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Could Matt Yglesias be any more of a dude?
As in "dude ranch":
Caption:
Brooks Brothers suit jacket turns out not to go so well with hiking.
Leaving the Great Liberal Northeast for seemingly the first time, pundit Matt Yglesias recently traveled to Taos, New Mexico. I spent a fair amount of time typing out an unheeded comment suggesting that he travel further south and visit Las Cruces, El Paso, and Carlsbad and also that he take a hike at the White Sands National Monument. It's a good thing he didn't take my advice: he probably would have done it in a tuxedo.
In a show of solidarity with, you know, everyone else, he says "Middle America goes on vacation". And, he titles a picture of someone with a baby carrier "Ambitious" ("This woman was actually carrying her daughter on her back throughout a mile-long trail.") First, a mile is nothing, especially since it appears to have been a ranger-led nature trail for tourists and thus probably wasn't in the least bit difficult. On a serious note, one wonders how someone who's such a dude could comment on matters affecting the Southwest such as massive immigration.
Posted to Bloggage at 01:51 PM
Great American Boycott II: May Day illegal immigration marches
May 1 is the big day for supporters of illegal immigration, as once again foreign citizens will take to our streets, making a show of force and demanding that we change our laws to suit them.
In last year's marches, some of the organizers had links to the Mexican government and Mexican political parties, yet that was barely noted even when it appeared in mainstream articles from the Chicago Tribune and others. And, in some cases it wasn't mentioned. For instance, Tim Molloy of the AP failed to note that one of the organizers was a former Mexican consul general. Stay tuned for coverage.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:22 PM
NYT: mainstream immigration positions are "fringe"
The New York Times offers the editorial "The Amnesty Sideshow", which, as you might guess from the source, is wrong.
...on the volatile topic of immigration, Republicans are lurching, falling over themselves to convince voters that where they stand is not where they stood... While [the "fate" of a "bipartisan immigration bill"] is being decided in difficult closed-door negotiations in the Capitol, they and other G.O.P. hopefuls are on the stump, tying themselves in knots over "amnesty" and dancing farther out to the fringes of public opinion... Mr. McCain and his adversaries may believe that primary politics demands such behavior, but surveys of the larger populace tell a different story. Americans want the immigration issue solved, and they strongly favor "amnesty," whether you call it that or not. An array of recent polls show powerful support for an earned path to citizenship...
Obviously, the NYT thinks biased polls are more accurate than the realization being forced on McCain, Brownback, Giuliani, Romney, and the rest that "amnesty" - whether called a "banana" or not - is fundamentally unpopular out on the stump.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:13 PM
Time for a technique lesson
This short video shows you the proper technique to use when biking down wet slopes through bushes:
I was coming down a not-very-difficult rock and a I hit the soft, wet edge of the trail and, needless to say, just kept going. Just a few small cuts are the result. In my defense, I'm recovering from a strep throat and, more pertinently I was preoccupied with other thoughts. To make it even worse my chain gave me problems a couple times before then and later got stuck completely meaning I was only able to bike out of there on the downhill sections. I also did a very slow endo after the visit to the bushes. Things aren't usually this bad, but, like I said I was preoccupied with other things.
Posted to OutdoorSports at 09:51 PM
Chuck Hagel's point-based amnesty scheme
Someone didn't get the Brownback Memo, namely Sen. Chuck Hagel, who's offering a new point-based amnesty scheme. Illegal aliens would pay a $2000 fine and run the standard gamut: a background check, English proficiency, etc. Then:They would then be evaluated on factors including work history, education level, family, English proficiency, civic engagement and the amount of time they have been in the country.It would have been nice if a neon sign with "THIS IS AMNESTY" was flashing behind his head as he said that, but I doubt that happened.
Illegal immigrants who earn a certain number of points would qualify for a greencard, but would have to wait behind those who have already applied as a legal immigrant.
"This is not amnesty," Hagel said.
What exactly would happen to those who don't make the grade isn't clear. Bush and others (and perhaps Hagel) keep telling us that we can't deport millions of people, so either the points system is going to be mostly meaningless, or we're going to have millions of unadmitted illegal aliens still here. And, of course, the ACLU and racial power groups would be first in line to file suits claiming that the points system discriminated in some way against someone.
Hagel also says:
"At a time when America's standing in the world is as low as it's ever been, this is one of those issues that the world is watching," Hagel told participants at an immigration conference in Omaha. "This is going to tell a lot about who we are, how we handle this issue."
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:19 PM
Anna Gorman/LAT: sob story to support illegal alien amnesty
Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times offers the Page 1 story "A family's painful split decision". Over four pages she tells the tale of two long-term illegal aliens (Abel Munoz and Zulma Miranda) who had three children in the U.S. They originally entered with a temporary visa, which they overstayed. They apparently took bad legal advice and tried to correct their status, but were eventually ordered deported. They say they didn't receive the notice. Then, one day ICE came to the door and they were forced to choose; they decided to move to Tijuana and leave the kids here. The case is similar to this other case that was whined about by another reporter.
The tale ends near this:
"Look at that sweater — it is half a sweater," [Munoz] said. "We can't even afford a whole sweater."
That follows the news that they own a $300,000 home. And, it follows Gorman glossing over various forms of illegal activity: overstaying a visa and "using a fake green card and Social Security number to get work when he first arrived in the country, and working as an electrician without a license."
Obviously, this is just a sob story designed to appeal to those who a susceptible to such techniques. And, just as obviously, if the "reform" that the Los Angeles Times supports passes, people like Gorman are still going to be out there, and there's almost no chance that they're going to take the pledge to stop featuring such sob stories. In fact, if "reform" passed, it probably would only be a few weeks before the various sob stories start designed to weaken the "reform". Those who support "reform" have shown their hands: what they're really after is a massive, continuing legalization program where anyone who makes it over the border and manages to stay here for a while gets to stay permanently.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 04:27 PM
Petition: We Need Real Political Debates
Unless we take action now, the upcoming presidential debates will just be an opportunity for politicians to recite their talking points, and moderators will continue to ask puffball, general questions rather than asking questions designed to reveal flaws in the candidates' arguments.
I urge everyone to sign this non-partisan petition demanding real political debates and send it to all your friends.
The petition demands that questions should be designed to make a candidate defend their positions, not just state what they are. If someone is running for President of the U.S., they should be able to defend their positions and respond to critics.
And, it suggests that panels of subject matter experts - from across the entire spectrum - be used to craft tough questions. Moderators - together with those experts - can ask a series of questions in order to hone in on a candidate's actual positions and in order to reveal flaws in their policies.
One of the greatest threats to the U.S. political system is that politicians are frequently allowed to make obviously wrong or misleading statements without being challenged. Please sign the petition in order to end this practice and craft real debates about vital issues.
Posted to Politics at 12:34 PM
Democrats debate features largely worthless immigration question
In case you were wondering just how corrupt the MSM is, the following appears to be the only question at tonight's Democratic presidential debate that involved immigration matters. While the "defy" part is certainly a bit piquant, and it's certainly good to get the news that Hillary Clinton supports amnesty out there and from her own lips, the information the question would obtain could more easily be obtained from her website. She's no doubt said the same thing countless times, and when she heard the question she probably just put her brain into replay mode.What should have been asked is something designed to reveal the flaws in what she supports, such as the question on this video. That would bring her support of illegal immigration to more widespread attention, while at the same time revealing that she has no non-corrupt argument for what she supports:
MODERATOR:...Senator Clinton, if you were currently the president, would you defy the majority of American citizens and offer a form of amnesty for illegal aliens?
CLINTON: Well, I'm in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, which includes tightening our border security, sanctioning employers to employ undocumented immigrants, helping our communities deal with the costs that come from illegal immigration, getting the 12 million or so immigrants out of the shadows. That's very important to me.
After 9/11, we've got to know who's in this country. And then giving them a chance to pay a fine, pay back taxes, learn English and stand in line to be eligible for a legal status in this country.
MODERATOR: Time's up. Thank you, ma'am.
And that question was from Chris in Myrtle Point, Oregon.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 09:03 PM
Bush spkswm: "the laws of this country, including immigration laws, need to be followed"
In today's "no, it's not a joke" news comes the reply that White House spokeswoman Dana Perino gave to this question from Les Kinsolving:
"How will the United States ever develop, adopt and enforce any sort of immigration policy when individual leaders such as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom have vowed to oppose federal enforcement of such laws and, in fact, are preparing to run a sanctuary city that would facilitate illegal activities, as just reported for the San Francisco Chronicle?"
The reply:
"President Bush believes that the laws of this country, including immigration laws, need to be followed."
For those who just flew in from Dubuque, for the past six plus years Bush has been running the U.S. as if it were a sanctuary country. The only thing he'd be concerned about concerning 'Frisco is that such defiance might have an impact on getting the amnesty he wants for the reasons previously discussed.
Perino was also asked about the recent no-confidence vote by Border Patrol agents in BP chief David Aguilar, and her response was that she hadn't seen the resolution, followed by empty blather.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 08:17 PM
"Mexican Officials Coached Witnesses In Border Patrol Murder Case"
From this:...When prosecutors in Arizona's Cochise County proudly announced the first-degree murder charges against Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett this week, the failed to mention some important details that could prove damaging to their case.
First is the fact that their key witnesses are the two brothers and a sister-in-law of the shot man, who incidentally joined him on his illegal border crossing journey. Secondly, is the fact that Mexican Consul officials were allowed to interview and coach the already biased witnesses before they gave statements to U.S. authorities.
Mexican officials were granted unrestricted access to the apprehended illegal immigrants by the Border Patrol agent in charge of the Naco station where they were detained immediately after the January shooting.
The senior agent, Darcy Olmos, has a long history of pandering to Mexico and Mexican aliens and refers to illegal immigrants as "my people." In fact, when ranchers near the border complained of vandalism by illegal aliens, Olmos said that ancestors of the ranchers had stolen the land from her people.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:09 PM
George W. Bush, Raul Grijalva support "comprehensive immigration reform" together
Yesterday, Bush met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including former MEChA member Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who says:
"As much as I malign the president, I thought he was receptive... He was engaged in the conversation, asked questions and continued to make a commitment to comprehensive reform... ...We support [the Flake-Gutierrez STRIVE Act] very strongly, and we support the fact that this has to get done this year."
No word is given on Bush's support for STRIVE, but it appears they were all on the same page when it comes to amnesty in general. Grijalva didn't show for Bush's recent border trip, but apparently that's long forgot.
The article also points out that Grijalva would prefer an even worse form of amnesty, and that he's caught between his own "pragmatism" and the wishes of extremists such as his close friend Isabel Garcia. Her group, the Mexico-linked Derechos Humanos, supports Grijalva.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:56 PM
Lawsuit over ICE detained U.S. citizen (ACLU, Anna Werner, LCCR, Zoe Lofgren)
A small, perfect storm of illegal immigration supporters attempting to block enforcement of our immigration laws is forming [1]:
The ACLU and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights will soon announce a suit in the case of Kevin Reyes, a U.S. citizen who was swept up with his father during an ICE raid early one morning in San Rafael, California. A San Francisco investigative reporter (Anna Werner) documented the boy's detention and located and interviewed the boy, his uncle and family friends, who described the boy as traumatized by his experience. Later, in a one-on-one interview about the case, Bay Area Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren described ICE's action in holding the boy in detention for a day as "illegal."
The main Werner report is here:
In a letter written just last week to Representative Lofgren, ICE assured her that before deporting a parent they give the parent an "opportunity to arrange appropriate care for the child" and that agents even could even release people arrested "on their own recognizance" if they "demonstrate childcare issues." ...CBS 5 Investigates asked Representative Lofgren if ICE's assurances in their letter were credible... "I have concerns," Lofgren said. "I have some concerns, and we plan to have a greater understanding of the situation than we do today."
While they indeed might have a point, this could be handled in other ways. As it is, this is yet another example of Lofgren (a former immigration lawyer), the ACLU, and the rest trying to tie ICE's hands in order to restrict immigration enforcement in general.
UPDATE: Tyche Hendricks offers "Child's civil rights were violated during immigration raid, lawsuit says". It appears his name is actually "Kebin". And:
"The father was arrested and there was no one to take care of the boy at home, so they had the boy come with his father," said ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley. "He went with his dad so he wouldn't be left home alone. We work with the families to find someone to take care of the child."
UPDATE 2: The same source offers the extremely biased "The human face of immigration raids in Bay Area/Arrests of parents can deeply traumatize children caught in the fray, experts argue":
[much deleted] ...Bay Area residents have said farewell to devoted parent volunteers, talented soccer coaches and close friends... [much deleted]
One of those mentioned is "Kevin Johnson, an immigration law specialist at the UC Davis School of Law", who's [1] below. Oddly enough, Hendricks completely fails to ask any of the parents what they were thinking to put their children in this situation. It's all our fault, for having those mean things called laws.
[1] lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2007/04/lawsuit_by_citi.html
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:48 PM
Hidden gems from the Hagel-Martinez amnesty scam
Last year's Hagel-Martinez amnesty - the one that passed the Senate - had so many loopholes and hidden "features" it's hard to keep track of them. Here's a discussion from June 2006 by Rosemary Jenks of Numbers USA:...in fact there are three other – at least three other, maybe more – amnesties, including one for anyone who entered the United States illegally before the age of 16, one for members of persecuted religious minorities who have applied for amnesty by 2003, and believe it or not, there's one buried in here for sheep herders, goat herders, and dairy workers. So it's sort of a smorgasbord for everyone.
The first one that I want to talk about is one that I'm pretty sure was not included in the estimates that Senator Sessions' office did on the numerical impact of this bill, and I know that it wasn't included in Robert Rector's estimates, and it was actually in the committee markup by Senator Brownback. It's mislabeled "widows and orphans," but what it says is that – and I'm going to read you the actual language here because it's too good to pass up – it essentially invites any alien outside the United States who's determined by a consular or immigration official to be a minor under the age of 18, "for whom no parent or legal guardian is able to provide adequate care, who faces a credible fear of harm related to his or her age, who lacks adequate protection from such harm and for whom it has been determined to be in his or her best interest, to be admitted to the United States, or who is determined by such official to be a female who has a credible fear of harm related to her sex, and a lack of adequate protection from such harm to come to the United States as a non-immigrant," to get refugee cash benefits and then adjust to legal permanent residence pretty much immediately.
So we're talking about women at risk of harm in the world and children without someone to adequately support them in the world coming here. Well, if women are just over half the population of the world, we can exclude: the United States, Canada, Australia, most of Western Europe, and then I hit a blank. You know, you could argue that women in just about the rest of the world have a credible fear of harm. So, that is a provision that is mind boggling, the impact that that could have, and I have not heard word one about this...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:11 AM
Sam Brownback renounces the Hagel-Martinez amnesty he helped pass
The Hagel-Martinez amnesty scam has long since been thrown into the dustbin of history, but Sen. Sam Brownback has now - in a desperate attempt to rewrite history - renounced his support for the bill:Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback said yesterday he no longer supports the immigration overhaul bill that he helped pass in the Senate.Now he tells us.
"I would not vote for the same bill," Mr. Brownback told reporters yesterday morning, saying that after the bill passed the Senate he had a chance to study its effects and decided it led to too much immigration.
It's a major reversal for a man who is listed as one of seven original sponsors of the bill, along with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, who spearheaded the bill...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:09 AM
Fabian Nunez: Hillary Clinton's new national campaign co-chair
Hillary Clinton has just named California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez as a national co-chair of her campaign, saying:
"I'm going to be relying on him very heavily because he has a record of a achievement."
(Latter part of the quote via KFI, which also asked whether he had been offered a spot in the Hillary administration. He didn't answer, saying it was too early to comment.)
Nunez is a virulent Mexican partisan with (at the least) activist roots who denies using the word "rednecks" despite there being an audio tape. He traveled to Mexico in 2005, and spoke with Vicente Fox last year. He has at least one link to Aztlan extremist Armando Navarro.
Related:
Hillary Clinton picks National Council of La Raza's Raul Yzaguirre to co-chair
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:51 PM
Andy Levy/Red Eye (Andrew)
On a recent Reason Magazine thread (reason.com/blog/show/119840.html), Andrew Levy (Andy) of FOX's Red Eye TV program and dailygut.com made an off-hand, ad hominem comment about my Libertarian Quiz. I posted a comment asking him whether he could provide an actual argument, to which he replied, "nope".
While it would be easy to consider him just a lightweight, I'll give him a second chance. He can leave comments here explaining his position, and I'll try to reply as time allows.
Posted to Miscellania at 01:26 PM
Lou Dobbs on media immigration bias; David Bosco/FP downplays
Lou Dobbs offers "Big media hide truth about immigration". This site has hundreds of examples of that bias in the archives, so that won't come as a surprise to regular readers:...the mainstream media are complicit in advancing this thinly veiled blanket amnesty. Instead of asking and answering important questions about why our immigration laws aren't being enforced and why we're permitting pervasive document fraud, the national media seem hell-bent on trying to obfuscate the issue, shamelessly playing with language, equating legal immigration with illegal immigration while obviously trying to preserve the illusion of objectivity...Obviously, Dobbs could have gone on for dozens of pages, offering examples from the WaPo, the NYT, LAT, CBS, NBC, ABC, and on down the line.
