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Washington Post repeats Boston Globe smear on Minuteman Project

Two weeks ago I offered "Boston Globe's Yvonne Abraham makes fun of Minuteman Project", which had that reporter repeating anti-Minuteman Project smears from a frequent contributor to the North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists website (nefac.net). Needless to say, the reporter did not identify the source's affiliation, despite it taking me less than 10 seconds to find that using google.

I sent an email to their ombudsman, who said that either he or the reporter would be back in touch. Needless to say, I haven't received a follow-up.

Now, the Washington Post offers their own similar report in "On Patrol in Vt., Minutemen Are the Outsiders". And, it repeats the earlier smear, once again without mentioning who made it:

Then came their first official patrol two weekends ago, which was dogged by protesters who assembled downtown and shouted slogans such as "Take your hate out of our state." The Minutemen had to patrol a bike path away from town, and then -- as the Boston Globe reported -- got lost and had to ask a local for directions.

If a drunk in a Montpelier donut shop at 3am said that slogan, most people would tend to give it very little credibility. And, the same goes for someone associated with the North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists. And, the same goes for the Washington Post.

Please send your thoughts to ombudsman@washpost.com.

Note also that the DUmmies discuss this article, resulting in "beam me up scottie" supporting Bush, cheap labor performed by serfs, and the Mexican government. On the American side, "hansberrym" is subjected to comments from bmus which, as he points out, are nothing but smears and the like.

"bmus" even reprints Xeni Jardin's smear in which she identified a non-MMP poster as coming from the MMP. When "hansberrym" calls him on this, this is the reply:

It came from Boing Boing's photos of Minute Men on the Mexican border. Are you actually suggesting that those Boss Hogs in camo wear are above that sort of thing? Right. Of course you are.

Ah, the lasting power of anti-American propaganda.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 11:55 PM | Comments (2)

Newest, lowest new low from Huffington Post?

Baby Blumenthal - son of Submarine Sid and nee "Max" - goes after Alito here. Well, not directly. The Alito he goes after is Judge Alito's son, currently a student at Colgate University. He points out this bit from Phil Alito's biography:

..I was born 9 months and 2 weeks later by a midwife/wolf named Janie Jean, who would prove very influential during my formative years. Shortly after, I became interested in politics and got involved with Gary Condit (not like that). I served as a parking aide to Nancy Pelosi (I won't even start on her) but was fired when Barbara Boxer came onto me.

If you read the link, you'll see that it's college "humor", the same variety engaged in by most college students (save for humorless prats). See also "Sliming Alito - and badly, at that" (redstate.org/story/2005/10/31/194827/79), which, while having nothing to do with the current case, is quite apt. Although at least they're going after the man himself with their smears.

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

TV stations misleading about assault at anti-Arnold rally?

Previously I offered "True face of Democratic Party: union thugs attack woman at anti-Arnold rally": she had her cap pulled off, she was beaten with signs, and one of the security workers ripped up her signs.

Now, speaking on KFI, the victim of the assault claims it was even worse than what was shown on TV. She says the pro-union forces also poured water on her head and threw things at her. And, she says that several TV stations must have filmed that.

Yet, only a small - but highly disturbing - segment of the attack was shown on just two Los Angeles TV stations.

She'll be appearing on Hannity and Colmes tomorrow night, so hopefully they'll be able to find the full footage from, for instance, Fox's local affiliate.

As I said before: if you're on the fence or you're a reasonable person who opposes these propositions for some reason, watch the video. And, send the link to the video to everyone else so they can see what the other side really is.

Posted to California at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)

Arizona Daily Star supports amnesty for illegal aliens

The editorial "It's not 'amnesty' when the law is a shambles" is signed by a "D.J", but I have no idea who that is since there doesn't appear to be anyone with those initials in either the administration or editorial departments.

Be that as it may, they hit all the usual notes:

"Amnesty" is entirely the wrong word for any plan that would allow illegal immigrants to remain in this country. Amnesty is a pardon for political offenses, according to Webster's New World Dictionary, and the offense in this case is difficult to recognize. People who cross our borders without the proper paperwork do indeed violate the federal code. They are judged guilty by the thousands every week, usually through the rump court of practicality administered directly by the Border Patrol.

The easiest way to show they're full of it is to look at this:

But 11 million people do not establish themselves as an integral part of a national economy without the tacit approval of society as a whole. Businesses willingly hire illegal labor to save money; they can fend off blame, thanks to a system of enforcement that is broken. For their part, consumers reap the benefits of cheap and illegal labor without complaint.

Obviously, that's complete BS. The great majority of American oppose illegal immigration, and it's only through corruption, lies, and various shenanigans that its supporters are able to do what they've been doing.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 04:05 PM | Comments (1)

Another dirty trick by the anti-Proposition 77 forces

Those opposed to Proposition 77 (the redistricting initiative) have sent out a mailer to California Republicans marked on the outside with "Jury Duty" in big print and "Is good citizenship" below that in small print. Thus causing a larger-than-normal percentage of people to read what's inside, which turns out to be a misleading, anti-Prop 77 screed.

More on that here, and note that it's not known who perpetrated this. There's a picture of the envelope and other examples of dirty tricks here.

Posted to California at 04:00 PM | Comments (2)

Would you sneak into the White Sands Missile Range?

A couple years ago, I visited the White Sands Missile Range museum, right outside the gate of that military base. Obviously, it would be foolish for almost anyone who doesn't belong there to try to sneak onto that secure military facility.

"Almost anyone", because dozens of illegal aliens (i.e., citizens of other countries who have no allegiance to this country) have been caught working at secure military facilities. This is one of the few areas in which the Bush administration does workplace enforcement. But, if they did such enforcement elsewhere, that would reduce the number of illegal aliens available to work at such facilities, and there's also the worry that there are dozens more out there still illegally working at these areas, and some of them might not be such "kind-hearted folks". For recent cases, see the entries in this category or the recent article "US Missile Base Invaded by Illegal Immigrants".

Posted to Immigration_terror at 02:20 PM | Comments (2)

The Girls of CodePink

Shown here (direct link), Tiffany out of CodePink has a nice smile and a definitely nice pose. Her turn-ons include protesting, tofu, and Caribbean dictators. Turn-offs include the Bush administration, the Bush Crime Family, and traffic. She's got some mean hips. For those with "speciality" interests, another member of the organization is shown here.

UPDATE: I meant to include this before, but it's never too late for more sweetness and light. Another Code Pink babe's turnons include George Soros, gas-guzzling SUVs, and shopping. Turnoffs include accent reduction lessons, gas-guzzling SUVs, mean people, and unstylish clothing.

Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 06:42 AM | Comments (3)

California Border Patrol rally draws crowd, questionable editing

Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta held a rally in Sacramento yesterday in support of his proposed ballot measure to create a California Border Patrol.

According to the AP, about 1000 people turned out, 700 on the other side. The protest was "mostly peaceful", and the "underlining issue" was the Minuteman Project.

The same AP report is featured in these articles:

Calif. Border Police Plan Draws Throngs

Hundreds stage immigration rallies at Capitol

Rivals face off over border police issue

Unfortunately, all those cut off the end of the article, only mentioning a little about those on the wrong side. For what appears to be the full version, see "Border security attracts big protest, rally at Capitol". Here's the end, only part of which is featured in the other reports:

Peter Camejo, the Green Party's vice presidential candidate in 2004, led the counter-protest. He agreed the current system is not working, but said the other side's effort to seal off the borders is wrong.

"The American people need to know that only a tiny number of people are entering illegally," he said. "And these people are desperately needed by our economy. The Minutemen are saying that these people are criminal, but what they are refugees of poverty."

Participants in both events waved flags and chanted back and forth as horns blared and drums pounded. Signs read: "No bosses, no borders," and "Who's illegal Minutemen?" while the other side countered "Secure the border Mr. Bush, you're letting terrorists in."

Dave Kimball, 62 of Sacramento, was drawn into the counter-protest event, but said he was torn over the issue.

"There's got to be a better way of handling all of this," he said. "Both sides have points that maybe the other side would agree with."

Somehow, I think only a very small percentage of patriotic Americans would support what the other side wants if they positions were fully explained.

The WaPo report has "Green Party" changed to independent, which appears to be accurate. But Camejo is not just a former candidate of that party, he also ran as a socialist in 1976. And, here he says, "It is a hopeful sign for the Green Party that many of the [International Socialist Organization] members and Solidarity are helping the Green Party."

And, see his "thoughts" on immigration here:

Q: Do you support the proposal allowing illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses?
CAMEJO: The Europeans came over here illegally, they are 45% of our population. I say we let them stay and give them a drivers license. The people who have been here 20,000 years on this continent, desperately needed, no one is for them leaving, how can we not give them a drivers license.

He wants to end the distinction between "illegal" and "legal" immigrants, which, of course, would have the effect of declaring open borders.

