means of computer-assisted remote hunting, as defined. The bill would also make it unlawful to establish or operate a computer-assisted remote hunting site in this state for the purpose of permitting the taking of any bird or mammal. This bill would make it unlawful to possess or confine any bird or mammal in furtherance of an activity prohibited by the bill, and would also make it unlawful to import or export any bird or mammal, or any part thereof, taken by computer-assisted remote hunting, as provided.
So, not only could you not operate such a site in California or import the meat you got from live-shot.com, but using live-shot.com (based in Texas) from California would be illegal. The bill recently passed in a Senate committee.
While I'm not in favor of live-shot.com, I'm even less in favor of our nannies in Sacramento trying to micromanage our lives and internet usage. And, I doubt whether there's that large a market for this service either, except perhaps in Japan or China. I predict that live-shot.com will go the way of toys.com. Meanwhile, our fine Democratic legislators will keep proposing worthless legislation.
Posted to California at 06:29 PM | Comments (1)
Could you play a "liberal" on the Net?
The DUmmies have had and have currently several threads on the Minuteman Project. Here are a few of the recent ones:
A POLL: Will You Be Joining The "Minutemen" To Defend The Fatherland? ("liberal" humor with a tip o' the hat to Godwin, gotta love it!)
About the latest immigration threads here
How in the hell are the "Minutemen" allowed to do what they are doing?
The Minuteman Project: What They Stand For In Their Own Words (includes the words of others, but close enough!)
In all of those threads a few 1000+ posters make sane arguments in favor of the MMP or at least supporting their right to do what their mission statement says they're going to be doing.
However, in each thread there are several people who chime in with the expected "liberal" response involving race-baiting, or invoking Godwin's law, or similar.
Now, if I were, say, a big corporation that made millions of dollars off illegal immigration, I know what I'd consider doing. I'd try to oppose the MMP or similar anti-illegal immigration groups in whatever way possible. And, that might include astro-turfing online forums with the expected "liberal" responses. After all, millions of dollars are at stake.
I'm not saying that's happening, but it's hardly impossible. Most of the negative responses at DU are no doubt from committed "liberals". However, some at DU or elsewhere could be from people who are paid to give the impression that there's something wrong with enforcing our borders.
Posted to Bloggage at 03:02 PM | Comments (2)
Yes, it was apparently the victim's fault
DALLAS -- A high school teacher faces an assault charge after police say she walked into a middle-school classroom, grabbed a teacher's hair, yanked her out of her chair and dragged her across the room while punching her in the face and kicking her. According to the police report, Paulette Baines grabbed Mary Oliver in front of a class full of gifted students Friday. Baines was angry because Oliver told her daughter to quit loitering by lockers and go to class, Dallas school district spokesman Donald Claxton said. Oliver said Baines was yelling at her as she entered the classroom. "I want you to know I didn't raise a finger. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't do anything to aggravate the situation," Oliver said...
And, that would be the end of that tale. Except, the alleged assaultor Baines is black and the alleged victim Oliver is white.
In a low point in MSM commentary, that results in "Scott Parks: Is trouble at Travis a matter of race?" Apparently, it was Oliver's fault for what happened, and a new round of sensitivity training will be required (after Oliver recovers from her injuries, of course.)
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 11:55 AM | Comments (4)
"Pelosi helped donor to PAC"
From this:House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi helped secure $3 million last year for a nonprofit transportation-research organization whose president gave money to her political action committee as the group was paying for a European trip for one of her policy advisers.
Transportation adviser Lara Levison's nine-day, $4,475 trip to Spain and Germany last April to learn about hydrogen-fuel cells for buses was primarily paid for by WestStart-CALSTART.
But just days before the trip, WestStart-CALSTART announced that Mrs. Pelosi had helped the nonprofit group secure $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration for a bus rapid-transit program. A month after the Levison trip, the group sent out a press release thanking her for a $2 million grant for a fuel-cell program...
Posted to Politics at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
Wikipedia's continual low credibility
I provide yet another reason to distrust Wikipedia in this post at BoreAmerica.
Previous coverage of Wikipedia starts here.
Posted to Bloggage at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)
Trust nurses, distrust the California Nurses Association
While The Lonewacko Blog continues to express and/or wish to express its love and affection for nurses, the same cannot be said for the California Nurses Association. In addition to sleazy gender baiting, they're also leading a sleazy far-left protest tomorrow against Arnold in San Francisco:Add in the governor's ill-fated attempt to change nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals, and you have a coalition of everyone from nurses and firefighters to teachers and union workers ready to roll out the razzing carpet wherever the governor appears...
As for the governor's feelings about the continuous and growing demos: "It doesn't bother him at all," said spokeswoman Margita Thompson. "He knew from the start that there would be opposition from special interests. This just makes it easier to identify those opposed to change."