...The Arizona Republic, for example, used "undocumented immigrant" more than 80 times in 36 separate stories in the past month alone; the term appeared as many as 12 times in one article on "migration," according to our Lexis-Nexis search. At the same time, "illegal alien" appeared a total of only nine times during that span, with seven of the references coming from readers' opinions, one from a quotation and one from an editorial...
Like a hack from Reason Magazine desperately trying to find any possible sort of anti-Dobbs hook, David Bosco of the Foreign Policy blog (blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/4543) takes him to task for not going on at great length:
And what is the one publication he indicts by name? The Arizona Republic. The specter of Dobbs, a powerful and bullying CNN host, lambasting regional newspapers as the out-of-touch "big media" is really too much.One will note, of course, that he didn't answer Dobbs' main point, and I think we all know why.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:59 PM
Chicago: fake document raid leads to pro-illegal immigration protest
[IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW]Rally 'round the document forgers! A federal raid against ID fraud yesterday in Chicago shows one of the dangers of failing to enforce the immigration laws: illegal activity becomes defined as a part of ethnic solidarity. In the past, Italian-American groups have complained about things like The Godfather. In this situation, ethno-centric reporters and groups are condemning enforcement of federal law and excusing illegal activity. And, needless to say, at least one Catholic Church is involved.
From Esther J. Cepeda of the Chicago Sun-Times comes "'Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood'" (link):
Heavily armed officers from several federal agencies locked down a strip mall in a fraudulent-document bust Tuesday, scaring residents and triggering an angry rally at one of Little Village's busiest intersections that lasted into the evening.One of the stores in the mall was "Foto Munoz", run by the father of Alderman Ricardo Munoz (22nd). He wasn't arrested but a camera was taken into custody.
"Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood," said Baltazar Enriquez, 30, a lifelong Little Village resident. "It looked like they were marching into Iraq."
The raid was part of a probe of identification fraud, according to the U.S. attorney's office. "It's an ICE-led investigation; we're assisting them," said FBI spokesman Ross Rice, speaking of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Agents were carrying out a search warrant, he said. The target was sellers of phony Social Security and green cards, authorities said. Although there were a few arrests, U.S. attorney's officials and ICE refused to provide a number.Rafael Romo of CBS 2 Chicago says:
As word of the raid spread, a crowd of about 250 gathered in the intersection at Albany and 26th as activists exhorted the crowd to take the day's events as reason to join a May 1 march. Trying to cool residents' heated tempers, the Rev. Brandon Curran of St. Pius the Fifth Catholic Church in Pilsen led a prayer in the middle of the street.
Anger, frustration and, ultimately, solidarity spilled into the streets of Little Village Tuesday afternoon. Chicago police only showed up after residents flooded 26th Stree and Albany Avenue. Participants held signs that said things like "no one is illegal."Note that a couple photos for that report were provided by Pueblo Sin Fronteras.
..."Selling illegal papers to immigrants so we can work, basically. That's all we buy them for, is to work," said Little Village resident Luz Nolasco. "But apparently that's against the law and God forbid we help America!"
..."It's a show of force. We believe it was done to intimidate this community. We can't see it any other way," said Ald. George Cardenas (12th). "The number of people involved in this operation is just overwhelming."
..."It was way overkill. They had machine guns, shotguns, bullet-proof vests. It was a huge, huge endeavor," [Ald. Ricardo Munoz] said. "They struck fear into the heart of the Little Village community.
And, John Garcia of ABC 7/WLS says:
The agents on hand Tuesday included FBI and immigrations officers who had search warrants for an alleged fake ID documentation organization. According to sources, a wide range of fraudulent documents were allegedly being made and distributed at the mall. But protesters say there was no reason to frighten the entire community over it.
"We are not here to stop anybody from enforcing the law. But there is common sense into this thing. Why do it in such a public way as to intimidate the people here in this community?" said Alderman George Cardenas, 12th Ward...
..."They just did a mass intimidation. They made us believe out here that they were arresting everybody that was here, but they came in with the intention to stop people from marching on May 1. They haven't done this like this from when I can remember. It's clear to us what their intentions are," said Roberto Lopez, Centro Sin Fronteras...
..."People are calling about their families and want to know what's happening," said Diego Bonesatti, a spokesman for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
He said the organization strongly opposes the timing and manner of the investigation, noting that a week of activities in support of immigration reform is planned nationwide, including citizenship workshops, community meetings and marches planned for May 1.
UPDATE: Now that you've seen what the ethno-centric reporters, aldermen, and groups have to say, take a gander at the shocking PDF from the U.S. Attorney describing the sort of criminals they were after. Would even the NCLR or LULAC stoop to defending people like that?
UPDATE 2: For the less gory MSM version, see this.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:40 PM
Media Matters for America plays word games re: their funding
Recently Bill O'Reilly "disclosed" the funding of the group Media Matters for America (link to video). The segment includes a chart showing money flowing from George Soros to the Open Society Institute, Democracy Alliance, MoveOn, and the Center for American Progress. The latter three are current or former donors to MMFA; the first is/was a donor to the Tides Foundation, which is/was a donor to MMFA.
Now, "A.I." (presumably Andrew Ironside) offers "O'Reilly purported to chart an intricate web leading to "vile propaganda outfit" Media Matters" [1]:
As previously indicated, Soros has never given money to Media Matters, either directly or through another organization. If he wanted to fund Media Matters, he or Open Society Institute (OSI), a grant-making foundation he established in 1993 to conduct his philanthropy, could simply write a check directly to Media Matters, as he and OSI do to numerous entities.
That's a truly Clintonian statement. Soros money has obviously flowed to MMFA through intermediaries such as MoveOn. Soros may not have explicitly told MoveOn to give part of the money he gave them to MMFA, but one wonders whether they would do something that he would disagree with.
The paragraph above links to this brief statement that doesn't even go as far [2]:
Media Matters has never received funding from progressive philanthropist George Soros.
Which, again, may be true if the money went through intermediaries.
And, of course, back in March 2005, MMFA stopped disavowing connections to Soros-affiliated groups.
What exactly are they afraid of?
[1] mediamatters.org/items/200704240003
[2] mediamatters.org/items/200704130012
Posted to Miscellania at 11:10 AM
Why did Mike Huckabee "refresh" his Youtube videos?
Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee has deleted his campaign videos from Youtube and then resubmitted what appear to be the same videos [*]. This procedure deletes comments which had been left on the videos and resets their view counts, ratings, links, etc. They also appear to have changed their commenting policy from comments being unmoderated to them now having to be approved before they're posted.
The exact reason why they did this isn't known; one possible innocent explanation is that the original versions of the videos could have been missing a required FEC message, or they were missing their campaign URL, or similar. A less innocent explanation is that they wanted to delete some negative comments which were left and start over with comment moderation. But, then again, they can delete comments and change moderation policy through Youtube's standard administration scheme. That's so easy anyone could do it, but that doesn't mean their staff could figure it out. The original videos were all high rated, so it probably doesn't involve trying to reset that.
Perhaps the litmus test will come when I find out whether a comment I left on his original "Immigration" video is approved or not:
"Huck" is sending a loud message to all future illegal aliens: live here for a while, and we'll give you amnesty. Needless to say, millions more illegal aliens would try to come here if he became president. Thankfully, there's almost zero chance of that happening.
The original version of that video was at youtube.com/watch?v=NFOTP98vLzo, but that now says the video was deleted by the user. The new version of the video is here; a cached version of the original page is here, showing 1377 views and 9, not specifically anti-Huck comments.
Other caches showing a few to a few hundred views each:
Health care (1)
National Security/Foreign Policy (1)
Arts and Education (1)
Taxes/Economy (1)
Faith and Politics (1)
Same Sex Marriage (1; two slightly negative comments)
Sanctity of Life (1; four positive comments)
Israel (1; one slightly negative comment)
* UPDATE: The cached pages don't play videos, but they do show times. The new videos appear to be 3 to 6 seconds longer than the original videos. Yet, the intro to the new videos is 1.5 seconds and the outro is about 8 to 9 seconds.
Posted to Politics at 08:57 PM
NBC Nightly News promotes left-wing environmental group "Step It Up"
Tonight's NBC Nightly News featured Brian Williams introducing a segment on a group called "Step It Up" which wants to end global warming and which held marchs across the U.S. on the 14th. The report was all bright and happy and wholesome.
Then, of course, I looked up the group itself to find what they weren't telling their millions of viewers. As it turns out at least their "Partners and Allies" include several left-wing groups, yet - oddly enough - Brian Williams didn't disclose any such inclinations Step It Up might have.
It's run by Bill McKibben, a well-known environmentalist, writer, academic, hiker, etc. There doesn't appear to be much "opposition research" on him, but in 1999 he was called a "left-wing ecologist" here.
A look at their "Partners and Allies" page (stepitup2007.org/links.php) shows - in addition to many usual suspects such as the Sierra Club - several left-wing but not extremely radical groups, such as:
* Center For Biological Diversity
* Codepink - Women for Peace (run by Susan "Medea" Benjamin)
* Global Exchange (ditto)
* MoveOn.org
* No War No Warming! (trying to bring together environmental and anti-war movements)
* Physicians For Social Responsibility
* SEIU (Service Employees International Union)
* United for Peace and Justice
Can the reader imagine NBC News featuring their opposite number without using the word "conservative" or similar?
Related:
Young Pioneers of the Global Climate Change and Environmental Justice Movement (comrade)
Posted to Miscellania at 07:54 PM
Alert: May 3 presidential debate questions needed
On May 3, the GOP presidential candidates will be debating live on MSNBC and it will be streamed live at Politico.com.
The latter site is looking for user-submitted questions for the candidates. You need to sign up, but that's free.
You can also vote up questions. Unfortunately, the current top-ranked immigration question is worthless:
What specifically would you do to secure our borders, especially with Mexico, and how would you deal with the millions of illegal Mexican immigrants already in our country?
That question can be answered by visiting the candidates' sites and asking it would just take up time. Effective questions should point out specific flaws in a candidate's positions and force them to defend those positions. And, it should anticipate the response: if a candidate can respond with their stock talking points, or evade the question, find something else.
Please submit your own tough questions, and also vote up the question I submitted. You can find it by selecting 'most recent'/'mitt romney'/'immigration' in the popups and look for this:
Do you support any form of path to citizenship/regularization/legalization/etc. for illegal aliens? Do you agree that *any* form of such legalization would be *perceived* as *amnesty* by *millions* of prospective illegal aliens around the world?
I was hampered a bit by the 255 characters rule, but that question would help reveal whether Romney support amnesty (by any name) or not, the second sentence would knock him off his stock talking points and it would also help get the importance of the perception of amnesty out onto the stage.
Posted to Politics at 05:12 PM
Fascist America, in 10 semi-fantastical steps (Naomi Wolf)
Naomi Wolf offers "Fascist America, in 10 easy steps". First, let's get the easy stuff out of the way. This is in al-Guardian, and she plays the "I'm one of the Smart Americans, I am!" game:
...Even as Americans were focused on Britney Spears's meltdown and the question of who fathered Anna Nicole's baby, the New York Times editorialised about this shift... ...As Americans turn away quite leisurely, keeping tuned to internet shopping and American Idol, the foundations of democracy are being fatally corroded... ...But Americans still assume this system and detainee abuses involve only scary brown people with whom they don't generally identify...
On the wider issue I've said similar things and linked to others. However, I feel that she's overplaying some things and ignoring the fascistic tendencies of those on her side.
For instance, the "thug caste" (#4) - if she wanted to be honest about this - would also include those on the far-left who keep trying to silence speech, whether Media Matters (Don Imus) or Columbia University (Jim Gilchrist) or all the countless other incidents. Instead, other than mercenaries (including those working in New Orleans post-Katrina), this is all she can come up with:
Thugs in America? Groups of angry young Republican men, dressed in identical shirts and trousers, menaced poll workers counting the votes in Florida in 2000.
As for #4, the "internal surveillance system", that predates Bush by a few decades.
As for #5 ("Harass citizens' groups") I don't think she's telling the whole truth:
...a church in Pasadena, whose minister preached that Jesus was in favour of peace, found itself being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, while churches that got Republicans out to vote, which is equally illegal under US tax law, have been left alone...
She might have a point about "peace" groups being infiltrated, but once again, that predates Our Leader.
In #6 ("Engage in arbitrary detention and release"), she mentions the case of Professor Walter F Murphy supposedly being on a TSA watchlist, including repeating the uncorroborated and possibly incorrect remarks of an airline employee.
And, at the end she promotes the ACLU.
Bottom line: she's simply preaching to the choir, and desperately seeking their acceptance. Someone better at this please try again. I prefer Alex Jones myself, plus he's got a bullhorn so he's entertaining too.
Posted to Politics at 03:15 PM
Generous: Mexico might pay part of UHC for Mexicans in California!
The San Francisco Chronicle's Tyche Hendricks offers "Mexico's health czar seeks better care for Mexicans in California". The new Felipe Calderon administration is developing a system of universal health care and they want to extend it to their citizens living in California. And, in a wonderful sign of generosity, they might pay part of the bill!How very, very kind of them. Of course, it might be just a tad kinder if they would encourage their citizens who are here illegally to return home, but baby steps and all.
Mexico's new secretary of health [Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos] visited San Francisco on Monday to learn about the health needs of the millions of Mexican immigrants living in California and to further collaborate with state officials to meet those needs.Later on, Gutierrez utters cheap labor pimp-style comments, with scare tactics provided by "Xochitl Castaneda, director of the Health Initiative of the Americas, a project of the California Policy Research Center in the office of the UC president".
...The former hospital chief and medical school director from the state of Guanajuato said he plans to meet every six months with U.S. health officials and Mexican immigrant communities to create a basic health care plan to cover Mexicans in the United States and eventually extend to them a system of universal health care that is being developed by the Calderon administration...
...Cordova's visit this early in the Calderon administration means Mexico may intend to share the health care burden, said [Mario Gutierrez, director of rural health programs at the California Endowment], whose foundation is trying to help craft a basic health insurance policy for Mexican immigrants whereby each worker would pay for insurance jointly with his or her employer and the Mexican government...
...Cordova countered [criticisms that Mexico is always trying to rip us off] that both countries are responsible and that U.S. employers who hire Mexican workers also should provide them health coverage.
"The responsibility is shared. They're here but they're ours. Right now, the care is insufficient," Cordova said.
Posted to California at 01:27 PM
Rep. John Boehner throws out citizen lobbyists (Hold Their Feet to the Fire)
As previously discussed, various talk show hosts and their listeners are visiting Washington DC to lobby Congress regarding immigration matters. And:The office of Congressman John Boehner, minority leader in the House, threw out the first of our citizen lobbyists that went on Capitol Hill this morning to discuss illegal immigration. [The lobbyist group] said the staff of Boehner's office were rude...The home page of the event is here, and their video page is here.
The same group talked to Duncan Hunter's office staff and were invited in and given coffee and allowed to talk... They had no trouble with other staff at other representatives offices. Congressman John Murtha also turned them away, but was not rude and Congressman Price set an appointment with them later on in the day.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:15 PM
Mexican consulate opening in Little Rock (Huckabee, Beebe)
A new Mexican Consulate is opening in Little Rock, Arkansas tomorrow. The consul is Andres Chao and the "event coordinator" for the opening is Liliana Olea.Gov. Mike Beebe will be out of town and is sending Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, but he's nonetheless ecstatic:
"Any time you have a foreign government that chooses your city for a location, it's potentially an economic boost, it's certainly a cultural boost and it certainly allows interaction between people that have a kinship to whatever country that might be."As you might expect, there's a "Huck" connection:
The idea of establishing a Mexican consulate in Arkansas was first discussed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee after his trip to Mexico City in 2003.More at the link; see the comments for the details on a couple protests. More on Mexican consuls working Arkansas here.
Last year, Huckabee struck a deal with Mexican officials to house the consular office in a state agency office for $1 a year while the consulate facilities were being refurbished. At the time, some lawmakers complained the governor made the deal without notifying the Legislature.
Posted to Immigration_consul at 12:18 PM
Vanessa Bauza/South Florida Sun-Sentinel promotes DREAM Act
The following PIIPP has been spotted; see the other posts in this category for other examples of "pro-illegal immigration propaganda".Reporter: Vanessa Bauza
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Date: April 23 2007
Title: "For young undocumented immigrants, 'Dream Act' offers avenue to success"
link
Contact: vbauza *at* sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4514
Student last names: not used
Common threads: One student apparently to go to Palm Beach Community College, another going to Miami Dade College, quote from official of Broward Community College.
Quoted supporters: Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, "Barbara Cohen Pippin, an administrator at Broward Community College"
Quoted opponent: Jack Martin of FAIR
Excerpt:
With only a month to her high school graduation, May sees a daunting number of obstacles ahead.