And, take a look at the signs in the pictures from the first two reports, and you'll note that ANSWER was a prominent part. That group is, of course, linked to the Marxist Workers World Party.

And, of course, there are the other signs mentioned above, calling for "No Borders" and accusing the Minutemen of being "illegal". That latter is explicitly anti-American, showing no respect for our country and our laws.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 01:10 PM | Comments (5)

Kobach gets support in fight for Citizens Rights

Law professor Kris Kobach sued Kansas on behalf of several American students who paid full price for college educations that some illegal aliens were able to get at a discount. A district court judge threw it out, saying those students didn't have standing to sue, and Kobach is appealing.

Now, he's gotten some "heavyweight" help from the Mountain States Legal Foundation and the Washington Legal Foundation. Former Senator Allen K. Simpson and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) are involved as well. And:

WLF backed FAIR's claim that Kansas has denied the students' constitutional right to equal protection of the laws, and pointed out that DHS has refused to respond to two administrative complaints filed by WLF in New York and Texas, asking the Bush Administration to enforce the 1996 law.

Note the title of this post, because that's what this boils down to. Everyone should be concerned that the government wants to give illegal aliens a better deal than citizens.

UPDATE: There's more on this case here.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 07:04 AM | Comments (1)

Senate Selling American Jobs to Close Federal Budget Deficit

What? From this:

In a twist of logic so bizarre that it could only be hatched in Washington, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a plan to increase revenues by selling over 368,000 American jobs to foreign workers and their families who will enter the United States and stay permanently. The proposal authored by Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA.) will be added to a larger deficit reduction bill the Senate will consider as early as next week. Under the plan, the fees employers pay for high tech, executive, and other employment-based permanent visas for foreign workers will rise, generating an estimated $120 million per year. The federal budget shortfall for the current fiscal year is projected to be in the neighborhood of $400 billion...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 04:43 PM | Comments (1)

Virginia governor candidate Tim Kaine spins, misses on pro-illegal immigration stance

The WaPo reports on a new ad from Republican Virginia gubanatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore in "Ad Attacks Kaine on Immigrant Issues". Obviously, it should be "illegal immigration issues", but, well, that's just how the WaPo sees things.

"Illegal immigration: a growing crisis," the ad's narrator says. "Kaine favors taxpayer-funded job centers and supports in-state tuition discounts for illegals. Taxpayer benefits for illegal immigrants? What part of 'illegal' does Tim Kaine not understand?"

They object to that ad:

But Kaine's campaign aides said the ad distorts the facts. The Democrat has said local governments -- not the state -- should decide whether to use public funding for day-laborer sites, such as the one that was approved in Herndon in August, the aides said.

That's just a dodge. Kaine could blame local Herndon officials, as well officials in any other town that decided to spend public money helping illegal immigration gain a foothold in their communities. Someone needs to take a stand, and Kaine isn't up to the task.

And they said that Kaine opposes in-state tuition for immigrants in the country illegally. He would make an exception for tax-paying immigrants brought to the country by their parents and educated in the state's public schools, provided they were seeking to legalize their status. Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) vetoed a bill that would have barred illegal immigrants from the tuition benefits in 2003 because it did not grant this exception.

So, under the Kaine plan, millions of illegal aliens could bring their teenage children here, stay a while, and then as long as they made an amorphous pledge get discounted college educations?

And, since there are only a finite number of such discounts available, what would Timothy Kaine say to those American citizens who had their discount taken away by a citizen of some other country?

Previously: "VA: Kilgore, Kaine pledge to crack down on illegal alien employers" and "WaPo Virginia poll: only 8% support illegal alien hiring halls".

Posted to Immigration2005b at 11:54 AM | Comments (2)

"LA County needs to spend $50 billion on upgrades, engineers say"

One of the subtitles to this story should be: "Los Angeles County experiencing wonders of massive illegal immigration, almost all of it from the Third World."

This is also one of the causes:

Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Granada Hills... said that under former Govs. Edmund G. Brown and Ronald Reagan, infrastructure projects comprised 15 percent of the state budget. Today, he said, it represents less than 3 percent.

However, we just can't continue to live in a fantasy world controlled by the far-left and socialists, some of whom have questionable loyalties to this country. Here's one example, and here's another.

From the article:

With crumbling streets, gridlocked traffic and mounds of trash, Los Angeles County's deteriorating infrastructure needs $50 billion in upgrades over the next five years to meet growing demands, a statewide engineers group said Thursday.

Of nearly a dozen infrastructure systems studied, the county's streets, highways and urban-runoff systems received the lowest grades - D's - while its solid-waste system got a B-plus. Flood control, wastewater and port systems got B's.

Giving the county an average grade of C-plus, the American Society of Civil Engineers warned that significant problems are on the horizon for the infrastructure unless there are changes in attitude and funding.

"If the county doesn't begin to make repairs now, if there is a failure, it could cost five times what we are talking about," said Harvey Gobas, chairman of the Los Angeles County Infrastructure Committee and past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Los Angeles.

The report card, released at the group's annual meeting at the University of Southern California, comes as population growth increases pressure on county facilities, despite millions of dollars in recent improvements.

Gobas said traffic and landfills are among the most pressing problems.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 03:03 AM | Comments (1)

Al Gore has a blog

Here's the official blog for President Al Gore.

It doesn't appear to be written by a staffer:

Burritos woke me up. Damn. But the time was 12:34am. Cool, 1234! Tried to wake Tipper up to show her. By the time she finally woke up it was 12:35. Damn. Now I have to wait until 1:23am. If I don't show her by 4:56am, 5:67am won't work because there's no 67 minutes. Why isn't time metric?

Posted to WackyHumor at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)

Rat lovers unite!

Can you count the problems with this site I stumbled across? Let's count them down:

- It plays music without you giving it permission.

- I wonder about that "e*PetBay TM" at the top. Trademarked? Really? I wonder what "eBay" would think about that.

- "RatsAreUs"? I know ToysRUs had a bit of trouble, but did they stop defending their marks?

- IT'S GOT A BIG PICTURE OF FRIGGING RATS.

Posted to Miscellania at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

True face of Democratic Party: union thugs attack woman at anti-Arnold rally

Yesterday the anti-Arnold forces held a rally in downtown Los Angeles. It featured Antonio Villaraigosa, Fabian Nunez, and, in the crowd, lots of union members and one lone Arnold supporter.

Read the report in "UNION THUGS attack Schwarzenegger supporter at Villarogosa rally in Los Angeles - VIDEO!!!". The video is of a KCAL report from Carter Evans, and it's available in this 10 Meg WMV file.

If you're on the fence, or you're a reasonable person but you oppose Arnold's propositions for some reason, you need to see this video.

From the reporter's voiceover:

Opponents tried to hit her with their signs, and some blocked news cameras as she argued her point. The crowd turns quickly, grabbing her signs and tearing them up, even a woman wearing an orange security vest angrily rips up the Vote Yes signs.

Someone wearing a 'Unite Here' T-shirt reaches down from the stage and grabs the victim's cap off, and she has to reach back to grab it back. And, I saw at least one person put her hands on the victim. The victim is white, and the security person mentioned above is black. But, almost everyone else surrounding her was Hispanic.

Hopefully she'll file a police complaint about the possible assault and, while I'm extremely doubtful, perhaps it could even be prosecuted as a hate crime.

This is the face of the California Democratic Party and the opposition to Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it is not a pretty sight at all.

UPDATE: There's a press release on this assault from the California Republican Party here.

For more, see my collection of links on the Special Election.

UPDATE 2: Now linked by the COTB.

Posted to California at 04:16 PM | Comments (2)

Democrats fail to capitalize on massive Republican incompetence

Considering all that's been going on for the past few years, you'd think the Dems would get a clue and be able to come up with a way to capitalize on things like Iraq, Katrina, massive illegal immigration, cronyism, corruption, indictments, etc. etc.

Yet, they haven't been able to do that as a new poll shows: "Public has had it with both parties":

...The Battleground poll – unique for its inclusion of top Democrat and Republican pollsters – shows a definite slide in support for President Bush and the GOP. But the survey contains little good news for Democrats as a viable alternative...

While a Republican retreat in the polls normally means good news for Democrats, there is little evidence Americans are enamored with the opposition party, survey results indicate. On a host of issues – Iraq, homeland security, the economy – Democrats don't fare much better, the poll indicated.

"There is a real void right now in terms of what the alternative is. And right now, Democrats suffer from the fact that Americans are disillusioned and distrustful of government in general," Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told Voice Of America. "They tend to be feeling more negative about the Republicans, but not particularly positive about the Democrats."

..."But the Democrats, whether you look at the image of the Democratic Party, whether you look at Democrats in Congress, not only did not gain anything, they actually had their negatives go up some during this period of time," [GOP pollster Ed Goeas] told VOA...

