« June 2005 | Main | August 2005 »

Status of Social Security totalization with Mexico?

President Bush supports a Social Security "totalization agreement" with Mexico.

In January, Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) introduced H. Res. 20, entitled "Expressing the disapproval of the House of Representatives of the Social Security totalization agreement between the United States and Mexico." It has 40 co-sponsors, but no action seems to have been taken since then.

This undated page implies that the totalization agreement is stalled and awaiting action from Bush. After he pushes it forward, Congress will have 60 days to block it. I don't know if that's accurate; for all I know we're currently within that 60 day window. In any case, you can send free FAXes about this at the last link.

For the reasons you should oppose this, the coverage starts here, and see who else supports this agreement here.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 01:10 PM | Comments (2)

Marcela Sanchez: historical facts, analysis are extremist

Marcela Sanchez apparently writes a weekly column for the Washington Post about Latin America. Unfortunately, she seems to be going for that small number of WaPo readers who aren't able to use search engines and who think that trying to learn a lesson from history is extremist. (Is it any surprise that she's employed by the WaPo?)

In her latest column ("The Right Immigration Reform") she discusses the Cornyn-Kyl mass amnesty, saying:

The bill and especially its "report to deport" strategy is meant to satisfy those who desire a punitive solution to the dysfunctional U.S. immigration system. The problem is that those groups in favor of harsh measures may never be satisfied. They see immigrants as a threat and don't feel safe even among the immigrants' newborn.

Childish commentary from a WaPo columnist? How surprising. Of course, she also means "illegal immigrants" when she says "immigrants", and, last time I looked, children tend to grow up and millions of people do tend to occasionally have an impact on other people through their actions.

The Center for Immigration Studies, one such group, suggests that there is some kind of imminent danger posed by children born to immigrants. In the conclusion to a report issued this month, the center indicates that it was the children of European immigrants that caused "the labor unrest of the Great Depression." And it was the children of black migrants from the South "who rioted in northern cities during the 1960s." The White House and Republican Party leaders know that such extreme views -- held by some Republicans in Congress -- are politically untenable.

Let's take a look at the report:

Historical Comparison. The findings of this report show that America is headed into uncharted territory when it comes to births to immigrants... With over 900,000 children now born to immigrant mothers each year, the stakes for the country are clearly enormous. Political scientist Peter Skerry has pointed out that, "A virtual truism of the immigration literature is that the real challenges to the receiving society arise not with the relatively content first generation, who compare their situation with what was left behind, but with the second and third generations, whose much higher expectations reflect their upbringing in their parents' adopted home." In his 1979 book Birds of Passage, Michael Piore traces the labor unrest of the great depression to the children of European immigrants. He also points out that it was the children of blacks migrants from the south who rioted in northern cities during the 1960s, not the immigrants themselves. This study does not directly answer the question of whether the children of immigrants are assimilating at a satisfactory pace. What we can say is that America has never attempted to assimilate so many second-generation children.

There's absolutely nothing in there that's "extreme", unless one thinks ignoring historical fact and failing to perform an analysis based on that is desirable. Apparently Sanchez is going for those readers who don't use search engines and are unable to understand what they read.

Then, she turns to what to her is apparently a favorable development:

To distance themselves, ["White House and Republican Party leaders"] are creating a coalition of business leaders and immigrant advocates that, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times this week, would attempt to "marginalize those voices" that could scare away Latino voters and perhaps jeopardize the Republican majority in Congress.

Let me be very frank: I don't know whether she's just an idiot, or whether she thinks everyone else is. In any case, she's supporting Bush's plan to join with large corrupt corporations to spread what will most likely propaganda in favor of the massive immigration that the vast majority of Americans don't want. Further, she goes on to support the McCain-Kennedy mass amnesty scheme.

As for that threat that she says doesn't exist, in her piece she twice says that millions of illegal aliens are here to stay:

Any proposal that would require these immigrants to give up their homes and sever their roots in this country will not likely achieve compliance...

...Today, families like this are buying homes and settling down. These immigrant families are managing to make a life in this country, just as I did, and I know they appreciate it to such a degree that they won't give it up easily.

So, in other words, if we tried to deport them we wouldn't have much luck. In fact, they might even put up a fight. Which, in the historical context, is often referred to as an invasion, correct? I guess we do need to worry about this issue.

Please take a few minutes and send an email to letters *at* washpost.com. If you want it to be printed, include your name, address, and phone number. They also have forums but you can only reply to threads they start, and I didn't see a thread on their less-than-steller opinion columnists.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 07:30 PM | Comments (11)

Caption this Chelsea Clinton pic

Please, don't do blue.

UPDATE:

Posted to Celebrities at 01:51 PM | Comments (6)

DHS' Chertoff opposes Minuteman Project

From an appearance in Silicon Valley:

Following his speech, Chertoff responded to a number of written questions from the audience. One asked him about his position on the Minutemen Project, the civilian effort to patrol the U.S.-Mexican border on a voluntary basis. He is not in favor of civilians patrolling the border.

"The border is a very dangerous place," Chertoff said. "We are dealing with violent organized criminals who are not going to hesitate to use violence to protect their criminal business models."

Of course, Our Leader himself called the MMP volunteers "vigilantes", which has not only further discredited him in the eyes of many Americans, it's also emboldened the critics of that project.

And, here's Condi expressing opposition to the MMP.

Meanwhile: "42% would conditionally support Bush's impeachment".

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)

Putting a human face on the anti-American DREAM Act

Seattle Times editorial columnist Kate Riley offers us "Putting a human face on the immigration debate". Like many other PIIPPs ("pro-illegal immigration puff pieces") it supports Orrin Hatch (R-UT)'s anti-American DREAM Act. That Act would take discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens and give them to illegal aliens.

What sets this apart from other similar articles is that she's an editorial columnist and she's not pretending it's a news story. But, don't fear, because it's objectionable on other grounds.

The article is a sales job for that Act, and we're informed that the "immigration debate too often forgets people like [the current poster child for the DREAM Act]." Sorry, no it doesn't. In fact, newspapers prefer to generalize from the case of one or two outstanding, upstanding, sympathetic illegal aliens. They frequently ignore all the issues surrounding this one-sided "debate."

As I read this article (and the previous one she references: "Fouled-up system victimizes worthy immigrant students"), I couldn't quite figure out whether Riley is just a ditzy, less than well-informed, gushing heart "liberal", or something else. I began to hear a bit more of the Tokyo Rose in the voice of her articles, so I'm favoring the "something else" part.

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 12:01 PM | Comments (5)

Phil Hendrie has a blog

And, Phil Hendrie might be about to learn his first major web lesson: don't announce your future URL until you've registered that URL and possible variations.

I believe his blog is going to be at georgewbushisgod.com. At post time that has a NetSol Coming Soon page.

However, over at georgebushisgod.com it has the similar page... from GoDaddy.

Either he's using different registrars, or someone's trying to get the type-in typo traffic.

I'd suggest changing the name before it's too late. I'd also suggest changing the name to something that reflects reality, like possiblythemostcorruptadministrationever.com or similar.

UPDATE: Regarding "Sir Bob"'s comment, I rarely listen to the show since I disagree with almost all of his guests. I can stand Ted Bell to a certain extent, but the rest are complete idiots.

Also, as of 8/03 Hendrie does indeed have a blog at that site.

Posted to Bloggage at 05:58 PM | Comments (3)

Howard Dean to embarass self August 5 2005

Yesterday, the militant Chicano group the Brown Berets attended an anti-Minuteman Project press conference featuring leaders of the Democratic Party in Texas' Hidalgo County and held at that party's headquarters. According to the report from KRGV-TV (video at the link; copy of the report here), they were "welcomed... with open arms".

In fact, if you watch the video, you can hear the chairman of that county's Democratic Party, Juan Maldonado, say this:

"They have communicated with me their sincere interest in organizing a confrontation... a physical confrontation against the minutemen."

Apparently after the meeting he "clarified" his position on this militant group (copy here and here):

Hidalgo County Democratic Party chairman Juan Maldonado said the party does not condone the actions of the [BBs]; however, because the group asked him for a platform, he agreed to let them speak at the press conference.

"We do not need the [BBs] armed against the Minutemen," Maldonado reiterated after Delgado spoke. He said the people of South Texas are more "evolved" and "civil" than that.

If you haven't already, watch the video to see whether you buy his "clarification". According to the second report, Maldonado also said this:

The Minutemen "are nothing more than a group of zealous over-enthusiastic racists that want to promote these types of immigrants as being terroristic," Maldonado said.

Even before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said, there was an unfounded fear held by some in the United States that Mexicans were taking over the country.

"The Minutemen project that fear," he said. "For all the strides that we have made toward equality, the Minutemen are the epitome of hate, fear and ignorance. We are unified to stop this racist movement from entering our region."

So, how does Dr. Gov. Howard Dean M.D. fit into all this? He's going to be in Hidalgo County on August 5, 2005. Will he condemn Maldonado's apparent support for the BBs? Are you kidding? The only question is just how bad he'll make the Democrats look, and just how much the press will do to cover it up. If you want to do something about this, start contacting the media and the big-time bloggers now.

Posted to Politics at 05:30 PM | Comments (2)

Idaho county sues illegal alien employers under RICO

From this:

A southwest Idaho county filed a racketeering lawsuit against agricultural companies accused of hiring illegal immigrants - an attempt to recoup money the county says it has spent on the workers.

The lawsuit by Canyon County commissioners alleges four agricultural companies and a nonprofit have taken part in an "illegal immigrant hiring scheme," and that the county has paid the cost of medical care, jails and schools.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday claims the companies violated the federal Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act, which allows winning plaintiffs to receive triple damages...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:58 PM | Comments (1)

Houston reaffirms illegal aliens sanctuary policy

Like Los Angeles, New York, (reportedly) Denver, and several other major cities (and terrorist targets) Houston has a sanctuary policy that prevents their cops from asking about someone's immigration status.

HPD Captain Bruce Williams explains how this works:

"If the citizen can come to us and know that we're going to take the information that they give us without looking into their status as an immigrant, then they're more free to come to us and talk about crime issues."

Councilman Mark Ellis is trying to change the policy:

"I am in favor of supporting what the Bush administration has asked local government entities to do, and that is to assist in enforcing the criminal illegal immigration laws."

However, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt says:

"That is our policy. At this time we do not have any intention of changing it."

Now, see "'Sanctuary' practice in Houston draws fire". Last year 9/11 Commission member John Lehman said:

"The terrorists know" which cities have such policies

Posted to Immigration_terror at 12:46 PM | Comments (1)

Gel, paste, liquid, powder, rat, pigeon, millipedes, offal, or beef?

Contrary to what you might have heard or personally considered, Snopes informs us that in the case of Arby's it's beef.

Posted to WackyHumor at 05:55 AM | Comments (1)

Tell your representatives: no on CAFTA

Apparently Bush is holding a secret meeting this morning at 9am Eastern time to promote CAFTA. A vote on that could come today or this week. Details in "President calls secret meeting to pitch CAFTA". Expect the BushBots to pull out all the stops for their leader.

Please send a free FAX to your representatives and urge them to vote no. Less effectively, you can send an email here.

More information:

Good Reasons To Reject CAFTA

CAFTA undermines immigration laws

FAIR's Statement Regarding Proposed CAFTA Treaty

"CAFTA: Ideology vs. national interests" (even if you aren't a fan of the author he's got valid points)

"Corporate Socialism, Not Free Trade" (ditto)

CAFTA's Threats to U.S. Independence

CAFTA: More Bureaucracy, Less Free Trade

USDA plants its own news

CAFTA Should Be Rejected Just Like The EU Constitution

UPDATE: See this too. Also see "N.C. GOP not buying trade deal". The picture of Our Leader with one of the lead is priceless.

UPDATE 2: See CAFTA Guts All "Buy American" Laws: A New Green Light for Outsourcing and "Hidden in the 2,400 pages of CAFTA".

UPDATE 3: Welcome to North America, citizen. "In Bush Win, House Narrowly Approves CAFTA". About the only silver lining is that some of those who voted for this in exchange for pork might go hungry: "The Doubtful Deals Driving CAFTA". The final roll call is here.

Posted to Politics at 04:18 AM | Comments (3)

Throw another PIIPP on the pile

[A "PIIPP" is a "pro-illegal immigration puff piece". Considering all of the almost identical "news" pieces supporting the Dream Act and similar in various newspapers, I should replace "puff piece" with "puff propaganda".]

Source: Chicago Tribune
Title: "A graduation day with hazy prospects"
"Reporter": Lolly Bowean
Date: July 24, 2005
Newspaper section: Business (?)
Contact: Use this form

Rather than just providing the first paragraph, let's compare it to the May 8 N.Y. Daily News puff piece discussed here. Tell me if you spot any differences aside from the names of those we're supposed to feel sympathetic towards:

Chicago Tribune	N.Y. Daily News
Maria Herrera has a 4.0 grade-point average at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, serves her community and lobbies for better legislation.	Carlos will graduate with honors from Brooklyn College next month with a mathematics degree. It's a subject he loves and hopes to teach one day to elementary school students.
But because she's an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, she won't be able to use her degree to start a career in the United States.	But the former high school valedictorian, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, will have to settle for working off the books selling ice cream.
"I'll have a degree, but no job," she said. "It's such a waste of talent."	Like Carlos - who was featured four years ago in a Daily News article about the difficulties of financing college with no immigration status - undocumented grads have no hope of a job in their learned profession.
... It also drew attention to the Dream Act, federal legislation that would give undocumented students a chance to finish school and become American citizens.	...CUNY administrators are hopeful that U.S. lawmakers will resurrect the Development, Relief and Education for Minors (DREAM) Act. Introduced in 2004 by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the bill would allow undocumented students who entered this country as minors to apply for a conditional green card, provided they go to college or enter the military.

The advocacy organization involved in this article is called "Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights". In addition to their activities described at that link, their leader also attended First Data/Western Union's open borders conference where an American was supposedly assaulted. They endorsed the Immigrant Worker's Freedom Ride and AgJobs.

Please use the contact form above to let the Chicago Tribune know what you think.

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 09:18 PM | Comments (1)

NYC subway bomb plot foiled?

From this:

FBI and law enforcement officials told ABC News the five men — four illegal immigrants and one law enforcement fugitive — were arrested Sunday night following a tip to the Newark Police Department. In addition to the subway maps and video, the men had train schedules and $8,000 in $20 and $50 bills...

FBI officials said the men have no known link to a terror network but noted that none of them could adequately explain the items they had in their possession, the large amount of money or their reasons for being in the United States. Mohamed Ibrahim Gaber has been a fugitive since he jumped ship from an Egyptian flagged freighter in September 2000.

The men, all of whom claimed to be unemployed civil or chemical engineers, are set to be deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

No word on whether they snuck over the border or overstayed their visas.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)

"Liberal" study illustrates failed "liberal" immigration policies

The Center for American Progress has released a study (press release) that claims it would cost at least $41 billion a year to deport all illegal aliens. It (probably falsely) assumes that there are just 10 million illegals here, and it assumes that 2 million of those would deport themselves.

From the WaPo's "$41 Billion Cost Projected To Remove Illegal Entrants":

"We do need to know what enforcement would cost," [Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies] said, "but [the study] is a cartoon version of how enforcement would work."

...Will Adams, a spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), an outspoken advocate of stronger immigration laws, called the study an "an interesting intellectual exercise" by liberals that is "useless . . . because no one's talking about" employing mass deportation as a tactic.

"No one's talking about buying planes, trains and automobiles to get them out of the country," Adams said. "The vast number of illegal immigrants are coming for jobs. Congressman Tancredo wants to go after the employers."

The study is not just a cartoon, it's even funnier than KOTH or the Simpson's: it shows the opposite of what they intended to show.

The people who've got us into this situation were past and present administrations, including presidents Bush and Clinton.

And, the CAP is closely affiliated with the Clintons.

So, the same people who helped get us into this mess are now providing us with a strawman figurine of how much correcting their failed policies would cost us. And, they're proposing a solution in the Kennedy-McCain mass amnesty. The mind reels thinking up a proper analogy, perhaps involving building contractors and ending up in small claims court.

Also, isn't Hillary Clinton now supposed to support border security and control over illegal immigration?

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:58 PM | Comments (3)

John Fonte: An Open Letter to Tamar Jacoby

It's quite worth a read.

(Via this)

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)

Allan Hoffenblum: Arnold should emulate George Bush on immigration

The OC Register offers us "Governor losing Hispanic support", referring to California's own Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It features Orange County GOP Hispanic outreach chief Manny Padilla and KCAL political commentator Allan Hoffenblum discussing where they think Arnold went wrong.

As noted here in the past (link, link), Hoffenblum can be counted on to provide advice that's not just wrong, it's un-American as well:

Hoffenblum points to President George W. Bush as something of a model for reaching out to Hispanics: high-level Hispanic appointments, a good relationship with Mexican President Vicente Fox, a proposal to let more legal immigrants into the country and condemnation of a citizen border patrol, the Minuteman Project. Schwarzenegger praised the Minutemen, who try to slow illegal immigration.

Obviously, this blog has an entirely different view of Our Leader and his open border policies, so I won't bother repeating myself. Some of these canards have already been answered in the recent post "Bush, Big Business to join forces, oppose wishes of American public" anyway.

And:

The complaints [from Padilla and other "Hispanics"] include comments against illegal immigrants Schwarzenegger has made in recent months, the lack of high- level appointments of Hispanics, the lack of diplomacy with Mexico and his veto of a measure that would allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses.

On the one hand we're told by apologists that all those millions of illegal aliens will assimilate, and on the other we're told that the only way to win their support is to reach out to the country that they've supposedly left behind?

Would we win Arnold's support if we reached out to Austria? Or, does Arnold consider himself an American, and isn't that the point of view that we should be encouraging rather than encouraging anti- and un-American ideas like corporate pluralism and ethnic nationalism?

The other issues have been dealt with here in depth, including a whole category just about driver's licenses for illegal aliens.

I also almost live-blogged the KFI interview with Arnold, and I don't recall him making any "comments against illegal immigrants".

If Arnold wants to gain "Hispanic" support, perhaps he should appeal to them as Americans and not as Mexicans as the two above seem to want.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 09:44 AM | Comments (3)

Apparently they don't get google in Tyler Texas

Lindsay Randall of the Tyler Morning Telegraph covers Henderson and Van Zandt counties. She also has apparently never heard of Google, Yahoo, or even Altavista.

The article "Mexican Consulate Brings Outreach Program to Tyler" describes a story similar to many covered here in the past: the Mexican government comes to town to pass out Matricula Consular cards to their citizens who are in our country, most of them illegally. The cards - dubbed "IDs for illegals" - facilitate illegal immigration and the sending of money back to Mexico.

Apparently Randall has never heard of these cards or this scheme before, or perhaps there's something else involved. But, if you want to read someone who apparently has no clue or doesn't think her readers have any clues, click the link. At least there are two comments from people who understand what this is about.

Posted to Immigration_consul at 08:26 AM | Comments (1)

Bill Frist needs your input on immigration matters

Apparently he's started a web site called www.secureamericasborders.com and he wants everyone to fill out a survey on immigration-related matters. Most of the 16 or so questions are fairly straightforward, except for this:

Do you believe increasing American support for economic development and trade with Central America and Mexico will stem northward migration for jobs?