More than anything, she wants to go to college. But as an illegal immigrant with a longstanding deportation order, May has little access to financial aid. If she scrapes the tuition together, there are no guarantees she will be allowed to stay in the country.
Even with a college degree, she wonders, what kind of job can an undocumented worker get?
..."They've worked hard, and they've studied. Many of these kids have lived nowhere else. They don't even remember where they came from," said U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, one of the [DREAM Act's] sponsors.
Posted to Immigration_piipps at 12:00 PM
Democrats think supporting border fence is a weakness? (Bill Richardson)
The usually better Stephen Dinan offers "United on immigration, Democrats divide voters":In New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, the questions about immigration arise repeatedly -- and Democratic presidential candidates say they know they are alienating some of their strongest supporters by calling for legalization of illegal aliens.Unfortunately - as with Adam Nagourney - he fails to provide examples of those questions and their answers. And, I don't think any of the GOP candidates have changed their fundamental positions, although the NYT says that Giuliani has changed his tone. As for Mitt Romney, his exact position is unclear because no "reporter" is willing to do their job, and so far no citizen journalists have managed to fill the gap.
While some of the top Republican candidates have begun to change their positions to appeal to conservative voters, Democratic candidates remain firmly behind legalization of most illegal aliens. Still, they are almost apologetic as they make their pitches.
"You can be in front of a very, very rabid Democratic crowd, and there will be a lot of people in the room who do not agree with what I just said," former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina said earlier this month in a speech at the University of New Hampshire as he defended his support for legalization. "The very same people ... are strongly against the war and strongly for universal health care. So there is nowhere close to unanimity among Democrats about this issue."Then, we get this stupid-or-sly bit:
Advisers to several candidates said privately that [Bill Richardson] is in a good position to attack the other candidates on their support of building more fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.If they're serious, they're nuts. A fence on the border is always going to be much less controversial than deportations and the like. Of course, perhaps they're just trying to bait him.
As for Al Gore possibly being an immigration hawk, he was last in the Senate in 1993, around the same time that Barbara Boxer was suggesting sending the National Guard to the CA border, and Harry Reid was proposing an anti-illegal immigration bill that was on par with HR4427 (Sensenbrenner).
As for Bill Richardson, please go to his campaign appearances and ask him the questions here or here.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:07 PM
Rev. John Fife is dangerously wrong (sanctuary movement)
From this Amy Goodman/Democracy Now! show:[Reverend John Fife, the founder of the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s] was the minister of Tucson's Southside Presbyterian Church for 35 years. The church was the first to offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants from El Salvador in 1981. That launched a movement that eventually provided safe haven to thousands of Central Americans in over 500 churches and synagogues nationwide. The government infiltrated his group to gather evidence on the movement. In 1986, Fife was among eight activists convicted on various alien-smuggling charges. He served five years' probation. In 2002, he helped to form the Samaritan Patrol, now part of No More Deaths.I would be somewhat surprised to learn that there's some sort of international law saying that countries don't have a right to have borders and to take advantage of natural protections. Should the EU be required to provide a ferry service from North Africa? Was the Great Wall of China a human rights violation against the Mongols?
...REV. JOHN FIFE: The movement continues in another human rights crisis on the border. This time the government has instituted a border enforcement policy -- walls and militarization and National Guard units -- that literally uses death and death in the desert of migrants as a deterrent, as a deterrent to other people trying to cross. That's a gross violation of human rights, this policy, this strategy of deterrence by death. And to resist that, we formed No More Deaths, that puts volunteers out in the desert to try to save as many lives as we can... ...We're seeing increased militarization, increased repression and, as a result, increased death and suffering on the border of some of the poorest and most desperate people who only come, want to come work and support their families, feed their children. This is criminal...
And, of course, the more "militarization", the fewer deaths: if illegal aliens knew there was no chance they could get in, none would bother trying to cross the desert. Fife should be working for more militarization and a 50' wall, if he really wants what he pretends to want. "No More Deaths" and others who constantly seek to subvert our immigration laws are partly responsible for the deaths that occur.
He goes on to promote "[c]omprehensive immigration reform legislation" and in general sounds like a cheap labor pimp, saying that "migration" is a "blessing and a privilege" and promoting remittances.
We're also informed that two volunteers with his organization (Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz) received the "Archbishop Romero Human Rights Prize" at the Rothko Chapel in Houston on Sunday.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 08:44 PM
Latest "compromise" amnesty bill scam from Dems, GOP (late Apr. 2007)
The latest attempt at coming up with a "comprehensive immigration reform" bill (aka amnesty) is sold to us by Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the AP.An intense round of closed-door talks among Cabinet officials and Senate Republicans and Democrats has reached a critical bargaining stage, congressional officials and lobbyists said. Senior lawmakers from opposite sides of the spectrum — led by liberal Sen. Edward Kennedy... and conservative Sen. Jon Kyl... — hope to draft a bipartisan measure as early as this week that could come to a Senate vote in May.In a move that shocks no one except (perhaps) Hirschfeld Davis, the White House says they'll lower the exorbitant fees from their plan. And:
...Democrats have backed off their opposition to requiring immigrants to return to their home countries before applying for citizenship, and are discussing so-called triggers that would have to be met before a new plan could take effect. Both are provisions they rejected last year...Note that under the Flake-Gutierrez scheme, former illegal aliens could start living here legally almost immediately; they'd only need to return home briefly (as little as one day) and they wouldn't have to do that right away. And, the triggers only involve spending and planning, not actual benchmarks.
...The White House declined to comment on details of the negotiations, saying Bush is working to strike a balance between the extremes of the immigration debate.
"Comprehensive reform should account for the immigrants that are already here, and do so in a way that is without amnesty and without animosity," said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 07:52 PM
Pamela Constable grits teeth, covers "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" rally
Page B01 of today's Washington Post contains "'No Amnesty' Is Cry at D.C. Immigration Protest" by Pamela Constable (link). Now, maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling that she wanted to do a full-on hit piece, but she was told by her editors to try to tone it down just a tad. Of course, there might be another explanation for that grating sound I hear:The small but fervent crowd of protesters recited the Pledge of Allegiance and hummed along to "God Bless America." They hoisted neatly lettered placards that portrayed the United States as under siege. They cheered lustily as a parade of speakers, jabbing fingers toward the White House, demanded action to secure U.S. borders, enforce its laws and make English its official language.Was the reporter walking around asking people, "do you consider yourself prejudiced?" Certainly, one has to say "no" in that case, otherwise the hacks will say you had no reply. But, that should immediately be followed by asking them to rethink their assumptions, and to ask them why they never seem to ask that question of those who, for instance, carry banners suggesting that Americans go back to Europe. And, of course, it would be interesting to know which agents she's refering to and the circumstances of their cases, and whether she's verified what they're actually in prison for.
Many in the group of about 400 people had flown in from California and Arizona to join the rally in Lafayette Square yesterday against illegal immigration and to energize themselves for a week of lobbying on Capitol Hill as Congress begins to grapple once more with the volatile theme of immigration reform.
...The rally was sponsored by an organization in Georgia and coordinated with the national Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit advocacy group, and a number of radio talk show hosts who have championed the cause of stopping illegal immigration...
...A number of people in the crowd stressed that they were not against legal immigrants and did not consider themselves prejudiced. D.A. King, the rally coordinator, announced that "anyone with a different agenda against skin color or national origin, you are not welcome . . . and you will not be tolerated."...
...Much of yesterday's rhetoric was about improving border security, and several speakers drew cheers when they praised the U.S. Border Patrol, including several agents who are in prison on charges of killing illegal immigrants...
There's more on the week-long rally here, there are pictures from the event here, and one of the guys in the photo at the WaPo page says he was misidentified here.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:19 PM
Border Patrol agents: "no confidence" in Chief David Aguilar
From this:The leaders of the U.S. Border Patrol's rank-and-file agents have unanimously voted a no-confidence resolution against Chief David V. Aguilar, citing, among other things, his willingness to believe the "perjured allegations" of criminal aliens over his own agents.Even when defending his boss he might have made things worse, since it appears to be an open question whether they tried to cover it up or not.
The resolution won endorsement from all 100 top leaders of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which represents all 11,000 of the U.S. Border Patrol's nonsupervisory field agents, and targeted Chief Aguilar's lack of support for field agents, several of whom have been prosecuted on civil rights grounds involving arrests of illegal aliens and drug-smuggling suspects.
[...they're upset Aguilar hasn't spoken out against the Ramos/Compean case... ...Aguilar defends himself through spokesman Xavier Rios...]
[Rios] said the two agents "shot a man and made an effort to cover it up."
...[The resolution] accused the chief of "shamelessly promoting amnesty and a greatly expanded guest-worker program as key elements of the solution to the illegal immigration crisis" despite intense opposition from front-line agents "who risk their lives enforcing our nation's immigration laws."
"Instead of maintaining their traditional neutral advisory role, these high-level managers have become advocates for the administration's ill-conceived political agenda that includes amnesty for millions of illegal aliens," Mr. Bonner said.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:09 PM
Tips for John Edwards re: $400 hair cut
John Edwards recently got two haircuts for the exorbitant price of $400 each, and tried to bill the campaign for them. Various "liberals" are now aghast at the coverage that this matter has received, particularly that from Maureen Dowd. For instance, this.
In an attempt to reach out, let me offer some of the talking points the Edwards campaign could use to defuse the situation. Expect to see Amanda Marcotte or similar offering these on CNN and FOX any moment now:
* "It's perfectly understandable why he'd want to have his makeup done by the Pink Sapphire Salon - they're the best Beverly Hills and Hollywood have to offer!"
* "It's also perfectly understandable why he'd want to pay hundreds extra to have his one-block-off Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills hair stylist come to him, rather than scheduling it as a stop along his route. John Edwards is a very busy man, and he has to look his best on a moment's notice."
* "John Edwards made so much money as a trial lawyer, that to him $400 is like $40 to you. You wouldn't think twice about spending $40 on a haircut, and likewise, John Edwards - Democrat for president - doesn't think twice about spending $400 on a haircut."
* "Furthermore, we've contacted the donor whose contribution was to have been spent on the haircut, one Chad Worthington of Quad Cities, Iowa. We're sure that Chad would have been proud to have had his hard-earned money spent making John Edwards look his best. And, we're even more sure that Chad would be proud of how the money was actually spent: on a desert tray for a Malibu conference where John Edwards - Democrat for president - spoke about the importance of stopping global warming."
* "Did you know that FEMA spent $6000 on a plasma TV? Next to that, a $400 haircut is nothing!"
* "Those in the public eye - such as John Edwards as well as actors and models - need to look their best. Otherwise, they won't be able to do their job as effectively as they could."
* "Within each of the Two Americas, there are many other Americas. Let me try to explain this as simply as possible so everyone can understand. Within the top-level topmost America, there are several other levels. John Edwards is not in the top of the top of the top-level America, he's only in the middle or even lower. There are plenty of people - such as Arab princes, the Sultan of Brunei, Larry Ellison, and the members of the Royal Family who could spend much, much more than $400 on a haircut."
Posted to Politics at 06:02 PM
NYT: "Giuliani Shifts His Tone on Immigration" (position stays the same)
Marc Santora and Sam Roberts of the New York Times offer the largely pointless "Candidate Giuliani Shifts His Tone on Immigration" (link). The most important word there is "tone"; his pro-illegal immigration stance hasn't changed and, of course, the NYT doesn't call him on it.
"First thing is, there should be no amnesty," Mr. Giuliani said in response to a reporter's question in Atlanta recently. Amnesty means varying things to various candidates. For Mr. Giuliani, it means no blanket forgiveness of illegal status... These days, when he says he opposes amnesty, Mr. Giuliani says he does not mean that the millions of people here illegally should be deported, but rather, that they should have to earn their citizenship and that nothing should be accorded automatically.
This is the fake non-amnesty amnesty: millions of prospective illegal aliens around the world will see it as an amnesty, meaning that that's exactly what it is. The NYT "reporters" could have done a public service by pointing that out; why didn't they?
We're also given a sales job and a misleading one at that:
Mr. Giuliani's approach is similar to the one proposed by President Bush, advocating an orderly flow of immigrants by providing a clear path to citizenship and thereby easing the pressure at the border.
Bush's latest proposal actually has a rather convoluted path. And, if the NYT is going to print things like that shouldn't they do it in some form of a quote? The way that's written makes it sound like the Bush/Giuliani approach is objectively valid, when it actually isn't.
Then, we're given the most-likely-false claim that Representative Tom Tancredo "railed against illegal immigrants."
Then, the back-handed praise designed to reduce support for the candidate:
It was a role he seemed to cherish, becoming a national leader for the cause of welcoming immigrants in the 1990s. To the surprise of many people in both parties, he also spoke passionately about helping those here illegally become citizens, advocating for $12 million to start a city agency that would assist those seeking citizenship. He vigorously defended the city's policy of forbidding city employees, including police and hospital workers, from asking a person's immigration status...
Then, they parrot Giuliani's strawman argument:
...As other anti-immigration movements spread across the country in 1990s, Mr. Giuliani consistently pushed back. "The anti-immigration issue that's now sweeping the country in my view is no different than the movements that swept the country in the past," he said in 1996. "You look back at the Chinese Exclusionary Act, or the Know-Nothing movement — these were movements that encouraged Americans to fear foreigners, to fear something that is different, and to stop immigration."
Posted to Immigration2007a at 08:49 PM
"Am I a libertarian?" Take the fun online quiz!
Many people are concerned that they, or someone they know, might be a libertarian. While the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) can be used to uncover libertarianism and other sociopathies, it takes a long time and requires expert interpretation.
Enter the World's Smallest Political Quiz!
This is an updated version of the classic that you may have taken already, and it can be used to determine whether you suffer from libertarianism, objectivism, dynamism, or other related afflictions.
Posted to WackyHumor at 05:56 PM
The Blogger's Code of Conduct revisited
The proposed "Blogger's Code of Conduct" [1] was once a simple affair, consisting of a few fairly broad provisions. Now, it's mushroomed into a multi-page, a al carte affair where you can "[c]reate your own code by selecting the modules you want". There are 10 modules, as well as a list of variants, discussions of the various variants and modules, and so on. Pretty soon Jimbo Wales might have to ask for more money to hire a Blogger's Code of Conduct administrator.I note also they have a "Criticisms" page [2], containing a highly questionable contribution called "Excessive quarreling in order to cause strife":
Many blogging discussions become heated because of excessive quarreling. Obviously, some people enjoy this, and enjoy "winding up" others. Many of the other issues could be rectified if blog commenters would stop this unwholesome activity.I have absolutely no idea who added that, and I have a bit of trouble figuring it out. Could they be serious? Could it be deep, extremely funny satire? If the latter, the author - someone who I have no idea they could be - is clearly a comedic genius. No, really: whoever wrote that is a true genius of satire. If only I knew who it was.
Since they will not, it's up to we bloggers to do it. I tried to add this to The Code, but it was stripped out after a few days. I'm afraid I cannot and will not support The Code until it is added back in. I will also be telling my thousands of daily visitors not to support the The Code.
We must have the ability to remove comments that are simply designed to get into an argument. If someone disagrees with something someone says, they can go say it on their own site. They have no right to expect me to print it for them, and I will refuse to do that and I will not only remove their comments I will ban them from commenting ever again.
[1] blogging.wikia.com/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct
[2] blogging.wikia.com/wiki/Criticisms
Posted to Bloggage at 12:46 PM
Kathy Kiely/USA Today, hacks mislead about Gallup immigration poll
Various hacks (Oliver Willis [1], David Weigel [2], etc. [3]) were discussing the USA Today article "Public favors giving illegal immigrants a break" from Kathy Kiely a couple days ago. The Gallup poll wasn't available on their site at the time, a sure caution sign. While - somewhat to his credit - at least Weigel admitted that he hadn't seen the actual poll and there could be problems with it, all the hacks used the poll to support their pro-illegal immigration positions. They bought what USA Today was selling:While Congress and the White House remain divided over what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the USA, a new poll shows the American public appears to have reached a consensus on the question.Now, Gallup has finally put the poll in question on their website here. It appears that they only asked three questions for this poll, the ones marked "2007 Apr 13-15". The first deals with skilled vs. chain legal immigration, and the other deals with whether the U.S. has made progress in dealing with illegal immigration. The relevant question was this:
A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken last weekend found that 78% of respondents feel people now in the country illegally should be given a chance at citizenship.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is drafting legislation to grant illegal immigrants an opportunity to stay in the USA, said: "As with so many issues, the American people are ahead of Washington on immigration reform. They know that only a plan that offers a path to earned citizenship will fix our broken system."
Now thinking about immigrants who come to the United States illegally, which comes closest to your view about what the government policy should be toward illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States? Should the government --Adding 42 and 36 I come up with 78, so that's presumably the question they were refering to. I note that 62% (14+6+42) want illegal aliens to leave the U.S., at least temporarily. I guess that number was outweighed by the 78 number.
