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Davis: "I'll sell out my country to keep my job"
Gray Davis didn't say that exactly, but he might as well have:
Gov. Gray Davis is vowing to sign legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses -- a move that could energize Latinos to oppose his recall but anger other voters...
[State Senator Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles)] on Monday defended his measure as "sound public policy." The East Los Angeles Democrat contends it would not only make roads safer for California motorists but improve national security.
"This is not immigration policy; this is highway safety policy," Cedillo said. "I don't anticipate a (voter) backlash because at the end of the day, if they're concerned about national security, we address those concerns..."
"Clearly, California is a Democratic state, and we don't want (the 2002 gubernatorial) election stolen by people who don't reflect the mainstream of California," Cedillo said.
God help us if Gil Cedillo represents the "mainstream of California."
When he talks about "public safety," isn't that just a Big Lie? Won't voters see through this? Here's what the Commisioner of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety had to say when a similar bill was proposed in MN:
...advocates argue that they want to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants so they will be safer drivers. This argument is completely without merit and is a transparent attempt to turn the illegal immigrant problem into a public safety issue. There is no evidence that if illegal immigrants received drivers licenses, they would enroll in driver education programs, obtain insurance, and refrain from fleeing the scene of an accident. Common sense dictates that an individual on the run from the law would not wait around at an accident site for the police to arrive... The Department of Public Safety will not facilitate illegal immigration...
If not public safety, then what could Cedillo and his friends be after? Well, perhaps the article can give us a clue. I mean, the upshot of the article is that Gray is supporting this bill to get votes.
Why would Cedillo and Davis want to get "breeder documents" like driver's licenses into the hands of as many illegal aliens as possible? Doesn't it make much more sense that they want votes and power, and that they care not a whit about public safety? I mean, won't those grateful illegal aliens turn around and vote for them? Now, that makes sense.
Perhaps this quote from Cedillo might shed some light on what he's really after:
"Latinos have displaced other work communities - clothing, hotel, and restaurant industries that used to be done by blacks and anglos... Since Latinos are now central to union revitalization, through immigration and high birth rates unions can be partisan for full Latino empowerment."
And, won't this bill just send a message around the world that California doesn't care about federal immigration law? All you need to do is make it over the California border, and we'll give you all the rights of a citizen, with few of the responsibilities and none of the messy formalities like waiting in line like the chumps.
Signing this bill will certainly not decrease illegal immigration, and it will most likely cause it to rise to an even greater level.
Would "responsible" public servants like Gray Davis and Gil Cedillo really do something like that? Apparently so.
Recall that one of the reasons Gil gave for this bill was that "they were here first." That statement is also refuted in great detail here.
And, apparently he thinks driver's licenses for illegal aliens are a "right":
"We want our rights -- nothing more," [Cedillo] said [at a rally in Santa Rosa].
See also his statement concerning illegal aliens serving in the U.S. military, which the LAT has since retracted.
Cedillo also wanted to make illegal aliens undocumented immigrants a protected class under the Unruh Civil Rights Act. This in-depth article has more on that attempt as well as other Cedillo-related issues.
For background information on this issue, see "FAIR Works Against Driver's Licenses for Illegal Aliens", "California’s Racial Iceberg", and this post.
As for the article itself, it does discuss Davis' possible motivation a bit. However, it doesn't go far enough, and it doesn't go into what Cedillo is really after. Hopefully one day a reporter from the Sacramento Bee will cover the details provided above instead of just taking Cedillo's statements at face value.
Posted to Immigration_dls at 11:55 PM | Comments (14)
Only full-blooded Asians need apply
From "Fox's 'Banzai' angers Asians":
HOLLYWOOD - Fox is sticking by its newest reality show, "Banzai" - despite protests from Asian-American groups who find the show offensive...
Aki Aleong, president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, believes the exaggerated accents used by the narrators in "Banzai" reinforces negative stereotypes of Asians here.