I take that to be equivalent to, "have you bought the lies about CAFTA, NAFTA, FTAA, and all the other globalist plans, or not?" It's also followed by questions on whether you support the first two of those plans.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:19 AM | Comments (3)

Does the AP publish in-flight, pro-cheap labor magazines?

I'm wondering because of the article "Migrant workers' children savor summer school" (also here) from David Crary of the Associated Press.

The article contains this rather curious sentence:

For all the debate over immigration policy, the nationwide migrant education program represents a notable, bipartisan commitment to assisting these nomadic, low-income families whose labor is vital to U.S. farming.

If the AP wasn't (more or less) a respectable news outlet, I might think this was an in-flight magazine advertorial supporting massive illegal immigration and cheap, exploitable labor.

By the way, AP, who exactly is picking up the tab for this "cheap" labor? It's certainly not their employers. The article describes the Dickensian lifestyle of these migrant workers, but, oddly enough, it doesn't go into whether the farmers who employ them are basically ripping the rest of us off.

Please send your thoughts to feedback -at- ap.org.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:11 AM | Comments (1)

"Report: Bush using immigration for votes"

A four paragraph UPI blurb - apparently only available from two sources - summarizes Bush's latest open borders plan under the title "Report: Bush using immigration for votes":

A Bush administration plan to court Hispanic voters for the 2006 elections will attempt to relax immigration policies, a published report said...

See my link for the complete details on this plan by Bush to join with corrupt corporations and oppose what three-quarters of Americans want.

And, it's not like something like this hasn't been tried before:

...investigation by the General Accounting Office (GAO) and congressional committees had already indicated that the White House used the INS to further its political agenda. A blatant politicization of the agency took place during the 1996 presidential campaign when the White House pressured the INS into expediting its "Citizenship USA" (CUSA) program to grant citizenship to thousands of aliens that the White House counted as likely Democratic voters. To ensure maximum impact, the INS concentrated on aliens in key states -- California, Florida, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Texas -- that hold a combined 181 electoral votes, just 89 short of the total needed to win the election.

The program was placed under the direction of Vice President Al Gore. We received from the GAO a few e-mails indicating Vice President Gore's role in the plan. He was responsible for keeping the pressure on, to make sure the aliens were pushed through by September 1, the last day to register for the presidential election...

Posted to Politics at 04:46 AM | Comments (3)

Tom Tancredo didn't say we should nuke Mecca

While it's become fact within the BushBot Blogosphere, he did not say we should nuke Mecca, only "bomb" it. Here's the transcript, here's an AP report, and here's America's cuddliest BushBot.

(This entry is here because Professor Bainbridge is making the mistake this post is designed to correct and there are no comments there so thus the trackback. PB is actually siding with TT rather than HH in this matter.)

Posted to Politics at 07:44 PM | Comments (5)

Atwater Village to Home Depot: stop the invasion!

Ah, the fine "liberals" of Atwater Village are fed up and they aren't going to take Home Depot pushing them around anymore. As previously discussed, HD wants to build a store at the old KMart building at San Fernando and Fletcher. Since they already have another HD two miles down S.F. and yet another two miles up S.F., if you were at any point on that street from downtown to northwest Glendale, you'd never be more than a mile from buying some lumber.

Now, the burghers have had enough:

...The Home Depot Representatives heard loud and clear from those in attendance that this community does not want their project no matter how they dress it up. Local residents and small business owners clearly stated that Northeast Los Angeles doesn't need another Home Depot and that they'll do whatever they can to derail their invasion of this community.

Communities in Northeast Los Angeles (like Atwater Village and Glassell Park) deserve something better, such as a development that is compatible with the future satellite campus of the Los Angeles City College. We don't need another BIG BOX that will only exacerbate the already overburdened intersection with more traffic, add to the already existing day labor problem on Fletcher Drive, and force closures of small family businesses...

There are several email addresses at the link, including HD reps and L.A.'s own Eric Garcetti. Even if you have absolutely no idea what this is about or where Atwater is, you might want to send an email to at least HD.

(And, for those of you who are "newbies", their site is a good example of how us oldtimers did things before blogs and such. Although, I would never ever even consider using text that follows your mouse around. These people should look into getting a blog.)

Posted to Los_Angeles at 07:36 AM | Comments (0)

SEIU leaves AFL-CIO; to form global union

The Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union have left the AFL-CIO, sources say.

As discussed at the first link, Andy Stern wants to form a "global union." It's been tried, comrade.

See the earlier "SEIU's Hostile Leftist Takeover" for bolshe na SEIU, gospodin.

Posted to Politics at 05:24 AM | Comments (0)

Illegal aliens get discounted college; 82,000 Americans denied state grants

The Houston Chronicle discusses the discounted college educations that illegal aliens get in Texas schools: "More illegal immigrants in colleges".

More indeed. Texas changed its laws to allow those here illegally to get in-state college educations in 2001. Since that time, there's been a ninefold increase in the number of illegal aliens in Texas getting that discount:

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, who co-sponsored the Texas legislation, said she's pleased to see the strong enrollment patterns.

Meanwhile:

Late last year, the state comptroller reported that more than 82,000 freshmen were denied state grants because there was not enough money for all eligible students.

Nothing else needs to be said.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 10:29 PM | Comments (3)

GOP candidate promises to impeach Bush

Unfortunately, he's an unknown former Democrat from Vermont who has no organization supporting him. He also doesn't appear to have a web site and he's going the Howard Dean, grassroots route for funding.

But, it's a start. Dennis Morrisseau is a retired restaurant owner from West Pawlet, Vermont. Bernie Sanders is vacating his seat, and Morrisseau is running as a Republican. If he's elected, he promises to bring articles of impeachment against Our Leader.

"GOP candidate calls for impeachment" quotes him as saying:

"This leadership isn't very Republican and I don't think it's very popular with Vermont Republicans... Republicans in this state tend to be mind-your-own-business people, keep taxes low and government small... [Former VT Gov. Deane Davis] was the best environmentalist we had in this state... That's Republicanism in Vermont. We like small businesses. We're afraid of outsiders and large businesses. That's what I'm about.... I think I've got a great shot... There's been movement since the election, if you track the polls. That's not just Democrats, that's Republicans, too. Down in southern Vermont, [Bush] is reviled among Republicans."

If his message gets any further attention, expect the BushBots to use the fact that he was one of the founders of VT's liberal, anti-Vietnam War Liberty Union Party as well as the fact that he's a former Democrat against him.

Posted to Politics at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

Bush, Big Business to join forces, oppose wishes of American public

The L.A. Times has a two-pager on Bush's latest attempt to open the borders: "Immigration Rising on Bush's To-Do List". He's created a coalition called "Americans for Border and Economic Security" headed up by U.S. Reps. Cal Dooley (D-Hanford) and Dick Armey (R-Texas):

The effort is designed to help Bush take control of an increasingly contentious debate that has threatened to split the Republican Party and undermine its outreach to Latino voters...

A guest-worker program is favored by many Latinos and by businesses, many of them major GOP donors that depend on a steady flow of workers from Mexico and other countries. The White House effort is aimed at satisfying these groups while promoting tougher border security enforcement. The latter focus is an attempt to mollify a vocal bloc of cultural conservatives in the GOP - some in the House leadership - who argue that undocumented workers present a security threat and take some jobs that could be filled by Americans.

Some Republican strategists worry that the more extreme voices in this camp are alienating Latino voters with anti-immigrant language, and one goal of the new coalition is to marginalize those voices...

The article is so full of canards both from the BushBots and the LAT that I don't know where to start. Here are just a few:

• "Republican congressional members' constituents care more about immigration and border security than any other issue, according to a new congressional insiders poll." ("Immigration worries Republicans")
• Just about every poll shows that around 75% of Americans - Democrats, Independents, and Republicans - oppose illegal immigration and massive immigration.
• 47% of Arizona Hispanics supported Prop. 200. In votes, the biggest opposition came from the left. In monetary terms, the biggest opposition was from big business.
• The article doesn't give a figure, but just so it's clear: Bush Didn't Win 44% of Hispanic Vote.
• Tamar Jacoby spoke at CPAC and was almost booed off the stage when she announced that she was there to defend Bush's amnesty plan.
• The far-left, Ford Foundation-sponsored race groups are the ones that want open borders, and they aren't going to support Republicans. Bush spoke at LULAC's meeting last year. But, since he spoke via television he didn't see the cool reception he got. Even if he got support from MALDEF, would that be a good thing considering their goals?
• Massive illegal immigration has the greatest negative impact on low-wage legal workers, most of whom are black and Hispanic.
• California's Prop. 187 passed 59-41 and up until 2 months before the vote was supported by Hispanics 52-42.

The only voters who favor the virtually unlimited immigration that Bush and his corporate cronies favor are the far-left and libertarians. Who really cares what they want, especially as what they want is not what's right for America?

Further, Bush could "reach out" to the "white vote" by inviting millions of Europeans to come to the U.S. Now, wouldn't most people view that as not just racist, but un-American as well? There is no difference between that and Bush's supposed outreach.

Obviously, one of the major reasons for this new scheme is quite basic: money and the desires of those "large GOP donors." What they want is uppermost in Bush's mind. Next to them, you're just an impediment.

The propaganda from this coalition will almost certainly involve smears, strawman arguments, and false choices such as the following from Dick Armey:

"There's two voices right now, and the noisy one is what I call the slam-the-borders crowd... The voice we want to speak with - and the one that will be in unison with President Bush - is the voice that echoes those marvelous words on the Statue of Liberty."

Obviously, there are more than two voices, and very few people want to completely stop immigration. Emma Lazarus didn't have the current situation in mind: multiculturalism, the welfare state, and all the rest didn't exist at the time.

Bush has shown himself fairly adept at propaganda, but as each day passes more and more people are becoming aware of what's really going on, so perhaps this might be too much of a sales job for even him and Rove.

As for the LAT, send them a short, polite email with your thoughts: readers.rep *at* latimes.com.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:41 PM | Comments (4)

Howard Berman's massive amnesty for Central American illegal aliens

The L.A. Daily News reports in "Bill would give some Central Americans green cards" that Rep. Howard Berman (D-Van Nuys) has introduced a bill to give said cards to 200,000 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. "Many" are illegal aliens, "others" are here under a temporary visa of some kind. I'd imagine that a very good percentage of those live in Los Angeles.

Supporters include Reps. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte (a quote: "We are all Americans, whether you are legalized or not"), and Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood (supports Mexico's Matricula Consular cards, and more).

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:34 PM | Comments (3)

Sierra Vista Herald: Why not a Border Patrol Auxiliary?

The Sierra Vista Herald - located very near Arizona's border with our "friends" to the south - supports the idea that Washington shot down last week. See "DHS squashes Border Patrol auxiliary idea" for the backstory.

From "Editorial: Why not enlist civilians?":

...We think a Border Patrol civilian auxiliary, similar to the Arizona Rangers or the Coast Guard Auxiliary, would be a good outlet for many civilians looking for a way to participate in the ongoing battle against illegal immigration. The Coast Guard Auxiliary, for example, helps with non-law enforcement programs such as public education, vessel safety checks and safety patrols.

The civilians in a Border Patrol auxiliary would need to be trained to help the everyday agents, and they need to go through background checks. They couldn't carry weapons, but they could help do some jobs, on a volunteer basis, that may free up more agents to tackle the border situation.

Duties could be helping with education campaigns or paperwork. Maybe they could help be eyes and ears in neighborhoods that request extra assistance due to problems with illegal immigrants.

We don't think auxiliary members should be actively pursuing illegal immigrants. That needs to be left to the Border Patrol agents who are trained to deal with illegal immigrants...

The way this comes across may not be the way it's intended. I'm not surprised that the cheap labor lovin' Bush administration put the kibosh on the idea, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they came up with a make work plan of some kind just to keep their pro-borders, pro-America opposition busy. I'm sure the SVH isn't just proposing busy work, even if it might sound like that to we cynics.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca calls for border fence

L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca supported the idea of building a border fence similar to the one in Israel. His remarks were made at the Los Angeles County Lincoln Club in Lancaster on July 22. The original report is "Baca: Israel-style wall terror deterrent":

"They have a big fence, and it works," Baca said. "The fences we have down on the border don't work."

...Baca added that he would support such a fence as a significant deterrent to terrorists attempting to cross the border through Mexico.

"Heck, yeah," he said. "What's wrong with that?"

The federal government, with the blame spread between Congress and President George W. Bush, lacks the political will to stop a tide of illegal immigration that clogs jails, ties up public resources and endangers the national security of the United States, Baca said.

"What we need is a national movement for a constitutional amendment on the security of the American border," the sheriff said. "We're not being prejudiced... we just want people to come here legally."

...Now, he said, "the immigration problem is just totally out of control. The Congress and President Bush are not doing a good job on this, and I am a very big Bush supporter."

The AP's report is derived from the one above: "LA County sheriff calls for bigger fence on Mexican border" or this. It's not only shorter, it also has made at least one interesting change.

In the original report we have:

Baca spoke Friday at a gathering of the Los Angeles County Lincoln Club, a group of politically active Republicans who underwrite activities that support limited government and free enterprise.

In the AP version that becomes:

Baca told a gathering of the Los Angeles County Lincoln Club, a group of politically conservative Republicans.

I guess they just needed to save space. Or something.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:24 AM | Comments (2)

The logical approach to anti-American MSM smear jobs

There has to be a (literally) logical, mathematical way to look at smear jobs by the MSM. Noam Chomsky probably has a way, but, would he help? Probably not. Thus, it falls to we amateurs to find a way.

Let's look at this article:

name: "Hundreds Protest N.M. Border Patrol Group"

source: AP

author: ALICIA A. CALDWELL

URL: full, full, full, modified1 (NYT), modified2 (KLTV)

Subjects: Minuteman Civil Defense Corps ("MCDC"), League of United Latin American Citizens ("LULAC")

Claim, para 1: AP says MCDC is "controversial"

Repeated Claim, para 1: marchers/LULAC call MCDC "racist and un-American"

Claim, para 2: AP says LULAC is "one of the oldest Latino civil rights organizations in the country"

Quote, para 3: LULAC national treasurer Jaime Martinez says, "It's a racist organization, there is no question... They say they will monitor the border, but now they are coming into our cities. Something has to be done".

Claim, para 4: AP says, "Minuteman volunteers... have repeatedly denied claims of racism."

Modified1: The NYT version doesn't include the bit highlighted below concerning Mary Jane Garcia.

Modified2: The KLTV version doesn't include that same bit. It does includes this interesting and important change. However, the "officials" aren't identified and it's not known whether they're lying or not:

Elected officials from New Mexico and Texas decried the volunteer-based border patrol group as racist and un-American.

There has to be a better way, but let's take a look at what we have above. Once again, the AP repeats smears, then point out that the volunteers deny the smears. Why don't they just start printing something like, "The Minuteman volunteers denied beating their wives in the first place"? Of course, that would be just too obvious, thus the repeating of similar smears pointed out above.

In the second paragraph the AP tries to give LULAC some credibility. Then, in the third paragraph they repeat a smear from the organization they've just set up as believable. Click on their name above to find out about this group that the AP is trying to present to you as credible.

And, the report also includes the following in which a legislator elected by citizens of the U.S. admits she's a Mexican:

Mary Jane Garcia, the majority whip of the New Mexico State Senate, called on the federal government to take action against the Minuteman volunteers and work on real reform of immigration laws.

Forcing Hispanic immigrants out of the country is not the answer, she said.

"What would happen if all the Mexicans were to leave this country tomorrow? They need us," she said.

If Garcia is a Mexican, perhaps she should renounce her (presumed) American citizenship and run for office in Mexico.

Posted to at 05:33 AM | Comments (3)

Los Angeles Impeach Bush protest falls flat

Earlier today I made the mistake of attending the impeach Bush Downing Street Memo day in Hollywood. I've been to several "peace" protests, and this one earned a "2", with a "10" involving the Pope pledging to work with Bono and the Rockefellers to build World Communism, and a "1" being one guy on a street corner with a crudely-lettered sign.

At its peak, there were approximately a dozen people at the corner of Van Ness and Sunset in front of the Tribune Company's KTLA building. I had expected many more. Reinforcements were supposed to arrive from an earlier confab at Maxine Waters' office in Inglewood. That event ended at 3:30, but, after standing around in the sauna for over an hour, I finally left at 4:45. If a large contingent arrived after that I'd be very surprised.

There were no papier mache figurines, no handing out of the leaflets, very few passersby, and, aside from (more or less) your blogger, no reporters. While there were a large number of supportive honks, at least two newsvans drove by without stopping. A police cruiser parked across the street and turned its watchful eyes to the protest, but it wasn't necessary either for the safety of the protesters or the local shopkeeps. It is highly doubtful if they decided to storm KTLA after I left.

While it's not visible in either photo, one of the protesters was wearing an Iraqi flag as a skirt, and, of course, there's the hippieized upside-down American flag. But, in comparison to some of the things I've seen at past protests, this was nothing.

UPDATE: The MSM weighs in with an AP blurb that has no details on the numbers who turned out for the Inglewood protest. It doesn't mention the rally I went to across town. Those who want to look with a teary eye on what might have been can see the press release that failed: "300 Communities Throughout the U.S. to Hold "Downing Street Memo" Events". Even being mentioned in the People's Weekly World didn't help. No word yet on whether "Special to the World" is rehabilitatable or whether he/she will be sent to Siberia.

Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 05:56 PM | Comments (2)

Are most day laborers illegal immigrants?

Patrick Osio, editor of HispanicVista .com, offers a smearfest editorial entitled "Why assume day laborers illegal?" (It's available at his site under the title "Brown day workers, White street corner beggars and Racists". However, for some reason, the title tag is "The US, Canada and Mexico must form a North American Security Force". Hmmmm...)

The smearathon starts out with this:

There is an assumption that day-job seekers outside a Home Depot or any other home improvement stores are illegal immigrants. Well, no, that's not quite right to assume they are illegal immigrants [because] their skin is brown.

Nothing like getting right to the unfounded charges of racism. Those who assume that most day laborers are illegal aliens do so because that's what the evidence indicates. Calling that racism just illustrates Osio's lack of argument.

The editorial goes on to complain about lazy white beggars. Given that some of those might be U.S. vets, that's generally a losing strategy. Why aren't they working at day laborer sites instead of begging? Well, perhaps it's because they're mentally ill or disabled or they wouldn't be welcomed at the local Spanish-speaking day labor center.

You'll note that an editor appears to have added the "[because]" part; perhaps Osio was frothing too much to write a correct sentence.

Let's look at a study of Southern California laborers. Bear in mind this is from 1999, and the percentage of illegal aliens has probably only increased:

...UCLA researchers over the past two years interviewed 481 jornaleros at 87 sites, including eight hiring centers built and operated by cities and nonprofit organizations. Although the majority of workers were recently arrived illegal immigrants who had few options for earning money, one-fourth were longtime U.S. residents who had been plying their trade at the same site for more than six years...

The study clarifies the demographics of day laborers, but those findings will come as little surprise to anyone who has observed the sites. Typically, workers are young, male immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Educational attainment varies widely, but more than half have less than six years of schooling.

Nearly all--about 95%--entered the United States illegally. And although some have since gained legal residency, the overwhelming majority remain undocumented...