In marketing terms, this is like people finding both Pepsi and Coke unyummy. And, what happens? Generally, one of three things:

1. People just stop buying soda...
2. A new alternative enters the scene to grab market share...
3. Either Pepsi or Coke changes to meet expectations...

#1 is the worst option for the country; we need political leadership and having two corrupt, non-representative parties sharing power is not good.

#2 isn't out of the question, and it's been done before. At the least it might force Coke or Pepsi to change their formula and leadership.

How likely is #3? Probably not much. Both parties are tied to their respective gravy trains and tied into their own curious ideologies. For instance, John Kerry would be president now if he'd came out strongly against illegal immigration and Bush's employment policies: he would have won both Ohio and Arizona and thus the presidency on those issues. Given the choice between winning and pandering to far-left racial groups, he chose the latter. Likewise, there's too much money available from large corporations to drag someone too far from Bush's pro-business policies.

Posted to Politics at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)

Gray Davis now "resource" at UCLA

Disgraced and recalled former California governor Gray Davis is joining the University of California Los Angeles as a "distinguished policy fellow."

Davis, who is also an attorney, will serve as a guest lecturer in classes, participate in panels, and generally serve as a resource for faculty and students on issues involving California state politics at UCLA's School of Public Affairs, department spokesman Stan Paul said Thursday.

Posted to California at 09:25 AM | Comments (2)

Kennedy-McCain gets Mexican government stamp of approval

If the government of Mexico had to choose, they'd take the immigration "reform" legislation proposed by (U.S.) Senators John McCain and Teddy Kennedy.

Presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar today said the bipartisan proposal is the one that comes closest to what Mexico wants... Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez discussed such issues yesterday during meetings in Washington.

No doubt those two fine Senators welcomed this endorsement of their proposal. While we don't want to engage in guilt by association, many other people also endorse their scheme, and many of those are a bit shaky on that whole patriotism thing.

Note also that our amigos seem to be playing both sides of the artificially-created street: "Mexico approves of Bush Temporary Worker Scheme".

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:55 AM | Comments (1)

Backstage at the Huffington Post

While struggling to understand this web thingy, sexy Greek siren/Web entrepreneuse Arianna Huffington seems to have put part of her site behind a secret, members-only wall.

If you go to their Newswire Archive, at the present time you'll see links to this week's coverage and a search box. What you will not see are links to monthly or weekly archives, such as, oh I dunno, people might want to actually look at.

When you search for something, it asks you for your password to the "Huffington Post Backstage", which appears to be located at build.huffingtonpost.com.

This blogger claims to have received a hit from there, and speculates that it might be a secret area for them to scheme over their next far-left inanities and insanities. Maybe even George Soros has an account there. Maybe it's even the online home of the New World Order.

Needless to say, those past archives might be of use to their users, plus having links like that will help search engines find their way to those pages. The corresponding search form on the blog side actually works, and I was also able to access old blog posts using their tags system. You can also access them using the poster's name which is included in each post, making them easy to spider by SE robots.

I worry about the PR of pages that SEs can't get to, especially since a few of them contain links that I placed there. All on-topic and of interest of course. The HP main index has PR7, the news/blog indexes have PR6, and a few old blog pages I looked at had PR3 with one from the siren herself at PR4. But, I wonder if those old news pages have much PR at all.

Posted to Bloggage at 04:38 AM | Comments (0)

"Congressional delegation wants action on immigration policies"

From this:

Upset with what they say is the federal government's failure to prosecute illegal immigrants, the entire 19-member California Republican congressional delegation has asked the U.S. attorney general for a meeting to discuss the matter.

In an Oct. 20 letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, the Congress members also criticized the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego for what they called its "lax prosecutorial standard" of only prosecuting those illegal immigrants with two felony convictions in the San Diego District.

"We write to request a meeting with you to discuss our frustration with the current policies within the Administration related to the prosecution of criminal aliens," the letter states.

The letter goes on to say that too often, illegal immigrants who should be jailed instead benefit from "the current practice of 'catch and release.' "

The Republicans' letter to Gonzalez appeared to be the latest sign of a growing level of conservative Republican frustration with the Bush administration on several issues, including what they say is its failure to enforce the country's immigration laws.

Last week, nearly one-third of the House's 231 Republican members sent a letter to President Bush, saying that if he expects to get their support for a temporary guest worker program, he first needs to clamp down on illegal immigration by strengthening the nation's borders and enforcing immigration laws.

Reached by phone in Washington on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista ---- one of the signatories of the letter ---- said that he and other Republican members of Congress took a more diplomatic approach with the Bush administration until late 2004.

"Before the president was re-elected, all of us felt what we had to say had to be said behind the scenes ---- and it was," Issa said...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:27 AM | Comments (4)

Richmond Kentucky halts plan to issue ID cards to illegal aliens

From Richmond postpones immigrant ID program amid confusion:

A "misunderstanding" between city officials and a migrant outreach has delayed a controversial plan for the city to offer identification cards to immigrants.

"We were under the impression it was for legal residents," City Manager David Evans said Monday. "The Hispanic outreach office wanted it to be offered to everyone," regardless of their immigration status.

The city is asking federal immigration officials for an opinion on whether the program conforms to agency regulations. National experts said last week Richmond would be the first municipality in the country to offer immigrant ID cards...

Oddly enough, I have trouble believing Evans. However, I have no trouble believing that almost all "Hispanic outreach offices" would be willing to put their race above this country's laws. The AP also says this:

The cards would help immigrants do things most people take for granted, such as writing a check in a store.

Awww... What sort of mean-spirited xenophobe would deny "immigrants" their right to do things "most people take for granted"? Note, of course, that the AP doesn't go in to all the downsides of this scheme.

Send an email to feedback *at* ap.org and let them know their bias is leading them to be an even more inaccurate source. The earlier article "Hispanic advocates press for ID cards" has some more interesting quotes:

[Mayor's Hispanic Workforce Development Task Force co-chair Alayne White says:] "It clearly is a very sensitive issue... When you bring up the issue of not having documentation or being here in the country illegally, that stirs passion in people."

Well, obviously people are going to get slightly upset when they see local officials doing something that would probably be against federal law and would allow local businesses to make money off illegality. Just slightly upset. Of course, on the other side, this also stirs up race-based passions:

[Josh Santana, attorney and president of the Lexington Hispanic Association says:] "Some of the opposition is rooted in bigotry. Some of the opposition is rooted in fear. Some of the opposition is rooted in the concept that we're rewarding folks for having done something wrong," he said. But issuing the cards is "the just and right thing to do... We as a society have a moral obligation to do what we can to protect those God has placed in our midst," Santana said.

A hat trick to Josh, as he scores with the race card, the xenophobic fear card, and the churchy card all in just two paragraphs. One might think those "immigrants" just fell out of the sky into their city, when in actual fact they were pulled and pushed there by corrupt politicians, corrupt businessmen, and the corrupt oligarchy of Mexico.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

WalMart: no more "undocumented" workers for us!

Our guiding light Insty links to the site walmartfacts.com for some reason or other. Doing a search, our crack team came upon this bit:

We have been such a successful retailer because we focus our efforts on running our stores. Like many companies, we entrust our suppliers and contractors to do the hiring - and that means hiring only documented workers.

Wal-Mart has literally thousands of service and product suppliers - and it just is not feasible for us to verify documents for every employee in every outside company.

...Wal-Mart did not profit in any way from the use of undocumented workers...

Since the raids, Wal-Mart has terminated all of its contracts with outside cleaning contractors. In addition to lowering costs, this move will give Wal-Mart greater control in verifying employees' documentation.

They're also sorry that some of those illegal aliens were allegedly abused while allegedly locked in their stores.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:18 PM | Comments (1)

Janet Jackson sunbathing... nude!

Unfortunately, some sites seem to have taken down the video since they don't want to get sued. However, I don't think linking to sites that have the video should get me in too much trouble, so here, here, or here. For a JPG preview, try this. How do we know that's not Michael?

If any of those links stop working, please find one that does and leave it in the comments.

Posted to Celebrities at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)

Jerry Kilgore for Virginia governor

WashTimes

Eleven days from now, Virginia voters will choose between two starkly different candidates for governor: The Republican nominee, former state attorney general and state secretary for public safety, Jerry Kilgore, is an energetic conservative and a proven leader who has worked tirelessly to make Virginia a safer place by bringing lawbreakers to justice. He has also proven his willingness to challenge those in his own party (particularly the Republicans-in-name-only who dominate the state Senate) who seem obsessed with the idea that Virginians need tax increases. The Democrat, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, isn't steadfast. Listening to him, as he attempts to reconcile and explain the various positions he has taken on issues such as abortion, taxes, illegal aliens, capital punishment and homosexual "marriage," can be something of an ordeal. At times the former Richmond mayor sounds like he would be more comfortable running for statewide office in Massachusetts or New York. For his part, Mr. Kilgore would bring a solid record of accomplishment to the governorship...