14%: "require illegal immigrants to leave the U.S. and not allow them to return"
6%: "require illegal immigrants to leave the U.S., but allow them to return temporarily to work"
42%: "require illegal immigrants to leave the U.S., but allow them to return and become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time"
36%: "allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States and become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time"
2%: No opinion
I note also that many's the slip twixt leaving the U.S. and meeting all the conditions to come back, but apparently that minor issue got ignored in USA Today's rush to support a massive amnesty. And, the fact that a majority of the 78% want illegal aliens to leave the U.S. first and only come back "if they meet certain requirements over a period of time" just seems to have been lost in the rush.
[1] oliverwillis.com/2007/04/conservatives_o.html
[2] reason.com/blog/show/119745.html
[3] thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10565.html
thinkprogress.org/2007/04/19/thinkfast-april-19-2007
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:27 AM
Bill Richardson not yet supporting Alberto Gonzalez ouster... because he's Hispanic
Bill Richardson has shown once again that he's completely unfit for any political office. From this:Presidential candidate and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) said Monday the reason he has not called for the removal of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is that the two both have Hispanic backgrounds.Needless to say, if Richardson were white - or even black or Asian - he couldn't get away with making such a comment. In Richardson's case, the usual suspects will downplay it or change the subject.
Richardson, in an interview with The Hill, said he is "pretty close" to making such a call, but added that he is reluctant to do so before Gonzales's Senate testimony despite the high-profile involvement of New Mexico in the U.S. attorneys scandal.
[Richardson says] "The only reason I'm not there is because he's Hispanic, and I know him and like him... It's because he's Hispanic. I'm honest... I want to give him the benefit of the doubt."
Recall that he said the following back in 1995:
"We have to band together and that means Latinos in Florida, Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, South Americans - we have to network better - we have to be more politically minded - we have to put aside party and think of ourselves as Latinos, as Hispanics, more than we have in the past."He also has/had an unpaid job with the Organization of American States as their Special Envoy to 'promote dialogue on issues... such as immigration and free trade'.
4/20/07 UPDATE: This morning, Richardson appeared on the Bill Press show and called for Gonzo to go (1.4 Meg MP3 link). Press referenced the Hill interview - without refering to the ethnic solidarity remarks - and Richardson now says:
"I believe he should resign... ...I like the guy, Bill. You know, he's a fellow Hispanic, he came up from very humble means... He's an able guy, but it's obvious that he wasn't engaged in his department and he couldn't answer the testimony in the Senate, and I waited until the Senate to make any view that he should or shouldn't resign... ...The Justice Department should be above politics..."
Posted to Politics at 10:53 PM
Dr. Richard Land plays Bush-style word games with "amnesty"
Dr. Richard Land - president of the Southern Baptist Convention - recently came out in support of some vague form of "comprehensive immigration reform". Now, he feels the need to clarify his remarks. Don't want anyone to get the wrongs ideas or anything:News reports in both the national print and electronic media have unfortunately sown some confusion over where Southern Baptists, and I, stand on the question of immigration reform...That's simply a restatement of the now-standard line from president Bush that only "automatic citizenship" is "amnesty". Both Bush and Land are simply playing cutesy little games. The bottom line is that what Land supports will be perceived as amnesty by millions of prospective illegal aliens around the world. They won't focus on the "difficult" provisions, they'll focus on the "come here illegally and wait for the next amnesty" side of things.
The term "comprehensive legislation" is not code for amnesty, no matter what my critics contend. Webster defines amnesty as the "act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals." Amnesty is wiping a transgressor's record clean -- it is a free ride...
Land conducts a radio program on Saturdays (richardlandlive.com; 888-Faith 56/888-324-8456); please call in to the program and help his congregation understand how he's wrong.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:41 PM
Tami Abdollah, Howard Blume/LAT on McIntyre/KABC/charter school lawsuit
Tami Abdollah and Howard Blume of the Los Angeles Times take a "slightly different" tack on the lawsuit filed by Academia Semillas del Pueblo against Doug McIntyre of KABC ("L.A. charter school sues radio station", link).
They imply that trying to expose this school is just shock-jockery:
...Talk radio hosts have long taken advantage of 1st Amendment free speech protections that give them broad latitude... ...The lawsuit follows the firing of radio host Don Imus last week over a racist and sexist remark, which set off a large-scale debate over whether some talk-show hosts go too far... "Shock jocks" are not new, said Marty Kaplan of USC's Annenberg School for Communication. "The more they could make your jaw drop... the more their ratings went up - it has since become a standard genre."
Kaplan is also the director of "the Norman Lear Center for the study of entertainment" and he contributes to the Huffington Post (martyk *at* rcf.usc.edu). And, the Los Angeles Times has a history of covering up for extremists (ANSWER, Antonio Villaraigosa), so it shouldn't be surprising that they'd try to imply that investigative reporting is just "shock".
Then, there's this:
The lawsuit also quotes McIntyre as allegedly saying: "Aztecs butchered and ate Spanish invaders. I wonder if they're teaching that at ASDP." ...KABC would neither confirm nor deny whether McIntyre made those statements.
From that, the reader is supposed to assume that that statement is somehow false. Actually, a search for the exact phrase "Aztecs butchered, ate Spanish invaders" brings up over a hundred results; that was the title of a Reuters story from August 2006 (link, link).
Oh, the horror: a "shock jock" reading a Reuters story on the air.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:46 AM
Doug McIntyre (KABC) sued by LAUSD "reconquista" charter school
The Los Angeles charter school Academia Semillas del Pueblo - funded by the National Council of La Raza and which allegedly teaches a "reconquista" curriculum - is suing KABC-AM radio host Doug McIntyre for slander.While I haven't seen it, the description makes the lawsuit seem incredibly weak:
"McIntyre implemented a premeditated scheme to bring down the school at all costs because the school educated predominately ... Latino-indigenous children in a non-Western European format," according to the lawsuit.About the only possible slanderous thing I can see is if there is another school that's even lower in the rankings, but see below.
According to the lawsuit, McIntyre began criticizing several aspects of the school last May, including its funding, curriculum, demographics, administrators and educational statistics, all in order to increase his show's ratings.
McIntyre exploited a combination of anti-immigration sentiment and the nation's fear of Islamic terrorists to "create a racist fury against Latino school children, teachers, administrators and staff at the school," according to the lawsuit.
McIntyre's remarks included, "Is this a reconquista school?," "This school is ranked the lowest of the low in the LAUSD and in the state of California" and "Aztecs butchered and ate Spanish invaders. I wonder if they're teaching that at ASDP," according to the lawsuit.
McIntyre also said Aguilar's job was to "keep his school, his madrasa school, open so they can train the next generation of Aztec revolutionaries," according to the lawsuit.What exactly is the figurative meaning of "madrasa", and doesn't it apply in this case? Likewise with "revolutionaries".
The radio host also used "code words" aimed at a target audience to rile up listeners and create a backlash against the school and Aguilar, the lawsuit stated.That might be something else, but it's not slander. Of course, there's nothing wrong with creating a "backlash", and I doubt whether McIntyre encouraged his listeners to commit violent acts.
As a result, the school received many threats of violence, including a bomb threat that caused an evacuation of the school and is currently under investigation by the FBI, the lawsuit stated.
On the other hand, the man who allegedly tried to run down KABC reporter Sandy Wells will have a pretrial hearing next month and could get six years in prison.
In related news, the school's charter was reapproved on March 29:
In a March 13 report on Academia Semillas del Pueblo, the staff cited low test scores, unconventional instruction and potentially conflicting school governance. About two weeks later, facing growing political pressure from former City Councilman Richard Alatorre, former Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg and others, the staff changed course.They reversed their decision supposedly because they discovered that the school's program requires seven or eight years to show results:
Under the five-year renewal conditions, Semillas must meet benchmarks that for three years would place it at least at the median of comparable schools in terms of state and national standards. Data show Semillas ranks lowest among similar schools.Related:
More on the NCLR-linked racial separatist charter school (LAUSD)
LAUSD: alleged separatist school abiding by charter
Posted to Immigration2007a at 09:59 PM
CA School Superintendent Jack O'Connell is a politically-correct fool
Speaking on the John Ziegler radio program some months ago, California School Superintendent Jack O'Connell sang the "diversity is our strength" song, but also mentioned that students from a certain ethnic background don't place a high premium on female education. Despite bring pressed a few times, he refused to give a hint as to which group he was refering to.He's still humming past failure:
O'Connell also waded into the immigration issue Tuesday [in a talke with the editorial board of the NC Times], saying public schools are required by law to educate any school-aged child in the state, regardless of immigration status.I'm no education expert, and I fully realize that many "studies" are simply stories fashioned around an agenda, and I realize that other factors may be involved, but it didn't take much work to find out that we've got a major problem.
"Twenty-five years ago there was a federal court decision that said, 'They're here,' " O'Connell said, emphasizing the federal mandates that require the state to provide a free, equal and appropriate public education for all.
Educating every student, regardless of origin, is not only required by law, but it's good for the state, O'Connell said.
"There's a reason we are the sixth- or seventh- largest economy in the world as a state, and that is our diversity," O'Connell said. "I think that's a strength."
In the "Smartest State" chart, CA is at #47, in the friendly company of Nevada, Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, and Louisiana.
Another study was more favorable: CA was only at #34. The 2003 "National Assessment of Educational Progress" apparently didn't rank other states, but doesn't give CA high marks.
Continuing his idiocy:
One of the best ways to meet the needs of minority students in cities such as Oakland and Los Angeles where "more than 100 languages are spoken" is to hire minority teachers from the same background, O'Connell said.Of course, that will also have the effect of retarding assimilation, as well as helping create race-, ethnicity-, and country or state of origin-based centers of political power, but don't expect O'Connell to either be able to figure that out or to oppose it.
"If you want to understand the culture, the traditions, the language, the buying characteristics of those countries, hire people from there --- and they're already here," O'Connell said.
Related:
20% of California high school seniors can't pass junior high test
"English-immersion foes hold children back"
Posted to California at 01:52 PM
Official: EU opposed to border fence
From this:European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday criticized U.S. plans to extend barriers along its border with Mexico, saying immigrants should not be treated like criminals.This is probably part pan-Hispanic, and part what you'd expect someone involved in a transnational organization to say. An official from a somewhat forced, sovereignty-sapping organization probably isn't inclined to support the sovereignty of the U.S. On the other hand, part of it might also be an attempt to weaken the U.S. by encouraging even more illegal immigration.
"A wall that separates one country from another is not something that I like or that the European Union members like," Solana said at a news conference in Mexico City. "We don't think walls are reasonable instruments to stop people from crossing into a country."
The EU believes immigrants should be treated "like people, not like criminals," he said...
In any case, it's great to know what he thinks, and on behalf of Americans everywhere I thank him for his treasured input.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:03 PM
Hillary Clinton's Very Bad DREAM
Some U.S. citizens won't be able to go to college if Hillary Clinton gets her way. She supports an anti-American bill called the "DREAM Act" which gives college discounts to illegal aliens. One of its major side-effects is taking college discounts away from U.S. citizens.
There are only so many college discounts available, and there will always be more applicants than discounts.
No matter how you look at it, every discount that goes to an illegal alien is one that won't go to a U.S. citizen.
Don't feel too bad for illegal aliens: they can always appeal to their home countries for college help. U.S. citizens should be able to appeal to their country for college help, but all Hillary Clinton wants to give them is the shaft.
To help her see the error of her ways, please go to her campaign appearances and ask her about this bill specifically.
Here's the video version:
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:28 PM
Laugh: Cynthia Tucker wins Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
Cynthia Tucker isn't the worst commentator on immigration matters, and that's only partly because she mostly comments on other things. Even if she wrote about it more, she'd have to work hard to compete with Ruben Navarrette and others.
But, she does have one distinction the other hacks don't have: a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
Tucker won for her "courageous, clear-headed columns that evince a strong sense of morality." Tucker, the editorial page editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a syndicated columnist, has written often about race and immigration. Her newspaper's entry letter described her as "more realist than optimist."
Other winners include L.A. Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold; a few words he wrote - and which I saw pasted up on the wall of a restaurant in Koreatown several years ago - have been a constant source of bemusement for me. More about him at some future point.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:47 PM
What exactly is Harper's Magazine thinking?
Good ol' Andrew Sullivan links to the short article "Of Republicans and Banana-Republicans" [1] which is somewhat similar to what I was saying in September 2005's "Are we headed towards a Banana Republic?"
I might link directly to the article instead of using the plain text version below, except I saw this interesting collection of (direct, non-javascript) links at the bottom of the page. There's nothing wrong about that, but one wonders exactly why a magazine published since the 1850s is linking to sites like these:
[1] harpers.org/archive/2007/04/horton-republicans-banana-republicans
Posted to Bloggage at 10:50 PM
GoDaddy review: very, very bad
GoDaddy.com is a leading web host and domain registrar, and I strongly advise staying as far away from them as possible. There are dozens of reasons here, and here's my personal tale. Earlier today I was trying to diagnose why a script I wrote was only working intermittently for someone else.
Bottom line: it wasn't a problem with my script, it was a special feature with GoDaddy's hosting that their "support" completely failed to tell me about.
Details: I was pretty sure there wasn't anything wrong with the script itself, yet it only worked once every three or four times. The script was designed to pull XML files from Amazon webservices via REST, and even when I changed it to pull Sun's or IBM's homepage it didn't work well. I called GoDaddy "support" and asked them to take a look at it. No matter how many times I asked (very many), they flat out refused to look at it, or even tell me whether something could be wrong with their PEAR setup. I then tried with Curl, and that didn't work either. Their "advanced" team put a mailer script in the user's account and, after determining that that worked, informed me that the system was functioning properly and there was nothing else they could or would do.
Finally, I did a search for 'godaddy curl', and found this and this document:
help.godaddy.com/article.php?article_id=288
As it turns out, GoDaddy uses a proxy with Curl. Wouldn't you think their "support" - after I explained to them what my script was doing and especially after their "advanced" team had been informed of the problems - should have told me about this? What would almost any other host do?
My GoDaddy review: very, very bad.
Posted to Miscellania at 02:14 PM
Talk radio hosts, listeners head to DC to oppose amnesty
From this:More than 30 talk radio hosts and hundreds of their listeners are scheduled to converge on the nation's capital next week to lobby against comprehensive immigration reform measures that would offer what critics views as "amnesty" to illegal immigrants.The hosts include L.A.'s John and Ken (KFI 640 AM).
The conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and San Diego radio talk show host Roger Hedgecock are sponsoring a marathon of talk radio and Capitol Hill lobbying, dubbed "Hold Their Feet to the Fire 2007."
The four-day event will kick off on Sunday, April 22, with a rally near the White House. From Monday through Wednesday, 36 radio hosts will broadcast from the Phoenix Park Hotel near the U.S. Capitol while an estimated 700 volunteers will visit elected officials and urge them to oppose what they consider to be "amnesty."
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:09 PM
Goal: tie U.S. Attorneys firings to immigration (Dems hoist on own petard)
I can't do everything, and I've completely failed to try to tie in the firings of several U.S. Attorneys to immigration matters. For instance, here's Phyllis Schlafly tying the firings into the Ramos/Compean case, suggesting the Bush should fire U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton as well.
And, just today:
This article [link] from the LATimes today suggests that immigration — and unfunded policy mandates over it — may be a real undercurrent in AG Gonzales's testimony tomorrow. Essentially, it suggests that some of the fired U.S. attorneys fell out of favor due to failures to be aggressive enough on immigration enforcement, but that perhaps the administration has good reason not to want to press that point too far (i.e., as a "performance-based" reason for the firings) because, the U.S. attorneys countered, the Justice Department (and, derivatively, the administration) did not provide adequate resources to carry out an aggressive enforcement policy. That is, the U.S. attorneys flap may be careening into the immigration debate in a way that will not be useful to advocates of "comprehensive immigration reform" whose burden is to convince the public that the government is serious about border enforcement.
Needless to say, discussing immigration matters makes Democratic leaders a bit uncomfortable as well. I suggest trying to increase their discomfort level, forcing them to choose between continuing to promote what seems to be a scandal and facing up to the fact that we have borders.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:56 PM
Casa de Maryland provides "safety plan", legal advice for illegal aliens
Casa de Maryland is an odious taxpayer-funded group that operates day laborer hangouts and takes other actions to support illegal immigration.
Now, in collaboration with the Detention Watch Network and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyer's Guild they offer a pamphlet entitled "WARNING! Protect yourself from Immigration raids!" (PDF file). One of the authors appears to be one Julie Dahlstrom.
To a certain extent, this might not be that objectionable. After all, even illegal aliens are protected by various laws, and some of the advice in there applies to legal immigrants. However, as could be expected from the sources, they crank it up a few notches and reveal that their goal is helping illegal aliens stay here. Along the way, they feature cute graphics of big-eyed poor defenseless Hispanics being oppressed by law officers, all of whom appear to be either white or black.
And, there's the section "Develop a safety plan":
Talk with your co-workers to see if they are willing to make a collective decision that everyone - regardless of their immigration status - will remain silent and ask to speak with an attorney in the event of a workplace raid...