Now, let's turn to Virginia:

In 2003, Fairfax County conducted a survey of its four labor sites, including Herndon, which involved interviews of laborers on two occasions. The laborers were not asked whether they entered the country legally, but one of the questions was "about barriers they may have encountered while trying to find full-time work," according to the county report on the study results.

County-wide, 85 percent of the laborers in the survey cited "lack of documents" as a barrier to finding employment.

I believe there's also a nationwide GAO study showing that 90% of them are illegal aliens, but I can't find a link to it.

If people assume that the vast majority of day laborers are illegal aliens, it's because they are. I wasn't able to find any advertising at Osio's site, nor did I find a link between him and Home Depot. However, I'll note that HD has formed a partnership with four "Hispanic" groups.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 11:01 AM | Comments (2)

Proposition 77: both versions side-by-side

As previously discussed, a Superior Court judge has ordered that Prop. 77 be removed from the ballot, based on a suit brought by Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Based on the comparison provided by the LAT, here are the two versions side-by-side. Note that this is just from one section; what differences there are between other sections is not known:

Version Lockyer got	Version that got 950,000 petition signatures
Our Legislature should be responsive to the demands of the voters, but existing law places the power to draw the very districts, in which legislators are elected, in the hands of incumbent state legislators, who then choose their voters, which is a conflict of interest.	Our Legislature should be responsive to the demands of the citizens of the State of California, and not the self-interests of individual legislators or the partisan interests of political parties.
The Legislature's self-interest in drawing its members' districts has resulted in partisan gerrymandering, uncompetitive districts, ideological polarization, and a growing division between the interests of the People of California and their elected representatives.	Self-interest and partisan gerrymandering have resulted in uncompetitive districts, ideological polarizations in our institutions of representative democracy, and a disconnect between the interests of the People of California and their elected representatives.
The redistricting plans adopted by the California Legislature in 2001 produced an unprecedented number of uncompetitive districts, serve incumbents and not the People, and are repugnant to the People. The gerrymandered districts of 2001 resulted in not a single change in the partisan composition of the California Legislature or the California congressional delegation in the 2004 elections. These districts should be replaced as soon as possible and never used again.	The redistricting plans adopted by the California Legislature in 2001 serve incumbents, not the People, are repugnant to the People and are in direct opposition to the People's interest in fair and competitive elections. They should not be used again.
The experience of the 1970's and 1990's demonstrates that impartial special masters, who are retired judges independent of partisan politics and the Legislature, can draw fair and competitive districts by virtue of their judicial training and judicial temperament.	[removed]
We demand that our representative system of government assure that the voters choose their representatives, rather than their representatives choose their voters, that it be open to public scrutiny and free of conflicts of interest, and that the system embody the principle that government derives its power from the consent of the governed. Therefore, the People of the State of California hereby adopt the "Redistricting Reform: The Voter Empowerment Act."	We demand that our representative system of government be fair to all, open to public scrutiny, free of conflicts of interest, and dedicated to the principle that government derives its power from the consent of the governed. Therefore, the People of the State of California hereby adopt the "Redistricting Reform: The Voter Empowerment Act."

UPDATE: I made it clear that this is just from one section.

Posted to California at 03:12 PM | Comments (2)

Anti-American DREAM Act to be reintroduced?

Is Orrin Hatch (R-UT)'s explicitly anti-American Dream Act going to be reintroduced in coming months? This article mentions that in passing.

That Act gives illegal aliens discounted college educations. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens who haven't established residency in the state where they attend college would continue to pay the full price.

That's right: a citizen of another country who's here illegally would pay less than a citizen of this country.

Here's a handy chart:
illegal alien: discount
U.S. citizen: full price

Over two years ago I posted this entry, which has attracted an endless stream of comments from supporters. If you find any logical reasoning in their "arguments", please let me know.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:10 PM | Comments (11)

Amateurish terrorist plot in Los Angeles?

Earlier this month Torrance police arrested two South L.A. residents for a series of armed robberies. However, after searching their apartment the cops found a list of possible terrorism targets, including three National Guard facilities.

Over to the NBC4 Investigative Unit and July 15th's "Possible Terror Evidence In Robbery Probe":

According to a senior official familiar with the case, when police searched Washington's apartment on West 27th Street, looking for evidence of the robberies, they instead found a list of targets and notes of an operation which detailed a need for cash, explosives, weapons, even remote control devices. Our informant tells us it was all part of a plot to blow up targets in the Los Angeles area... A local police source says Gregory Patterson may have worked at LAX; the airport was on the list of targets. LAX officials say they the FBI has asked them not to comment....

Both suspects are reportedly converts to Islam, and one is reportedly a current or former gang member:

A source close to the investigation says Washington and Patterson may be linked to a wider plot involving a prison-based gang called "Jimiyat Islam Sahid" or JIS. According to gang experts, JIS recruits former gang members such as the Crips in prisons such as Folsom, where Washington served time.

The L.A. Times offered the earlier "Suspect Possessed a Military Sites List", but, the NBC4 report covers more possibilities. NPR weighed in with yesterday's "FBI Investigates Suspected L.A. Homeland Threat".

Posted to Terrorism at 05:35 AM | Comments (0)

Codepink / Downing Street memo Los Angeles DSM Day protest July 23

[UPDATE: I wasted an hour at this event. See "Los Angeles Impeach Bush protest falls flat" for my report.]

On Saturday, July 23 protests will be held in cities across the U.S. to try to bring attention to the Downing Street memo.

This is called "DSM Day" and it's been organized by Rep. John Conyers and several other people and organizations. Air America's Randi Rhodes is involved as well.

In Los Angeles, festivities will kick off at Maxine Waters' office in Inglewood from noon to 3pm at the Covenant Worship Center Legacy Hall (425 South La Brea Ave., two blocks south of Manchester Blvd.)

Then, the protest will move to Hollywood. From 3:30pm to 6pm, protesters will march from KTLA (5800 Sunset) to KCBS (6121 Sunset). Codepink (Susan Medea Benjamin's group) and something called Impeach Central are involved.

I will not be going to these events. I repeat: I will NOT be going. No, really, I have no intention of going.

Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

Schwarzenegger redistricting measure proposition 77: off the ballot

A Superior Court judge has ordered Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure (Proposition 77) to be removed from the ballot. Arnold may appeal.

The given reason is that there were differences between two versions of the measure used in the run up to it being placed on the ballot, and the judge says that this is a substantial issue and not just a technicality:

Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked the judge to order the measure off the ballot because its supporters used two versions - one to gather voter signatures and another that they gave to him to prepare a title and summary of the proposal to use on petitions.

Daniel Kolkey, an attorney representing the measure's author - Ted Costa - argued that the differences between the two versions were minor and mostly stylistic and due to a clerical error.

To show you just how far out to space Lockyer - and perhaps the judge - are, the Los Angeles Times thinks Prop. 77 should be on the ballot.

Yes, that's right, the Los Angeles Times. As they pointed out in "Prop. 77: No harm, no foul":

...the initiative required 598,105 valid petition signatures of registered voters to get on the ballot. In fact, the Costa campaign submitted 950,000 signatures. The problem is that the version submitted to Lockyer and the one circulated by petition-gatherers had different wording. A clerk gave the wrong copy to Lockyer, sponsors said. They called the differences stylistic and not of real substance.

Not so, argued Lockyer in suing Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to keep the measure off the ballot. The use of different petitions "cannot be condoned or tolerated," Lockyer argued, saying it could lead to bait-and-switch tactics someday. He's right, and officials need to guard against that possibility in the future. But there was no attempt to mislead signers in this case. The version of Proposition 77 on the petition signed by registered voters is the same as the one on the ballot...

UPDATE: The differences are highlighted here. There are a large number of differences, but I don't consider them overly substantial. Obviously, there should never have been two versions in the first place. I've created a table with the two versions here.

Posted to California at 07:00 PM | Comments (1)

HR 2092: Sheila Jackson Lee's Open Borders bill

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) has introduced HR 2092, the "Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act". It's little more than an attempt to remove the border as we know it.

It would legalize illegal aliens who've lived here for more than five years. They'd need to have good moral character, so (I guess) many gang members would be excluded. An illegal alien who's over 18 would need to perform 40 hours of community service to become legal. I guess paying a nominal fee unlike as proposed with other massive amnesties was considered too mean-spirited, or perhaps Lee thought that might not have the full magnetic effect to bring as many millions of illegal aliens here as possible.

Employers couldn't discriminate against someone who's here illegally: that would be an unfair labor practice.

And, she'd double the number of "family reunion" visas, also known as "bring in the old folks so they can collect welfare and vote for others of our race" visas.

I'm sure there are many other wacky ideas in the bill, but that should be enough.

She has 20 co-sponsors. From California come:
Rep Bob Filner [CA-51]
Rep Michael M. Honda [CA-15]
Rep Barbara Lee [CA-9]
Rep Juanita Millender-McDonald [CA-37]
Rep Diane E. Watson [CA-33]

The People's Weekly World has more in "Immigrant rights are civil rights, meeting says".

Others joing Sheila Jackson Lee and that Communist rag at the meeting included:

* Odilia Romero of the Frente Indigena Oaxaqueno Binacional
* Marta Campos of the San Jose-based Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network
* Rev. Phil Lawson, retired pastor of the Easter Hill United Methodist Church
* Lillian Galedo of Filipinos for Affirmative Action
* Lamoin Werlein-Jaen of UNITE HERE Local 2
* Diane Tellefson of the United Farm Workers (also pimped AgJobs)
* labor journalist David Bacon

While it's easy to laugh about things like this, it should make anyone angry that people like Rep. Lee have any political power whatsoever.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:24 PM | Comments (0)

Why is the DHS ignoring illegal alien hiring halls?

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) wants to know, and he sent a strongly-worded letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. Details here, a copy of the letter here, including this question:

...Second, I would like you to reassure me that no federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security are being used to establish any day labor center or "hiring hall," not just in Herndon [VA] but throughout the United States. According to a July 18, 2005 article in The Wall Street Journal ("Immigration workers attract attention from activists"), the City of Houston "agreed to disburse $90,000 in federal grant money for a day labor center east of downtown." Federal taxpayers should not be footing the bill for illegal aliens to find work on U.S. soil...

Obviously, the Bush administration thinks differently.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 01:35 PM | Comments (2)

Even I've heard of this guy

The Argentinian coach of Mexico's Cruz Azul soccer team has been kidnapped in Nuevo Beirut Mexico City.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)

DHS squashes Border Patrol auxiliary idea

Earlier today the NYT picked up the story of the CBP considering forming some kind of BP auxiliary: Border Patrol Considering Use of Volunteers, Official Says:

...Robert C. Bonner, commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection, said his agency had focused on involving citizens after noting the willingness of volunteers to help federal agents catch illegal immigrants.

"It is actually as a result of seeing that there is the possibility in local border communities, and maybe even beyond, of having citizens that would be willing to volunteer to help the Border Patrol," Mr. Bonner said.

"We value having eyes and ears of citizens, and I think that would be one of the things we are looking at is how you better organize, let's say, a citizen effort," he said.

Mr. Bonner characterized the idea as an area his agency was considering...

You pesky citizens can put down your lawn chairs, as Washington has shot down the idea.

"Homeland Security backs off idea of civilian border patrol":

In a refutation of that controversial idea, a Homeland Security spokesman issued a statement Thursday backing off Bonner's suggestion.

"There are currently no plans by the Department of Homeland Security to use civilian volunteers to patrol the border," spokesman Brian J. Roehrkasse said. "That job should continue to be done by the highly trained, professional law enforcement officials."

Roehrkasse added that Bonner, whose agency is part of Homeland Security, had not told department officials "any specific details of the idea."

Really, were you expecting anything else from the cheap labor mad Bush administration?

Posted to Immigration2005b at 01:25 PM | Comments (1)

Memo to Dan Walters: there's more to it than just the illegal aliens

Dan Walters has a rather unremarkable column entitled "Debate over immigration never ends" that roundsup the attempts by Americans to end illegal immigration, and the attempts by those on the other side to encourage more of it.

It includes the following:

To many, illegal immigrants are simply human beings seeking to better themselves by filling difficult, low-paying jobs in agriculture, construction, restaurants and hotels that are vital to the economy. But to others, they are law-breaking invaders who drain the public treasury and whose ability to gain entry into California should not be rewarded.

It's not just about the illegal aliens themselves. It's also about employers making money off illegal immigration, political corruption, ethnic nationalism, legislators with obviously divided loyalties, and so on. Oddly enough, he doesn't acknowledge any of those issues.

And:

Last weekend, the immigration fires were rekindled when a handful of self-named California Minutemen began patrolling the border with Mexico, supposedly to help the Border Patrol spot illegal immigrants, but in reality to draw media attention and stir up opposition to illegal immigration.

The Minutemen likened themselves to a Neighborhood Watch but some apparently were armed and they attracted, as expected, denunciations from Latino rights groups, which branded them as vigilantes.

Now, read this. If the reports of the activities of the other side at Campo are any indication, the only surprise is that they weren't wearing white sheets. Strangely, that's not mentioned either.

Posted to California at 01:20 PM | Comments (2)

Yet another Bishop for Open Borders

The chairman of the episcopal Committee on Migration, Bishop Gerald Barnes, has come out in favor of the Kennedy-McCain amnesty scheme. From a report on his press release come these quotes:

"The legislation seeks to repair the current U.S. immigration system, a system which is broken and needs reform... This legislative proposal best reflects principles for immigration reform set forth by the United States bishops... The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005 represents a comprehensive and bipartisan approach to reforming our broken immigration system..."

See "America's immigration system is broken, and needs to be fixed" for a discussion of that favorite meaningless talking point of the Open Borders crowd. These people really need to come up with a new line.

Despite the empty blather quoted above, the Bishop did have something interesting to add:

Bishop Barnes expressed a desire to work with the sponsors of the legislation and others to include additional important provisions to the measure... These would include additional labor protections in the essential worker program for both U.S. and foreign workers; mechanisms to ensure that migrants are treated humanely by enforcement personnel; and provisions which allow for the involvement of community organizations in the implementation of the new program.

In other words, the Bishop wants what amounts to a cut. We'll help you bring in cheap laborers, and we'll get the concession on their souls.

Previously, see this post on Bishop Thomas Wenski.

Posted to at 07:36 PM | Comments (0)

"Unassimilated immigrants put nation at risk"

From GA State Rep. Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta):

...Immigration is not a bad thing. This country was founded as a melting pot of English, Irish, Scotch and later German, Italian, Asian and other legal immigrants. Those immigrants took pride in becoming Americans.

The problem with immigration today is that few who settle here are eager to earn citizenship. At the same time, illegal aliens drain our social programs, including Medicaid, Georgia's greatest fiscal challenge.

Too many of our new immigrants don't know a thing about American history, values or culture. In some cases they are only here to earn money to send back to their countries. Others are here to plot evil against us for embracing free markets, free speech, free assembly and freedom of religion.

In a speech to Congress in the early days of our nation, James Madison said that Americans should welcome immigrants who truly desire to join our society and assimilate. But, he said, it should reject those who want to operate as independent subcultures...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:31 PM | Comments (0)

Is America's CEO leading us towards a merger with Mexico?

Joseph Farah:

...The shadow government – the elitists – do indeed have a plan. And it is a plan that does not include any vestige of U.S. sovereignty or constitutional government. It is a plan for merger – a European Union-style government for North America and eventually the rest of the Americas and the world.

It's all spelled out in the latest reports by the Council on Foreign Relations. There's a five-year plan for the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community" with a common "outer security perimeter."...

Previously: "CFR's Plan to Integrate the U.S., Mexico and Canada"

Posted to NAU at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

Jose Raul Pena's long rap sheet

The previous post "Jose Pena should have just been deported" discussed the Watts man who was recently shot and killed by police during a standoff. His toddler daughter was shot and killed as well. Pena was using her as a human shield during the standoff.

The Los Angeles-based Mexican media, Commies, and various other groups have apparently been trying to portray Pena as a troubled saint.

For the truth, a list of all the crimes he was arrested and/or convicted for is currently here. Archive that page if you want, since that might not be a permalink.

UPDATE: As predicted, that last page has changed. The Pena information appears to be here, here, and here. If there are other pages with this info please leave a link.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 03:47 PM | Comments (1)

The Houston Chronicle has a blog about itself

This should come in handy, especially since they allow comments.

Posted to Bloggage at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

Fire Dreier! And, Fire Jerry Lewis! too

No, not one of my favorite (no, really) comics, but Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands). He voted against a bill that would have tied foreign aid to Mexico to them extraditing cop killers who've fled to that country.

Details of yesterday's protest in "Group wants Lewis ousted":

Holding posters and waving large and small American flags, a small group lined the sidewalk Tuesday near Rep. Jerry Lewis' district office, exhorting the public to vote him out.

What prompted the 25 to gather in the muggy 101-degree heat at Brookside Avenue and San Mateo Street is legislation to cut off financial aid to countries refusing to extradite suspected U.S. cop killers who fled to their shores...

Apparently they've "opened a dialogue" with Lewis' Deputy Chief of Staff. Note that Rep. David Dreier also voted against the bill.

The article references, but doesn't give the URL for, an anti-Lewis site. It's the aptly titled FireJerryLewis.com.

Posted to California at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)

AP, BS, and "U.S. Anti-Immigration Movement Spreads"

Duncan Mansfield of the AP offers us a roundup about the spread of offshoots of the Minuteman Project to several states around the nation.

The original AP title of the piece appears to be "U.S. Anti-Immigration Movement Spreads", which is contradicted by its very first paragraph:

A volunteer movement that vows to guard America from a wave of illegal immigration has spread from the dusty U.S.-Mexican border to the verdant hollows of Appalachia...

So, the headline was basically a lie: they aren't "anti-immigrant", they're "anti-illegal immigration". Despite that, the phrase "anti-immigration" is used in the second paragraph.

By just the fourth paragraph, the smears have begun:

Critics call the movement vigilantism, and some hear in the words of the Minutemen a vitriol similar to what hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan used against Southern blacks in the 1960s.

Later in the piece, a volunteer goes on the defensive, just like the AP wants:

The Tennessee Minutemen, which plans rallies in Memphis and Nashville and reputedly has heard from at least 120 potential members statewide, insist they are not vigilantes or racists.

Whether they insisted that they stopped beating their wives is left unanswered.

And, it includes this quote from a Morristown TN supporter of illegal immigration:

"The same sort of dogmatism that racists used against blacks in lower Alabama and across the South, I am seeing the same patterns here... They are using it as a racially divisive thing."

Is that quote from a racial group, or perhaps a far-left group? No, actually it's from Thom Robinson of the area Chamber of Commerce. Think they might have a profit motive in all this?

There would seem to be a whole other story here, and the AP doesn't seem to want to report it for some reason...

Note that this story appeared in the following under the original headline: WaPo, ABCNews, Frisco Chronical, al-Guardian, and Wired. Others that might have include the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and the Merc News.

It's also available here:
"Anti-immigration drive spreading"
"Anti-immigration group"

On a brighter note, these sources at least changed the headline:
"U.S. volunteer group fighting illegal immigration spreads far from Mexican border"
"US volunteer groups fight illegal immigration"

Posted to Immigration2005b at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)

Today in Luke Ford news

Los Angeles blogger, institution, gadabout, journalist, former pr0n producer, etc. Luke Ford is being sued, apparently for posting phone calls he received from a Hollywood producer. Details here. You can also see a copy of Ford's business card here.