Posted to Politics at 02:47 PM | Comments (1)

A Nigerian 419 scam with an uppercrust British accent?

Here's an email I received from a undoubtedly nicely-dressed young lady with an email address at bblfinancial.com:

My name is Catherine Jennings I work with the Private Banking Division At Berkeley Bank Limited, London. We are conducting a standard process investigation in relation to matters involving a client who shares the same name as yours (Kessler) and also the circumstances surrounding investments made by this client at our bank.

Our Berkeley Banking client died intestate and nominated no next of kin to inherit the title over the investments made with our bank...

1-Are you aware of any relative/relation who shares your same name whose last known contact address was in Brussels ?

2-Are you aware of any investment of considerable value made by such a person at the Private Banking Division of Berkeley Bank?

3-Can you establish beyond reasonable doubt your eligibility to assume status of next of kin to the deceased?

And, the reply-to address is indeed at bblfinancial.com, which if you go there redirects you to bbloffshore.com, which looks like it might be the real site of a real bank. In fact, they're even listed in the Yahoo directory.

However, I'm going to say there's about a 95% chance this is a scam. Gone are the days of ungrammatical and downright weird 419 letters. While there are a few foreign locutions in the email ("Sincere Greetings" leads it off, and they capitalize "At"), I give this attempt to scam an B+. I also took points off because my name's not Kessler.

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

State and local police can enforce civil immigration violations

Any time a state or local official says they can't enforce civil immigration violations, send them this:

Bowing to pressure earlier this month, The U.S. Department of Justice released a 2002 legal memorandum revealing the department's official position on state and local enforcement of federal immigration law. To the chagrin of many, the memo's author, then Assistant Attorney General, Jay S. Bybee, says state and local police possess the inherent right to enforce civil violations of federal immigration law. The Assistant A.G.'s memo concludes it is "unreasonable" to assume Congress intended to deprive the federal government of "whatever assistance States may provide" in identifying and detaining individuals who have violated federal immigration laws... In other words, the Department of Justice believes state and local police are entitled to act when they believe federal immigration laws are being violated...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:48 AM | Comments (1)

CORRECTION: Cute little Japanese sexrobot

CORRECTION: Earlier I had a post here in which I said that Japanese scientists had invented a new sexrobot that would do anything you want. I discussed how this is a frequent theme in Japanese culture, which can get quite disgusting at times. And, I said that the control helmet lets someone remote control the robot and make it turn left or right - and do many other things - even if the robot has other ideas. That post was in error.

In fact, a new translation reveals that the lady above is actually Associated Press business writer Yuri Kageyama. She's testing out this new helmet, which has no naughty uses whatsoever. In fact, they expect it to be used for games, the second-most popular Japanese obsession behind perversion.

This process is actually called "galvanic vestibular stimulation", and not mangasexcontrol like I said earlier.

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind.

I can envision it being added to militaries' arsenals of so-called "non-lethal" weapons.

A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head — either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.

I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.

I apologize for the error.

Posted to WackyHumor at 03:20 AM | Comments (0)

"Labor's Hurricane George"

From Froma Harrop:

New Orleans offers a quick study of Bush labor policy in action: On Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina strikes, causing widespread destruction. Four days later, President Bush commits $10.1 billion of the taxpayers' money to rebuilding New Orleans. Four days after that, he suspends the Davis-Bacon Act — the law that requires federal contractors to pay workers the going local rate.

Illegal immigrants, willing to work at less-than-prevailing wages, stream into New Orleans. And a mere six weeks after the last evacuee leaves the Superdome, we hear of complaints by illegal workers that employers are stiffing them of their meager pay.

So here you have it, a lesson on how to crush the market for blue-collar labor. And it could have been done in four PowerPoint slides...

There's only one sane explanation of why Bush would try to lower wages in a tight labor market: He intended all along to flood the market with cheap foreign workers.

It's a simple setup: (1) Get rid of Davis-Bacon, so contractors can offer below-market pay that Americans and legal immigrants won't touch; (2) continue to disregard the law that forbids companies to hire undocumented workers; (3) when people complain that the workers restoring New Orleans are not legal, say that they are taking jobs no American wants.

The one price that may never rise, in the Bush mindset, is the price of labor. Companies must cope with rising costs for energy, drugs or land. If they can't deal with it, they go out of business. But cheap labor is somehow an entitlement...

The other sweet thing about this (for the Bush administration and other "free" marketeers) is that the Dems are too p***y to say anything about this. After all, what if MALDEF calls them "mean-spirited"? Or, what if the National Council of The Race says they're xenophobes? At all costs, the Dems must sell out American citizens to far-left race-based groups with questionable loyalties to this country.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 09:48 PM | Comments (2)

Bush reinstates Davis-Bacon on Gulf Coast

Shortly after Katrina, Bush lifted the Davis-Bacon Act, a union favorite that provides a prevailing wage for workers on federal contracts. Grover Norquist was one of those pushing for the suspension.

Now, our president has reinstated D-B.

Around the same time that he suspended that Act, Bush also suspended fines for those who hired illegal aliens.

That gave the green light for illegal aliens from other U.S. states as well as from Mexico to swarm in to the Gulf Coast to take rebuilding jobs.

Perhaps those Republicans who say they favor a D-B suspension because they're thinking of the Katrina victims will come out against illegal aliens taking rebuilding jobs from those victims.

And, perhaps those Dems who complained about D-B being suspended will speak out about this as well.

Uh-huh.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)

What USA Today wanted to do to Condi Rice's picture

This was what they planned for the web version of their article:

Posted to WackyHumor at 12:29 PM | Comments (1)

Introducing... Grob!

Michael Chumley, pictured above, illustrates a new insect species that he's named "Grobs". These beasts, fearsome and disgusting though they may look, are currently being investigated as a major food source. They're high in protein and vitamins and they eat just about anything, including waste products. Don't worry though: you won't eat them whole. They'll be ground up and used as a filler product in hamburgers, hot dogs, and various other processed and extruded food products. Chumley is currently arranging with various U.S. fast food outlets for a 2006 "crawlout" throughout the nation.

Posted to WackyHumor at 06:45 AM | Comments (0)

"Did CIA run a covert op against an elected president?"

I haven't been following PlameGate, so I don't know whether this is something that could be true or whether it's part of the defense:

The media version of the CIA leak case is that the White House illegally revealed a CIA employee's identity because her husband, Joseph Wilson, was an administration critic. But former prosecutor Joseph E. diGenova says the real story is that the CIA "launched a covert operation" against the President when it sent Wilson on the mission to Africa to investigate the Iraq-uranium link. DiGenova, a former Independent Counsel who prosecuted several high-profile cases and has extensive experience on Capitol Hill, including as counsel to several Senate committees, is optimistic that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will figure it all out.

DiGenova tells this columnist, "It seems to me somewhat strange, in terms of CIA tradecraft, that if you were really attempting to protect the identity of a covert officer, why would you send her husband overseas on a mission, without a confidentiality agreement, and then allow him when he came back to the United States to write an op-ed piece in the New York Times about it."

That mission, he explained, leads naturally to the questions: Who is this guy? And how did he get this assignment? "That's not the way you protect the identity of a covert officer," he said. "If it is, then [CIA director] Porter Goss is doing the right thing in cleaning house" at the agency.

If the CIA is the real villain in the case, then almost everything we have been told about the scandal by the media is wrong. What's more, it means that the CIA, perhaps the most powerful intelligence agency in the U.S. Government, was deliberately trying to undermine the Bush Administration's Iraq War policy.

Obviously, we don't want the CIA to do such things as that's a threat to the Republic. But, then again, the Bush administration isn't exactly a big friend of America either.

Posted to Politics at 03:40 AM | Comments (0)

California ranked 46th in education

The "Education State Rankings" from Morgan Quitno Press has ranked the 50 states on education: States were graded on 21 factors, including student achievement and attendance, positive outcomes, strong student-teacher relationships and school district efficiency... number of high school graduates, reading, writing and math proficiency, percent of school-age kids in public schools, high school drop out rates, student-teacher ratios and class size.

I've never heard of that Press or their survey before, but I suspect there's some hidden agenda at work somewhere in it. Nevertheless, here are the top five:

1. Vermont
2. Connecticut
3. Massachusetts
4. New Jersey
5. Maine

New Jersey? These top rankings might have something to do with the way their school districts are structured, by city rather than by county. Or, perhaps it's all that snow. Anyway, here are the bottom ten:

41. Tennessee
42. Hawaii
43. Alabama
44. Alaska
45. Louisiana
46. California
47. Nevada
48. New Mexico
49. Mississippi
50. Arizona

Note that while California lost out to Alabama, at least we're still ahead of Mississippi. Whoo! And, note also that four out of the five worst states have something in common: they're destinations for huge numbers of illegal aliens.