"This is America," Aleong said. "They do not do shows with the 'N' word anymore. They took off 'Amos n Andy' when it was a top-10 show. They took off the Frito Bandito because it was offensive."
Aleong said his group wasn't looking for Fox to cancel "Banzai" but would like it "retooled" to eliminate the accents or have some Asian actors who speak English clearly.
"We laughed at the games on the show," he said. "We would support this show in a minute if it had some balance."
Berman said future episodes of "Banzai" would have the narrators speaking more clearly. But she added that the accents of the Asian actors on the show are real and there are no plans to change them.
"We are working with Asian people," she said. "These are the voices of these men. We're not putting other voices on them."
Perhaps FOX should send them a big box of lollies and blankies in an attempt to make amends.
No, they can't do that, but hopefully one day someone will. MANAA, you will recall, are the same crybabies who protested the casting of John Cleese as Lucy Liu's father in the work of art known as Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. In their LA Times editorial, they said that Lucy was obviously a "full-blooded Asian," and decried the auteur's inability to feature a nice, normal Asian nuclear family.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Banzai, or at least some of its skits, appears to be lensed in jolly old England.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
Let's go hiking!
I enjoy the occasional rough and rocky trail. Sometimes I'll ignore the dirt part of a trail and just step from rock to rock as a bit of boulder hopping practice. The picture to the right is of a trail in Arizona, and it looks like it might serve the same purpose. However, instead of avoiding the dirt parts of the trail, I'd avoid this:
Discarded pants and plastic bags are caught in a sotol plant. Hundreds of discarded water jugs are only the beginning of the problem. Jumex drink cans, tuna tins, Coca-Cola containers, pants, shoes, women's underwear and discarded feminine hygiene products, chips and bread bags, emptied canned fruit containers, hats and a tequila bottle blanket the landscape...
To Cottingham and her fellow hikers, the problem seems overwhelming. It's just one example of pristine Sonoran Desert turned into a trash dump. Many southern Arizonans see it every day. About $2 million in newly approved federal funds should help address - though admittedly not solve - the problem in the short term, according to the Arizona congressman who helped secure the money. But some fear it's like trying to dam a river with a wine cork...
An environmental specialist with the tribe, Ken Cronin, says about 1,500 immigrants sneak through the reservation daily. Each leaves an average of eight pounds of trash - totaling six tons - a day, he said.
"It's just blanketed," Cronin says of the tribal land. "It's pretty tremendous; there's a pretty severe visual impact."
Yet another indirect cost that labor-intensive industries are sticking us with so we can enjoy "cheap" lettuce and "cheap" chicken.
Where's the Sierra Club on this? Same place they always are.
Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
Pampers, TV sets, cases of Maruchan noodles, Diet Shasta,...
Oh, sorry, you caught me preparing my shopping list. The riots are scheduled to start at about 5:30pm, and I want to be prepared.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
New phoneme proposed for English language
I'd like to take this opportunity to propose a completely new phoneme and its corresponding diacritical mark for English. The mark will be the ' sign (single quote). That mark will precede a word, and will indicate that one should "cough out" that word. Here, let's try it out:
It's Oct. 8, the day after California's historic election in which the voters have recalled Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with . . . Peter Camejo? Don't rule it out...
Imagine that Davis loses his recall fight and that sizable numbers of Democrats who voted to retain the governor cast their votes for Camejo. For some, it will be because Camejo is the choice closest to moderate-to-liberal Davis. For others, it will be a way to stick it to the Republican conservatives who created this mess in the first place. Add the Democratic vote to the 5 percent that Camejo received when he ran for governor in 2002, and it could be a runaway for the most 'liberal candidate in the bunch.
How 'liberal? Camejo favors a statewide ``living wage,'' rejects Ward Connerly's racial privacy initiative, supports the legalization of marijuana, opposes capital punishment and was an early, vocal critic of the invasion of Iraq. Result: While conservative Republicans may succeed in tossing out their nemesis, they may pave the way for election of the most 'liberal governor in the state's history.
Note to Larry N. Gerston: I was just joking about my support for Camejo.