UPDATE: According to another site, LukeFord.net might be under a DDOS attack. There's also some backstory here.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

nofollow breaks trackbacks, and what Firefox users can do

Let's say you create an entry on your blog that comments on this post. You give a link to this post and send a trackback*. That's the way trackbacks are supposed to work: they create a reciprocal link between two posts, each referring to the other.

But, let's say I was sneaky and I didn't really want a reciprocal link, I just wanted a one-way link from your site to mine.

What I could do is use a "nofollow" tag on the trackback link pointed back to you. While people might click on that link, search engines will ignore it. So, you've given me a nice link that search engines will follow, but I'm not returning the favor.

And, this appears to be MovableType's out of the box behavior with their latest versions. Most bloggers probably have this setup because they don't know better, but I'm sure there are more than a few who know what's going on.

If you use Firefox, you can install the one-liner described here in order to easily detect sites that use nofollow: those links show up as red text on a black background.

* Note: I've disabled trackbacks at least for now, but I don't use nofollow on other links left here.

Posted to Bloggage at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)

How the Georgia Department of Transportation saves money

Yesterday a highway worker was killed and another was injured while working for a GA DOT subcontractor. As it turns out, they were both illegal aliens:

...DOT spokesman David Spear said the agency will investigate the Hahira-based company that hired the workers. The company has done "intermittent" work for the department in the past, Spear said.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

Bush on John Roberts: "He has a good heart."

Who writes this stuff? However, I think that might be a secret message to Bush's evangelical base, along the lines of, "he's one of us."

Posted to Politics at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)

Democrats, Republicans grovel before National Council of The Race

Like two Stooges trying to get through a door at the same time, Ken Mehlman of the RNC and Howard Dean of the DNC spoke before the meeting of the National Council of La Raza ("The Race").

Now, if you follow that link you'll see that the NCLR is hardly a mainstream group, nor do their positions reflect those of all "Hispanics." In fact, one wonders how a group whose very name refers to Mexican mestizos could represent, say, Cubans or Argentinians.

It includes yet another priceless Dean quote:

In 2004, Dean charged, gays were "scapegoated" because the GOP put the issue of gay marriage on the ballots of 11 states to bring out the vote of conservatives. "In 2006, it's going to be immigrants. You wait and see," he said.

Obviously, this idiot thinks that controling our borders and restricting illegal immigration qualifies as "scapegoating."

And, the AP gets this in at the end:

But if Gabriela Arismendi, 23, of Chicago reflects the beliefs of the audience, the GOP has more work to do. A Democrat, she doesn't agree with the Republican Party's stand on issue such as immigration.

"I think they are very opposed to opening the border," said Arismendi, whose family is from Mexico.

So, apparently all "Hispanics" want to open the border, something that the vast majority of Americans oppose and something, as we see, is disastrous for the U.S. Either she's not representative, or perhaps our political leaders should put the interests of the rest of us above the interests of people who aren't even in the country.

Any Democrats out there might want to take a look at the letter printed in "Tamar Jacoby dissed, discredited". Because of pandering to far-left, pro-illegal immigration groups as well as the cheap labor lobby, salaries for meatpacking jobs in Iowa are reportedly the same as they were in 1980. Now, ask yourself: whose side is Howard Dean on? Is he on the side of American workers, or is he willing to sell them out for a few votes?

Posted to Politics at 05:23 PM | Comments (3)

"Mayor Bloomberg has betrayed all the legal residents of New York City"

The post "Mayor Mike fully supports illegal immigration" explained how Bloomberg had overturned a law - on the books since the 30s - requiring applicants for a street vendor's license to be here legally.

Now, the letters page of the NY Post has a few choice comments from his constituents:

-- Mayor Bloomberg has betrayed all the legal residents of New York City... Bloomberg, who signed this law with great fanfare, should be working on ways to provide fewer incentives to break our immigration laws, not more.

-- Illegal immigration should be prosecuted on more levels than just as a federal crime...

-- I am amazed at how uninformed Americans are of the negative effects that undocumented and illegal aliens have...

-- Descendants of those legal immigrants, who sacrificed to achieve the American dream, must cringe at the rights that are thrown at illegal aliens today...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:01 PM | Comments (1)

It's not called "al-Guardian" for nothing

An al-Guardian "trainee journalist", Dilpazier Aslam, appears to be involved or have been involved with the Islamist extremist group Hizb Ut Tahrir. Details here, via this.

Posted to Terrorism at 04:29 PM | Comments (1)

Los Angeles-Los Feliz Prius Owner's Club

I was chatting with a young lady driving her Prius earlier today at the gas station at Los Feliz Blvd. and Hillhurst. She told me her car gets 50 miles per gallon! If that's you, of if you're a Prius owner in Los Feliz or the greater Los Angeles area, leave a comment or send an email. Let's make Arianna Huffington proud!

Posted to Los_Angeles at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

"Good Reasons To Reject CAFTA"

From Bill Graves, Oklahoma City lawyer and former state representative:

Congress is debating the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), also known as son of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). America presumably benefits from "free" trade, and CAFTA allegedly will open up billions in trade between the United States and Central America. However, here's the other side of the story.

With CAFTA, as with its membership in NAFTA and the World Trade Organization, America will surrender more of its sovereignty as a nation and its states' rights to outside tribunals. For example, California's legislature passed a bill in 2004 to dispose of millions of scrap tires by recycling them into asphalt for road construction. When Mexican rubber producers claimed the bill violated NAFTA, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, citing NAFTA supremacy, vetoed the bill.

U.S. courts were overruled by a NAFTA tribunal in a dispute between Canadian and American firms. Afterward, a NAFTA tribunal judge said, "If Congress had known that there was anything like this in NAFTA, they never would have voted for it." He shouldn't be so sure. Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Warr Acres, who voted for NAFTA, believes that "U.S. sovereignty is less important than fostering interdependence and cooperation among nations with international bodies and tribunals..."

Previously: "Why does President George Bush support CAFTA?" and see also StopCAFTA.

Posted to NAU at 03:14 PM | Comments (2)

Illegal immigration-supporting governors complain about minor costs

The AP reports on the National Governors Association's summer conference in "Driver's license costs will skyrocket, governors warn". The three governors complaining are:

Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
Tom Vilsack of Iowa
Bill Richardson of New Mexico

Also see "Who is the Cheap Labor Lobby?" for the first two.

Those three were reportedly "fuming" and ready to complain to the DHS today.

Huckabee: "It's outrageous to pass this off on the states... You're essentially asking the front-line clerks at the DMV to become an INS agent and a law enforcement agent."

Vilsack: "This is going to drive the cost of driver’s licenses for ordinary folks through the roof... I think it’s going to drive people crazy."

Richardson says that giving illegal aliens driver's licenses has made roads safer, since licensed immigrants can get insured... adding that it also helps the state keep track of immigrants and integrate them into the community.

Follow the money, and, in the case of the last, follow the ethnic solidarity as well. Perhaps the wise folks of at least AR and IA could start a recall if their governors aren't going to do their part in trying to enforce our laws against illegal immigration.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 12:47 PM | Comments (1)

Why does President George Bush support CAFTA?

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) doesn't mention Our Leader in the editorial "CAFTA undermines immigration laws", but what he points out that's buried in the 1000-page agreement gives a clue to why Bush strongly supports it:

...One article of CAFTA reads, "Cross-border trade in services or cross-border supply of services means the supply of a service ... by a national of a party in the territory of another party." CAFTA goes on to stipulate that member nations take care to ensure that local and national "measures relating to qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards and licensing requirements do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade in services," and to guarantee that our domestic laws are "not in themselves a restriction on the supply of the service."

What those provisions mean is that a foreign company would be empowered under CAFTA to challenge the validity of our immigration laws. If an international tribunal rules against us, Congress would then be forced to change our immigration laws or face international trade sanctions. These tribunals have the authority to rule that U.S. immigration limits, visa requirements, or even licensing requirements and zoning rules are "unnecessary burdens to trade" that act as "restrictions on the supply of a service."

This hidden legislation to open the U.S. border is only the beginning...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 11:58 AM | Comments (1)

More fun with our search engine overlords

The search engine that rules our world is testing out new Artificial Intelligence technology that not only does things like spell checking, it checks to make sure that your search is accurate, and tries to correct it if possible. For an example, try this search: ed asner isnt an idiot.

On the other hand, try this for the pedantic, leftie version: ed asner isnt an idiot

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)

Live chat with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) Weds. 7/20/05

On that date, Cornyn will be having a live chat between 2:45 and 3:15pm (Dallas time) at this site. You can submit questions in advance.

I suggest that everyone asks him why he hasn't renounced Cato's proposal to create an EU-style North American Community. Read up on that proposal in "Sens. Cornyn, Kyl Prepare Massive Guestworker Plan", then see "Charlie Norwood on CATO's latest anti-American proposal" and "CFR's Plan to Integrate the U.S., Mexico and Canada". Since he invited Cato to his immigration "reform" panel, and he stacked that panel in favor of his viewpoint, and since he hasn't renounced what Cato said, I believe we can conclude that he agrees with them.

Posted to NAU at 08:54 AM | Comments (1)

The Bishop is a cheap labor pimp

A Hispanic reporter offers a (surprise!) sympathetic article about his fellow Hispanics (of the illegal variety) in the Orlando Sentinel's "Debate rages about amnesty, border controls". It includes this rather fantastic quote:

"If today you rounded up all the people without documents and sent them home, you would have a collapse of our agriculture business, and probably our restaurant business, not to mention our construction business," said Bishop Thomas Wenski, who leads the Roman Catholic diocese of Orlando. "You would see an economic impact that would make the 9-11 aftermath pale in comparison."

In addition to the last, offensive bit, don't you think it's fair to call the Bishop a cheap labor pimp?

This quote from a college student is interesting too:

"[My illegal alien parents] did break the law, but they weren't trying to be criminals," said Hernandez, 21, a sophomore at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. "The borders [that] people make are man-made. God didn't put the borders there."

"The fence around St. Edwards University is man-made. God didn't put that fence there! Therefore, I shall set up camp on their lawn! It's my right!" Seriously, some people will think she's making sense.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 07:44 AM | Comments (1)

Does Tampa Bay's Baynews9 support illegal immigration?

Or, are they just incompetent and gullible? I'll let you decide: "Loan programs allow undocumented residents to buy homes".

First, of course, there's the use of "undocumented." Then:

A company called Affordable Residential Communities (ARC) has implemented a new program that allows the use of a consular card and other immigration documents as proper ID for the purchase of pre-fabricated homes.

The first part of that paragraph - when put in the context of the rest of the article - reads like it's an advertisement. Could this report in fact be an advertorial of some kind? And, of course, the "consular card" is Mexico's own Matricula Consular card, which is basically and ID card for illegal aliens. It's only an "immigration document" in the sense of being a document designed to subvert our laws.

And, then, of course, there's the fact that the only downside of this program is presented in one final paragraph. Apparently there are some people who don't think illegal aliens should be given home loans. Go figure!

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:35 AM | Comments (0)

New York Times lies for Hillary Clinton

A few years ago, Hillary made the following statement that - were she not a "liberal" - would have resulted in her being banished from polite society:

I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants.

Oh my tender sensibilities!

Thankfully, as NewsMax points out in "N.Y. Times Alters Hillary Clinton's Immigration Quote", the NYT has come to her rescue, altering her quote to be:

I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigration.

What do you expect from the employer of Walter Duranty?

Posted to Politics at 05:19 AM | Comments (0)

Cornyn, Lugar offer hot air on illegal immigration

Knight-Ridder outlines a somewhat fantastic plot involving Los Zetas and a Mexico-based Arab people smuggler joining forces: "FBI bulletin outlines possible terrorist plot at Texas border". The Arab will get to smuggle explosives in trucks into the U.S.; the Zetas will get help freeing a cartel leader.

However, this information came from an informant, who may or may not be credible. KRT says this information is in a confidential but unclassified FBI intelligence bulletin, and apparently the FBI is opposed to its release.

On the larger issue, the article contains some interesting quotes:

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration and members of Congress from both parties have viewed the southern border as a weak link in efforts to keep terrorists out of the United States, even though the Sept. 11 terrorists entered the country with visas, some legal, others forged.

They also used illegally-obtained driver's licenses from various states, but that aside the idea that Bush and congress are concerned about our southern border - other than as a source of cheap labor - is news to me.

"That's been the concern all along, that there would be a bargain struck between al-Qaida or some (other) terrorist organization and these organized crime networks that would allow terrorists to be smuggled into the country," U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in an interview. "I think that's a very real concern."

Read him shining on his constituents who are concerned about illegal immigration here.

At a hearing Tuesday of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said: "Given the threat of international terrorism, there is great concern that our land borders could also serve as a channel for international terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. The threat of terrorist penetration is particularly acute along our southern border."

Lugar was present when Mexico's former foreign secretary threatened to allow terrorists to enter the U.S. As far as I know, he has neither condemned those remarks nor has he suggest that Castaneda be deported.

I wish I had one of those Edmund Scientific giant balloons, because there's so much free hot air available out there.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 04:17 AM | Comments (1)

Harry Potter & Ginny, Ron & Hermione, Beelzebub, Wiccanism, the Occult... and HELL!!!!!!!!

Gabriele Kuby is the woman who corresponded with Cardinal and now Pope Ratzinger about Harry Potter. She offers us "Ten Arguments Against Harry Potter". I'm afraid I'm forced to agree. If you read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince you are going to go to hell. Please, please, please do NOT read that book.

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

Tamar Jacoby dissed, discredited

Tamar Jacoby has almost become a caricature of the pro-illegal immigration, pro-cheap labor cheerleader so I hesitate to post this lest I be accused of piling on. But, since she's on the other side I don't think we can pile on enough.

Last week the L.A. Times printed yet another cheap labor editorial from her entitled "A Law That Means Business". Today they've printed a letter from a citizen that they've entitled "Corporate greed fuels illegal immigration":

[She] claims that the meatpacking industry in the Midwest would have collapsed without an influx of illegal alien workers.

Meat processing was a well-paid unionized craft until the 1980s, when big corporations were allowed to bust the unions and fill their plants with illegal immigrants. Wages in the industry fell by roughly 50% in real dollars during the 1980s.

Today, a meatpacker makes roughly $10 an hour, which is the same wage paid in 1980! Have you ever heard of an industry that had to lower wages because of a bona-fide shortage of workers?

Americans will do any job that pays a living wage.

The problem isn't workers, but the greed of big business and their enablers in Congress and the White House.

Previously: Tamar Jacoby on immigration "reform".

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:45 PM | Comments (3)

Bishop: Keep America Great!

The National Governors Association summer meeting is going on in Des Moines Iowa. Outside, 100 or so supporters of illegal immigration gathered to support, in the AP's words, "immigration reform."

The instigators appear to be Catholic Charities and Bishop Gregory Palmer of the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

According to the AP, [Palmer] said the governors should work to make America greater and to keep the American dream alive. AFAIK, the American dream involved laws, no? I mean, it wasn't all just ice cream and sunshine, now was it? In order to keep that American dream alive, we have to take all things into account and we need to be adult about tough subjects like whether we want to allow millions of people from another country to invade our country, especially when the AP informs us that one of the signs being carried said the following:

"We are here and we're not leaving."

Sounds like a threat to me, and part of the American dream involves not looking too very kindly on threats.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:35 PM | Comments (1)

Blogging promotion tip #832: summit registers

In past episodes, we've covered tattooing your URL on your forehead, balloon drops, engaging in a high-speed chase with your URL painted on the roof of your car, and putting your pet in a T-shirt with your blog's URL on it and parading it around town.

Todays tip is inserting blog advertising in summit registers.

As you can see from the comment from this site here, this has already paid off:

Hi. I picked up your blog business card at the top of Guadalupe Peak. Good idea. Will an entry on GP be forthcoming?

In an attempt to continue getting the phenomenal summit-register-related traffic, just yesterday I placed a summit register at Strawberry Peak. I placed a small notebook and a couple pens in a metal box festooned with kitty pictures, because that's all they had at the discount store. I also, of course, signed it using this blog's URL, so I fully expect the traffic to increase markedly in the coming months.

Bear in mind I'm quite serious about this promotion business. As usual I got a late start, and I was also delayed because they were holding a road rally of some kind in the Angeles National Forest and there appeared to have been a serious accident. I didn't see the accident, but I was in a long line of cars waiting for a helicopter to land so the injured person(s) could be transported out of there. I can't find a news report on this and I don't have any more details.

When I started hiking from Red Box up the eastern route, the radiation from the ground felt like I was standing next to an oven. There was very little breeze and it was muggy and smoggy. I eventually made it to the top and made it back down but I really should start earlier or later during the summer, eh? I also saw no one else going up or coming back, and I only saw a few other people in the Red Box parking lot. I really need to go to the Sierras soon. I'll bring blogging cards.

Posted to Bloggage at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

Guess The Celebrity Butt

Welcome to this week's edition of GTCB!

Today, one of our favorite celebrities was caught by our team of papparazzi doing yoga on her balcony. Can you guess who the yoga-togs clad butt here belongs to?

If you give up, here's a clue, and here's another one.

If you're still stumped, here she is taking a bow. I know I wish I were her "Friend"!

Via this, and don't forget that my collections of her other pictures starts here.

Posted to Celebrities at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

It's time for a pledge drive

Rather than a tip jar, I just want each of my readers to buy several Rejuvenique RJV10KIT Facial Toning Mask Kits. Note that that fine kit is currently or formerly endorsed by Linda Evans, TV Megastar.

Whatever you do, pay no attention to this page, this page, this page (the fact that the inventor is from Clearwater, FL is reportedly not a coincidence) or this page.

Posted to Bloggage at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Arresting illegal aliens at Air Force base puts New York Times in tizzy

Forty or so illegal aliens were recently arrested in a sting at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. Previous coverage starts in "Why the left is untrustworthy and weak on national security, Part #43823294". Now, to drive that point home, comes the NYT with "Immigration Sting Puts 2 U.S. Agencies at Odds".

As with other "liberal" coverage of this story, it concentrates on the poor illegal immigrants who were working at a military base. And, it concentrates on BICE defending their sting rather than, oh I dunno, advocates for illegal immigration defending supporting illegal aliens working at an Air Force base.

According to the federal Dep't of Labor:

"This is not something we were involved in, and we do not condone the use of OSHA's name in this type of activity."

And, reaching into their race group rolodex, the NYT has this quote:

"We think it's an absolute outrage and danger for the immigration authorities to use this type of tactic," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy group for Hispanics. "Our labor law system is completely complaint-driven, and our ability to keep the work force safe depends on workers being able to complain, and by masquerading as OSHA officials, immigration authorities will clearly discourage immigrant workers from coming forward. This won't affect just immigrant workers, it will affect the safety of all workers."

There's much more about the National Council of the Race at the link above.

If "liberals" would stop defending massive illegal immigration and giving cover to those corrupt businesses that employ that labor, this wouldn't be an issue.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 11:01 AM | Comments (2)

Fmr. FBI Agent: Canada terror haven; Canuck "liberals" dispute

From "Former FBI Official: Canada's Immigration Laws Too Lenient":

A former FBI official who currently specializes in international terrorism, counterintelligence, and foreign counterintelligence is warning that Canadian immigration laws are too lenient and make Canada a perfect destination for would-be terrorists.