That, of course, has something to do with it; without them California would probably be near the top. Of course, you will never hear any liberals talking about that. Better to be worse than Alabama than to be called "mean-spirited".

Posted to California at 11:28 PM | Comments (4)

Daniel Griswold's libertarian fantasy world

Dan Griswold is with the Cato Institute, and he appeared on KFI's John and Ken Show yesterday. You can hear his interview in their audio archives.

The interview concerned immigration and Bush's temporary worker plan. In a perfect world, people like Griswold would be considered extremist nuts. Unfortunately, in president Bush's world, people like him help set policy.

A heating contractor called in and said that in 1984 HVAC installers earned $21 an hour, but today they earn just $18 an hour. With inflation, that $21 would become $38. He said that illegal aliens were willing to work for $12 an hour because they lived three families to a house and drove a piece of crap car.

Griswold immediately threw down the race card, saying to John and Ken that they were "stoking some very ugly stereotypes" and that they were trying to "rile things up with inflammatory rhetoric".

Just one problem: the caller is correct, and Griswold is wrong. Whether it's just because he's willing to deny all of the evidence that his lunatic libertarian ideas are completely wrong, or because he's ignorant is not known. However, he, Bush, and all those on that side are on the other side from the vast majority of Americans.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 03:02 PM | Comments (3)

New Democratic Party slogans

"Give us a chance, OK?"

"Socialism doesn't necessarily imply Communism, you know. Please, read this pamphlet."

"Only a few of our members want to reclaim Mexico's Lost Territories for that country. Most of us don't have a position on that yet."

"Vote Democratic to Stop War and End Racism"

"The People's Struggle against the Hegemonic Oppressors will not be Thwarted! All Hail Chairman Howard Dean!"

"We don't have economic power because we don't own the means of production" (actual speech from Fabian Nunez, speaker of the CA Assembly. He said that at a protest featuring an American flag with just 13 Stars. The Mexican Army Band lead the parade. Nunez is - naturally - a Democrat.)

"California is going to be a Mexican state, we are going to control all the institutions. If people don't like it they should leave." (From Mario Obledo, co-founder of MALDEF and... a Democrat. Here's more about racist liberals.)

Posted to WackyHumor at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

"Hayworth's plan won't fix problem"

From the editorial Hayworth's plan won't fix problem:

Real immigration reform or demagoguery? This year, Congress has opened a dialogue on an issue that the American people have long deemed pressing.

Finally, our legislators are facing up to the fact that current immigration law is not in tune with the economic or societal realities of our country. Change must happen – and soon.

If we are to fix our broken system, we must target the core. We must acknowledge the root causes driving immigration...

In most cases, the root cause is simple: corruption. If there were no money involved in massive illegal immigration, only a few politicians would support it. Those who would support it even if it personally cost them money would be far-left, racial demagogues with questionable loyalties.

By the way, this editorial is from Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona. Not only is he a Democrat, and not only does he support the Kennedy-McCain massive amnesty scheme, but he's also a proud former member of the racial separatist group MEChA. You know, the one that wants to "liberate" the U.S. southwest and turn it into a Chicano homeland.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 06:25 AM | Comments (2)

"Just How Temporary are 'Guest Workers?' Let's Ask Their Grandchildren"

From this:

...The idea was very appealing: [Germany] would import large numbers of Turks, Italians, Greeks, Yugoslavs, Spaniards and Moroccans to cheaply do the jobs that "no German wanted to do." Such impoverished foreigners would be happy as pie with piddly wages (by German standards) and then they would all go home after a few years. This second part was very important to the Germans, who had never been a nation of immigration and were rightfully proud of their long history as a distinct and continuous people.

So how did it work? Great -- right up until the part where the guests were supposed to go home. They didn't. Employers became dependent on them and were reluctant to find and train replacements or adapt through innovation. And the workers found life as a janitor in Germany somewhat more attractive than life as a Goatherd in the backwoods of Anatolia.

So the employers and guests both fought for constant renewals and extensions and loopholes. The (very comfortable) guests then brought in their families at the first opportunity (or married other guest workers) and baby guests were born. Today, it has been forty to fifty years since the guest worker agreements were signed (depending on the guest-providing country in question), and the guests are still there.

There are two million Turkish guests, one million Yugoslav guests, half a million Italian guests, one third of a million Greek guests and a quarter million Polish guests, along with thousands of Moroccan, Tunisian, Middle Eastern, Russian, and assorted other guests. Guests are now 10% of Germany's population. And many of these guests were born in Germany, being the children and grandchildren of Germany's "temporary" workers from the fifties and sixties. Oh, and they've tired of the guest room, so they all expect to be made citizens now.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 03:03 AM | Comments (2)

WalMart has 103 products about Wicca?

What happened to the Five and Dime? Rootbeer floats and penny candy? Today's WalMart is not yesterday's Woolworth's! Now, you're just as likely to find books about... Wicca!

As this article points out, "Along with the Barbie dolls and Tonka Toys, 100 items for Wicca can be found at Wal-Mart."

Actually, when I went there and searched it said they had 103 items. Just 103? On the other hand, Amazon has over 3500 books about the subject:

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:26 PM | Comments (1)

David Brooks welcomes new, corrupt, Democraticish conservative movement

America's boboiest pundit emerged from behind his paywall earlier today to offer "The Savior of the Right". It's about... George W. Bush. And, Brooks... is not kidding.

...Bush hasn't abandoned conservatism; he's modernized and saved it... Almost single-handedly, Bush reconnected with the positive and idealistic instincts of middle-class Americans. He did it by recasting conservatism more significantly than anyone had since Ronald Reagan. He rejected the prejudice that the private sector is good and the public sector is bad, and he tried to use government to encourage responsible citizenship and community service.

[...much discarded...]

This is not to say that Bush's approach to government is fully coherent. The tragedy of the Bush administration is that it never matched its unorthodox governing philosophy with an unorthodox political strategy... With his policies, Bush could have built a broad coalition across the right and center of American life. Unfortunately, his political strategy was a base strategy, which led him to reinforce the orthodox divisions between the parties.

Despite all the mistakes that have been made, it is nonetheless true that Bush has ennobled and saved American conservatism...

A clear case could be made that Bush is an un-American fraud, intent on using the "positive and idealistic instincts of middle-class Americans" as well as a cowboy hat prop and a varying drawl to sell them - and almost everyone else in the U.S. - down the river.

The latest example is his attempt to show that the public sector is OK: promising to spend billions of dollars as a way of buying off lost popularity due to Katrina. The initial chunk of that money has gone to connected firms, some of which appear to have employed illegal aliens through subcontractors. Needless to say, Bush has not even a minor scheme to get the former residents of New Orleans working on the rebuilding. He's going to let his perverted idea of a "market" do the magic there. Great if you believe in corporate socialism, not so great if you're pro-American.

Previously coverage of this BushBot: "David Brooks or Tokyo Rose?"

Posted to Politics at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

South Korea girl group 'Lady' has secret

The South Korea pop sensation 'Lady' is rocking Asia with their megahit debut album 'Attention' which is (literally) "flying off the shelves" from Bangkok to Pattaya to Hong Kong to Japan to Taiwan, the Independent reports. At first glance these pop sirens might appear to be your average girl group: they like "chocolate, shopping, and gossip".

But, let's look into Yoona, Sine (aka Shinae), Sahara and Binu (pictured above) in a bit more depth. Is there something they're trying to hide? Not at all! In fact they plan a so-called "nude album". Phwaor!

But, they do have a secret: they're a manufactured group. In fact, almost 400 other hopefuls turned out for the auditions to "make the band".

Oh, and they're also all former guys who've had their wangers chopped off.

UPDATE: Here's their video:

Posted to WackyHumor at 02:17 PM | Comments (2)

"Liberals" cracking up over First Amendment?

Remember "Picture posting site busted for obscenity, but there's much more to it"? I hadn't heard of this issue before that happened, but this site says that "liberal" stalwarts RawStory, Americablog, and BuzzFlash lead the charge that lead to the bust and that they have curious ideas of the First Amendment. I haven't researched their postings on this nor do I intend to, but would anyone be surprised if that's true?

Posted to Privacy at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

"Give illegal immigrants a chance, [Sen. Chuck] Hagel says"

That's the title of this Omaha World-Herald story: "The plan Hagel is expected to introduce Tuesday also will include stronger controls at the border to stem the flow of undocumented workers into the United States." But, it's basically a massive amnesty scheme just like the other ones. Full text of the article here.

Your job if you'd be so kind: find out where Hagel gets his campaign contributions from, and the revenues of the top illegal immigration-employing industries in Nebraska.

It sounds like a job for ex-acquaintance "Ann D. Bome", who at one time was in Omaha researching a documentary... on Boy's Town.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 09:43 AM | Comments (5)

Should you trust anything Sen. John Cornyn says?

The plan to create a North American Community - an EU-style superstate consisting of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. - has been covered here in the past. And, no, it's not tinfoil talk, it's something that both the CFR and the Cato Institute support, and even our own "American" president supports it as well. Much more about that here.