And, the "Reforma Migratoria" and "Opportunities for all" banners on the final page are a bit of a giveaway that their concerns involve helping illegal immigrants stay here rather than, for instance, encouraging them to return home.
Previously:
Bergen County Community Action Program: coffee, donuts for illegal aliens
Casa de Maryland spokesman: an illegal alien?
Gustavo Torres/Case de Maryland refuses to say Pledge of Allegiance
Gramscians demand ouster of Maryland comptroller
Casa de Maryland: funding
DC Metro bilingual signs and illegal alien advocates
Illegal aliens, supporters to protest in Washington
Casa of Maryland helps illegal aliens get driver's licenses
Casa de Maryland might soon get big surprise
CASA of Maryland worried Sensenbrenner bill will shut their day laborer centers
"[Maryland] delegates seek cost of illegals"
Maryland to be sued over driver's licenses; AP not telling whole truth
Posted to Immigration2007a at 09:24 PM
Bank of America loses contract over credit card for illegal aliens (Gaston County, NC)
From this:A controversial credit card program has led Gaston County leaders to reject Bank of America as the county's bank.The runner-up in the bidding, Wachovia, doesn't have such a credit card, but they do accept Mexico's Matricula Consular card. Hopefully they'll be able to find a bank that doesn't do either.
Gaston commissioners on Thursday declined to award a four-year contract for banking services to the Charlotte bank -- a decision that could cost the county about $120,000...
...[The credit-cards-for-illegal-aliens] aspect alarmed Gaston commissioners, who didn't want to support a company that supports illegal immigrants, said Mickey Price, the board's chairman and a pharmacy supervisor for CVS.
"Nobody, to my knowledge, wants to go with them," he said.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:45 PM
Andrew Sullivan Syndrome (Don Imus)
Regarding the Don Imus matter, Andrew Sullivan says:
...Punishing someone for calling college women "whores" - especially those who have beaten the odds and are role models for other back girls and women - is not a new step in political correctness. It's applying a very old American standard of fairness and decency, which now applies to all Americans, regardless of race or gender. This was the voice of mainstream America speaking...
And, in this post he prints a letter from a reader implying that those concerned about double-standards do so because they want to use the "n-word".
Obviously, the letter writer has made an obvious error, which Sully - oddly enough - either didn't notice or didn't think his readers would. Namely, perhaps the issue is not so much that they want to use the "n-word", but that they wonder why the same punishment meted out to errant white people is not meted out to the endless string of blacks and Hispanics who've said far worse things than what Imus did.
Just as obviously, the Sully's "standard of fairness and decency" do not apply to errant People of Color. If they did, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been driven from public life years ago.
For another example, the chairman of the California Democratic Party (Art Torres) said this in the 90s:
"[Proposition] 187 was the last gasp of white America in California."
If he said that today, would he be Imus'ed? I highly doubt it. The media would cover it up and if that didn't work they'd try to downplay it.
Torres even has a bit of an Imus connection; currently at cadem.org we read the following:
Imus Off The Air... Thank you to the thousands of Americans who spoke out! Because so many people expressed their outrage by taking action, such as signing our boycott petition, CBS has fired Don Imus, sending the strongest possible message that demeaning any group in the name of entertainment will not be tolerated.Chairman Torres would like to share this letter of thanks he received from Elizabeth Badger-Bartels, CEO/Founder of the Minority Outreach Committee.
I'm sure Sully's "standard of fairness and decency" will apply the next time a Democrat, "liberal", or leftist says something far worse than anything Imus ever said.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 08:28 PM
McCarthyWatch: Florida Hispanic Reps. outraged about inoffensive joke about illegal aliens
State Representative Don Brown sent an email to colleagues with the following joke:"Don't forget to pay your taxes -- 12-million illegal aliens are depending on you!"Now, his illegal immigration-supporting racial demagogue colleagues are outraged:
The Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus issued a statement saying it "took serious offense."Unfortunately, Brown has apologized instead of doing what he should have done: politely tell them to stick it.
"It was wrong. It was offensive," said House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Miami, the son of Cuban immigrants.
Rep. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, said the Brown e-mail showed "an ignorance as to the founding of both this state and our country. It deeply saddens me that this mentality still exists in what we consider to be a forward-looking government."
Rep. Juan-Carlos Planas, R-Miami, said Brown's remark was "not just racist on its face, but it's not true... It's that type of mentality that is prohibiting passage of a reasonable compromise immigration bill in Washington... As long as that festers, we're losing what the American spirit was all about."
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:12 PM
Where Robert J. Sampson/Harvard goes wrong in his immigrant crime study
From this story by Alex Koppelman:
On Monday, Salon spoke with professor Robert J. Sampson, chairman of the sociology department at Harvard University [wjh.harvard.edu/soc/faculty/sampson] and most prominent member of a new school of academics who say that, contrary to widespread public belief, immigrants may actually be the secret to decreasing crime in the U.S. Sampson et al. believe their research shows immigrants are less likely to commit crime than native-born Americans, and that immigration itself may actually play a role in lowering the overall crime rate. Salon asked Sampson to rate O'Reilly and Rivera as debaters, and to explain what his research says about immigrants and Americans' perceptions of them.
Let's see what's wrong with his thinking:
[Koppelman: But, if they weren't here the crimes wouldn't have happened, right?] ...So yes, you can think of counterfactuals -- if a category of persons were not actually here, then yes, the crime would not have been committed. But let's extend that logic: If the majority of people who are in the category of producing most drunk-driving homicides or deaths were not in the country then by definition the rate of drunk-driving deaths would be reduced. So who is that? Well, they're young people, disproportionately male, disproportionately white, mainly suburban ... The perception and the stereotype is what's driving the argument, not the data.
What Sampson clearly doesn't understand is that those illegal aliens weren't supposed to be here. On the other hand, those U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who commit crimes are - for good or for ill - part of our "natural order of things". While there are certainly large numbers of Americans many of us would like to deport, we no longer do the banishment thing. On the other hand, we can deport illegal aliens. What's driving Sampson's argument seems to be something besides being able to think things through.
Since he apparently likes reading his email, please drop him a (polite) line: rsampson *at* wjh.harvard.edu
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:03 PM
Ruy Teixeira, polling "expert", agenda-driven hack
Ruy Teixeira writes for the site Donkey Rising [1] and he's a Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress. And, as an example of the type of "analysis" he offers, let's look at his "Public Opinion Snapshot: Tough but Fair on Immigration" [2]:
...while the public is certainly supportive of stronger immigration enforcement, it is also very supportive of reforming the immigration system to deal with undocumented immigrants who are already here, including providing a path to citizenship... These sentiments were captured in an early March Gallup poll, which asked: "Which comes closest to your view about what government policy should be toward illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States? Should the government deport all illegal immigrants back to their home country, allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States in order to work but only for a limited amount of time, or allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States and become U.S. citizens but only if they meet certain requirements over a period of time?"
He also mentions similar January 2007 Pew Research Center November 2006 Quinnipiac University polls.
What he doesn't mention is that those polls may be offering some degree of a false choice, pretending that our only options are "deporting all illegal aliens" and some form of amnesty or "guest" worker scheme. Obviously, it's impossible to deport all illegal aliens, and there are also things we could do to cause many of them to self-deport.
And, none of the polls I've seen ask follow-up questions, such as "would you continue to support legalization knowing that it would almost certainly lead to more illegal immigration, in addition to even more power inside the U.S. for the Mexican government as well as more political power for racial demagogues?"
Teixeira is simply taking biased, simplistic polls and using them to support his pre-existing agenda.
[1] emergingdemocraticmajorityweblog.com/donkeyrising
[2] americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/opinion_immigration.html
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:31 PM
Congratulations to Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Media Matters for Don Imus firing
This site congratulates all right-thinking people for their successful campaign to have Don Imus fired.
Special thanks go out to Our Leader, Al Sharpton:
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 05:49 PM
Hillary Clinton picks National Council of La Raza's Raul Yzaguirre to co-chair
Hillary Clinton has selected Raul Yzaguirre - former president of the National Council of La Raza ("The Race") - as the co-chair of her presidential campaign. He'll head up her "outreach" to Hispanics. In actual fact, he'll help her even more strongly support illegal immigration, as Yzaguirre's history shows.
NCLR is a considered-mainstream group that has links to and funds extremists. Last year, Karl Rove spoke at their convention.
Yzaguirre says:
"Hillary Clinton has spent more than three decades advocating on behalf of those who are invisible in America... Not only is she the most experienced and qualified candidate to be president, Senator Clinton has the ability to bring people together to get results and move this country forward."
In 2001 he was named to Sears' board of directors, and he also supported legalization for all illegal aliens:
"Whatever law will be passed must apply to everyone equally... I think we're talking millions, otherwise I don't think we have something we would be interested in."
And:
In 2001, the National Council of La Raza, conducted focus groups to see what the (American) public thought of the word "amnesty." Raul Yzaguirre, president of the group at the time, told the Dallas Morning News that as a result of the focus groups he advised Mexican President Vicente Fox never to use the word, instead referring to "regularization" or "legalization." Other euphemisms that have been developed are "normalization," "permanence," "earned adjustment," and "phased-in access to earned regularization."
And:
In March [2004], First Data/Western Union set up a $10 million "Empowerment Fund" to be used for Latino and pro-immigration causes. Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza (“The Race”); Sal Gomez, Chairman the Denver Hispanic Chamber Gomez; and Robert de Posada, President of the Latino Coalition, were appointed by First Data to the Fund's Advisory Board. The Empowerment Fund is separate and in addition to charitable donations totaling about $5.5 million that First Data made as part of settlements of the class-action lawsuits.
In this interesting 2001 Crossfire show he took umbrage at calling illegal aliens "illegal", sounded like a cheap labor pimp, refused to answer a question about what Mexico would do if millions tried to come across their southern border, and on and on.
He spoke out against the 2004 Temecula raids:
Last month, La Raza President Raul Yzaguirre called on the Bush administration to order an end to the Border Patrol's arrest of illegals in several inland Southern California communities, saying sweeps by a 12-member task force were "a clear assault on civil rights in an area with a sizable Latino population."
In 2005 he was named "part-time presidential professor of practice in community development and civil rights" in the Arizona State University College of Public Programs.
In 2003 the NCLR sued the Justice Department:
[The National Council of La Raza and others] allege that the Justice Department and the FBI have unlawfully entered information on civil immigration violations into a federal criminal database, the National Crime Information Center, which state and local police access millions of times each day to probe the background of everyone from individuals suspected of crimes to people caught violating traffic regulations... "Co-opting state and local police to make immigration arrests undermines public safety and encourages racial profiling," said Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza.
From March of this year we learn that in addition to Yzaguirre, Hillary has hired Jose Villarreal, "a former aide to Bill Clinton and a fundraiser for John Kerry in 2004".
In 2004 he appeared at a demonstration in support of the anti-American DREAM Act.
From 2004's "Democrats' Forked Tongue on Health Care, National Security" discussing
...The Republicans' sweep to victory in the presidential and congressional elections on November 2, creates an opportunity to repeal Clinton-era Executive Order 13166, which declared that all recipients of federal funds must provide translation services into any language anyone speaks at any time... Bush Administration appointee, Assistant Atty. Gen. Alex Acosta, has continued Clinton's language policy. Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza has said that Acosta "played a pivotal role" in the continued enforcement of E.O. 13166.
UPDATE: Here's an article with a little more on him.
Related:
Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform ready to push amnesty
The NCLR endorsed the Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007 (Barack Obama)
Alliance for Immigration Reform 2007
Posted to Politics at 12:08 PM
David Redlawsk/Caroline Tolbert offer misleading University of Iowa immigration poll
Who knew? According to a misleading poll that offers a bit of a false choice conducted by David Redlawsk and Caroline Tolbert (associate professors of political science in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), a majority of Iowans prefer "earned citizenship", aka a massive amnesty. From the press release:...In the statewide, random poll of 1,290 registered voters conducted March 19-31, 84.9 percent of Democrats and 96.1 percent of Republicans said candidates' stance on immigration is a "very" or "somewhat" important factor in who gets their vote.That's odd. The media has seemed quite "pro-immigration" to me, with most strongly supporting illegal activity.
The poll also showed that Iowa voters favor "earned citizenship" over other immigration reform options. Earned citizenship was defined as allowing undocumented immigrants to eventually become U.S. citizens if they meet certain criteria, such as learning English and paying back taxes.
Earned citizenship was favored by 56.9 percent of Democrats and 56.7 percent of Republicans. UI political scientists found this level of agreement surprising, given the extensive media coverage of anti-immigration sentiment.
They also were asked to choose which of four options best represents their view on what government policy regarding undocumented immigrants should be: 1) deport all undocumented immigrants, 2) allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. to work for a limited amount of time (a guest worker program), 3) allow undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements like learning English and paying back taxes (earned citizenship), or 4) allow undocumented immigrants to become permanent residents with no requirements (amnesty).The first choice is not the standard false choice of "massive deportations", but it's close enough. The choice they don't offer is the same one that most pro-illegal immigration hacks don't offer: simply enforcing the current laws combined with rolling back benefits to illegal aliens, causing many or most illegal aliens to self-deport over time.
Feel free to suggest they do better next time: david-redlawsk *at* uiowa.edu and caroline-tolbert *at* uiowa.edu
Posted to Immigration2007a at 09:24 PM
Shocker at CBS: producer fired for plagiarism
From this:A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after last night's Katie Couric broadcast was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal and other sources.
The complete broadcast was removed from the CBS Web site and an editor's note was posted saying the segments should have credited to Jeffrey Zaslow of the Journal, Nancy Pelosi's office, George Bush's office, the CFR, ANSWER, Code Pink for Peace, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Immigration Forum, and Michael Moore, the network said Tuesday..
..."We were horrified," CBS News spokeswoman Sandra Genelius said. "It was almost verbatim."
CBS would not identify the producer fired for the transgression, but he's reportedly currently engaged in a bidding war involving ABC, NBC, and CNN.
Posted to Miscellania at 07:59 PM
Congressional Research Service: little evidence of farm labor shortage
From the Congressional Research Service comes "Farm Labor Shortages and Immigration Policy" (PDF). I just scanned it and I didn't review all their disclaimers, but consider this from Page 8 under the headline "A Farm Labor Shortage?":
Trends in the farm labor market generally do not suggest the existence of a nationwide shortage of domestically available farmworkers, in part because the government's statistical series cover authorized and unauthorized workers. This overall finding does not preclude the possibility of farm labor shortages in certain areas of the country at various times of the year (i.e., spot labor shortages).
In the past, there have been an endless a string hacks whining about a shortage. A few:
Craig Regelbrugge of American Nursery & Landscape Association
Ralph G. Neas - president of the People For the American Way
Roxana Hegeman of the Associated Press
Unnamed California farm groups
John Young, co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform
Grape growers
Vermont's Rutland Herald
Dania Akkad of Monterey Herald
Dan Weintraub
Jon Vessey
Tim Chelling of the Western Growers Association
Bill Whitaker of CBS News
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:44 PM
Tyche Hendricks: Field Poll shows Californians want Bush immigration scheme
Tyche Hendricks lets us know about a new Field Poll supposedly showing wide support for "guest" workers and an amnesty scheme. It certainly doesn't look good, although there appear to be a few problems both with the poll and with the San Francisco Chronicle's write-up. The PDF with the apparent questions is in this PDF. Bear in mind that it's not clear that what's in there are the actual questions that were asked.
First, the article is subtitled "Majority supports Bush proposals for immigration reform", but the survey was done between March 20 and 31. Bush's latest immigration scheme wasn't even leaked until March 29. And, all the amnesty scams heretofore discussed have endless features and loopholes that can't be covered in a simple poll; whether the current Bush scheme matches up to this poll is a bit doubtful in places.
Second, the article says:
California voters increasingly oppose a federal plan for 700 more miles of border fence -- with just 37 percent favoring it this year, down from 47 percent last April...
But, according to the PDF this was the question that was asked:
Build a wall along major sections of the U.S.-Mexico border
A "wall" sounds a bit more harsh than a "fence", which is probably why they used that; on the other hand they could have said something like, "build more fencing such as is currently in place in San Diego and other places".
Third, the article says:
...just 53 percent of those polled voiced support the current policy of federal agents rounding up, detaining and deporting illegal immigrants.
From the PDF, here's the supposed question:
Continue the new policy of having federal immigration agents round up, detain and deport immigrants found to be living here illegally
Except, of course, that's not a "new" policy. In fact - shocking as it may be to Hendricks and the rest of the illegal immigration-supporting infrastructure - that's their job. There is a new program (Return to Sender) which that infrastructure has fought mightily against, but that's not a new policy.
The last question might have been designed to determine, "is our pro-illegal immigration propaganda which has demagogued small raids designed to deport criminal and fugitive aliens working?"
And, one wonders exactly how we can square the conflict between those who want to fine employers, but not deport illegal aliens. Do those who support large fines but no deportations realize what they're supporting is tantamount to loose borders, where any illegal who can make it over the border will not be deported?