Speaking at the 15th World Terrorist and Disaster Management Conference in Toronto this week, Ty Fairman said Muslim radicals are arriving in Canada and heading for Ontario because of that province's existing and extensive Muslim population. According to Fairman, Canada is home to approximately 750,000 Muslims. Sixty-one percent of that population lives in Ontario with 5% of that number living in Toronto. Fairman added that Toronto has the highest number of Muslims in any North American city.

Fairman went on to say that the al-Qaida terror network distributes intricate training manuals to all members which offer step-by-step instructions in how to effectively infiltrate nations in the western hemisphere adding, "One of their main missions, as far as expansion, is to travel to places undetected, unnoticed, go to places with lenient immigration laws."

Now, for the second part of my title:

A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan quickly rebuffed Fairman's warnings concerning this country's lax immigration laws maintaining that existing laws do not draw the attention of international terror groups.

Either there's a translation problem, or McLellan is an absolute idiot. Apparently at the conference she said that Canadians need to prepare themselves for a large terrorist attack.

The latter prompted "Dave Harris, a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service chief of strategic planning" to say:

"That gave me the uneasy feeling that we were living in a fool's paradise, that now we have to be prepared for an attack. I'm worried that we are skipping a step... What we need is to get a grip on our disgraceful immigration policies because we don't know what radicals are coming in... We need to hold the politicians' feet to the fire because the topic of immigration has been untouchable... Do we have to accept a number of bloody outbursts rather than come to a head with politically sensitive issues?"

The report "Would-be terrorists see Canada as perfect destination, ex-FBI agent says" (also here) has another idiotic comment from McLellan's spokesperson.

And, from last year, see "Canada admits: We're terror haven":

The [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] report confirms a recent U.S. Library of Congress study that said Canada's welfare system, immigration laws, infrequent prosecutions and light sentences had turned the country into "a favored destination for terrorists."

Posted to Immigration_terror at 08:55 AM | Comments (1)

"Who is the Cheap Labor Lobby?"

FPM has a good roundup of those groups that support massive illegal immigration. Their list of the perps includes:

- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and the high-tech industry...
- The meat packing industry...
- Clothing manufacturers...
- Unions...
- The hotel and restaurant industry...
- The ultra-wealthy – both liberals and nominal conservatives...
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, led by Grover Norquist...
- The governors of certain rural, Midwestern states...

Regarding the last, see Vilsack in Iowa and Huckabee in Arkansas.

Of course, what they forgot is the Washington establishment, including Bush, most of Congress, and most of those in the permanent government.

They also discuss various libertarian economic myths, including this:

Cheap labor is not real capitalism, it is corporatism, for cheap labor is subsidized by the government, which ends up paying the health and welfare costs of these workers. All taxpayers bear the cost.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:40 AM | Comments (3)

Why the left is untrustworthy and weak on national security, Part #43823294

Remember the recent story about 50 illegal aliens working at an Air Force base in North Carolina? (If not, see "No donuts for the N.C. Department of Labor"). Remember how the BICE found a unique way to make sure that they could all be rounded up by staging a fake mandatory OSHA meeting?

Remember how a twig boy from the N.C. Dep't of Labor whined about this novel way to arrest illegal aliens working at a military base, including one from the Ukraine?

If you haven't had your fill of twig boys, there's a (sympathetic) round up condemnations of the arrests here.

Those complaining about this sting included:
- AFL-CIO [PDF]
- United Food and Commercial Workers [PDF]
- Raleigh News Observer: "Worker safety setback"
- Plus a few "liberal" bloggers whose thoughts aren't worth linking to

Let me repeat that for those who are hard of understanding like those linked above: these were illegal aliens working at a military installation.

Posted to at 05:38 AM | Comments (1)

Castle Rock State Park: hikers beware

Relatively small pot farms have been discovered in Castle Rock State Park in the Bay Area between Palo Alto and Santa Cruz: "Drug-gang farmers increasingly squat on state lands". The drug gangs are from Mexico, and the tenders of the plots are illegal aliens from that country, some of whom are apparently armed:

...One plot was found after a mountain biker stuck a note in a ranger’s kiosk at Nisene Marks State Park, and another was spotted by a fisherman near Skyline Boulevard, he said. That man was confronted by armed men believed to work for a Mexican drug cartel, he said.

But because the plots are remote, deputies get more complaints about the noisy helicopter than about the marijuana plantations...

...In the county, over the years, [Joanne Danielson, public safety superintendent for Santa Cruz district State Parks] said, gardens have been established in in Castle Rock, Big Basin, Henry Cowell and Nisene Marks state parks.

These are rural areas which are located not far from large estates inhabited by some people who are very rich. Perhaps they'll decide that living with helicopter noise is better than finding that cartels are growing pot on or near their property.

On a Bay Area visit a few years ago, I snagged some county highpoints, two of which are very near Castle Rock. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit that park as I understand there's some rock climbing and scrambling. This page describes a popular hike there, and this page describes the 32 mile Skyline to Sea trail. There's a good map here.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)

Jose Pena should have just been deported

On July 10th, police shot and killed Jose Pena in Watts as he was engaged in a shootout with them. At the time he was using his toddler daughter as a human shield, and she was killed also.

This has prompted some of the usual sleaze to support the shooter's side, complain about the cops, etc. For instance, from "Video Adds to Picture of LAPD Shootout":

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) released a written statement expressing sympathy for the family and adding: "I just wonder if 11 well-trained police officers, including some from the sharp-shooting elite SWAT team could not have disabled this supposedly crazy and confused man."

And, from "Toddler Shooting Exposes Tensions in L.A.":

Dozens of protesters wave signs branding police as "baby killers." They heckle passing police cars as lines of baton-toting officers keep close watch on the restless crowd...

According to Eric Leonard on KFI, some of these protestors have ulterior motives. Specifically, one of the groups attempting to agitate those in the area is a Communist organization. Even less savory characters - if that's possible - are also trying to agitate that community.

The Mexican media in Los Angeles is also trying to inflame their compadres and supposedly lying through their teeth, trying to portray Pena as a saint.

Not only that, but Pena was an illegal alien with a long history of run-ins with the judicial system. In fact, he was deported back to El Salvador. He came back in 1996, and was subsequently arrested for DUI. All of his run-ins that Leonard mentioned occurred in the City of Los Angeles and were with the LAPD.

Recall that L.A. has a sanctuary policy - called Special Order 40 - and our new mayor recently reiterated that policy.

Note also that local black activist Najee Ali - who was recently arrested for protesting against Mexico's racist stamps in front of L.A.'s Mexican consulate - has been shown video tapes of the incident by police and has since encouraged everyone to remain calm. Apparently he realizes that there's more to this than the anti-American groups have been trying to portray.

7/20/05 UPDATE: In the first (rushed) version I didn't make it clear that he and his daughter were both killed in the shootout, since corrected.

Also, see this for more.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 05:11 PM | Comments (3)

Soros-funded Media Matters still deleting comments

To the best of my knowledge, even the Huffington Post has published and not deleted the several comments I've left there, even on their moderated threads.

However, MediaMatters for America - the outfit that receives funding from George Soros - has deleted my comments in the past, and it looks like they've done it again.

The latest was on the thread Limbaugh blasted Mehlman's renunciation of GOP racial tactics: "Republicans are going to go bend over and grab the ankles". At that thread I left a comment with links to "NAACP Chairman Compares Republicans to Terrorists", this, and a couple other posts. Of course, there was no swearing, personal attacks, or anything remotely similar in my comment. Just the truth.

On the other hand, at the same time I left the following comment on the thread "ABC's Tapper misstated law on Rove's disclosure of Plame's identity":

Jake Tapper used to be reliable, but he's obviously not on our side anymore.

What we learn: if you leave an informative comment at the Soros-funded MMFA, and it shows just how wrong they are, it stands a good chance of being deleted.

However, they don't understand satire, so that gets to stay.

On a related note, this puts them in the same scared-of-the-truth category as KoolAid Central.

Posted to Bloggage at 01:56 PM | Comments (1)

More on Raul Hinojosa of UCLA

Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda is an associate professor of political economy at the University of California at Los Angeles, and the MSM frequently turns to him for a "Latino" viewpoint. For instance from 2001:

-- IMMIGRATION: The recently released UCLA study on the economic impact of the broad legalization of undocumented Mexican immigrants working in the United States is reported in today's Agence France-Presse, Copley News Service and Associated Press. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, director of UCLA's North American Integration and Development Center and author of the study, is quoted in each article.
AP: "Study favors legalization of undocumented workers"
AFP: "Legalizing undocumented workers has economic benefits for US"
CNS: "Legalization of immigrants could help economy, study says"

Unfortunately, none of those appear to be available online. And, Hinojosa was mentioned in Business Week's story about corporations profiting off illegal immigration:

[Hinojosa's startup No Borders Inc.] offers debit-like cards on which immigrants can store cash, send money home, pay for video teleconferencing calls, and join medical discount plans. Going head-to-head with First Data Corp.'s Western Union Financial Services and other wire transfer services, No Borders plans to open 150 storefronts from Los Angeles to Georgia by September.

So, the author of an academic study favoring legalizing illegal aliens is profiting off illegal immigration. That sure gives me a great deal of confidence in his research.

But, wait, there's more. Hinojosa was also on the one-sided panel at First Data's "immigration reform" confab where a fight broke out (see "The Denver Post's sloppy journalism" for recent news about that incident).

And, there's even more! He's also the brother of CNN correspondent Maria Hinojosa, who brought us the documentary "Immigrant Nation - Divided Country".

Isn't it interesting how all these supporters of massive illegal immigration are interlinked?

Posted to NAU at 11:36 AM | Comments (1)

Robbing Peter to pay for OTMs

Yesterday the Senate voted against two bills: one would have added 2000 more Border Patrol agents, and the other would have added 8000 more beds to detention centers. As previously discussed, Other-Than-Mexicans ("OTMs") who sneak across the border in Texas have been taking advantage of the lack of detention space: they're ordered to appear, released into the community, and the vast majority are never heard from again.

But, the Senators have an excuse: apparently both bills would have been paid for by taking money that would have gone to states and localities to pay for first responders.

Tough-talkin' Hillary Clinton voted against both bills, Ken Salazar (D-CO) voted for both. Details in "Senate shuns attempt to add agents".

Of course, one wonders why they were given such a Hobbesian choice in the first place.

Posted to Politics at 11:15 AM | Comments (1)

"American Companies Embrace 11 Million Illegals"

Jim Meyers has a partial list of some of those large, corrupt corporations that are profiting off illegal immigration.

This is a roundup, not just a rewrite of the recent Business Week article promoting the illegal alien market. Regarding that article, see this short interview the author did with Lou Dobbs.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 08:38 PM | Comments (2)

Homeland Security, Bush administration style

"Immigration Overhaul Seen as Key to Domestic Security":

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, portraying immigration policy as a vital weapon against terrorism, pledged Wednesday to tighten border security but also called on Congress to approve a guest worker program that would make it easier for foreign workers to enter the country legally.

"We must gain full control of our borders to prevent illegal immigration and security breaches," Chertoff said...

Etc., etc. Say, how's the war with Eurasia going?

But seriously, see "Immigration reform versus the scare-quoted variety".

Posted to Immigration2005b at 07:34 PM | Comments (1)

"CFR's Plan to Integrate the U.S., Mexico and Canada"

Phyllis Schlafly:

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has just let the cat out of the bag about what's really behind our trade agreements and security partnerships with the other North American countries. A 59-page CFR document spells out a five-year plan for the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community" with a common "outer security perimeter."

...The experience of the European Union and the World Trade Organization makes it clear that a common market requires a court system, so the CFR document calls for "a permanent tribunal for North American dispute resolution." Get ready for decisions from non-American judges who make up their rules ad hoc and probably hate the United States anyway.

The CFR document calls for allowing Mexican trucks "unlimited access" to the United States, including the hauling of local loads between U.S. cities. The CFR document calls for adopting a "tested once" principle for pharmaceuticals, by which a product tested in Mexico will automatically be considered to have met U.S. standards.

The CFR document demands that we implement "the Social Security Totalization Agreement negotiated between the United States and Mexico." That's code language for putting illegal aliens into the U.S. Social Security system, which is bound to bankrupt the system.

Here's another handout included in the plan. U.S. taxpayers are supposed to create a major fund to finance 60,000 Mexican students to study in U.S. colleges...

There's much more at the link, and see also "Charlie Norwood on CATO's latest anti-American proposal" and "Think of yourself as a North American, citizen".

If Bush is helping to bring about a "North American Community", shouldn't he be impeached? It wouldn't necessarily be a victory for "liberals" if pro-America conservatives were the ones who lead the charge.

Posted to NAU at 06:27 PM | Comments (1)

"Feds: Illegal Immigration Fuels N. Georgia Gang Activity"

The AP has the scoop:

Illegal immigration is contributing to a growth in gang activity in north Georgia, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Wednesday after a law enforcement summit addressing the problem.

Nahmias, federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Georgia, said the past few years have seen a "serious increase in our gang problem." He said the addition of new Asian and Hispanic gangs -- joining more traditional white and black gangs -- has been a factor in crimes ranging from truancy and theft to drug dealing and murder.

"As we gain population, particularly when we see illegal immigration increase, we're also seeing gang activity increase with that," Nahmias said...

Posted to Immigration_terror at 05:08 PM | Comments (1)

SeaCode, illegal immigration, and liberal hypocrisy

"Liberals" are up in arms about SeaCode, a plan to float a cruise ship in international waters off San Diego. Aboard would be 600 programmers from other countries, diligently typing away. The plan is to be able to combine cheap foreign labor with close proximity to the U.S. for meetings with the companies they're churning out code for and to avoid time zone issues.

The linked thread is called "Sweatshops at Sea" and the author brings up several ways labor laws and such could be abused.

Bear in mind, we're talking about 600 programmers.

Meanwhile, seemingly every move "liberals" and Democrats make is to bring in more cheap labor by keeping the border as porous as possible. See, for just one example, the Kennedy-McCain amnesty plan that would encourage millions more illegal aliens to come to the U.S. (That reminds me: did McCain ever return FAIR's phone calls after promising to debate them about his scheme?)

I don't know exactly how to explain this, as my mind is thankfully wired a bit differently. Perhaps it's a matter of whose ox is being gored, or perhaps it's because those foreign programmers won't be voting illegally, or something. If the ship were full of illegal alien nannies, busboys, and janitors, the "liberals" and Democrats would be the first in the line to call anyone who opposed SeaSerf xenophobes and racists.

Odd, ain't it?

(Via Cap'n Kevin, who's outraged as well)

Posted to Immigration2005b at 04:56 PM | Comments (1)

DUmmies wising up about illegal immigration?

I don't want to disturb their fragile attempts to come to their senses, so don't everyone click on the following link. Maybe, copy and paste it instead of just clicking on it. The DUmmyland thread "Non-Mexicans arrested at U.S. border nearly doubled" has a few of the usual kneejerk comments, but it also includes this:

"Aguilar said that last year the border patrol detained 644 people from "countries of concern" and had stopped some 500 this year. They were subjected to intense interrogation and investigation."

How much damage could 500 people possibly do? After all, there were 19 hijackers on September 11 and they barely did any damage at all.

And, this from another poster:

...we want them here legally, and in controlled numbers, so that a flood of cheap illegal labor doesn't drive Americans out of their jobs. 10 years ago, most roofers in Denver were Americans, and they made damned good money. Then some unscrupulous employer figured out he could save some money and outcompete his competition by hiring illegal laborers for dirt cheap. Pretty soon, his competition either had to stoop to his tactics and hire illegals, or go out of business.

Oh, and since they are here illegally, they can't get a driver's license. And since they don't have a driver's license, they don't get insurance. And since they don't have insurance (not that they could afford it anyway) my insurance has to pay when an uninsured motorist damages my vehicle. And since my insurance has to pay, my rates have to increase. And naturally, their employer certainly isn't going to give them medical insurance, so the same holds true there.

Now, on the other hand, if he is here legally, he can provide ID, get a drivers license, buy insurance, and complain to legal authorities if he is being abused or taken advantage of by an unscrupulous employer. He has rights. Employers can't pay him less than minimum wage. He can apply for a legal social security number. He can testify in court without fear of deportation. He could even join or form a union to strike for higher wages or better work conditions.

Do I blame the immigrants? No. They are just doing what they can to improve their lives. I'd do the same thing in their shoes. I blame the US govt, unscrupulous greedy employers, and pandering politicians. Since employers from packing plants to landscapers to roofers to janitorial services companies to Walmart need and want an endless supply of ever cheaper labor, the US govt makes almost NO effort to control it. Republicans don't stop it because the employers pay them to let it continue. Democrats don't stop it because they like the idea of people being able to improve their lot in life, but they fail to recognize the costs to American workers in terms of wage pressures, higher insurance rates, and higher taxes.

You say "we've got bigger problems than illegal Mexicans working for less than minimum wage". But I say we don't. The biggest concern I have for the future of this entire country (and hemisphere for that matter) is the destruction of America's middle class...

Posted to Bloggage at 12:44 PM | Comments (1)

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Mexico, and illegal immigration

It appears that Utah's new governor, Jon Huntsman Jr., might be on the wrong side as far as Mexico and illegal immigration are concerned.

Although he's "defied" Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, he appears to be in lock-step with Our Leader on the U.S. sovereignty and massive illegal immigration issue.

Today's "Fox says he's coming to Utah" describes a Huntsman visit to Mexico. The gov. is giddy over the prospect of a Vicente Fox visit, hoping that it's sooner rather than later. Apparently the gov. has a "Utah-Mexico Alliance for Prosperity" plan which will involve more direct flights as well as more ties between that Third World country and First World Utah.

Fox had kind words for Utah's new "driving privilege card system", which gives special driver's licenses to those who are in this country illegally:

"He thanked us for compromising and continuing mobility in our state," Huntsman said.

Well, it's always good when the lider of a corrupt Third World country thanks you for allowing his citizens who are in your country illegally to have driving privileges, isn't it?

Huntsman also supports "immigration reform" and he wants to schedule a summit. There are 200,000 Mexicans in Utah.

Huntsman also spoke to Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez, who oversees Mexico's chain of consulates.

A similar AP report is here.

As for Huntsman, he appears to be from a rich family with deep ties. His family owns Huntsman Corp., a billion-dollar chemical company that went public recently. And, his father is described here as a friend of Darth Dick Cheney. And, this long article describes how he was named a trade representative to China by Our Lider Jorge Arbusto.

The political career of another fine American from Utah, U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, seems to have taken a tumble of late. Let's hope Utahns likewise wake up to Huntsman.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

Lunkheaded jocks for Bush

I must have missed this the first time around, but in October several well-known amateur and professional athletes signed a letter in support of Our Leader.

You can get the text-only version here, and to see it in its proper BushBot context, go here (that last is a large file, but if you're a KoolAid researcher it's quite interesting; he's even got a pic of Our Leader in his pickup).

Lunkheads signing the letter included Ernie Banks, Nolan Ryan, John Elway, Steve Largent, Karl Malone, Jack Nicklaus, Mary Lou Retton, Nolan Ryan, Roger Staubach, Lynn Swann, Craig Biggio, Carlos Beltran, and Kerri Strug.

(Man, those G SERPS suck. Try searching for '"kerri strug" "bobby hill"' and see where my choice came up. Please, everyone start using Y!)