Posted to California at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)
"Black like me"
Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, has an interesting column on exactly what qualifies some people to be more equal than others:
Yes, we know that the Supreme Court permits selective colleges to award a "plus" to black, Hispanic, and Native-American applicants. But just who, exactly, qualifies as black, Hispanic, or Native American?...
Is an applicant of Moroccan descent an African American entitled to a plus — or is he an Arab American, who gets none? Does an ethnic German applicant recently emigrated from Peru get a Hispanic plus? Does a white applicant with a black great-grandfather get an African-American plus? And why doesn't a native Hawaiian get a Native-American plus, as do Alaskan natives?...
Some states employed the "one drop" rule — any black ancestor, however remote, rendered one black. Alabama held that anyone at least 1/32 black — i.e., who had at least one black great-great-great-grandparent — was to be excluded from white schools. North Carolina, on the other hand, only went back four generations...
These are similar to the questions I raised in the old post "Three-fifths of a job applicant":
I wonder, do bi- or multi-racial people have an advantage when helping a corp meet its Diversity Goals? Will ProFound require a breakdown of ones ethnic components? Would someone who's, say, half-Colombian and half-Lebanese count as 1 person of each, or would each half only contribute .5 to the corresponding Diversity Goal?...
If someone is three-fifths black and two-fifths white, do they count as one black person towards my company's Diversity Goals?
What if someone is mainly white, but has a little bit of black blood in them. Even if it's just one drop, can they count as black for our Diversity Goals?
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)
Hillary, Bill to seal Gray's fate
Supposedly, Hillary and Bill are going to campaign against the recall.
Posted to California at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
The script from Mr. Barbra Streisand (James)'s new movie
Drudge is promising to print excerpts from the supposedly anti-Reagan TV movie in the near future.
Posted to Celebrities at 08:33 PM | Comments (1)
Ann Coulter gets the best revenge
"Controversialist and bestselling author Ann Coulter is on the verge of signing a new publishing deal valued at near $3 million, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT..."
Posted to Politics at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)
Celebrities scheduled to appear
Audie Bock (NEW!)
Gary Condit (NEW!)
Leon Panetta (NEW!)
Gray Davis
Peter Camejo
Arianna Huffington
Michael Huffington
Michael Savage
Jack Kemp (appearance cancelled)
"Melrose" Larry Green
Darrell Issa
Arnold Schwarzenegger (tentative)
Bill Simon
Paul Simon/Art Garfunkel
Dick Riordan
Tom McClintock
Nanci Pelosi
Fugly the Klown
Huell Howser
Abe Vigoda
Ricky Henderson
Ron "Horshack" Palillo
Dianne Feinstein
Jerry Brown
Jackie Goldberg
Mark Morford
Special celebrity guest ringmasters: Bill, Hillary, and maybe Chelsea too
This post will be updated 24/7 as new celebrity announcements are made.
Perhaps I should change it into an RSS feed or something.
Posted to California at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
The State's revenge against media hoaxsters
From "Vegas officials charge Hunting Bambi promoter in'hoax'":
A promoter who city officials said created a hoax about selling paintball safaris to hunt naked women is being charged with operating without a license, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Friday... "I'll do everything I can to see this man is punished for trying to embarrass Las Vegas as a result of a lie and a scam,"Goodman said.
The seller created a media hoax. As far as I know, he did not commit fraud (i.e., by taking someone's money and not delivering). If the seller had taken money for a video but had not delivered, that would be a case. That's not what he's charged with.
He's charged with a ticky-tack charge of not having the proper license. This is clearly an attempt to use the power of the State to punish someone solely "for trying to embarrass Las Vegas as a result of a lie and a scam."
Here's one possible way it got to this point: the prosecutor thought it was for real. They wanted to charge him with assault or something similar. They spent hours investigating it, only to find out it was a hoax. They were pissed, and decided to seek revenge.
Anyone who promotes their business using creative but legal means, as well as anyone who's participated in pranks (that's my arm circled in red) should consider this an assault on their rights.