The poll does contain somewhat more straightforward questions which do have disturbingly high approval:
Create a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for a number of years an opportunity to stay in this country and apply for citizenship if they have a job, learned English and paid back taxes... [and] Create temporary worker programs for illegal immigrants that would legalize their status and allow future immigrants to work in this country
What's needed there is education about the impacts those programs would have, such as by encouraging even more illegal immigration.
(Also, Brandon Bailey of InsideBayArea subtitles his report the surprisingly similar "California favors Bush plan: mix of amnesty, enforcement". Why, it's like they're reading from the same talking points.)
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:19 AM
Gordon Hanson/UCSD/CFR: "The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration"
Gordon H. Hanson, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego, offers a Council on Foreign Relations paper called "The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration" (PDF download at cfr.org/publication/12969).
"Economics" is from the Greek for "house", and he's the type of economist who'd recommend saving money by not building a fourth wall for a house. In other words, his "analysis" only looks at the dollars and cents of the issue and not at all costs associated with illegal immigration, such as the devastating political costs of giving Mexico and Mexican partisans even more political power inside the U.S., the costs of the massive political corruption that massive illegal immigration indicates, and so forth.
...By focusing on the economic costs and benefits of legal and illegal immigration, Professor Hanson concludes that stemming illegal immigration would likely lead to a net drain on the U.S. economy - a finding that calls into question many of the proposals to increase funding for border protection. Moreover, Hanson argues that guest worker programs now being considered by Congress fail to account for the economic incentives that drive illegal immigration, which benefits both the undocumented workers who desire to work and live in the United States and employers who want flexible, low-cost labor. Hanson makes the case that unless policymakers design a system of legal immigration that reflects the economic advantages of illegal labor, such programs will not significantly reduce illegal immigration...
As stated above, he's not concentrating on all the costs, only the first level economic impacts. With that taken into account, the equation will swing sharply in favor of border control. And, what's he's proposing is - in the idealistic sense - completely un-American. Of course, in the historical context the U.S. has had waves of cheap or forced labor, including slavery, coolies, child labor, and so on. In the idealistic case we don't want to return to that past or anything similar, noting of course that it's only a benefit to the "undocumented workers" because they're desperate due to their corrupt governments.
I only scanned the PDF, but there is not a single instance of "corrupt", and only a few instances of "politic". From a purely financial standpoint his logic is faulty as well:
it is critical not to lose sight of the fact that illegal immigration has a clear economic logic: It provides U.S. businesses with the types of workers they want, when they want them, and where they want them. If policy reform succeeds in making U.S. illegal immigrants more like legal immigrants, in terms of their skills, timing of arrival, and occupational mobility, it is likely to lower rather than raise national welfare. In their efforts to gain control over illegal immigration, Congress and the administration need to be cautious that the economic costs do not outstrip the putative benefits.
What he fails to note is that illegal labor is massively subsidized, and without those subsidies many industries would have different demands. In a more free market, stoop labor "industries" like strawberries may be forced out of business or off shore.
He even engages in the standard false choice between mass deportations and amnesty:
The most divisive issue surrounding immigration reform is whether to offer illegal immigrants an opportunity to legalize their status. One view is that there is no other means, save politically unacceptable mass deportations, to reduce the number of illegal aliens in the country. Another view is that legalizing unauthorized entrants rewards individuals who have broken the law and creates an incentive for continued illegal immigration in the future.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:17 PM
Bush drones on in Yuma, promotes "comprehensive immigration reform"
No fence pics yet. Developing...
UPDATE: ICBITN ("I Can't Believe I Took Notes"). As expected, this was Immigration Speech #5, with the 5-D variant. There is absolutely nothing in what he said that was either a) new, or b) answered his critics. It's as if the Mexican government pulled his string, and he spoke.
One of the co-conspirators in this scheme, in addition to those other political "representatives" who were there, is the press. If the press started asking him tough questions about his positions, they could reveal him for the anti-American charlatan he is. But, since they support his efforts, what questions they ask him will revolve around how quickly he can get the amnesty they both want.
UPDATE 2: This is the only picture of Bush with the fence I've been able to find so far. At this point, it seems like I was wrong: Bush didn't go there for a photo op with the fence. In fact, if he wanted pictures of himself with the fence he probably would have gotten a lot closer and I would already have found several of them. Perhaps he's expressing his opposition to the fence, or perhaps he doesn't want to see the Democrats use the photos to portray him as opposed to "immigration":
UPDATE 3: The White House transcript is here: whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070409-12.html
UPDATE 4: FenceFest! Pictures of Bush and the fence here, here, here, here, and here. Only in the first is the fence a key part of the shot, but none are closeups of Bush and the fence together.
---------------
"Securing the border is an important part of comprehensive immigration reform..."
Congress is going to take [it up]
[It's personal for me]
Jeff Flake and others were there, Bush "appreciates" him working on his bill
"I am proud to be... uh... Commander in Chief of all these [forces]"
Lists several of the downsides of illegal immigration, without noting that almost all of those downsides would remain when the magic wand was waved and all those millions of people were illegal aliens one day, and magically transformed into legal workers the next
"This problem has been growing for decades" While it has, it's greatly increased under Bush; even Karl Rove admits six million illegal aliens entered on Bush's watch.
"[failure to enforce the law lead to the belief that immigration laws] could be broken without consequences"
"If you don't man your borders and protect your borders, people are going to sneak in."
"When I was governor of Texas, I said 'family values don't stop at the Rio Grande'"
"[They're just] coming to put food on the table"
"[They're just] doing jobs Americans are not doing"
"People are coming to work, and many of them have no lawful way to come here"
[due to fake documents] "It was difficult for the government to enforce the laws at the worksite"
[promotes a "comprensive" bill]
"The first effort is to secure the border"
[Discusses ending 'catch and release'] ...That excuse was eliminated
"People coming here to do jobs Americans aren't doing..."
"Border Patrol can chases terrorists, criminals... not people doing work Americans aren't doing..."
"You can come and work in our country for jobs Americans aren't doing for a temporary period of time..."
[we need to enforce laws against hiring illegal aliens]
"We have got to issue a tamper-proof ID card for ["guests"]"
"should not be given amnesty"
"I oppose amnesty"
"I think most people in Congress oppose amnesty"
[amnesty leads to more illegal immigration, undercuts law]
[standard false choice] ...it is impractical to say that we can find every illegal alien and send them home
[supports assimilation]
...It's an emotional issue... people have got deep convictions... my hope is that we can have a civil and conclusive debate...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:23 AM
My blogging badge
Tim O'Reilly (publishes tech books; link) and Jimbo Wales (runs Wikipedia, "The Encyclopedia Only As Good As Its Last Edit"; blogging.wikia.com/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct) are feverishly working on a "Blogging Code of Ethics", which may include blogging "badges" similar to those used with CC-licensed content. ("A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs", link)
While at first I said, "badges? I don't need any badges to do this!" I reconsidered:
Posted to Bloggage at 09:26 AM
Bush's scariest photo op ever? (Mt. Rushmore)
The following is not a fake:
Caption: President George W. Bush discusses the security of America at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota Thursday, Aug. 15 [2002] "More and more people understand that being a patriot is more than just putting your hand over your heart and saying the Pledge of Allegiance to a nation under God. (Applause.) They're saying -- more and more people understand that serving something greater than yourself in life is a part of being a complete American," said the President in his remarks.
Source: whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/images/20020815_d081502-515h.html
Posted to Politics at 10:32 PM
Bush border buggy back Monday in Yuma (fence photo op)
In May of last year, America's beloved president (George W. Bush) visited Yuma in Arizona to announce "Operation Jump Start", whereby National Guard troops would assist the Border Patrol with their mission. The photo above comes straight out of his scrapbook of his fun vacation.
On Monday, he's returning to the border to see how things are going and (possibly on the directive of Mexico City and/or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and/or similar) to - yet again - push for "comprehensive immigration reform", aka a massive amnesty.
He'll be joined by Arizona governor Janet Napolitano but Reps. Gabrielle Giffords and Raul Grijalva (a former member of MEChA) - despite being invited - won't be there.
Prediction: Bush will give Speech #5, with either Variant 5-B or 5-D. While he'll have a hard time finding as engaging a prop as a dune buggy, expect the portion of the border fence that's being built to be this year's prop.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:16 PM
Los Angeles: thousands march for illegal immigration, literally demanding "amnesty"
Peter Prengaman of the Associated Press offers this about a rally which thousands of illegal immigration supporters held in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, April 7. According to one audio recording I heard, someone led the crowd in a chant of "What do we want? Amnesty!" I am not making that up, and I'll be trying to find that recording because it helps (further) reveal the charade of those who claim that "comprehensive immigration reform" is not amnesty.
While the AP report informs us that they were carrying signs saying "Amnesty Now", it fails to note that at least some of the organizers were extremists. And, they attempt to portray the march as anti-Bush, when it was almost certainly simply pro-amnesty:
Organizers said many illegal immigrants were angry about a White House plan that would grant them work visas but require them to return home and pay thousands to become legal U.S. residents... [a protester says:] "Charging that much, Bush is going to be even more expensive than the coyotes"... ...Advocates say many illegal immigrants feel betrayed by Bush, who they had considered an ally.
I'm sure the organizers said that, and I'm sure a few people there were familiar with Bush's scheme. However, since it's new and it hasn't been demagogued - and since this appears to have been originally scheduled for February 24 (well before Bush's plan was released), I'm going to have to call BS.
One version of the AP report quoted Juan Jose Gutierrez of Latino Movement USA as an organizer (see his video message about the march here: youtube.com/watch?v=PZOPP0n9h7s), but did not disclose that another organizer was the ANSWER Coalition (cache), a group with which he has worked before. Another organizer was Nativo Lopez' Hermandad Mexicana Nacional.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:28 PM
Sojourners/Jim Wallis promoting massive amnesty to Congress
Continuing the age old debate about whether someone is a crook or an idiot, Jim Wallis' Sojourners organization is sending out an email to their mailing list urging people to contact Congress in support of a massive illegal alien amnesty. A purported copy is here: tgdarkly.com/blog/?p=542Wallis has a blog at beliefnet.com/blogs/godspolitics, and I urge everyone to leave comments there designed to help his parishioners understand all the ways he's wrong. Here are excerpts from the email; note that the language used is like a patchwork quilt of speeches from president Bush, Howard Dean and others.
With Congress on the verge of rewriting our nation's immigration laws, too many of the loudest voices on the issue are politicians and pundits who seek to scapegoat immigrant workers, falsely blaming them for many of our nation's social and economic problems.
As Christians called by scripture to welcome and care for the strangers among us, we must seize this moment and raise our voices in a debate that is too often tainted by prejudice and fear.
Tell your representative to fix our broken immigration system with reform that is fair and compassionate.
...Specifically, we must demand that any immigration legislation includes:
Border enforcement and protection initiatives that are consistent with humanitarian values;
Reforms in our family-based immigration system that help to safely reunite separated families;
An opportunity for all immigrant workers and their families already in the U.S. to come out of the shadows to pursue an earned legal status, leading up to citizenship; and
A viable guest worker program that creates avenues for workers and their families to enter our country and work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner.
...With so many immigrant families living in poverty, we must acknowledge that discussion of immigration cannot be separated from our understanding of poverty - and is thus central to achieving the vision for overcoming poverty found in Sojourners/Call to Renewal's Covenant for a New America.
UPDATE: Jim Wallis is also involved with the Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:46 PM
"Mohawk Industries accused of witness tampering"
From this:An emergency hearing has been requested to determine if Mohawk Industries tampered with potential witnesses in a federal lawsuit.Previously:
The Calhoun-based carpet manufacturer is accused of “widespread employment of illegal workers” in order to drive down wages and workers compensation claims at their Northwest Georgia plants.
...one former employee and one current employee have stepped forward saying they have been subject to intimidation and threats aimed at stopping them from testifying in the case.
Presiding judge Harold L. Murphy is expected to decide Monday if an emergency hearing is needed to address the claims, according to court officials.
Mohawk Carpet RICO class action suit can proceed
Businesses worried about being sued for hiring illegal aliens
Are you a lawyer who likes money?
"Forging a New Use for Civil RICO"
Posted to Immigration2007a at 12:15 PM
Young Pioneers of the Global Climate Change and Environmental Justice Movement (comrade)
As others have no doubt noted, the general global warming movement seems to have some curious aspects. For instance, here's Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. in "Assault of the 'Transies'" saying:
Al Gore's hobby horse is also breathing new life into the ultimate Transie project: the imposition of international taxation ("globotaxes") to finance the various causes and institutions favored by transnational progressives.
And, the U.N.'s International Panel on Climate Control called for an "international authority" to enforce climate regulations.
And, the "movement" also has its Stalinistic/Lysenkoistic side, attempting to discredit or otherwise send to Siberia those who dare to raise questions about the scientific evidence relating to the issue.
And, they've got their own youth league too. The site "It's Getting Hot In Here" (itsgettinghotinhere.org):
is a community media project created and sustained by leaders of the youth climate movement as a place to speak out about an issue that threatens our livelihoods and future generations and the actions that we are taking to create a more just and sustainable future... ...Originally created by Energy Action [energyaction.net] for youth to report from the International Climate Negotiations in Montreal, Its Gettting Hot In Here has since grown into something more, a strong voice from a growing movement...
The latter held "A week of action" from January 29 to February 2:
America and Canada's youth are calling for five days of demonstrations to jumpstart the second semester of the Campus Climate Challenge and put the heat on a new U.S. Congress and a returning Canadian Parliament to begin aggressive national power shifts on global warming.
If you'd registered by January 10th you would have received a "free DVD and screening rights for 'An Inconvenient Truth'".
(Confused by all these groups yet? There's one more.) One of their members is the "Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative" (ejcc.org) which combines race-baiting with guilt:
Global warming, or climate change, is fundamentally an issue of human rights and environmental justice that connects the local to the global. With rising temperatures, human lives—particularly in people of color, low-income, and Indigenous communities—are affected by compromised health, financial burdens, and social and cultural disruptions. Moreover, those who are most affected are least responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that cause the problem—both globally and within the United States.
You might be thinking, "how long until A.N.S.W.E.R. gets involved?" But, of course, they've been at the very vanguard. Their September 7, 2005 protest (preview.tinyurl.com/2e8lkj) included this:
Global warming is a major factor in the big increase in tropical storms, particularly Hurricane Katrina, which developed from a minimal hurricane to one of the largest and most powerful ever recorded because of the extremely high water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. Still, the Bush Administration continues to contemptuously turn its back on evidence of climate change and stands by its position to cancel the Kyoto Accord.
And, even earlier (October 17, 2004), their Million Worker March (preview.tinyurl.com/2hktjt) said this:
An end to the poisoning of the atmosphere, soil, water and food supply with a national emergency program to restore the environment, end global warming and preserve our endangered eco-system.
All of this played a part in the (generally failed) satirical petition I created, but I feel the need to take it to the next level. I feel the need for t-shirts, banners, and chants designed to reveal the religious/far-left nature of the "movement". Stay tuned.
Posted to Miscellania at 09:31 PM
"A Christmas Story" director killed by illegal alien (allegedly driving drunk)
Robert Clark - the director of the movies "A Christmas Story" and "Porky's" - and his adult son were killed on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Pacific Palisades (home of celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger) yesterday in head-on car collision. The driver of the other car was Hector Velazquez-Nava, who was driving without a license.
Now, Eric Leonard of KFI-AM reports that Nava is an illegal alien. He has no immigration record, but apparently a more thorough search is being performed to determine whether he's been previously deported under another name.
While the Los Angeles Times spends several paragraphs on the two victims' biographies ("'A Christmas Story' director dies in crash" by Valerie Reitman and Andrew Blankstein), they don't appear to have covered the immigration-related aspects, and, based on their past actions they probably never will.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:12 PM
"Liberals" project, racialize, trivialize Chertoff comment
Please become slightly hyponatremic and slightly anemic and set the hair trigger on your Hypersensitivity Meter to 11 and read the following:
...In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Michael Chertoff, who arrives in Britain tomorrow for talks with John Reid, the Home Secretary, said the US was determined to build extra defences against so-called "clean skin" terrorists from Europe... "The fear has always been the so-called 'clean skin' - that's a person whose documents are completely legitimate, are not forged."
If you're like some "liberals", your Hypersensitivity Meter no doubt pegged, as you immediately assumed that Chertoff was making a racial comment. In fact, let's turn to Steve Benen of the Carpetbagger Report:
But with that in mind, hearing the Secretary of Homeland Security expressing concerns about "clean skin" terrorists from Europe is hardly reassuring. Maybe it's a term of art in security and immigration circles, but they couldn’t come up with a less racially-charged phrase?