Posted to Politics at 11:32 AM | Comments (1)

"Mexico's Defense of Illegal Immigrants"

FAIR has a roundup of our wacky meddling neighbors' activities. I'd suggest sending it to anyone who needs some background on this issue.

It includes a July 11 letter to Condi Rice, which probably was trampled underfoot as the Bush administration rushed to open the door to as many illegal aliens as possible:

We have watched with growing concern the developing pattern of involvement in domestic policies of the United States by representatives of the Mexican government with no public comment by the Executive Branch. These activities include efforts to persuade local governments to recognize the Mexican consular identity card as a valid identity document for local governmental purposes, to persuade state governments to issue driver's licenses to Mexican nationals who are in our country illegally and other activities, and most recently interference in enforcement of local housing laws...

I am convinced that a U.S. response to these provocative actions is overdue as demonstrated anew by the recent action of Mexican consul general Arturo Sarukhan as described in the enclosed news account in the July 6th edition of Newsday.

Madam Secretary, this latest incidence of Mexican interventionism in internal policy issues is an affront, and I implore you to take appropriate action to bring to the attention of the Mexican government that this unacceptable behavior will not be permitted. You should know that our 135,000 members and supporters throughout the country are incensed by the lack of Executive Branch action to rein in the activities of the Mexican government in our country. They will not be satisfied unless there is public evidence that their concern is being heeded.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

Now with 20% more Asian content!

Picture to the right are NYC mayoral candidate Virginia Fields and her supporters. The bottom photo was produced from the top by Photoshopping in two Asians who were not supporters. Apparently the airbrushing was done by her direct mail company. (Via this).

From "C. Virginia Fields tries damage control over doctored photo":

Ominously, Fields refused to rule out the existence of other doctored photos, saying her staff was looking into the matter.

The presser had a weird Watergate aura, with a rattled Fields saying she wanted to make it "perfectly clear" no wrongdoing had been done, TV reporters inexplicably referring to her as "Madam President" and one TV person asking her "who ... knew what, when?"

On a more serious note, Fields supports non-citizen voting.

And, her opponent Fernando Ferrer is a buddy of former MEChA member and current Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

And, in other pandering news, "Mayor Mike fully supports illegal immigration".

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 09:44 AM | Comments (3)

Fraud discovered at the Virginia DMV

A couple who worked at the Virginia DMV were recently arrested for giving out driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Details in "Virginia DMV official, wife held" or "Driver's license fraud alleged".

Note the quote from a U.S. Attorney:

"We must aggressively safeguard our identification systems. The integrity of state driver's licenses is critical to our commerce as well as our national security."

Gil Cedillo has apparently not got the word.

In past coverage, see "The 9/11 hijackers and driver's licenses" (they got several licenses from that state) and "Driver's license scandals raise national security worries".

Posted to Immigration_dls at 01:51 PM | Comments (1)

Bart Jones of Long Island Newsday reporting... on media bias?

Now that's a twist! As previously discussed, Suffolk County (Long Island New York) executive Steve Levy has begun cracking down on clown houses containing dozens of illegal aliens. The press coverage from the "so-called" liberal media has not been kind, including weepy puff pieces from Bart Jones of Newsday.

What an ironic twist it is to find Jones reporting on Levy's complaints about media bias in "Housing issue gets heated":

An angry Suffolk Executive Steve Levy lashed out at the news media Monday, including Newsday, for its coverage of the Mexican day laborer evictions in Farmingville and said it is missing the real story -- the many residents who support the crackdown on illegally overcrowded houses...

Levy, a Democrat, said residents of Farmingville "cheered" the housing crackdown that started June 19, but their happiness "changed to dismay when they saw in the media the focus of the attention ... This is not an issue about race or immigration or long-term housing. It's an issue about the integrity of neighborhoods."

As can be expected, the other side was present:

Levy is "missing the real sentiments of Long Islanders," said Patrick Young of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, who has called Levy "public enemy No. 1" in the Latino community and whom Levy has labeled part of a "lunatic fringe." The Latino community "has to be dealt with respectfully and cannot simply be rousted out of their houses and thrown out onto the streets."

Young is or was the chairman of the New York Immigration Coalition. The link tells you all you need to know about that fine, American institution.

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 06:32 PM | Comments (2)

Blogging 500 Internal Server Error problems solved; a plea

I haven't had any of those nagging 500 Internal Server Errors today, so perhaps the author of DBD::mysql has finally fixed the problem and done so in a way that cPanel can automatically update itself with the new version.

I also have a plea that's driving me wacky. Did you come here looking for cat_politics.html, and did you get a 404? That's because there's a space before "archives" in the URL you followed. Please leave a comment telling me where that URL can be found, since I can't find it. (The space might be a "%20", or it might just be a regular blank space).

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

Mayor Mike fully supports illegal immigration

The New York Daily News supports illegal immigration, and their article "Vendors sold on Bloomberg" makes it quite clear that Mayor Mike Bloomberg does as well.

Since the 1930s, applicants for street vendor licenses have been asked whether they have the legal right to work here. Mayor Mike just signed into law a bill that eliminates that question.

According to "Flor Bermudez, staff attorney for Esperanza del Barrio, a group that works with Mexican and Latino immigrants":

"We're all very happy because the city will no longer discriminate against immigrants in the licensing process for street vending licenses"

I really don't have to point out that her use of the word "immigrants" is a lie: only "illegal immigrants" were prevented from getting such licenses in the past 70 years.

"Republican Minority Leader James Oddo of Staten Island" made a similar point:

"We all come from other shores," Oddo had said. "The difference ... is that my forefathers came here legally. These folks are here illegally."

Which prompted Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) to criticize:

...Oddo's comments as "racist" for assuming that all immigrant vendors are illegal.

Obviously, using the word "racist" is shorthand for "shut up". And, if they had kept the law, we could assume that they were all legal.

Based on "AVWatch: Why are foreign leaders coming to Villaraigosa's inauguration?" and "New York City blacks have a friend in Mayor Mike Bloomberg" I now believe that Mayor Mike is just pandering.

In other words, he's willing to ignore our laws and encourage massive illegal immigration in order to get votes. And, of course, he's doing this in the city that experienced America's worst terror attack.

Perhaps there could be a way for the federal government to step in and replace him with a pro-American mayor.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:54 PM | Comments (1)

Canada signs "cyberhate" law, now as bad as China

Last week Canada joined Europe in fulfilling Orwell's nightmare: "Canada signs protocol to fight 'cyberhate'". According to Canada's Justice Minister Irwin Cotler:

"No one country alone can combat racist hate, particularly cyberhate... This is an anonymous, borderless, faceless crime. We've gone from five hate sites on the Internet in 1995 to 5,000 in 2005. These are horrific sites. They're used for purposes of recruitment. They particularly target the young. It is predatory hate of the worst kind... We believe that incitement to hatred is the most proximate cause of terrorism itself. Therefore, if you're combating incitement to hatred, you're combating terrorism..."

I haven't read the law, but CNN defines "cyberhate" as "the online dissemination of xenophobic propaganda". All you need to do is look at all the times that "liberals" attempt to smear people and statements as "xenophobia" to see just how dangerous this is.

A note to my Canadian friends/mes amis Canadienne:
Welcome! Je vous encourage de lutter cette loi avec toutes votres forces! Dit <<non>> a la thoughtcrime!

Welcome! I encourage you to fight this law with all your might! Say "No" to thoughtcrime!

Bloggers and other may have to consider blocking Canadian access to their sites unless this is overturned.

(On a literally parenthetical note: If you want to see how bad G's SERPs suck, search for 'Orwell'. Wow. I ended up linking to WP since I didn't want to scroll any further down.)

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 12:49 PM | Comments (3)

Houston "leaders" to Minuteman Project: you're "unkind"

Shocking news out of Houston, as the entire city - every last man, woman, child, and household pet - has turned out in opposition to the Minuteman Project.

Well, not quite. But, reading the report "Houston leaders: 'No to Minutemen, yes to immigration reform'" from KHOU you might get that completely false impression.

It includes this quote from "Fr. Paul English, Vicar for Hispanic Families at St. Anne Catholic Community":

"Nobody can deny that our Country's immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed... We've got exploited workers, divided families, deaths in the desert, fake documents. And now an anti-immigrant militia group is coming to Houston to intimidate members of our community. We need a strong, united voice from local leadership to call for immediate action from Congress."

Now, where have we heard that crap before? See "America's immigration system is broken, and needs to be fixed" for more on this robotic talking point. Did he read that off a card, or does he have it memorized?

Others who attended the meeting and called for complete amnesty for illegal aliens included:

Catholic Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza an interfaith coalition of Houston-area clergy City Council Members Gordon Quan and Adrian Garcia Rev. David Meeker-Williams, a Methodist pastor

And, here's more from English:

"These are people who have left everything in their own country... It's often because there are just no opportunities for them. They come here to try to eek out a living day by day. And for someone to put that in danger, with no real purpose, there doesn't seem to be any kind plan they have, just to intimidate people. And it seems to me to be pretty unkind."

Awwwww. Perhaps the good Fr. could engage his left brain a little bit and try to figure out a better way to deal with this issue. After all, doesn't the Catholic church say that you should follow the frigging law?

Posted to Immigration2005b at 11:42 AM | Comments (2)

Now that's an interesting vacation

Some people have... hobbies. I'm sure there's more than one person who's spent a week driving 3597 miles in a big circle (that's at least 8 hours of road time per day), starting in Houston TX, hitting various tourist spots along the way, and ending up back in Houston.

But, I doubt whether too many people have done so with a radiation monitor and a GPS.

And, I'm sure there's only one person who's put a graph of the trip mapping elevation and radiation levels on their web site.

Posted to OutdoorSports at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

Space aliens in Los Padres National Forest?

Scientists have discovered a three acre "hotspot" in Los Padres National Forest in Southern California. Ground temperatures in that area run as high as 400 degrees, with one spot 11 feet underground at an unbelievable 584 degrees. The hotspot is located in the Dick Smith Wilderness (map) and was discovered after it started a forest fire last year.

Most volcanic vents run at about 200 degrees, so top scientists who have been called in are stumped. So far they've eliminated oil, gas, or coal deposits, and there have been no loud bangs or earthquakes in that area. However, they have not ruled out it being related to seismic activity in some way.

A few years ago I hiked up both Sawmill Mountain (highest point in Kern County) and Mt. Pinos (highpoint of Ventura County). Both of those are in this Forest, albeit not in the same area. I didn't write up those reports, because what I saw there... well...

Although the article did not mention it, my sources inform me that another, much more worrying possibility has not been ruled out. Namely, that this could be due to a crashed space alien ship's power supply. Meanwhile, boffo baffins continue digging for clues...

Posted to WackyHumor at 02:14 PM | Comments (1)

Terrifying Larry Ellison plot revealed

[I posted this to USENET some years back. In the unlikely event you remember the references and find this funny, see also my satire about Java's Duke mascot.]

EAST NEWARK, Calif. July 31, 1999 (W-I-R-E-D News) - A terrifying video tape purportedly showing Oracle CEO Larry "Lawrence" Ellison conceiving a dastardly plot for world domination has just been discovered.

The video, obtained through trusted but unnamed sources, shows Ellison - dressed in full Samurai regalia and petting a stuffed Koi fish - discussing the details of his plot. The video, although grainy and very low-quality, appears to have been shot in Ellison's secret mountain fortress high above Newark in the East Bay Area.

"Henceforth, I shall no longer be known as Lawrence Ellison! From this moment forward, I shall be known as Supreme Samurai Shigetoshi of the clan Hasegawa!" the tape begins. "We shall install NCs in all of America's motel rooms! America shall entrust its data to me, the Supreme Samurai! The PC Revolution shall finally be quelled! We shall have access to all data! All Britney Spears fakes shall be mine! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The tape reveals some technical details of the plot. The "Motel Rules" sign on the back of each motel room door will be replaced with a two foot by three foot poster, printed in six point type, listing common Linux commands, explaining how to remove Netscape lock files, explaining what to do when Netscape crashes, explaining how to figure out how many Netscape windows can be opened before Netscape crashes, explaining how to tell whether Netscape is just thinking or has actually crashed, explaining how to figure out if Netscape will print anything after having printed 'Starting Java...', explaining how to set the classpath, and explaining how to reboot the system. "America shall gladly give up her hard drives simply to prevent Netscape from corrupting them!"

A spokesperson from Oracle's Apologistics department stated that the tape is "an obvious forgery." He stated that "these are the types of ideas you only have when you're really, really drunk. You know, almost-about-to-pass-out drunk." However, he went on to say "the NC idea does have a lot of promise."

We attempted to contact Ellison for comment after yesterday's 'Rock Against Microsoft' concert at Cupertino Community College. As we followed him to his solar-powered JavaCar(TM), he stated "the tape is an obvious forgery. I have no comment." Shortly thereafter, he asked "Anyone know what 'Class com.chevy.Start Not Found' means? Anyone want to help me push start this thing?"

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

Sources say: Larry Ellison out of L.A.

The Los Angeles Times' Hot Properties column has done some investigative journalism and wants to know why Oracle CEO and billionaire Larry "Lawrence" Ellison is buying up a bunch of properties in Malibu. In the past two years, Lawrence has spent $180 million for real estate in the beachside enclave, most of it for houses rather than commercial property. Note that Oracle is based in the Bay Area and that's where Ellison lives. The LAT also notes that Larry wants to bring an NFL franchise to our fair town.

My theory is that Lawrence is simply following the lead of one of this idols, Saddam Hussein. He intends to shuttle between these houses to avoid capture by Samurai from rival clans.

See also "Terrifying Larry Ellison plot revealed".

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

The Denver Post's sloppy journalism

Last year a fight broke out during a one-sided immigration forum in Colorado. An anti-illegal immigration activist had attended the meeting and spoke out against the biased panel and the various statements they made. A pro-illegal immigration activist reportedly told her to shut up, and it degenerated into fisticuffs and torn clothing. The pro-illegal immigration activist, Julissa Molina-Soto, was arrested, tried, and eventually found not guilty. However, the other participant, Terry Graham, has brought a civil suit against her and the company that sponsored the forum. A description and pictures of the fight are here, the forum is described here, Graham's site is here, and see this description of Polly Baca, one of Molina-Soto's defenders.

The sponsor of the forum was First Data, the parent company of Western Union. WU makes a handsome profit off sending remittances to Mexico. They've also created a $10 million Empowerment Fund to support "Latino" causes. And, they also oppose Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) because of his opposition to illegal immigration.

With that out of the way, the Denver Post offers a profile of Molina-Soto entitled "Clash, acquittal stoke advocate's political fire". Suffice it to say that the profile practically elevates her to sainthood. And, it includes the following:

"I want justice and I did not get it in the criminal case," Graham said. She is soliciting funds on a website she runs to pay for her case against Soto. The website for the Stormfront White Nationalist Community also carries a solicitation for Graham.

I've seen some sleazy, pro-illegal immigration statements in news rags, but that ranks right up there. Does the Denver Post have any evidence that Graham is associated with the latter group, posted the solicitation, or even knows that it exists? I used google to search both sites. While I found at least one posting at the group's site asking people to send her money, I didn't find anything at Graham's site that would indicate a link from her to them.

Does the Denver Post know the definition of "yellow journalism" or of "guilt by association?" It barely needs mentioning that no responsible, professional editor should have let that one through.

Note that the article also seems to have a factual error, claiming that Graham was a member of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform. Yet, that group says: "Neither the attacker or woman who was attacked were members of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform".

And, note that the Denver Post article is about someone whose race seems to rule everything she does. And, it was written by someone who is presumably of the same race as the subject. And, as described here, many of those who Molina-Soto associates with seem to be obsessed with their race.

This sleazy rag even has an ethics policy:

A strong sense of fair play must imbue our writing, accurately reflecting motives of sources. The tone and language of stories must be even-handed and avoid loaded phrasing.

Contact their editor, Gregory Moore, at gmoore *at* denverpost.com or (303) 820-1400 and suggest they read through their own policy a few times.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 08:45 PM | Comments (4)

Embracing corruption

Business Week has a long article entitled "Embracing Illegals", all about the major U.S. corporations that are profiting off illegal immigration. Is it an expose?

Well, no. In fact it reads more like BW promoting a wonderful new market, and describing how those corporations are basically thumbing their noses at what Americans want.

The corporate Establishment's new hunger for the undocumenteds' business could have far-reaching implications for America's stance on immigration policy, which remains unresolved. Corporations are helping, essentially, to bring a huge chunk of the underground economy into the mainstream. By finding ways to treat illegals like any other consumers, companies are in effect legalizing -- and legitimizing -- millions of people who technically have no right to be in the U.S.

What's more, 84% of illegals are 18-to-44-year-olds, in their prime spending years, vs. 60% of legal residents. Corporate sales and profits will get a shot in the arm if more of them move out of the cash economy, put their money in banks, and take out credit cards, car loans, and home mortgages. U.S. gross national product could get a boost, too, since consumers with credit can spend more than those limited to cash.

More undocumented immigrants paying income and property taxes would help ease the taxpayer strain for the schools, health care, roads, and other services illegals use. Crime could decline, too...

Bank officials were even more troubled by a letter from a Washington group called Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement (FILE), which opposes illegal immigration. It threatened to sue the bank under a federal law that prohibits the harboring of illegal aliens and racketeering. By providing mortgage loans that help illegals buy houses, says FILE Executive Director Craig Nelsen, New South is aiding their ability to remain illegally. In June, the bank delayed a broad rollout of Casa Mia pending a legal opinion on potential liability.

Still, such confrontations are relatively rare... Big U.S. companies' embrace of undocumenteds as consumers has intensified as it has become clear in recent years that -- no matter how loudly the anti-immigration lobby complains -- the U.S. isn't about to deport illegals en masse.

I believe it's time for a little creative destruction. If Business Week is going to print articles promoting illegal immigration and what amounts to government corruption, then the only people who subscribe to their magazine should be those who support that view. Let them reemerge as Semana de Negocio Para Indocumentados.

Likewise with Wells Fargo, Bank of "America", Kraft Foods, and all the other companies mentioned in the article. Let them have the illegal alien market. Let the American market go elsewhere.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)

Londonistan in the news

In the post "London subway and bus bombing open thread" I said that the mainstream bloggers and the MSM would attempt to ignore the impact that Britain's foolish, tranzi-inspired immigration policies most likely had on the bombings.

However, that same day CBS Evening News had a segment on Londonistan.

Now, the New York Times offers us "For a Decade, London Thrived as a Busy Crossroads of Terror" and from the WaPo comes "In London, Islamic Radicals Found a Haven". Why even the lunatic libertarians at Reason had a post linking to those two articles, and it was devoid of their usual Open Borders spiel. On the saner side, National Review offers "Londonistan No More".

And, our own favorite blogger Insty says:

Immigrant groups used to be anxious to prove their patriotism, in part because they feared the consequences if they were thought disloyal. That seems not to be the case today.

What a pithy notation of the problem! Say, everyone let me know when the fine sources linked above start actually covering this issue rather than just popping in when something bad happens.

Posted to Immigration_euro at 03:14 PM | Comments (1)

More meddling by Mexican consuls

In the latest case, it involved Suffolk County (Long Island) Executive Steve Levy's attempts to shut down clown houses. Backstory in "Suffolk County's Steve Levy has a spine".