Hopefully the seller will fight this and it will in the end prove to be a big embarrasment to the prosecutor.
(Via TalkLeft)
Posted to Privacy at 07:38 PM | Comments (1)
I'm going to see "Passion Play" 100 times
Gosh I dislike most movies. Some movies are good, especially those that have aged a while. And, the best kind are those that are on TV, so I don't need to directly send my money to support the extravagant lifestyle of a societal parasite. If I ever paid the $8 or $10 or so to see some Hollywood movie, for the next several months I would be kicking myself over the $0.05 or so of that amount that Drew Barrymore or Lucy or Cameron or Jerry Bruckheimer or whoever got. What did they spend it on?, I would wonder. Did that 5 cents go towards a few grains of coke? Or, perhaps a couple milliliters of champagne. Perhaps it paid for a 1" square piece of paint on a new Hummer.
Now, people who have no problem with donating their money to such worthy causes, as well as the recipients of their money, are trying to put the hurt on Mel Gibson. Here's a wacky example:
Gibson, of course, is entitled to his beliefs, as is any extremist. But it is troubling when they are given such a powerful forum as the national distribution the film no doubt will receive.
And it is even more troubling when they are given the imprimatur of high-profile mainstream conservatives. It is another clear sign of the increasing tolerance for radicalism among the ranks of conservatives.
Perhaps he could be rehabilitated (hopefully not posthumously) if he attended a reeducation camp for a few years. If he doesn't want to do that, well, there are always the gulags, comrade.
See also "Our Secularist Democratic Party" and "The Godless Party: Media Bias & Blindness— And the Big Story They Missed"
Posted to Celebrities at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
Maybe if we put our heads together we could come up with half a brain
From "Reuters Sees Touched Up Bodies of Saddam Sons":
U.S. forces in Iraq partly rebuilt the faces of two bodies shown to journalists on Friday in an effort to convince Iraqis that the battle-scarred corpses were those of Saddam Hussein's widely feared sons.
Perhaps it's not so much a problem of brain-power as some psychological failing. Like, we're afraid of success. Or, we can't think more than 5 minutes ahead. Or, the people who ordered this are so completely out of it that they never thought that whatreallyhappened.com or dozens of middle-east media outlets would consider this a tiny bit strange.
Maybe next time we can get someone with an above room temperature IQ to handle things. [crayon] It's not what we think, it's what they think that matters. It's like selling things to people. You might think what you're selling is the greatest thing in the world, but if you can't get that idea across, no sale.[/crayon]
In the meantime, grab some tinfoil and enjoy the show.
Posted to Iraq at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
Governor Savage?
OK, so maybe my support for Peter Camejo was a bit half-hearted (see the previous entry).
What about talk show host Michael Savage? Some say he got a bad rap from MSNBC and others of even lower repute.
And, Savage says he's considering running. Here's his platform:
Like all things Savage, it's a bit crude and over the top. Kinda like Sammy Hagar giving an anti-Khomeini concert.
But, at the same time, there's a lot of truth in his platform, and, frankly, it's not full of shit like most of his opponents.
#4 I fully support. Twenty-seven states already have such laws in one form or another.
#1 I very strongly support, but whether the various traitorous forces would be able to prevent it being enforced would be an open question.
Likewise with #2.
As for #3, we might have a bit of a disagreement there. Many of the street people currently on the street are there because they were released from mental hospitals where they had previously been warehoused. I'm not in favor of letting truly mentally-ill people continue to live on the streets, neither am I in favor of warehousing them. And, I'm not in favor of getting someone who's not dangerous, but who's unsightly, off the street just because someone complains.
So, #3 needs a lot of work, and the others I support but they need to be, shall we say, slicked up a bit to make them palatable to moderates. Unfortunately, that's not something Savage is too very good at.
Posted to California at 10:12 PM | Comments (1)
Camejo for Governor!