In fact, here's a report from the U.S. State Department from May of this year:

"North American Task Force Seeks Improved Trade, Border Security"
usinfo.state.gov/wh/Archive/2005/May/18-799399.html

And, here's some legislation I ran across from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX):

S.2941

Title: A bill to authorize the President to negotiate the creation of a North American Investment Fund to promote economic and infrastructure integration among Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and for other purposes.

Check some of the sites at that google search to see how this fits in to the superstate scheme.

Cornyn is, of course, also the co-author of a guest worker scheme. Since he also obviously supports continental integration, is there any reason not to completely suspect anything he says and does?

Posted to NAU at 06:19 AM | Comments (1)

The end of the line for illegal immigration supporter Douglas Duncan?

The WashTimes predicts that he's bitten off more than he can chew and, once he loses the Maryland governor's race his career will be finished: "Doug Duncan's end?"

Since 1974, no Maryland politician except Sen. Barbara Mikulski has ever lost an election for statewide office and managed to salvage a political career. Of course, Mr. Duncan could be the once-in-a-generation politician who overcomes the odds. If he does, it won't be because of his record in Montgomery County.

As we've pointed out on this page, most recently in connection with Gaithersburg's debate over "day labor" sites, Mr. Duncan thinks fostering an illegal-alien underclass serves Montgomery County's best interests and has been known to play partisan hardball in support of it. He has supported lower in-state college tuition for illegals. He supports allowing immigrants to use ID cards like Mexico's fraud-ridden matricula consular to obtain county services. He also has suggested that his critics equate illegals with terrorists.

If this turns out to be the last gasp of Mr. Duncan's political career, Maryland will be the better for it.

Based on my past coverage of him, I heartily agree. Previously: Montgomery County's Douglas Duncan paying price for supporting illegal immigration. Unfortunately: Martin O'Malley also supports illegal immigration.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:02 AM | Comments (0)

Ray Nagin for President!

Because America needs strong, capable leadership.

I am, of course, kidding, but feel free to buy a button or a T-shirt from that store.

Posted to Bloggage at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)

We oppose the Miers nomination

The last thing we need is a Bush family crony on the United States Supreme Court.

(This is here for obscure blogospheric reasons.)

Posted to Bloggage at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)

Richmond Kentucky to issue ID cards to illegal aliens

From Richmond to offer ID cards to immigrants:

In Richmond, City Manager David Evans said the cards will be used for identification purposes only and should help immigrants more easily perform tasks most citizens take for granted, such as cashing a check or properly identifying themselves to authorities.

"I think it would be more of a help than anything else," he said. "I think it will be an asset for everybody."

Unfortunately, due to political corruption, there's probably little chance that he needs to be concerned with this. But, there is a small chance, and we can only hope.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 04:12 AM | Comments (0)

With 400,000 employees using the same SSN, can you trust anything Bush says?

The WaPo's "Little Support for Bush Immigration Plan" has comments about his scheme from Mark Krikorian of CIS as well as from Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, referred to by the WaPo as "liberal". Let's consider this:

But sooner or later, under the administration's proposal, there would be an immigrant exodus of historic proportions.

Maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling they're trying to portray Bush as Herod. But, they needn't worry, for the reasons I outlined in Chertoff promotes "Temporary Worker Program" at Senate meeting.

The WaPo also points out that in last week's testimony:

...administration officials acknowledged that about 400,000 employees are using a single Social Security number, all zeroes. But there was little discussion about penalizing employers who accept such numbers, Krikorian said... "There's no effort to inform employers regularly of fake Social Security numbers," he said. "That's something the president can do [Saturday]."

Needless to say, the president didn't do it today. From whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051022.html :

To defend this country, we have to enforce our borders. When our borders are not secure, terrorists, drug dealers, and criminals find it easier to sneak into America. My administration has a clear strategy for dealing with this problem: We want to stop people from crossing into America illegally, and to quickly return the illegal immigrants we catch back to their home countries.

Despite what you might think, the president of the United States is not lying. Rather, he's simply trying to mislead you. You need to parse his remarks in the correct, Clinton-approved fashion. Note that he only wants to "stop people from crossing into America illegally". If millions of cheap laborers can cross legally, that would be OK with him. And, once they're in the U.S., he's clearly not going to do anything about it.

While many examples could be provided, consider that Bush gave the green light to employers to hire illegal aliens after the hurricane, and, as can be seen, employers did just that.

And, consider this: "GAO: ICE all but ignores workplace enforcement". That last report is also discussed in the recent "Report: Immigration workplace fines and arrests plummet":

Between fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 2003, the report shows that the number of work-site arrests in the United States by government immigration agents fell by 83 percent, dropping from 2,849 arrests in 1999, to 485 in 2003, the last year for which Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided data to the accountability office.

Another indicator of the downward trend revealed in the report was the number of employers who were fined for hiring undocumented immigrants.

In 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service issued 427 "Notices of Intent to Fine" to companies across the nation.

But in fiscal year 2004, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was formed in 2003 to do the job of the INS, issued just three such notices in the entire country, according to the report.

It's difficult for people to realize that someone they like is just bs'ing them. But, I'm sure many of that small number of people who still support Bush will come to terms with it in time.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 09:02 PM | Comments (2)

"Illegals at military bases raise concerns"

From the AP:

Scores of illegal aliens working as cooks, laborers, janitors, even foreign-language instructors have been seized at military bases around the country in the past year, raising concerns in some quarters about security and troop safety.

I don't know exactly how to parse the "some quarters" bit. Shouldn't everyone be concerned about this?

The aliens did not work directly for the military but for private contractors, as part of a large-scale effort by the Pentagon to outsource many routine rear-echelon jobs and free up the troops to concentrate on waging war.

Some worry that this fast-growing practice could make U.S. military installations more vulnerable to security breaches...

I don't know if this started under Clinton, but I'd imagine it's accelerated under Bush. "Some quarters" still think of the latter as our Homeland Security President.

The rest of the article lists some of the recent arrests, and I think all of them have been previously discussed in this category.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 07:57 AM | Comments (1)

Somos Useful Idiots: CodePink to defend constitution by visiting Cuba

CodePink is organizing a sex tour peace and freedom tour of Cuba, and you're invited:

This New Year's CODEPINK will be organizing a large group of fun-loving and freedom-loving Americans to break George Bush's ban on travel to Cuba. Join co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, together with Academy Award winning producer Paul Haggis, as we visit with farmers at their co-ops, doctors at their family clinics, dancers at the National Folklore Group, and young people at the ballpark. Don't miss this historic chance to dance salsa, drink mojitos, and visit beautiful beaches—all while defending our constitutional rights!!!

Yes, but what about the sex tour sugar beet collective farm tours? What about the visit to brothels the People's Museo of the Collective Struggle Against Oppression in Angola People's 1976 Brigade Counter-Reactionary Action Museum? Will those be included?

...The Bush administration says we can only travel to Cuba if we have immediate family there. Well, we do. Cubans ARE family - Somos Familia. And while we're there, we'll be holding a mutual adoption ceremony in order to demonstrate that family transcends political boundaries. In the ceremony, each participant will be paired with a Cuban brother or sister. After all, we are all part of one human family and there should be no artificial barriers dividing us...

Note also that while you probably thought the ban on travel to Cuba pre-dated Our Lider by a few years, you were obviously wrong.

To sign up, you need to agree to this:

Signing the waiver will confirm your understanding that CODEPINK neither seeks nor accepts a license from the U.S. Government to travel to Cuba. This trip will explicitly challenge the United States restrictions on travel to Cuba, including press releases and conferences and acknowledging to government officials that we are traveling to and from Cuba

In other words, you're useful idiot pawns in yet another Medea Benjamin attempt to grab attention. I'll let someone else weigh in on the legal issues, but there isn't much more in their "waiver". They don't explicitly state all the bad things that could happen, perhaps leading someone who has problems to try to sue them or something...

Also, I wonder whether CP will vet their participants to make sure they aren't on the other side. Of course, there's probably only an extremely small chance that some spook or other would join up to spy on the "liberals" or the Cubans. Don't even think about that possibility! No one would ever do that.

Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)

Ruben Navarrette Jr. or Vicente Fox?

The column "A city about to change colors" says it was written by San Diego Union-Tribute editorialist Ruben Navarrette Jr., but it reads like it was written by Vicente Fox.

I strongly urge you to read the column and use the email addresses below to let those papers that printed this know what you think. While most might appreciate the attention, some might also reconsider whether they want to continue being associated with his views.

After Katrina, Americans gave millions of dollars to help the victims, and our federal government will give untold billions more. This should be an opportunity for Americans of all races and backgrounds to come together and help each other. Unfortunately, some others tend to put their race before their country and their fellow citizens.