Posted to California at 02:32 PM | Comments (1)
"Free trade may have finished off Neanderthals"
NewScientist explains:Modern humans may have driven Neanderthals to extinction 30,000 years ago because Homo sapiens unlocked the secrets of free trade, say a group of US and Dutch economists. The theory could shed new light on the mysterious and sudden demise of the Neanderthals after over 260,000 years of healthy survival...
Jason Shogren, an economist at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, US, says part of the answer may lie in humans' superior trading habits. Trading would have allowed the division of labour, freeing up skilled individuals, such as hunters, to focus on the tasks they are best at. Others, perhaps making tools or clothes or gathering food, would give the hunters resources in return for meat...
Posted to Miscellania at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)
California's wackier senator wants to go hiking with you
Wouldn't it be nice to go for a hike with California's own Sen. Barbara Boxer? Via email:The recent rains filled lakes and reservoirs, turned California's hillsides green, and have given us an amazing display of wildflowers...Yes, aren't they beautiful? And, look, there's a fawn! Wait, what's that discordant sound?
The rains have also made it likely that West Nile Virus will have an even greater impact this year... Preventing the spread of West Nile should be a priority for us all in order to limit the number of people exposed to this disease. I encourage you to visit my Senate website to learn more about West Nile and the steps you can take to reduce the population of mosquitos and the transmission of the virus.Indeed I did. I never would have considered seeking out such information via alternative sources like search engines or something like that. Previous coverage of one of California's gifts to the world starts here.
You can find my website at http://boxer.senate.gov and the address for the West Nile feature is http://www.boxer.senate.gov/wnile.cfm
I hope you find the information on West Nile helpful to you and your family.
Posted to California at 10:22 PM | Comments (1)
L.A. C of C, Antonovich endorse Hahn; Riordan, Harman, others endorse former member of racial separatist organization
The L.A. Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed Jim Hahn for mayor of Los Angeles. One of the two sane L.A. County Supervisors, Mike Antonovich, endorsed Hahn as well:Mayoral contender Antonio Villaraigosa won the support Wednesday of several San Fernando Valley community leaders while incumbent James Hahn picked up the endorsement of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.Meanwhile, in an entirely unsurprising move, former L.A. mayor Richard Riordan apparently continues his support for Antonio Villaraigosa, the former president of the UCLA chapter of the racial separatist organization MEChA. And, Jane Harman also endorsed the candidate who congratulated the former president of Mexico on helping to overturn a California law. On a related note, I see that my endorsement of Jim Hahn for L.A. mayor has been indexed by Google News: Jim Hahn for Mayor of Los Angeles (redstate.org/story/2005/3/9/151538/8394).
Standing in the courtyard of the Marvin Braude Constituent Service Center in Van Nuys, Villaraigosa was endorsed by Richard Close of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, Gordon Murley of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization and Polly Ward of the Studio City Residents Association...
Posted to Los_Angeles at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)
A small tale of media bias
Other than the strange ideas involved, do you notice anything strange about the article "Lawmaker Wants Teachers Weighed For Obesity"?HONOLULU -- A state lawmaker has suggested Hawaii's public schoolteachers be forced to weigh in as part of the fight against obesity in students.It continues on for ten more short paragraphs. Notice anything missing? Yes, you there in the back. That's right! In none of those fourteen paragraphs is it mentioned that State Rep. Rida Cabanilla is a Democrat. Of course, were she a Republican there's a very good chance that that fact would have been provided within the first few paragraphs. (Link via this)
A resolution in the state house would create an obesity database among teachers. The idea isn't being well received by the teachers union.
Promoting a healthy lifestyle through physical education and health classes are part of the curriculum being taught in Hawaii's schools today.
State Rep. Rida Cabanilla introduced a resolution requesting the Board of Education establish an obesity database among public schoolteachers...
Posted to Miscellania at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
WHOTD: Wacky Headline Of The Day
From, of all places, ZDNet: "Los Angeles has the highest number of coffee shops, Seattle has the highest penetration".
Posted to WackyHumor at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
Arkansas leads the nation in at least one thing
Drudge has linked to a few stories about petting zoos spreading E. coli infections. Here's the latest. Similar reports have appeared on the various nightly news programs, and legislation has even been proposed.
During the Blogging Across America I visited a few zoos or similar, and if I recall correctly most or all of them had signs warning visitors to wash their hands after touching the animals. They also had hand sanitizer dispensers available at the exits. So, it would seem that the free market already has this covered in many areas: who needs legislation when you have a more basic fear of getting sued.
I distinctly recall that the Arkansas Alligator Farm had such dispensers. So, at least one place in Arkansas is ahead of places in Florida, not that there's much of a distinction between the two states.
I don't recall whether the horrific Prairie Dog Town had such dispensers, but they might have.
And, I think the Waco Zoo had dispensers at their petting zoo.
On a slightly related note, see the post "Summarizing Bill Clinton" for a picture of one of the more strange places I visited (or at least took a glimpse inside) during the whole tour. In the event that I'm ever in the area again I'm definitely going to try to get permission to shoot the inside of that place.
Posted to Miscellania at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