Let this serve as official notice that the Lonewacko Blog is throwing its full support behind Peter Camejo (Green - Mars) for California Governor to replace Gray Davis. We need a Governor who cares about solar power, now that Jerry Brown is mayor of Oakland. Plus, just as important, Camejo was on the right side of the Iraq war, appearing at this demonstration to protest AmeriKKKa's hegemonic cultural and militaristic imperialistic Reichstag fire non-freed Mumia and non-freed Cuban Five ways.
Green Power!
Free Mumia!
Camejo 2003/2004!
Free the Cuban Five!
Sharpton/Kucinich 2004!
Posted to California at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)
Kerry on WMD
This article from June compares John Kerry's current statements about "Bush lied!" with his many past statements in which he not only admitted that Saddam had WMD, he advocated a strong military response to get rid of them. (Version en francais ici).
Posted to Politics at 12:09 PM | Comments (1)
Transcript of Jackie Goldberg's big speech
A short transcript is here. (That's an 84kb PDF file). It doesn't have too much more damning than that already presented here. It does, however, confirm that the words uttered by Jackie were "Oh, shit."
Posted to California at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
"'Blogs' shake the political discourse"
According to this Boston Globe article about blogs:
And as the presidential campaign gains speed, many politically oriented blogs are thick with news from the trail -- and some people have set up unofficial blogs to support particular candidates...
Blogs, they point out, can focus attention on issues the traditional media ignores...
Can you guess what's one of those issues that this traditional media article ignores? Here's a hint: there's only one mention of Bush in the article.
Everything else in the article is written from the perspective that there is only a left side to the blogosphere. Plucky bloggers, such as our pal Oliver Willis, put up web sites for their favorite candidates. If not for the one Bush mention, one would think that the only candidates are Democrats. Perhaps next time, the Boston Globe should broaden their blogroll a bit, and include all the different voices out there.
Posted to Bloggage at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
"Conservatives" also object to Lysenkoism
From the UC Berkeley press release "Researchers help define what makes a political conservative":
BERKELEY – Politically conservative agendas may range from supporting the Vietnam War to upholding traditional moral and religious values to opposing welfare. But are there consistent underlying motivations?
Four researchers who culled through 50 years of research literature about the psychology of conservatism report that at the core of political conservatism is the resistance to change and a tolerance for inequality, and that some of the common psychological factors linked to political conservatism include:
- Fear and aggression
- Dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity
- Uncertainty avoidance
- Need for cognitive closure
- Terror management...
Hitler, Mussolini, and former President Ronald Reagan were individuals, but all were right-wing conservatives because they preached a return to an idealized past and condoned inequality in some form. Talk host Rush Limbaugh can be described the same way...
Glaser acknowledged that the team's exclusive assessment of the psychological motivations of political conservatism might be viewed as a partisan exercise. However, he said, there is a host of information available about conservatism, but not about liberalism.
...Yet, they noted that some of these figures [Stalin, Khrushchev or Castro] might be considered politically conservative in the context of the systems that they defended. The researchers noted that Stalin, for example, was concerned about defending and preserving the existing Soviet system.
Although they concluded that conservatives are less "integratively complex" than others are, Glaser said, "it doesn't mean that they're simple-minded."
Wait, let me get this straight. They're saying that Hitler, Mussolini, Reagan, and Limbaugh are equivalent "in some form." And, they're trying to call some aspects of Stalin, Khrushchev and Castro "conservative." Apparently, they have a problem with a slippery definition of "conservatism." I wonder, was Stalin a conservative when he killed millions of people in the name of Communism?
This doesn't appear to be a joke, or just another demented posting at democraticunderground. The study itself doesn't appear to be online, but I have no doubt it exists.
Perhaps these researchers could have gone the extra step and published in, for instance, the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, calling "conservatism" a disease and suggesting that, for the betterment of the Union, they should he shipped off to gulags. Naw, that's been tried before.
Now, let's do something about this.
Here is the contact information for the researchers and their bosses:
Assistant Professor Jack Glaser of the University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy
Home page and faculty page, including email and phone. "He is a social psychologist whose primary research interest is in stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination."