Levy's actions have prompted our "friends" from the south to swing into action: "Mexican official: Farmingville among places for top anti-Mexican acts". The titular official is Arturo Sarukhan, also mentioned here.

Sarukhan has some friends in America too:

"If I look at a map of the United States, Farmingville is clearly a red zone after the Arizona border," Sarukhan said in a news conference at the Hempstead headquarters of the Workplace Project, a nonprofit pro-immigrant group...

Sarukhan called on Levy to meet with day laborers and advocates the county executive has called "extremists," including Nadia Marin-Molina of the Workplace Project, the Rev. Allan Ramirez of the Brookville Reformed Church and Patrick Young of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance.

"They are my friends and they have done a fantastic job in defending the day laborers," said Sarukhan, who also spent the day meeting with Latino leaders and politicians including Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington).

Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to deal with this crap?

See also "Members of Levy's Hispanic Board resign seats". At least we know which side they're on.

Posted to Immigration_consul at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)

No donuts for the N.C. Department of Labor

A couple days ago, 50 illegal aliens were arrested while working at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. The aliens were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and the Ukraine.

Sounds good so far: the last thing almost every American should want is illegal aliens working at military installations, right?

However, Allen McNeely, head N.C.'s Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health division, isn't happy because the aliens were arrested while attending a fake "mandatory state OSHA" meeting:

McNeely said one of the contractors who employed the immigrants faxed him a copy of the flier, which tells all contract workers to attend an OSHA briefing at the base theater and promises free coffee and doughnuts.

McNeely said that neither his division nor the federal OSHA was involved in the arrests.

He said the ruse eroded trust between the Labor Department and the workers it is trying to keep safe.

In recent years, the Labor Department has made an effort to reach out to the state's thousands of immigrant workers, especially those in construction, because they are among the most likely to be killed or injured at work.

"We are dealing with a population of workers who need to know about safety," McNeely said. "Now they're going to identify us as entrappers."

Well, that's just too bad, isn't it? Based on those and the following comments, in a perfect world McNeely would be out of a job. Instead, expect him to get a promotion. From "Questions Arise About Arresting Illegal Immigrants In N.C.":

...Despite tighter identification restrictions, the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles cares less about tracking legal status than it does making sure drivers understand the laws of the road.

Contrary to popular belief, the North Carolina Department of Labor's role is to make sure employees have safe working conditions. State labor inspectors do not enforce immigration laws.

"We just don't make any demarcation between a person's status," said Allen McNeely, a spokesman for the Department of Labor. "I think what we do is go in and look at what job they're doing."

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

Texans get snowed by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) visited South Texas yesterday to talk with local sheriffs and residents about their massive problems with illegal immigration. The article "Sheriffs tell Cornyn of immigration problems" enumerates the various problems they have and what they want done. And, apparently they think the meeting went well. However, Cornyn's quotes from the article indicate that he's got other ideas:

"More funding is a real possibility... We'd be delighted to try to get you some of those resources... I'm here to find out what I can do to support your efforts and take that back to Congress to lead the charge to try to fix our broken border and immigration system... [at the end of the meeting:] This is not the end. This is the beginning of a good working relationship."

In isolation, those comments are almost comic. The article also includes this:

"I felt good leaving the meeting," said [Goliad County Sheriff Robert De La Garza]. "The senator looked me straight in the eye and told me he's going to help."

Yeah, some people can pull that off.

For those who aren't - dare I say it - complete rubes, Cornyn's remarks are complete BS. See, for instance "America's immigration system is broken, and needs to be fixed" for a discussion of that pet phrase of the Open Borders lobby. And, if someone says something is a "real possibility", my stock answer is, "that's fine, but tell me exactly how we can make it a real possibility?"

If his intentions weren't clear enough, this bit should erase all doubts:

...Ned Miester of the Texas Farm Bureau appealed to Cornyn to not take any action that would lead to the closing of the border, saying farmers need the workers who come up from Mexico.

Meister said a Lubbock squash farmer is currently losing up to $10,000 a day because he doesn't have enough pickers to harvest his crop.

Cornyn said the solution isn't to deploy the military or to build a wall, and agreed that some immigrants "do jobs Americans are not always willing to do."

He said a balance must be struck between economic and security needs...

In other words, he's willing to allow the porous borders so someone can grow squash. And, the PDF excerpt here makes it clear that he supports illegal immigration. Previous coverage of Cornyn starts here.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

It's good to know that Kathy Ireland is safe

Yesterday's deadly terrorist bombings in London were indeed tragic. But, there is one bright spot that I and all America can be thankful for: Kathy Ireland was in London at the time, saw the news reports on the telly, and is now back safe in France:

...This morning I woke up [in London] to one of my best friends in a complete panic. We were to have breakfast, but her teenage daughter was interning at the British Museum, and she had just heard of "the power surge" that had occurred...

My immediate instinct was to get out of the city as soon as possible. But there was not a cab to be found, and the car services didn't have anything, so I got dropped of by Hammersmith Bridge thinking if all else failed I'd hitch to Gatwick... Tragedies like this bring the best out in people. All of a sudden you look at people differently. They are not trying to mug or make a pass at you. There was real pure human compassion and camaraderie wherever I was today. I got to Gatwick thinking that the airports would be closed, but I made an earlier flight to Toulouse and I'm so thankful to be here in the depth of the countryside surrounded by my horses, dogs and cats...

Once again: is the Huffington Post a satire site? Are they all having us on?

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

"Expert says London bombings well-planned"

Al Guardian via UPI:

A British defense expert says Thursday's bombings in London were executed by at least 24 people and designed to mirror bombings last year in Madrid...

Posted to Terrorism at 08:57 PM | Comments (2)

Hey, Fuzzy!

Sure the guy's ass is a little distracting, but wouldn't it be nice if all the nude "peace" protesters looked as naturally sexy as the hairy hippie chick in the pic to the right? Instead, we get things like this or this.

Or, like this attempt by Prince Charles to find someone even foxier than Camilla:

Posted to WackyHumor at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

Is the Ventura County Star a Mexican newspaper?

After reading the report "Mexican nationals learn how to transfer funds electronically" I'm left wondering. It describes how local banks (presumably chartered in the U.S.) set up booths in front of the Mexican consulate in Ventura to teach "immigrants" how to send money back home.

Like other such reports, it reads like an advertisement, describing what a wonderful way to send money this is. But, I slightly expected to find, somewhere down in the 14th paragraph or so, something like "but some people worry about illegal immigration" or similar. Yet, nothing like that is to be found.

In fact, the only conflict in the article concerns the disputed amount of Mexico's income from remittances. And, it includes this:

Other than households, the money sent from the United States to Mexico could be money used to pay for guides who bring Mexicans across the border, which costs about $2,000 dollars per person, or money transferred for business through personal accounts.

"Guides"? You mean, like for people who climb mountains or something? No, Ventura County Star reporter Audrey Reed, those are what we Americans call "smugglers". They aren't "bring[ing] Mexicans across the border", they're smuggling illegal aliens into this country.

Returning to reverso-world, it also includes:

The Oxnard Mexican Consulate also issues a matricula consular card, an alternative form of identification for Mexican nationals. Some immigrants enter the United States with no identification, making opening a bank account impossible. With this card, a bank account may be set up and transfers easily made.

Well, Audrey, that "alternative" is what we in right-side-up land refer to as "IDs for illegals." Mexican consulates pass them out to illegal aliens specifically so they can function here illegally. And, while I thought the NYT's Nina Bernstein had the market cornered on euphemisms for illegal aliens, the Ventura County Star has outdone even her with "immigrants enter the United States with no identification".

The article does have one redeeming feature, as it informs us of this:

Partnership for Prosperity is a program between the Mexican and U.S. governments that also aims to promote development, through these effort, in parts of Mexico where economic growth has slowed, causing migration.

There appears to be little information on this organization, but their website is at p4pworks.org

You can send feedback to their publisher, Tim Gallagher, here. Other staff contacts are here.

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 12:56 PM | Comments (5)

London subway and bus bombing open thread

Post news links and well-founded speculation regarding the bombs that appear to have been detonated on buses and in subway stations in London. Apparently there were six explosions in stations and three on buses.

At post time, the most detailed reports seem to be "'Multiple explosions' rock London", "London in chaos after blasts", and "Explosions cause chaos across London".

While there's no particular reason at this time to suspect Islamic terrorism, see "Terror on the dole" and "[Abu] Hamza seeks legal aid for citizenship fight". Attacks like this don't seem to fit the M.O. of, for instance, the IRA, window-smashing anarchists, or enviro-whackos.

UPDATE: It's now fairly clear that this is Islamic terrorism, although other possibilities can't be ruled out.

Note this from Tuesday: UK cleric Abu Hamza's trial opens. Over two years ago the British government started proceedings against him and closed his mosque. That was a few months after they raided his mosque. That link also describes how France sent many of their Algerians to the UK, and the latter country accepted them as legitimate asylum seekers.

Teenage asylum seekers are mentioned in 1/03's Ricin suspects were arrested in France then freed. And, from 5/03, see "Derision greets BBC plan to turn asylum into a game".

From 5/04: "Evidence, London link found in the Spanish bombings".

From earlier this year, see "'Rattled' Blair to set tough tests for migrants" and UK: "Few failed asylum seekers removed".

While those who planted the bombs or who blew themselves up might have come to London from another country specifically to commit this act, something like this cannot have been planned and executed without long-term, local assistance. Expect it to be found that at least those who assisted this act were there because of Britain's lax immigration and asylum policies.

UPDATE 2: Partial credit to CBS News for at least broaching this subject on their evening broadcast, even if their report occasionally ventured into CAIR territory.

Posted to Terrorism at 02:41 AM | Comments (2)

However could we pay for a California Border Patrol?

The bill that would have created a California Border Patrol didn't make it out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Apparently the members of that committee simply ignored the arguments that the federal government would allow California to create such a force, instead relying on outdated laws and cases.

From "Curbs on illegal immigration fail":

Opponents said both measures raised constitutional questions, that they could actually increase state costs and that the two lawmakers should be complaining to President Bush about inadequate immigration enforcement...

Opponents questioned where the deficit-plagued state would get the money to pay for the extra officers and said immigration police could jeopardize the relationship between local officers and immigrant communities.

"The solution is not to create a new border patrol," Francisco Estrada, director of public policy for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, told the committee.

What's needed instead, he said, is "comprehensive immigration reform" that would clear up a visa backlog and allow a legal immigrant work force...

Well, gosh, if a Ford Foundation funded organization that supports illegal immigration says it's so, it must be so.

As for where we'd get the money, well, gosh golly gee, I have no idea. Perhaps from the savings we'd enjoy by not having so many illegal aliens in the state? Could that - perhaps and maybe - be one possible way we'd pay for this? I'm no mathematical genius, but spending millions to save billions seems like it might work to me.

It'd be nice if one of these days some reporter somewhere would call these idiots on their BS.

Posted to California at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)

FAIR on CAFTA

From "FAIR's Statement Regarding Proposed CAFTA Treaty":

...The negative implications of the CAFTA provisions for illegal immigration to the United States are likely to be caused by the same effects that have generated increased illegal immigration from Mexico under the North American Free Trade Act. As the 2000 Census revealed, the number of illegal immigrants from Mexico has increased substantially since the adoption of NAFTA, with no end in sight. Illegal immigration from Central America is already too numerous without adopting trade policies that will likely displace and motivate more subsistence farmers from that region to find seek illegally in our country...

See also "Rep. Ron Paul on CAFTA" and "CAFTA's Threats to U.S. Independence".

Is it any surprise that Bush would strongly support something that would reduce U.S. sovereignty and increase illegal immigration?

Posted to NAU at 10:55 PM | Comments (5)

Rep. Ron Paul on CAFTA

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) provides the short, easy-to-understand, impossible-to-ignore version of why CAFTA should be sent to the scrap heap. From "CAFTA: More Bureaucracy, Less Free Trade":

...The quasi-judicial regime created under CAFTA will have the same power to coerce our cowardly legislature into changing American laws in the future. Labor and environmental rules are inherently associated with trade laws, and we can be sure that CAFTA will provide yet another avenue for globalists to impose the Kyoto Accord and similar agreements on the American people. CAFTA also imposes the International Labor Organization's manifesto, which could have been written by Karl Marx, on American business. I encourage every conservative and libertarian who supports CAFTA to read the ILO declaration and consider whether they still believe the treaty will make America more free.

CAFTA means more government! Like the UN, NAFTA, and the WTO, it represents another stone in the foundation of a global government system. Most Americans already understand they are governed by largely unaccountable forces in Washington, yet now they face having their domestic laws influenced by bureaucrats in Brussels, Zurich, or Mexico City.

CAFTA and other international trade agreements do not represent free trade. Free trade occurs in the absence of government interference in the flow of goods, while CAFTA represents more government in the form of an international body. It is incompatible with our Constitution and national sovereignty, and we don't need it to benefit from international trade.

Posted to Politics at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

"The Great Deceit: The Mexican Drive to Re-colonize the United States"

I wouldn't go quite as far as the title suggests, but here's a good rundown of the activities of the Mexican government as regards trying to gain as much power over our immigration system as they can.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

American forces will appeal anti-American decision

As previously discussed, the lawsuit challenging Kansas' law that gives illegal aliens a better deal on college tuition than the deal that U.S. citizens receive was dismissed by a federal judge.

The WashTimes informs us that the American side is going to appeal in "Challenge dismissed on state tuition for illegals":

..."Standing" is the issue of whether someone is injured by the law. Kris W. Kobach, attorney for the plaintiffs and a law professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, said that certainly applies to out-of-state students, who pay about $8,000 more than in-state students in Kansas.

"My question is, if our plaintiffs really don't have standing, then it's unclear anyone would," he said...

"On some of the issues, he really just skimmed the surface because he wanted to dispose of the case on standing," [Michael Hethmon, an attorney for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)] said.

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, a Republican, defended the state's law in court. His communications director, Whitney E. Watson, did not return a call for comment yesterday...

But Peter D. Roos, who argued in the case on behalf of three anonymous illegal aliens, said the 1996 law was enacted six weeks after another law opened the door for states to offer benefits to illegal aliens. Congress did not overturn the provision in enacting the second law and therefore must have meant to allow Kansas and other states to offer in-state tuition benefits for illegal aliens, he said...

There doesn't appear to be much information available about Peter Roos. However, he appears to be the head of META, the Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy Center. They're identified in The Open-Borders Conspiracy as recipients of Ford Foundation money, but that's hardly a surprise. That article also mentions Plyler v. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that mandated free K-12 education for illegal aliens. Apparently Roos was involved in that case. And, the article mentions that that case was financed by the Mexican government.

FAIR offers "Day v. Sebelius: FAIR Decries Use of Procedural Obstacles to Keep Young Students from Having Their Day in Court":

Stein further asserted that the Day v. Sebelius decision continues a troubling trend within the Federal judiciary to frustrate the rights of U.S. Citizens to pursue remedies to vindicate injuries associated with the lack of U.S. immigration law enforcement. "In this case, the judge has ignored evidence of severe financial strain on the affected law abiding families, the plain language and intention of federal law and the brazen appearance of unfairness such an unjust result would seem to suggest," Stein concluded.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)

Can you trust the Las Vegas Sun?

To help you answer that question, take a look at the article "Plates help Aztec descendants become citizens" from Timothy Pratt.

It concerns a group called the Citizenship Project led by one Rev. Phil Carolin, which helps immigrants fill out citizenship paperwork and the like. That organization (whose full name appears to be Immigrant Workers Citizenship Project) has a deal with Nevada where a portion of the sales of a license plate design are donated to their coffers. The good reverend spends the money to print up posters, hire staff, get a part-time immigration lawyer, and so forth:

From Dec. 1 to May 31, the state has sold 1,201 of the Aztec calendar plates. Those sales make it the third best-selling among 25 specialty plates statewide, behind one celebrating the 100th birthday of Las Vegas, and another with a patriotic theme.

Other than that ironic note, it all sounds great! But, just to double-check, I decided to search for the name of that organization at www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org. I didn't think they'd have anything because it appeared to be a small, cozy group. However, as it turns out they do have a page about this group, and it stands in very stark contrast to the wholesome picture portrayed by the Las Vegas Sun:

A nonprofit organization founded in October 2001, the Immigrant Workers Citizenship Project (IWCP) works hand-in-hand with the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition (IWFRC), the group that sponsored what was essentially mass participation in a federal crime by transporting illegal aliens across state lines in October of 2003...

...Though it claimed to be an effort to secure fair representation and labor laws for legal immigrants, the Ride was in reality a smokescreen for an agenda of legalizing uncontrolled mass immigration. As David Ray, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, observed at the time, "Equating this to the civil rights movement is nauseating."

...The IWCP was founded by the Rev. Phil Carolin, who is an Episcopal priest, along with several union representatives. Rev. Carolin is one of twenty clergy who form the Las Vegas Interfaith Council on Worker Justice, a group that partnered with the AFL-CIO and picketed the New York-New York hotel/casino, located in Las Vegas, in 1997. Several local business leaders have claimed that the group is nothing but an excuse for union strong-arming in clerical garb. Rev. Carolin and the Interfaith Council have also joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union to oppose police background checks on potential Las Vegas employees...

(Another worthy group that was involved in the "Freedom Ride" was the National Lawyers Guild. Their Winter 2003 newsletter, available here, makes it quite clear where they're coming from on this issue.)

Given this sharp contrast, should you trust what the L.V. Sun tells you?

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 12:32 PM | Comments (2)

AVWatch: Los Angeles is the "new Ellis Island"

Speaking in front of a National Education Association convention, Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that:

Los Angeles is an immigration hub, the new mayor said, and "the city of America's hopes and dreams."

"Make no mistake, it's irrefutable. This is the new Ellis Island," Villaraigosa said in a speech to some 9,000 delegates at the National Education Association's annual Representative Assembly.

"And we know that it is the public schools that have been the avenue, the route for that American dream," he said.

Hopefully there were at least one or two intellectually honest educators who said something like the following (to themselves of course):

That's nuts! Ellis Island was an entry point for legal immigrants! Ellis Island is, in fact, the exact opposite of the current self-serve system in which anyone who manages to sneak over the border or overstay their visa declares themselves an immigrant.

The former MEChA leader isn't the first to make this claim. See the post "Los Angeles is the Ellis Island of the West Coast" and its followup The "L.A. Opens Office of Immigrant Affairs" story just gets worse and worse. In that case, the person making the claim heads an organization that reportedly works with the Mexican government. Could they be writing the new mayor's speeches?

Posted to Immigration2005b at 07:26 PM | Comments (1)

New York Daily News supports illegal immigration

Many years ago, a Mad Magazine cartoon featured a yesterday/today contrast: on the left side it showed a group of New York cops in the past, with one guy off to the side, shunned by the others. One of those in the large group was saying, "That's Bob, he's on the take."

On the right side, it showed a similar configuration from the present day, but the cop in the large group said, "That's Bob, he's not on the take."

With that in mind, the NY Daily News has an editorial that praises Mayor Mike Bloomberg, including this:

...the mayor will not be looking the other way anymore. And that's good news...

Mayor Mike, according to the NYDN, is not looking the other way anymore on not helping the federal government enforce immigration laws. (In case you're right-side up, turn yourself over so you can understand their position a bit better.)

NYC has a sanctuary policy, and Mayor Mike has apparently been "looking the other way" on that policy, occasionally helping the feds with immigration enforcement.