And, both Think Progress and the Huffington Post linked to this story, highlighting the "clean skin" comment and, while not explicitly stating it, encouraging their readers to assume the "liberal" worst:
thinkprogress.org/2007/04/04/clean-skin-terrorists
huffingtonpost.com/2007/04/05/chertoff-the-fear-has-a_n_45084.html
A tiny bit of research would have disclosed this entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanskin
"Within the vernacular of counter-terrorism agents and police officers, a cleanskin is an undercover operative whose identity is not known to the forces he or she is tasked to infiltrate. This is usually because such an agent has not conducted any prior undercover activity... The word cleanskin originally comes from Australia, and refers to an unbranded cattle. The earliest references being around the 1860s. The word then evolved to mean a person whom has had no conviction recorded against them, a person who was 'clean'."
Instead of discussing terrorism, Chertoff's and Bush's failings to protect the U.S. from terrorist infiltration over our borders, or other issues, all many "liberals" are capable of is acting like hypersensitive children who are only able to obtain political power through racializing and trivializing issues.
Posted to Bloggage at 02:02 PM
Los Angeles: Delgadillo, Cooley to work with ICE; Bratton resists (Special Order 40)
From this:Suspected gang members who are in the country illegally and are arrested for even minor crimes could face quicker deportation under new policies unveiled Wednesday by the top two prosecutors in Los Angeles.Not all are happy, including a group that allegedly has collaborated with the Mexican government:
City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said they are partnering more closely with federal immigration officials and attorneys to identify the gang members for deportation, adding that illegal immigrants appear to make up a significant portion of the gang population.
The partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement marks a departure for local law enforcement, which generally keeps federal immigration officials at arm's length and largely prohibits Los Angeles police officers from asking the immigration status of either crime victims or suspects.
"It erodes the public trust in law enforcement," said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights of Los Angeles. "The lines are blurring."And L.A.'s "leaders":
Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton reiterated Wednesday that he opposes any change in the department's immigration policy, known as Special Order 40, which prohibits officers from asking anyone about their immigration status.Delgadillo says he also supports Special Order 40, meaning that he appears to be playing both sides of the street.
That is also the position of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
But two members of the LAPD command staff, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified, said they would like to be able to run immigration checks on suspected gang criminals once they are arrested.
"We cannot go there because of City Hall," one commander said.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 11:08 AM
Associated Press, Census Bureau offer immigration promotion, faulty logic
Consider the widely-distributed AP report by Stephen Ohlemacher (apparent original title: "Census: Immigration Helps Big Metros Grow"):Without immigrants pouring into the nation's big metro areas, places such as New York, Los Angeles and Boston would be shrinking as native-born Americans move farther out.If you teach a third-grade class, a slightly challenging assignment might be to help the AP and the Census Bureau understand such fairly simple concepts as cause and effect. Namely, if there weren't so many immigrants/"immigrants" (the Census Bureau doesn't differentiate on legal/illegal status) moving in, would those native-born Americans be moving "further out"? That's certainly a strong possibility, yet the AP and apparently the Census Bureau don't consider it. Neither do others:
Many smaller areas, including Battle Creek, Mich., Ames, Iowa, and Corvallis, Ore., would shrink as well, according to population estimates to be released Thursday by the Census Bureau...
"Immigrants are filling the void as domestic migrants are seeking opportunities in other places," said Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau, a private research organization.The second paragraph above seems to offer a bit of an unfollowed clue. While the article does include a quote from the Center for Immigration Studies, it also mentions Bush's latest amnesty scheme. I'll mark this one down as "propaganda".
Many demographers associate shrinking populations with economic problems, typically poor job markets or prohibitive housing prices.
"A lot of cities rely on immigration to prop up their housing market and prop up their economies," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:13 PM
El Diario shocker! "Cyber attack on immigrants" (Immigration Watchdog mentioned)
Yesterday, New York's El Diario/La Prensa offered "Antiinmigrantes se toman la web" ("Anti-immigrants take the web" or similar). The translated version is here. It has a round-up of "anti-immigrants" using Youtube and similar to, you know, support our laws, and it features a mention of the Immigration Watchdog and links to various videos. It also tries to whitewash Antonio Villaraigosa's past as well as MEChA and the Academia Semillas del Pueblo.Today they offer a follow-up editorial (as if the article wasn't an editorial, but I digress) entitled "Cyber attack on immigrants":
...Minuteman vigilantism is reported on sites like ImmigrationWatchdog, where video clips compare a Mexican nationalist group to Al-Qaeda. Postings single out Hispanic undocumented persons as "invaders," gang bangers and drunk drivers.I don't think much comment is necessary, but next time link to one of my videos, 'k?
In a democracy, everyone's entitled to their views. But the video shorts and postings are yet another confirmation of an ugly movement to bash immigrants.
From local ordinances to evict undocumented immigrants, to English-only proposals in towns from California to New Jersey, to families being torn apart through raids, the attack feels like a precursor to the scenes out of the futuristic film Children of Men, where foreigners are persecuted and stocked in camps.
In the film, as in real life, fear is misdirected. Undocumented immigration is hardly a new phenomenon. But in an age where globalization is shifting, reducing and even eliminating borders - both figurative and literal - and the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening, undocumented immigrants, coded as brown people, have become the latest scapegoat...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:49 PM
BP Chief, Gabrielle Giffords overturn Jim Kolbe's checkpoints decision
One of the controversies surrounding newly-retired Representative and illegal immigration supporter Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) was his opposition to fixed checkpoints away from the border, and he wrote legislation requiring that they be moved frequently.
Now that he's gone, Border Patrol chief David Aguilar has stopped moving the checkpoints and, at a townhall meeting in Sahuarita (south of Tucson) yesterday, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords endorsed the decision (link).
That's the good news, and all that's contained in the report. I'd imagine they also discussed the recent amnesty proposals, but that's not mentioned. I'd imagine they also took questions from the audience, and those likewise aren't mentioned. I posted a notice of this meeting here, but apparently not enough people saw it, or those that did decided not to go. Hopefully at a future meeting "Gabby" will be asked some tough questions about her positions on these issues, specifically her co-sponsorship of the Gutierrez-Flake amnesty scheme.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:05 PM
Joe Biden responds to question from Youtube user
Jeff Jarvis from BuzzMachine has a new site called PrezVid.com. He's encouraging everyone to upload videos to Youtube asking the candidates questions. The videos should then be tagged with 'prezconference' so they can be easily found.
Now, Joe Biden has responded to one such question.
This is a very good trend, albeit with just one or two data points so far (Dennis Kucinich also replied to a video question unrelated to Jarvis' site, and there might be more.) Most of us aren't in Iowa or New Hampshire, and the candidates aren't exactly flocking to California except to get some money, and even then they don't have a Q&A session.
Unfortunately, most of the video questions with this tag are a bit on the lightweight side. For the tough questions, see my Barack Obama video. And, here's my Bill Richardson video. Here's another question for Bill Richardson.
To be frank, publicly embarassing a presidential candidate over their immigration positions could break everything wide open, forcing other candidates to defend or even modify their support for amnesty. It would also reveal the MSM for the transcriptionists and propagandists that they are.
I urge everyone to review the candidates' positions on issues, then think up short, difficult questions designed to reveal flaws in those positions. Then, crank up Windows Movie Maker with some public domain images and post it to Youtube and other sites.
Posted to Politics at 01:19 PM
Captain Ed: "Why Tom Tancredo Is Not A Serious Candidate"
Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters comments on the Hugh Hewitt interview with Tom Tancredo here. Hewitt asked Tancredo about the John Campbell/Jim Gilchrist race in Orange County, taking him to task for supporting the latter:Hugh Hewitt: ... [L]et me move on. GOP question, just two years and three months ago, Tom, you endorsed an American Independent Party candidate over the Republican nominee in a special election out here in Orange County. Is that material to a campaign for the GOP nomination, that you threw the Republican overboard just two years ago? ...Tancredo didn't exactly answer the question and perhaps he should have informed Hewitt that sometimes you have to put country before party. Hewitt would have understood that about as well as a chimp would understand higher mathematics, but we should continue to try.
...HH: You threw the Republican overboard.
Captain Ed would probably have issues understanding this as well, saying that "[s]omeone who wants to lead the GOP to the White House needs to answer why he kneecapped the Republican candidate in an election in 2004."
I left a variation of the following comment; it was moderated for one reason or another, so I'm posting this here and sending a trackback:
Hewitt is an extremely partisan hack who barely reaches #72 on Talkers Top 100. He told his listener(s) to call in to John & Ken after the Tancredo interview, and they say they got two (2) calls from his listener(s).Regarding an earlier comment I left on Captain's Quarters which was moderated away despite a subsequent email asking for it to be posted, see the first link in this post.
The OC race in question was between Jim Gilchrist and John Campbell. The first ran AIG so he could get into the finals; the second is a Bush-style loose borders R who had previously supported illegal immigration (link).
And, on election day, Gilchrist got almost as many or even more votes than Campbell: Campbell only won because of absentee votes.
On a related note, in AZ the GOP refused to give measurable support to Randy Graf, another candidate who would have cost the backers of the GOP money. In the primary they supported the loose borders candidate who was losing by a wide margin; in the finals they in effect supported the Dem.
Posted to Politics at 12:29 PM
Michael Bianco Inc. workers invite lawmakers to take tour of plant (PR firm)
For a bit of levity relating to the New Bedford immigration raid of Michael Bianco Inc. - the plant almost everyone agrees was a sweatshop - I offer this:
Eight employees of Michael Bianco Inc., the company raided by federal immigration authorities last month, have invited local politicians to see conditions inside the factory for themselves. But many of the politicians have said they will decline the invitation because it smells like a public-relations ploy for the factory's owner, Francesco Insolia...
The rest of it reads like it was ripped from the pages of the Onion:
...Faxed to politicians from a Copy Cop store in Boston, the letter came without a letterhead and with a contact number that turned out to be a fax number... ...The contact at the bottom of the letter was listed as Michael Gorman, who handles public affairs for Rasky Baerlein, the Boston firm hired by Mr. Insolia to handle media inquiries in the raid's aftermath...
On a more serious note:
Carol Rose/ACLU Massachusetts compares ICE tactics to Slobodan Milosevic, ethnic cleansing
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley's "Save The Sweatshops" movement
NYT hides behind "terrorized" illegal aliens to support massive immigration
Deval Patrick knew about New Bedford immigration raid in February ("humanitarian crisis")
Kerry, Kennedy, Delahunt, Frank support illegal immigration (New Bedford, Congressional investigation)
M. Elizabeth Roman on fear-struck sweatshop workers
Sweatshop supporter Ted Kennedy will never support immigration enforcement
Erika Hayasaki/Los Angeles Times tries to help sweatshop (er, workers, yeah that's it)
This sweatshop brought to you by... liberals (Michael Bianco Inc.)
ICE raids Michael Bianco Inc. in Boston; Yvonne Abraham
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:27 PM
Extreme edge case gives faith-based illegal immigration supporters hope
From Sue Dremann of the Palo Alto Online comes this (email her at the link):A Palo Alto family's immigration nightmare has ignited a firestorm of protest from faith-based civil-rights groups.Ah ha! The old "latching onto an extreme edge case - involving even a disarment - in order to make it appear like all the other millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. are in the same situation and thus we should just throw up our arms and give amnesty to all!" technique.
A coalition of religious and civil-rights groups called a noontime press conference Tuesday at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto to voice their solidarity with the struggles of the Ramirez-Aguirre family to remain in the United States.
...Still unresolved are the issues that put the family in the precarious position: Whether or not they received due process of law prior to the deportation order, because an attorney the family relied on to help them get green cards did not show up in court. Repeated lapses at court hearings and meetings with immigration officials none of which the couple were informed about, led to an order for their deportation. The attorney has been disbarred for his conduct.
Other far-left illegal immigration supporters mentioned:
- Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice
- Samina Sundas/American Muslim Voice
- Asian Law Alliance
- Council of Churches of Santa Clara County
- Gloria Nieto/Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
- former Palo Alto Mayor Jim Burch
- Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
- "scores of journalists includ[ing] the Associated Press, and radio and television news organizations"
Burch - who I think everyone is about to agree is a loony - said this:
"Sixty-five years ago, when I was in high school in San Mateo, my classmates were taken away to internment centers. We were motivated by fear. That's what's going on today. When we are motivated by fear, we do things that lack compassion," Burch said -- referring to Japanese internment camps during World War II.In the current case, there should obviously be an exception made or at least some form of appeal (assuming of course their complaints are factual and not distorted), but we really have to enforce the laws in order to avoid giving loons like Burch and the rest any more political power. Like this guy:
Father John Butcher, a priest of the Episcopal Diocese of California and longtime activist in the peace and human-rights movements, said he recalled that as a young boy, he saw his father helping to dismantle the Japanese internment camps in Arizona.No, really. I'm not making that up.
As a 10-year-old, one thing stuck in his mind, he said: Not only were people forced to give up their property and professions when they were placed in the camps, but upon leaving them they were only allowed to take one suitcase filled with their belongings. The things that children treasured, such as bicycles and animals, were left behind.
"And they were forced to shoot their pets," he said.
Undocumented families today are often deported without their belongings, echoing the treatment of the Japanese, he added.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:55 PM
Bush amnesty scheme trims border fence over 50%; other provisions
The WashTimes has more details from the White House illegal alien amnesty presentation:Six months after approving a bill promising to build some 850 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Bush administration and Senate Republicans are now saying 370 miles is enough [...370 miles of fencing, 200 miles of vehicle barriers and 300 miles of electronic monitoring on the border...]
..."I drafted that bill. It says 'shall.' That's the same language we put in the border fence in San Diego," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican. "Doggone it, this is the law. Follow the law."
Michael Friel, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the 370 miles is based on an assessment of how much fencing can be put into place by the end of 2008. CBP also expects to erect about 200 miles of vehicle barriers along the border, he said...
[other provisions include:]
* Beginning registration of illegal aliens six months after a bill passes, and giving them one year to register for the program, which puts them on "probation."
* Huge fines, including $2,000 assessed every three years during probation and $10,000 for a green card signifying legal permanent residency. Moving up the English requirements to take effect after three years of probation. The requirements now begin with a citizenship application.
* Barring many illegal aliens from collecting Social Security benefits based on work performed while illegal.
* Prohibiting future guest workers from bringing their families, as a way of making sure they don't put down roots and try to remain past their temporary work period...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:49 AM
Jessie Mangaliman dramatically supports illegal immigration, mixed status families
Jessie Mangaliman of Knight Ridder/San Jose Mercury News offers "Close-knit S.J. immigrant family lives in constant dread of breakup", concerning a mixed-status family with most of the members being here legally but the eldest daughter being here illegally. He does include a quote from Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies in the middle pointing to one solution: start enforcing the laws in order to avoid having even more mixed-status families in the future. That key point seems to be lost on those who promulgate such propaganda: they apparently want to complain about that which they helped bring about.And, the Camarota section is preceded by the sucker-punch intro. In order to make it even more dramatic and just "kick it up a notch", I've put it in poesy form:
On Sofia Alvarado's 46th birthday, she stood beaming
at the stove
in her
South San Jose home
mashing and stirring a clay pot of pinto beans
The rare afternoon was a mother's coveted gift: all five of her adult children
and
four grandchildren relaxing
at home together at the same time
Her eldest daughter kicks
a ball
out front
with her young daughter
A son watches over a grandchild while another
son sleeps off his graveyard shift
Another daughter coos over an infant
The youngest daughter arrives from school
Posted to Immigration_piipps at 10:39 AM
Reverend Stephen P. Bouman: globalist, illegal immigration supporter
From this:Several synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) urged their members of Congress and key congressional staff March 22 to enact comprehensive immigration reform in 2007 that is "humane and for the common good."Now, let's all join hands and forget why we have laws as we listen to this quote from Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod:
...Key components that the bishops believe help to fulfill these principles include: elimination of the family visa backlogs; fair and humane enforcement provisions and the elimination of the unnecessary detention of families and children; earned legalization of the nation's 10 million undocumented people; a future worker visa program to meet the economy's employment needs; and a path to permanent residence and eventual citizenship for those who earn legalization or receive temporary work visas and who choose to be permanent members of communities...
"The Lutheran bishops are united in their resolve not only to 'welcome the stranger' but to embrace the worlds, cultures, issues and gifts they bring with them... What kind of community will emerge in this changed, global world? This spiritual conversation was at the heart of our conversations with our leaders in Congress, and undergirds a vision for comprehensive reform of immigration policy which takes seriously both our need for security and the well-being of families who are our new neighbors."To some people, "globalist" isn't a dirty word, but hopefully many of his parishioners will decide they don't want to be part of his globalist vision. And, those "new neighbors" he refers to probably are the ones who came here illegally; surely, he can't be saying that we have an obligation to accept any immigrant who can make it over our border, yet he is.
As for security, preventing the Mexican government from gaining any more political power in the U.S. is a large part of protecting the U.S., as is avoiding any form of separatism. Yet, what he supports will give both Mexico and racial demagogues even more power, perhaps even leading to some form of co-dominion several years from now. Also quoted (all descriptions in following from the link):
* Ralston H. Deffenbaugh, Jr., Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service president
* Rev. Edward R. Benoway, bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod, Tampa.