If you thought the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina was ugly, then you should take a look at what's happening now. It's not pretty.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin are up in arms because what has historically been a mostly black city may be on its way to becoming a largely brown city. Latino immigrants are coming to New Orleans from as far away as California to repair homes, clear debris, rebuild roads and do other jobs...

The vast majority of them are citizens of Mexico and other countries. Some are new crossers, others are illegal aliens who've been here for a while. The vast majority are not Americans.

Folks such as such as Jackson, who has also complained that too many of the government contracts to rebuild the city are going to firms outside Louisiana. Jackson has gone so far as to propose chartering buses to bring black evacuees back to New Orleans so they could claim jobs that Jackson insists are rightfully theirs.

First of all, not all the people on his buses were black, and I don't think even Jackson would have restricted it just to blacks. And, don't those former residents have a greater right to those jobs than illegal aliens? Would someone who's willing to put their country and their fellow citizens ahead of their race think the same thing as Navarette does? How could any American support such a position?

City officials say that one thing that keeps former residents from wanting to give New Orleans another chance is the lack of subsidized housing.

Guess what? Latino immigrants have to contend with the same shortage. The difference is that the immigrants are not sitting around and waiting for government to come to the rescue. They're probably living two or three families to a house, and saving money to buy a home of their own.

That's how it used to be in this country before the advent of the welfare state. And, if the immigrant values win out in this struggle — over those of the New Orleans officials — it could be that way again.

Those "immigrant values" include unsafe working and living conditions, hardly American values.

What's the American thing to do in this case? Let's do whatever we need to do to get those former residents - or at least other Americans - to do the jobs. Considering the subtext of those preceding paragraphs, if this had been written by a white person it would never have seen the light of day. Even if some of our fellow Americans are as shiftless as Navarrette wants us to believe, then we need to deal with that directly, and not just send them to other states where they'll continue to be a part of the welfare state.

Note that similar thoughts have been expressed by Raul A. Reyes of USA Today, Linda Chavez, and the Los Angeles Times' Gregory Rodriquez.

As stated above, I suggest writing to each of the sources that printed this and let them know what you think:

Here come the Latinos - Jesse and Nagin are up in arms (schmooze@jewishworldreview.com)

The Struggle for Competing Values in New Orleans ( feedback@realclearpolitics.com)

New Orleans leaders fret over growing Latino population (jpbowman@angnewspapers.com,ttuttle@angnewspapers.com)

Will it be Nuevo Orleans? (twinckler@sanmateocountytimes.com,ttuttle@angnewspapers.com)

New Orleans leaders bemoan Latino influx (feedback@sgvn.com)

Efforts to repair, rebuild New Orleans engulfed in racial politics (shidlay@app.com)

Welcome to Nuevo Orleans (publiceditor@sacbee.com)

Why not Nuevo Orleans? (don_holland@link.freedom.com,smw@link.freedom.com)

Posted to Immigration2005b at 07:34 PM | Comments (5)

The new Democratic slogan

This is one of the leading contenders: America Can Do Better.

Posted to Politics at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)

A new way for "liberals" to be traitors

They can support Quebec's plan to create their own armed forces.

[Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said:] "There'll be an army, of course... We have to have those organizations, I would say... If you develop a foreign policy the way we see it, then we'll have an army that will intervene mainly to secure democracy in some countries, participating in international forces, going when there's a natural catastrophe, either inside Quebec or outside Quebec... And sometimes you have to go to war."

Posted to Miscellania at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)

Arizona Poll: employers should verify immigration status

From this:

Echoing the results of an Arizona Republic Poll published today, the poll by Phoenix-based ThinkAZ said that 64 percent of these voters believe that putting the onus on employers would be "effective." Existing U.S. law requires employers to verify employees' legal status and allows authorities to fine organizations that do not comply. However, the law is not rigorously enforced.

The approach that respondents to the ThinkAZ poll support the least is granting "immediate U.S. citizenship or amnesty" to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least three years. Only about 30 percent favor it...

A 44 percent plurality of respondents said eliminating automatic U.S. citizenship for babies born to undocumented immigrants in the United States would be "effective" in controlling illegal immigration. A proposal to limit access to a public school education to U.S. citizens was seen as "effective" by a leading 42 percent...

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)

Kilgore, Kaine, the VA governor's race, and the WaPo's bias

From this:

There are two things every American should know about Virginia's governor's race: 1) It's the first sizable political contest to turn, largely, on the issue of illegal immigration. 2) As such, it spotlights the pathetic state of political discourse on the subject.

Just to be clear, there's nothing pathetic about the position of Republican nominee Jerry W. Kilgore. He's the guy I like. I like him simply because he says he wants to enforce the law -- for example, the law prohibiting illegal aliens and other non-citizens from voting. He would even like to see the law tightened to become more easily enforceable. I also like him because he says he doesn't want to break the law -- such as laws prohibiting welfare and other benefits from being distributed to illegal aliens.

But this is precisely where the debate becomes pathetic: In the United States, in the year 2005, just trying to help carry out immigration laws already on the books, and just trying not to break them, marks one as a veritable subversive with a program, as The Washington Post hysterically put it, "tinged with nativism and opportunism."

...Timothy M. Kaine, Kilgore's Democratic opponent, calls this approach "mean-spirited"; Kaine's solution, meanwhile, is both to defer to local officials and rely on federal enforcement -- which is no solution at all. An independent candidate, H. Russell Potts Jr., calls Kilgore's law-and-order position "the worst form of demagoguery." A Kaine spokesman called it "grandstanding." Kilgore had succumbed to "the temptation to fan the flames with a naked appeal for votes," according to The Washington Post, itself succumbing to the temptation to mix metaphors. The newspaper also dubbed the Kilgore plan to follow the law "populist nonsense" and "a wedge issue..."

Posted to Immigration2005b at 12:35 PM | Comments (2)

Bush promotes immigration "reform", "temporary" worker scheme

Here are his remarks from Monday. If you removed all the lies, hot air, and just plain ol' BS from these three paragraphs you'd be left with little more than three "the"'s and two "it"'s:

As we improve and expand our efforts to secure our borders, we must also recognize that enforcement work -- that enforcement cannot work unless it is part of a larger comprehensive immigration reform program. If an employer has a job that no American is willing to take, we need to find a way to fill that demand by matching willing employers with willing workers from foreign countries on a temporary and legal basis. The best way to do that is through a temporary worker program that gives those workers we need a legal, honest way to come into our country and to return home. I'm going to work with members of Congress to create a program that can provide for our economy's labor needs, without harming American workers, without providing amnesty, and that will improve our ability to control our borders.

You see, we got people sneaking into our country to work. They want to provide for their families. Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River. People are coming to put food on the table. But because there is no legal way for them to do so, through a temporary worker program, they're putting pressure on our border. It makes sense to have a rational plan that says, you can come and work on a temporary basis if an employer can't find an American to do the job. It makes sense for the employer, it makes sense for the worker, and it makes sense for those good people trying to enforce our border. The fewer people trying to sneak in to work means it's more likely we're going to catch drug smugglers and terrorists and gun runners.

A critical part of any temporary worker program is work site enforcement. To deal with employers who violate our immigration law, this bill strengthens our enforcement capabilities by adding new agents and doubling their resources. We've got to crack down on employers who flout our laws. And we will give honest employers the tools they need to spot fake documents and ensure that their workers are respecting our laws. America is a country of laws, and we're going to uphold our laws for the good of the citizens of this country.

Compare the middle paragraph to the highly similar spiel he played to O'Reilly last year.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 08:32 AM | Comments (5)

Mexico approves of Bush Temporary Worker Scheme

Our friends to the south, specifically the Foreign Relations Secretariat, have issued the following statement on the scheme laid out yesterday by DHS head Chertoff:

"The Mexican government considers it significant that the Bush administration has a solid and unified position on immigration reform that allows safe, legal and orderly migration, and takes into account those migrants who are already residing in the United States... Mexico understands the link between regional security and the immigration issue but stresses that both issues should be viewed as shared responsibilities. [MX will maintain contact with Bush et al] to make suggestions to help the immigration situation and standards of living of our countrymen."

Previously: Chertoff promotes "Temporary Worker Program" at Senate meeting

Posted to Immigration2005b at 05:44 AM | Comments (0)

Senator Barbara Boxer book: "A Time to Run"

Previously came the news that California's dumber Senator, and in fact one of the dumbest Senators ever, is trying her hand at fiction: "She's a boxer, a fighter, and a bodice-ripping good read". This, of course, follows her two successful non-fiction titles: Governance for Dummies and If I Can Be A Senator So Can Anyone.

I now demand that you purchase a copy of A Time to Run: A Novel by this plucky Democrat. If she becomes a best-selling author she might decide to pursue that full time, thus saving California and the nation from having to deal with her decisions.