The New York Daily News supports that policy, and congratulates MM for apparently not looking the other way and thereby not helping enforce federal law. Full editorial in "Mike: Let's protect our immigrants".

Just recently the NYDN was featured in "Get out your hankies, here comes a PIIPP" as well as "N.Y. Daily News, Albor Ruiz: Lying, Misleading, Joking, or Telling the Truth?"

They were also mentioned in "Hats off to the New York Immigration Coalition".

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 06:02 PM | Comments (3)

All about Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights

FPM has a nice profile of one of our favorite "liberals", Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City: "The Man Behind the Attack on Guantanamo".

Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)

Anti-American forces win a round

The lawsuit challenging Kansas' law giving illegal aliens a better deal than U.S. citizens on college education has been dismissed by a federal judge. The suit was brought by with the assistance of FAIR. From the Kansas City Red Star:

[Law professor Kris Kobach of the University of Missouri-Kansas City], attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that the state law violated two federal laws enacted in 1996 that prevent states from offering illegal immigrants residency-based benefits that aren’t available to U.S. citizens.

[U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers] concluded, however, that the students who filed the lawsuit hadn't suffered any harm because of the Kansas law and didn’t have a cause of action.

He wrote in his decision that nothing in federal law gave them the private right to challenge the state law.

Rogers did not address many of the arguments Kobach presented.

Previously:
"Twenty-Four Americans Challenge Law, Claiming New Policy Discriminates Against American Citizens"
"KCStar: Americans should keep eating cake"

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:42 PM | Comments (3)

Liberals oppose Home Depot, increased numbers of day laborers

Shockingly, I've recently received an email from the worthies at the Friends of Atwater Village. They're complaining about Home Depot's plans to build yet another store along San Fernando Road. This one would take the place of the old KMart building at Fletcher. Home Depot already has another store at the S.F. Road/Figueroa junction in Cypress Park, and they also have one further north in Glendale near S.F. and Colorado Blvd.

HD wants to demolish the KMart building, build a store, transfer their Glendale employees to the new store while the Glendale location was closed for remodeling, then transfer them back and end up with three HDs all within about 6 miles along one street. So, assuming you were on S.F. Road for some unknown reason, you'd never be more than 1 mile from buying some lumber.

Anyhoo, the FAV have a page about this, which contains the following:

...As of yet, Home Depot has no plans to help abate the problems they would bring to the community. Such problems like increased vehicular traffic on San Fernando / Fletcher Drive and day laborer population... Attract more "day labors" to the area that already can’t accommodate them, like Fletcher Drive...

Previously in Atwater news: "An excerpt from Eric Garcetti's diary".

Posted to Los_Angeles at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)

Former commies say the darnedest things!

Jim Sanders of the SacBee offers a profile of what might be California's leftiest assemblypersonage, Jackie Goldberg, entitled "Berkeley free-speech leader now speaks her mind in Assembly".

We learn many fun and interesting things from this profile:
- as a child, she appeared on Art Linkletter's "Art Linkletter's House Party" TV show which featured a "kids say the darnedest things" segment
- "[she] can cook a mean sweet-potato and short-rib tzimmes (stew)"
- she's a Trekkie and likes CSI
- she was "a leader in the 1960s Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley"
- she receives praise from, among others, "Dion Aroner, a Berkeley Democrat and former lawmaker who in college roomed with Goldberg at Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at UC Berkeley", Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach
- and:

Never shy about confrontation, Goldberg, a union supporter, was arrested for civil disobedience during the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s and several times since then, including five years ago, when she was taken into custody while protesting in support of striking Los Angeles janitors.

However, oddly and wackily enough, what we don't learn was covered in 1965's "Thirteenth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities--California":

...Jacqueline Goldberg, the sister of Arthur Goldberg, came from Los Angeles to attend the university at Berkeley. She soon became the head of U.C. Women for Peace, a front organization,and was its delegate to a Moscow meeting in 1963. She was also active in the American-Russian Institute at San Francisco, cited by the Attorney General of the United States as a Communist-dominated organization, and is now a member of the Policy Committee for the next World Communist Youth Festival which is scheduled to be held in Algeria. She was a member of both the executive and steering committees of FSM ["Free Speech Movement"], and was arrested during the invasion of Sproul Hall...

That wacky SacBee! I wonder if ombud *at* sacbee.com still works?

Previously:
Jackie Goldberg's "socialist" leanings
Jackie Goldberg, 200 page textbooks, and the Marxist dialectic

Posted to California at 12:30 PM | Comments (1)

Boy did I take a wrong turn!

I drove into the Angeles National Forest earlier today and took a hike. To avoid further embarrassment, I'm not going to reveal the actual location. (For someone who's less interested in that side of things and had a much worse time, see this). So, I hiked up, climbed over some rocks, climbed down some rocks, climbed up several more, and eventually reached a nice place we shall call a "Peak." Then, I returned the eastern way, got to the saddle that would put me back onto an undisclosed road several miles up from where I parked my car.

It was only about three miles back to the undisclosed road which we shall call a "Highway." While I have successfully hitchhiked in the past, I decided to go around the north side, which should have looped around said "Peak", eventually leaving me at the saddle on the west side. Taking the trail down from there should have left me at my car.

"Should have." I had never come around the north side before. I ran into two junctions. One I took for a bit, but since I didn't know where it went and it didn't look too popular I eventually backtracked onto the main trail. The other one had a sign there which seemed like it was the one I wanted, but it didn't look like there was much of a trail there, but perhaps that was just because it was going through a sandy area.

So, I continued on the main trail for a few reasons: it was going down, there were footsteps and MTB marks so I knew it went somewhere, it had mile markers and I had passed 3 and 2 and soon passed 1 as well, and I was running out of water and I didn't have enough water and time to backtrack.

Boy was I surprised to end up in a parking lot instead of at a highway. I was actually on the other side of said "Peak", approximately 18 road miles (less as the idiot hikes) from my car. Thankfully I was able to get a ride. I'm a little dehydrated, but I had almost enough equipment to spend a very uncomfortable night in the hills or in the parking lot. I didn't have my water purification tablets, so that might have caused problems should I have had to start drinking green water. And, yes, in the future, I'll remember never to take unfamiliar trails when I'm hiking alone.

Now, let's never speak of this again.

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

What freedom means to me

Let freedom ring.

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

"Terror-Linked Migrants Crossing Into U.S."

The AP has a long report on Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, a Mexican-Lebanese people smuggler:

...A report released by the Sept. 11 commission staff last year examining how terrorists travel the world cited Boughader as the only "human smuggler with suspected links to terrorists" convicted to date in the United States.

But after Boughader was locked up, other smugglers operating in Lebanon, Mexico and the United States continued to help Hezbollah-affiliated migrants in their effort to illicitly enter from Tijuana, a U.S. immigration investigator said in Mexican court documents obtained by the AP.

[The Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka tried to get four of their members into California. They were posing as Mexicans and they were bound for Canada.]

An AP investigation found these are just some of the many pipelines in Central and South America, Mexico and Canada that have illegally channeled thousands of people into the United States from so-called "special-interest" countries - those identified by the U.S. government as sponsors or supporters of terrorism.

[...discusses the OTM scandal...]

...Lebanese carpenter Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, smuggled in over the California border, admitted spending part of his time in the United States raising money to send back to his country to support Hezbollah - at least $40,000, according to an FBI affidavit. Kourani, court records said, told the FBI that his brother is the group's chief of military security in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is widely admired as a resistance force...

...At least one al-Qaida-linked man smuggled himself over the border. Nabil al-Marabh, a now-deported Syrian citizen once No. 27 on the FBI's list of terror suspects and accused by Canadian authorities of having connections to Osama bin Laden's network, was caught sneaking from Canada into New York in the back of a tractor-trailer in June 2001 with a fake Canadian passport...

[...Admiral Loy's testimony...]

...[Smugglers] have moved people by plane - into suburban Washington, D.C., Florida, California. And they have crossed clients in vehicles or on foot into Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and over the Canadian border, then helped deliver them to destinations across America.

...Other people-couriers use altered passports to fly clients to the United States. One of them, convicted smuggler Mohammed Hussein Assadi, schooled his Iraqi customers to carry nothing identifying them as Arab while traveling...

...Boughader's clients told U.S. and Mexican investigators they paid thousands of dollars to obtain fraudulent visas from Mexico's consular office in Beirut. A woman who oversaw the office between 1998 and 2001 was arrested on charges of participating in the smuggling scheme.

In May, the former director of immigration in Honduras was arrested, accused of selling hundreds of Honduran passports to migrants from Lebanon, China, Cuba and Colombia - possibly to aid their entry into the United States. The investigation continues...

...Maximiano Ramos, a former Los Angeles supervisor with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, admitted taking $12,500 to smuggle immigrants from the Philippines...

...Linda Sesi, an assistant ombudsman for the city of Detroit, is awaiting trial on charges of conspiring with four others to smuggle more than 200 migrants from Iraq, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries into the United States from 2001 up until her arrest last September... [She flew] them to Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C. [see "Three Michiganians charged with smuggling Middle Easterners to U.S." where she's named as Basima Sesi --LW]

...Intelligence suggests that since 1999 human smugglers have facilitated the travel of terrorists associated with more than a dozen extremist groups, according to the Sept. 11 commission's terrorist travel report [former Sept. 11 commission counsel, Janice Kephart] helped write. Prior to Sept. 11, al-Qaida employed smugglers to get jihad recruits into Afghanistan for training, the report said.

Terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, "use human smugglers and document forgers to a great extent," Kephart said. "They know their value. It only makes sense that they would transfer that to infiltrate the United States."

...Following Boughader's arrest, smuggling of Lebanese through Tijuana ceased for several months, ICE investigator Ramon Romo said in court documents filed in Mexico. Then some Lebanese men were apprehended at the Tijuana airport and another by the U.S. Border Patrol, and in April 2003 intelligence revealed that five members of Hezbollah were preparing to cross the border, Romo stated...

...Boughader acknowledged transporting a Lebanese man who worked at al-Manar, a global satellite television network owned and operated by Hezbollah. The U.S. State Department added al-Manar to its Terror Exclusion List in 2004, meaning anyone associated with the station may be refused entry or deported from the United States...

Note that the S.F. Chronical's version is entitled "Pipelines Send Illegal Immigrants to U.S." and they also omitted the first couple paragraphs for some reason.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 06:56 AM | Comments (2)

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Mexican Officials Must Come Clean on Racism

The Huffington Post finally has a post worth reading.

And, from the keep digging dep't comes "Mexico president's spokesman lashes out at U-S activists over stamp":

The spokesman says the comic helped Mexico "become less racist" -- and that it made Mexicans "more sympathetic to people of color."

Even leftists in Mexico are defending the comic book. One noted novelist dismisses the criticism as "absurd." She says Mexico has enormous goodwill for blacks. She mentions a popular song about an unruly little black boy called "Little Black Watermelon."

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:42 PM | Comments (4)

AVWatch: The L.A. Times covers its bets

The Los Angeles Times has a few reports on the inauguration of Antonio Villaraigosa, and they also offer "Much Unsaid in Villaraigosa's Inaugural Talk". Summary: in his speech, AV had a lot of big ideas, but few details were provided and he's going to have a very difficult task making them happen. The LAT has been a long-time supporter of the former member of a racial separatist group, including ignoring or covering up for his past. So, this might be seen as an attempt to cover their bets when his dreams start being seen as America's nightmare.

The NYT offers "New Mayor's Request to Los Angeles: 'Dream With Me'", which includes this charming bit of extreme pandering:

[NYC Mayor Mike] Bloomberg said he attended the event at the invitation of "Alcalde Villaraigosa," using the Spanish word for mayor.

They also report - without comment - that someone in the crowd at the inauguration was waving a Mexican flag.

And, the Buenos Aires Herald offers us this no doubt charming article:

I wasn't able to see it without spending money, and somehow I don't want to give them anything.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)

More "liberal" racism

Pennsylvania Rep. Thomas Yewcic of Cambria County in SW PA was speaking in PA's house in favor of a bill that would allow members of homeowner's associations to fly American flags even if the covenants prohibited it:

"I don't think we should be embarrassed or ashamed to support the American flag or what it represents," Yewcic said. "If any ethnic group wants to fly ... a flag, and they're embarrassed to fly an American flag, they should go back to their ethnic origins and fly it there."

Yewcic is white, and that prompted Philadelphia's Rep. John Myers, who's black, to utter the following:

"I think that those type of remarks would come from a cracker"

Not only that, he followed it up with an "apology":

"I'm hearing my colleague. I appreciate him standing up and being a man, and I'd like to do the same thing. I'm sorry for referring to him as a cracker..."

According to the AP, the last prompted "hoots of laughter mixed with boos." The same or a similar AP report is in the S.F. Chronical, but note that they edited out the full explanation of the "apology." And, you can see "liberals" supporting this use of the word "cracker" here.

In previous reports, you can see a very similar reaction to the use of that racial epithet from the DUmmies here. And, you can read about Al Franken's "liberal" racism here.

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 01:33 PM | Comments (2)

AVWatch: How is he going to pay for all this stuff?

The Los Angeles Times has a 7-screener entitled "Promises, Promises Could Cost L.A. Millions, Billions". $140 million to plant trees? To pay for all of his proposals, former MEChA member and current L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa might propose a half-cent sales tax hike next year. That's not going to sit too very well with some people...

Posted to Los_Angeles at 12:45 PM | Comments (1)

Arkansas' Huckabee, Tyson Foods, LULAC all aligned

Arkansas' governor Mike Huckabee recently spoke before the League of United Latin American Citizens convention in Little Rock. His remarks could be best characterized as far-left, pro-open borders, pro-cheap labor, churchy pap:

"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you... [...mindless blather about America welcoming immigrants deleted...]

...I am confident that our government will recognize that we should accommodate people who wish to provide the best opportunities for their families (and) employers so that we can make sure our economy has the necessary work force..."

Regarding the latter:

Before Huckabee spoke, John Tyson thanked the Hispanic community for standing by the Springdale-based food giant during the federal government's investigation of the company a few years ago. The U.S. Justice Department investigation alleged that Tyson helped to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S. and employed them at various chicken-processing plants across the Southeast.

After a seven-week trial, Tyson and several managers of poultry processing plants were acquitted in March 2003 of those charges.

"At the time, it was a very difficult and very tough time for our company," Tyson said. "Thank you LULAC for standing by us."

Could Huckabee be recalled? See the end of this post for more on him.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)

Bank of "America", Part 2

The Mexican consulate visited Carpentersville, IL to pass out Matricula Consular cards, also known as IDs for illegals. A report is in "Mexicans line up for ID cards, passports". As you might guess from the title, Bank of "America" sponsored the visit by the consulate. The consul was inside giving identification cards to people, many of whom are no doubt in the U.S. illegally. Outside, the Bank of "America" had set up a table to pitch their wares.

Only in the 16th paragraph do we get a slight shimmer of the truth:

That's why banks accept the matriculas consular, even though the IDs have come under fire from many groups who say it rewards undocumented immigrants and threatens security.

One of those "many groups" is our own FBI, but what do they know about such things, right?

After that paragraph, the reporter (who just happens to be named Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz) lauds the safety features of the cards, and ends with this:

"There's a misunderstanding that the matricula gives immigration status or rights," [Selene Barcelo of the consulate] said. "These people are just trying to make a better living for their families."

Obviously, we shouldn't take her word for much of anything. And, whether they're trying to make a better living or going to hell in a handbasket really has nothing to do with whether these cards give immigration-related rights.

The fact is, the cards do give rights to illegal aliens, as illustrated earlier in the article. Without such cards, illegals would have trouble opening accounts at banks. With the cards, Bank of "America" and other financial institutions let them open accounts and even get home loans.

Everyone should send the President/CEO of this paper an email and ask him why they're promoting the agenda of a foreign country: Doug Ray, dray *at* dailyherald.com

Previously:
Bank of "America"
"Mexican president vows to fight for continued U.S. acceptance of matricula identity cards"
"Consular IDs help illegals evade immigration law"
"House Backs Bush on Mexican ID Cards" (FBI calls cards a security threat)

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:47 AM | Comments (1)

Ten tough questions about illegal alien amnesty plans

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) offers "Guest worker proposal raises thorny questions". It'll snow in San Anton' before any of the Open Borders zealots provide complete, serious answers to any of these questions.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:22 AM | Comments (1)

Non-"liberal" coverage of immigration, Iraq, terrorism, multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor...

Main

Atom feed · RSS 2.0 feed · RSS 0.91 feed · WML

Immigration 2008a · Immigration 2007b · Immigration 2007a · Immigration · Immigration (6/05 to 12/05) · Immigration (1/05 to 6/05) · Immigration (8/04 to 12/04) · Immigration (before 8/04) · Immigration & Terrorism · Immigration & Driver's Licenses · Immigration & Consuls · Immigration & Media Bias · Immigration & Europe · North American Union

Blogging Across America

MultiCulti Madness · General Politics · Privacy · Miscellaneous · The "Peace" Movement

Los Angeles · California · Outdoors and sports · Celebrities · Wackiness · Inside Blogging

Iraq · Beltway Sniper · Terrorism & Extremism · The Saudis · Warblogging · War On Drugs

• 2008: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 
• 2007: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2006: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2005: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2004: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2003: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2002: 9  10  11  12 

All Posts(links to each post by title)

• Status of Social Security totalization with Mexico?
• Marcela Sanchez: historical facts, analysis are extremist
• Caption this Chelsea Clinton pic
• DHS' Chertoff opposes Minuteman Project
• Putting a human face on the anti-American DREAM Act
• Phil Hendrie has a blog
• Howard Dean to embarass self August 5 2005
• Idaho county sues illegal alien employers under RICO
• Houston reaffirms illegal aliens sanctuary policy
• Gel, paste, liquid, powder, rat, pigeon, millipedes, offal, or beef?
• Tell your representatives: no on CAFTA
• Throw another PIIPP on the pile
• NYC subway bomb plot foiled?
• "Liberal" study illustrates failed "liberal" immigration policies
• John Fonte: An Open Letter to Tamar Jacoby
• Allan Hoffenblum: Arnold should emulate George Bush on immigration
• Apparently they don't get google in Tyler Texas
• Bill Frist needs your input on immigration matters
• Does the AP publish in-flight, pro-cheap labor magazines?
• "Report: Bush using immigration for votes"

My trip to Alpine County What not to do, again (September 1-2, 2002)

Boston Market Cornbread Temperatures Please help contribute to this important study (August 28, 2002)

Did The Gap Put Celebrities at Risk? An Open Web Letter to The Gap (May 20, 2002)

Humphreys Peak Arizona's highest point (May 19, 2001)

Go Heavy, Go Slow, Get Lost Bay Area highpoints (December 14, 2000)

Hubris in New England The highpoints of RI, CT, and MA (October 8, 2000)

Let's go to Utah Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon (August 14, 2000)

Your host, climbing Monkey Face (5.14d)

Your host's arm (circled)

Your host's hopelessly outdated conditioning progress

BigMediaBlog.com : "Comments for sites that don't have comments."

BoreAmerica.com: monitoring Air America Radio

tolstoy.com : my business site

Drudge
The John and Ken Show (KFI-Los Angeles)
The Stein Report
Sam Zamarripa
RedState
Res Ipsa Loquitur
PCWatch
Natalie Merchant
Samizdata