They met with:
* Rep. Zoe Lofgren
The heard presentations from:
* Matt Wilch, senior counsel for policy and advocacy, (LIRS);
* Christina DeConcini, director of policy, National Immigration Forum;
* Ur Mendoza Jaddou, chief counsel, House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law;
* Flavia Jimenez, National Council of La Raza.
Others present:
* The Rev. Paul J. Blom, bishop of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Houston
* The Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt, bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod, Kansas City, Mo.
* The Rev. Theodore F. Schneider, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod
* The Rev. Paul W. Stumme-Diers, bishop of the ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod If you get a chance to speak to them publicly, please do your best to discredit them in front of as many people as possible
Posted to Immigration2007a at 09:05 PM
ACLU, LULAC, ACORN, SVREP endorsed Dallas April 1 illegal immigration march
On Sunday, April 1, the "Rally for the New American Family" was held in Dallas to support "comprehensive immigration reform", aka a massive amnesty for illegal aliens. Last year's event (the one where George P. Bush was scheduled to speak) had as many as 500,000 illegal aliens and their supporters marching through that city's streets; this year it might have been as little as 1% or less of that amount.
The national ACLU and other questionable organizations endorsed the march, and one of the speakers was dual citizen, Mexican partisan, and former Vicente Fox cabinet member Juan Hernandez.
The site megamarch.com is home of the march organizers, the Mega March Coalition 2007. The link has a list of endorsers taken from one of their files, and they include the League of United Latin American Citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union (not just a chapter, but the national ACLU), ACORN, the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, and various LULAC chapters. While the organizers stress their citizenship drives, the fact remains that what they're fighting for - immigration "reform" - is almost completely about the illegal variety thereof.
Now, let's turn to the hugely biased "Immigrants rally for rights, unity" by Dianne Solis and Stella M. Chavez. For some odd reason, they avoided including the LULAC affiliations of three persons they quoted:
* "[A]ctivist Elizabeth Villafranca" (also president of the Farmers Branch chapter)
* "Former state legislator Domingo Garcia" (also president of chapter 102)
* "Coty Rodriguez Anderson, a counselor at a Dallas high school" (also director of district III; see this article, which also mentions another speaker Casey Thomas of the local NAACP)
One of the speakers was "departing Catholic Bishop Charles Grahmann"; another was Juan Hernandez:
Juan Hernandez, who served in the administration of Mexico's former President Vicente Fox, urged those who were in the U.S. legally to become U.S. citizens and to register to vote. And then he urged the crowd to lobby, to make phone calls to federal lawmakers and to the White House. Holding his cellphone to the microphone, he called the White House and said, in Spanish, "I support immigration reform, Mr. Bush."
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:22 PM
MoveOn.org to pester Barack Obama, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, others on April 10
Received via email:Do you mind if we invite Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Hillary Clinton to talk with MoveOn members about Iraq in your living room? (OK, they'll be in about 1,000 other living rooms at the same time, but it's still unlike any other political gathering that's ever happened before).I'd imagine that the questions will be screened both for their "progressivism" and (since MoveOn.org knows their members) coherence. I appreciate their efforts to ask questions, but perhaps they might consider broadening their topics to include immigration matters, especially since that's the area where everyone listed above is weakest.
It's the first ever MoveOn Virtual Town Hall Meeting. Those candidates and others [1] will connect to living room around the country through an interactive webcast (or by speakerphone). MoveOn members will ask them tough questions about where they stand on the war in Iraq. As a group, you'll discuss what you hear and later, you'll vote for the candidate you think is best on this critical issue.
...We're partnering with Air America Radio so the event will be on the radio... [pirate shortwave band broadcasters in Alpine, Texas are "on the radio" too, and about the same number of people will hear them --LW]
...[1] MoveOn members voted last week to invite the following candidates to participate in the Iraq Virtual Town Hall Meetings. We'll keep you posted on who accepts our invitation:
Sen. Joe Biden
Sen. Hillary Clinton
Sen. Chris Dodd
Sen. John Edwards
Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Gov. Mike Huckabee
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Sen. John McCain
Sen. Barack Obama
Gov. Bill Richardson
Gov. Mitt Romney
Gov. Tommy Thompson
Posted to Politics at 02:11 PM
Ron Brynaert/Raw Story posts Tancredo smear
Ron Brynaert of Raw Story says:Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO), a "dark horse" candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination admitted in an interview that he is a "controversial figure" who is sometimes prone to saying "outrageous things."Brynaert was last noticed by me downplaying the North American Union, something which every FOIA-obtained document makes clear is a distinct plan by Bush, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Chertoff, and their counterparts in Canada and Mexico.
Last November, Esquire Magazine wrote, "Tancredo is Tancrazy. Made his name calling for mass deportations of illegal immigrants. Recently was the featured speaker at a meeting of the League of the South, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a 'neo-Confederate hate group.' In a rare moment of clarity, he called his own suggestion that he run for president 'idiotic.'"
As for Esquire, do they have a cite of Tancredo "calling for mass deportations of illegal immigrants"? That's a key claim from Brynaert's second paragraph, so perhaps he should verify it instead of just repeating an Esquire smear. Can Brynaert identify Tancredo's actual policy vis-a-vis deportations, and then provide a correction?
As for the SPLC, they seem to define "hate group" as "anyone who disagrees with us". They also have an indirect link to the Mexican government; perhaps Brynaert could look into that.
And, whether the meeting he appeared at was that of the LOS is an open question. The LOS denies it was their meeting, and Tancredo's spokesman says it was organized by "Americans Have Had Enough! and the Sons of Confederate Veterans".
So, why is Brynaert posting unverified and very possibly false information? Cui bono?
Related:
Sleazy Think Progress, Anderson Cooper lie about Tom Tancredo
Tancredo may run for president; Chris Cannon begins smears?
Violent MSU lefties disrupt Tancredo speech
Jeb Bush writes letter re: Tancredo's Miami remark
Tim Dickinson/Rolling Stone's misleading, pro-illegal immigration propaganda
UPDATE: To make this clear, there's a huge difference between supporting mass deportations and supporting eventual deportation (or self-deportation) of a large number of current illegal aliens. Namely, the first would take place over a fairly short period of time. It would not only be a logistic nightmare if it went well, if it went poorly it could result in a great deal of civil disturbance due to the fact that illegal aliens are clustered in urban centers. I refer readers to the July 26, 2005 Darryl Fears article "$41 Billion Cost Projected To Remove Illegal Entrants" (link):
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."
Posted to Politics at 12:10 PM
SacBee hides behind "vulnerable" farmworkers to support serf labor, illegal activity
The Sacramento Bee (SacBee) offers "Editorial: Stop the raids/Farmworkers caught in immigration politics". Let's take a quick glance at how they're wrong:
...If the United States had a sensible immigration policy that allowed people to legally reside in this country for jobs that citizens simply don't want, such as onerous farming jobs in the Valley, it might make sense to sanction both employees and employers who are breaking workable laws...
The SacBee is saying that we should only enforce "workable" laws, with "workable" defined by corrupt growers and their supporters like the SacBee. And, of course, as has been pointed out many times the reason citizens aren't doing many jobs is because illegal aliens are able to underbid them on price or pliability.
These raids, however, have a strange cruelty about them. Agents are going after some of the state's most vulnerable residents. The large farmers and the contracting organizations that hire these immigrants, to no great surprise, are not being targeted in these raids.
What a bunch of humanitarians. Of course, since most farmworkers in the state are very poor, the SacBee is hiding behind those "vulnerable residents" to support a serf system. If they want to support going after the employers, fine. But, their support for only enforcing "workable" laws makes it clear that supporting giving those employers a low-wage work force is their real goal. And, of course, if we enforced our current laws, there would be many few "vulnerable residents" for the SacBee to hide behind.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:46 AM
Penny Stinson undercut Proposition 100 after it passed (Maricopa County, Arizona)
From this:A Maricopa County court official took action to circumvent Proposition 100 less than two weeks after Arizona voters passed the constitutional amendment that denies bail for illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes.She tagged the email "EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY" and even sent a second email reiterating her demands. Rep. Russell Pearce and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas are looking into the matter.
A memo dated Nov. 17 - shortly before Proposition 100 took effect - instructed Maricopa County Superior Court workers to stop asking about immigration status in inmates’ pretrial interviews.
"Due to recent changes in the legislation and the liberty interest implications, we will no longer be asking defendants any questions regarding their citizenship," wrote pretrial services director Penny Stinson in an e-mail obtained by the Tribune.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:11 AM
Tainted pet food wheat gluten was "food grade"
The first useful post on the Huffington Post has been spotted:Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a "food grade" additive, raising the likelihood that contaminated wheat gluten might have entered the human food supply.Question: is it identified as "wheat gluten" on labels, or as something else, such as a more or less generic term?
"Yes, it is food grade," Del Monte spokesperson Melissa Murphy-Brown wrote in reply to an e-mail query...
...Wheat gluten is sold in both "food grade" and "feed grade" varieties. Either may be used in pet food, but only "food grade" gluten may be used in the manufacture of products meant for human consumption...
...Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine said the FDA is not aware of any contaminated gluten that went into human food but said he could not confirm this "with 100 percent certainty." [link] Wheat gluten is a common food additive used as a thickener, dough conditioner, and meat substitute. It is widely used as an additive in commercial bakery items and special purpose flours...
4/3/07 UPDATE: From this:
Tainted wheat gluten that triggered a massive nationwide pet food recall also ended up in processing plants that prepare food consumed by people, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday. While agency leaders offered assurances that the nation's food supply remains safe, they said they cannot yet completely rule out contamination of human food by the suspect wheat gluten, which contained melamine, a chemical found in plastics and pesticides.Given the Bush administration's well-deserved reputation for managerial competence, I'm sure that will work well.
"To date, we have nothing that indicates it's gone into human food," said Dorothy Miller , director of the FDA's Office of Emergency Operations. "We have a bit more investigation to do."
Posted to Miscellania at 08:40 PM
"Maywood hires police with past troubles"
Maywood - a small city in southeast Los Angeles County - is a self-declared sanctuary for illegal aliens and a sign of what's to come for many other cities across the nation. The LAT says:The Maywood Police Department — a 37-man force that patrols a gritty square-mile city south of downtown Los Angeles — has become a haven for misfit cops who have been pushed out of other law enforcement agencies for crimes or serious misconduct.Sounds pretty funny, but perhaps we should look at those supposedly respectable forces who've enabled this corruption.
Among those on the job: A former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy terminated for abusing jail inmates; a onetime Los Angeles Police Department officer fired for intimidating a witness; and an ex-Huntington Park officer charged with negligently shooting a handgun and driving drunk...
...The brewing scandal has included accusations that police and city leaders were on the take from the owner of a local tow company; that a longtime officer was extorting sex from relatives of a criminal fugitive; that a police officer tried to run over the president of the Maywood Police Commission in the parking lot of City Hall; that an officer impregnated a teenage police explorer; and that officers had covered up the truth surrounding a fatal police shooting that resulted in a $2.3-million legal settlement.
The Los Angeles County district attorney, the California attorney general and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have active probes into the Maywood department.
Amid the chaos, Bruce Leflar, still listed on the department's website as chief, abruptly stopped showing up for work last fall.
And the officer whom he'd appointed to clean up the department, Al Hutchings, agreed to resign his post after being told a videotape had been made of him allegedly having an on-duty liaison with the female owner of a local doughnut store...
Related:
The "Mexican border town" in Los Angeles: Cudahy
"Corruption hits cities in L.A.'s shadows"
Maywood SOS protest, Round Two
The childlike Dave Weigel
Should the feds take over Maywood California?
Should Maywood CA secede? Should they change their name to "Aztlan City"?
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:56 PM
"Smiley" Jeff Flake, WFMOJALI Luis Gutierrez promote their amnesty
Congressmen Jeff "Smiley" Flake and Luis "WFMOJALI" Gutierrez offer a one-two promotion of their illegal alien amnesty scheme.
First up is Gutierrez, delivering the Democratic Party's radio address (link) on Saturday. There's almost nothing there that isn't pure hot air, but, let's look at his promotion of illegal immigrants:
...Our bill deals directly with the undocumented who are living, working and contributing to a better, more dynamic America... it also creates a system that is fair and just and reflects the enormous contributions immigrants make every day...
Illegal aliens do make somewhat of a contribution, but in terms of the GDP it's quite small. In any case, should lawmakers be promoted such illegal work? Shouldn't they be stressing following our laws?
Today more than ever, immigration reform strikes at the very heart of what kind of nation we are - and what we strive to be.
I'm pretty sure we don't want Gutierrez' dream. Illegal immigration and the proposed "reform" represents a breakdown in our political system, as corrupt politicians desperately try to sell the American public on something that they soundly reject. Their bill also contains "hemispheric" provisions that may lead to a North American Union, a contra-Constitutional scheme that is by definition not what we are and want to be.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez also supports sovereignty... but apparently only for Puerto Rico. And, he spoke at some of the Chicago illegal immigration rallies, and even attended a planning meeting, one key organizer of which is a leader with Mexico's PRD Party. He is, in brief, a racial demagogue and a collaborationist.
Next up is Jeff "Smiley" Flake, speaking to his hometown constituents in "STRIVE can stanch flow of illegal immigrants". Although he doesn't realize it, he tells us one of the ways his scheme would fail:
...Aside from giving illegal aliens a shortcut to a green card, a major failure of the 1986 immigration-reform bill was its lack of a mechanism for new workers to enter the country legally, which made the bill outdated on the day it was signed into law. Repeating this mistake would put us back in the same position we're currently facing in a decade or two from now...
He's saying that without enough visas, we'll continue to have illegal immigration. So, what if there aren't enough under his scheme? Basically, in order to prevent illegal immigration, we'll have to increase the number of visas until they match the numbers of all the people who want to and are able to make it over the border. Perhaps in order to avoid what he calls a 1986-style failure, he should just set the number of visas at 5 million or more per year.
We require sufficient steps to ensure that foreign workers are filling only jobs that cannot be filled by domestic workers.
How very kind of him for giving us that.
Implementation of the new temporary-worker program would be conditioned on progress toward securing the border.
In the case of the bill, "progress" is defined by spending and even things such as having plans in place. It isn't defined by an actual reduction in the flow of illegal aliens.
We simply can't afford to continue the status quo. For those concerned about amnesty, I've got news: We're living it right now. Any proposal that is not comprehensive in nature will simply ensure that this amnesty - this lack of consequences for illegal activity - will continue long into the future.
That statement is, quite simply, blackmail. The government is supposed to enforce the laws on the books, and it is not. He's saying the only way the government will enforce the laws is if the laws are changed to suit them.
Illegal aliens don't fall from the skies. They're allowed into the country and allowed to stay here both through lax enforcement and through incentives, some of latter which have been offered by the Bush administration. Perhaps Flake would be willing to tell us exactly what he's done over the past six years to try to force the Bush administration to enforce our laws.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:52 PM
"Minutemen Scare off Mobile Mexican Consulate" (Costa Mesa)
Apparently a mobile Mexican consulate - from which our friends to the south distribute Matricula Consular ID cards - tried to set up shop at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Costa Mesa, California. A group of protesters from the Minuteman Project were apparently able to get enough support from the church members that the consul decided to pack up and leave after just a half-an-hour. The thread here is short on details, but has several photos.
I'm going to assume that the Church supported the event, so you can write their pastor at tim *at* pccov.org.
Posted to Immigration_consul at 01:41 PM
Mexican government wants to take Minuteman Project members "into custody"
From KGBT's Victor Castillo we learn this:Miriam Medel, Mexican Consulate [in McAllen] spokesperson, tells Action 4 News they'll be very vigilant all weekend [due to the Minuteman Project patrolling the Rio Grande Valley based out of Mission, Texas]. "We want to make sure that no human rights are violated, and make sure that it's only the authorized personnel, the people who have had the training and the mandate to do so, the only ones that are making the arrests" said Medel...Did Mexico or the Mexican partisan "reporter" just accuse the MMP of "detaining migrants"? The choice of words there is a bit ambiguous, so let's just say they meant the possibility of "migrants" being detained.
...The Mexican Government has expressed concern with the Minuteman Project, and asks that state and federal measures be taken to safeguard the rights of Mexicans crossing the border illegally.
"If it happens, we are going to ask for the appropriate authority to take those people into custody, to take action against them because they are going to be violating the American law by taking justice into their own hands" said Miriam Medel when describing what the Mexican Consulate will do if they detect that a Minuteman volunteer comes in contact with or arrests a Mexican national trying to cross into the United States.
While condemning the act of detaining migrants by the Minuteman Project, the Mexican Government continues to look for mechanisms that ensure Mexican migration is legal, orderly and respectful to the United States.
Action 4 News has learned that because of the Minuteman's position in the Valley, some human smugglers are now charging between $2,000.00 to $2,500.00 dollars per person, to cross someone illegally into the United States and then taken to Houston.
Posted to Immigration_consul at 01:31 PM