"Suffice it to say, this effort reads more like a cross between a bad romance novel and a soap opera script. The Congressional Record might be more entertaining. And it's free," noted the Sacramento Bee, which obtained an uncorrected proof of the novel last month but was prohibited from quoting directly from it. According to Mrs. Boxer's 2004 financial records, she received an advance of $15,938 for the novel, co-written with Mary-Rose Hayes, a sixtysomething British author known for such feminine fare as "Amethyst" and "The Winter Women."

Well, it will make a great collector's item and conversation starter then.

Posted to Miscellania at 03:05 AM | Comments (1)

Colorado poll: yes to immigration, no to illegal immigration

Rocky Mountain News/CBS 4 did a poll of 500 "likely Colorado voters":

"Overall, immigration is a good thing.":
61 percent said they "strongly" or "somewhat" agree

"Illegal immigrants are a burden on the United States, because of their impact on things like schools, jobs, and health care":
50% "strongly agree"
23% "somewhat agree" (73%)
"somewhat" or "strongly" disagree 26%.

"highest priority for the federal government?":
"the budget deficit" 20%
"the cost and supply of energy" 18%
the "war in Iraq" 16%
"terrorism" 14%
immigration 10%
job creation 10%

Tancredo, a statewide and national lightning rod on the issue, earned a 31 percent favorable rating from the respondents. Nearly as many, 29 percent, said they have an unfavorable impression of him. One in five said they'd never heard of him and 18 percent had no opinion.

Needless to say, M.E. Sprengelmeyer of the RM News has a little difficult understanding the "complex" results. He starts discussing their "harsh view toward illegal immigrants", then quotes an open borders advocate, then discusses "resentment to illegal immigration" that:

cuts across ethnic and other lines, although more Republican males (18 percent) viewed the issue as the country's highest priority. Only 11 percent of Republican women ranked it the top priority. Among whites in the survey, 78 percent agreed that illegal immigrants were a "burden," and so did 47 percent of Hispanics.

Here's a hint: don't put "burden" in quotes if it's in your survey question. If you feel a need to put words like that in quotes, don't put them in your own survey.

Then, the crack reporter follows with this:

Val Forsmark, a retired journalist who took the survey, said she's not surprised so many people blame illegal immigrants.

I'm sure we should let Val set our immigration policy.

Posted to Immigration2005b at 02:31 AM | Comments (4)

Bloggers blogging from the Capitol!

Wow! This is big news! Several bloggers - led by Matt Margolis of Blogs for Bush - will be blogging live from "Bloggers' Row" at the Capitol on 10/20!

According to the invitation he received from the House Republican Conference:

For the first time ever, Bloggers are invited to meet directly with House Members and blog from the Capitol. Members will be stopping in throughout the day to meet with bloggers and discuss the House Republican record of successful economic policies, their commitment to fiscal responsibility, and the details of the historic proposed budget amendment that is expected to reach the floor later this week.

Why, Matt's even got a form you can fill out with your questions.

Just off the top of my head, here's a few:

To what do you owe your successful stewardship of this great country?

What was the most difficult plan of Our Leader to implement, and how did you feel when you had successfully implemented it?

How does it feel to have finally got the country on the right track with your successful economic policies?

Will your commitment to fiscal responsibility continue in the coming years of your esteemed reign?

And, note that this effort is Insty-approved!

N.Z. BEAR IS SETTING UP A SPECIAL PAGE for people participating in the Congressional blogging event tomorrow. If you'll be participating, please let him know.

Also, Matt Margolis is taking questions to ask the House members. Submit yours!

I say, ask 'em about the pork, and the Coburn amendment. (Yes, I know it's in the Senate, but someone could always introduce a House version.)

And, now for the punchline: only some of these people are in on the game!

And, this is similar to what happened the last time bloggers were invited to the Big Top. At that time, BlogsForBush solicited questions for the RNC bloggers, and you can read my attempt to hijack their comments thread at that link. Note this from that post:

Please keep your questions positive and related to the campaign, George W. Bush, and the election.

And, you can read my unsucessful attempts to get a few questions proposed and asked here and here (redstate.org/story/2004/8/23/184419/535). Needless to say, it didn't work out too well.

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

Air America's Communist connection

Did you know that ads from a Communist-linked group appeared on Air America Radio?

Da, comrade, it's true! Jamie, from Gosudarstvennoye Buro Informatsii, aka AAR's media relations dep't, has not returned my call requesting a statement. We will keep all comrades up to vremya on breaking scandal. Rabotayu i slezhu....

Posted to Miscellania at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)

Judy Miller or Arianna Huffington: who'd be the better hiker?

I haven't been following PlameGate, but I do know that there are two sexy ladies in this picture:

The circumstances of this photo are described here, but since I'm an avid hiker I obviously have other questions.

For instance, what was the distance and gain of their hike? I guess Aspen is around 8000' in elevation. That's basically nothing altitude-wise, but some people can get sick that low or a little higher. Did Arianna and Judy hit 10k? Based on their outfits, I doubt if they tried for a 14er. Did they get into any rock work? Some aid climbing? How about some 4th class?

And, if you were a hiking guide, employed to guide the world's elite up hill and down dale, what would you do in this case? Would you try to give Arianna some private hiking lessons, or would you reserve your attention for Judy?

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

Chertoff promotes "Temporary Worker Program" at Senate meeting

Don't believe everything you read about DHS head Michael Chertoff's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

First, from Drudge, come these headlines in red:

HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF: EXPEL ALL ILLEGALS... 'Our goal is to return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions'...

Those headlines and the first two paragraphs of the AFP article Drudge references are wrong. Read Chertoff's prepared remarks here: dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=45&content=4890

He wasn't referring to deporting all illegal aliens. He was in fact only referring to those OTMs ("Other than Mexicans") caught at the border. Most of them are given a notice to appear and released into the U.S. and never heard from again. He pledged to end that "catch and release" by adding new detention space. There's background on this issue here, here, and by searching for OTMs in the search box.

And:

The Cabinet officials emphasized that the president strongly opposed an amnesty for illegal aliens, and Chertoff agreed with Kennedy that trying to deport all illegal immigrants would not be possible. "It would take billions and billions and billions of dollars to do it," Chertoff said.

Shades of Asa Hutchinson. And, from his prepared remarks:

Ending illegal immigration means both tough enforcement and action to reduce the very demand that draws illegal migrants into the country. Therefore, our strategy of reforming our immigration system is a three-pillar, comprehensive approach that focuses on controlling the border, building a robust interior enforcement program, and establishing a Temporary Worker Program.

That's the new word for their "guest" worker program. A question: what happens when those "temporary" workers have U.S. citizen children? Does anyone in their right mind think that we would be able to deport mixed families if they don't want to return? Can't you just imagine Sen. Teddy Kennedy joining with Rep. Nancy Pelosi to propose an "adjustment" of their status allowing these millions of formerly "temporary" workers to stay here permanently? Isn't anyone who would call them "Temporary" workers just lying to you?

And, note that this appears to be part of a larger Bush administration offensive. Also today the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held a Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Fixing a Broken System confab featuring First Data (owners of Western Union), Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and other immigration "reformers". For more on the ties between "reform" and big business, see "Big Business Balks at Bush Propaganda Plan".

And, this is days after Tamar Jacoby entertained the crowds at the LAPL.

And, a new push poll on immigration "reform" was released on Monday.

It's unfortunate that almost every person commenting on this has simply taken the AFP's report above at face value without understanding what Chertoff really said and what this all means.

If you want to do something about this, please help set the record straight.

And, contact your representatives and tell them to just enforce the laws.

UPDATE: From this:

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao provided a general outline of the plan Bush introduced last year, emphasizing that undocumented workers accepted into the program would receive no advantages over immigrants in the country legally and that they would be required to return home after their work period ends. "Those who come forward will not be offered an automatic pass to citizenship and should be expected to pay a substantial fine or penalty to participate in the temporary program," she said. Under the president's plan, she said, guest workers would be able to extend a three-year work visa for another three years, but would then have to leave the country for a year to apply for a new work permit. She said they would be issued biometric, tamper-resistant cards that would allow them to cross U.S. borders during their stay.

And, from the same article, John McCain borrows my talking point:

McCain said any plan centered on sending illegal immigrants home ignores that businesses rely on immigrant labor and that many immigrants have children born in the United States, who are citizens. "Somebody is going to have to explain how that is workable," he said of the idea of deporting illegal workers.

It isn't. And, McCain's scheme is even worse than the Bush scheme.

Could someone please keep track of editorials supporting these various amnesty schemes? Here's the Miami Herald: "EDITORIAL: Border enforcement doesn't get job done".

Posted to Immigration2005b at 11:58 AM | Comments (5)

Las Vegas gambling on massive illegal immigration

See "Violent gang with Central American roots expands deep into U.S." for the scoop. See "Can you trust the Las Vegas Sun?" for more on that paper.

Posted to Immigration_terror at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

Los Angeles Times endorses Proposition 75

In a