The board of advisors of the School of Public Policy is here, and their Dean's page is here (email: mnacht@socrates.berkeley.edu).
Visiting Professor Frank Sulloway of UC Berkeley
Home page, includes phone
He works in Berkeley's Psychology Department; the chair of which is Karen De Valois (email: valois@socrates.berkeley.edu).
The UC Board of Regents is here. Ward Connerly can perhaps bring this issue to wider attention. Apparently an email relating to donations is givetocal@dev.urel.berkeley.edu
Associate Professor John Jost of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business
Page at Stanford, page at NYU.
Professor Arie Kruglanski of the University of Maryland at College Park
Home page
From this, the Dean of the Psychology Department's email is whall1@umd.edu. The emails of the UMD Dean are dmote@umd.edu and DMOTE@DEANS.UMD.EDU. The UMD Alumni Association is here, and the UMD College Park Foundation's pages are here and here
(Via the Angry Clam)
UPDATE: There's an informative post about this from a former sociology professor here. He's had several articles about conservatism and authoritarianism published in journals.
UPDATE 2: Per the first comment, the 7 Meg PDF file containing the study is here. From the study, here's another example of their attempt to portray Stalin as a "conservative":
The clearest example seems to be Stalin, who secretly admired Hitler and identified with several right-wing causes (including anti-Semitism). In the Soviet context, Stalin was almost certainly to the right ofhis political rivals, most notably Trotsky. In terms ofhis psychological makeup as well, Stalin appears to have had much in common with right-wing extremists.
In other words, millions didn't die in the name of True Communism.
Also, it contains this information about where the funding for this study came from:
This work first began while John T.Jost was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland at College Park, supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R0l-MH52578, National Science Foundation Grant SBR-9417422, and a Research Scientist Award K05-MHO 1213 to Arie W. Kruglanski. Work continued while Jack Glaser was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California, Berkeley and sponsored by National Institute of Mental Health [nimhinfo@nih.gov] Grant F32-MH12195 and while Arie W. Kruglanski (supported by National Science Foundation Grant SBR-9022192) and Frank J. Sulloway were fellows at the Center for Advanced Studies of Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Further financial and administrative support for this project was provided by the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and the Jackson Library Document Delivery Service.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 11:23 PM | Comments (6)
"Rangel: U.S. Acted Illegally in Killing Uday and Qusay"
According to this:
The U.S. acted illegally when its soldiers attacked and killed Uday and Qusay Hussein, a leading Democratic congressman [Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY] complained on Tuesday, before mocking the military maneuver that succeeded in eliminating the brutal duo.
Posted to Iraq at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)
The pain, up close and personal
Here's what "progressive" Democrat CA Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg says about the residents of California when she thinks no one is listening:
"Some of us are thinking that maybe people should see the pain up close and personal, right now."
That's from the SacBee story "Lawmakers' hush-hush talk broadcast live":
Unbeknown to them, a group of Assembly Democrats' private gab session about the state budget impasse -- including the political implications of accepting a Republican-driven spending plan without tax hikes -- was broadcast across the Capitol on Monday...
The lawmakers also discussed how the budget impasse would affect a planned ballot initiative that some Democrats are pressing. The initiative would ask voters to reduce the required threshold to approve a budget to 55 percent of the Legislature instead of the current two-thirds requirement. At least one legislator said that a longer delay would help the case for lowering the threshold.
"Since this is going to be a crisis, the crisis could be this year. No one's running, and maybe you end up better off than you would have, and maybe you don't. But what you do is you show people that you can't get to this without a 55 percent vote," said Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles...
"If the Republicans are gleeful that they caught us on tape, the discussion was open and frank, and frankly one that we need to have," [Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara] said. "It was really just sort of a brainstorming discussion."
Still, when someone finally informed the group that the conversation was being broadcast, Goldberg uttered a profanity and declared, "How could that happen?"
In contrast, the L.A. Daily News' report ("Republicans able to listen in on Democrat meeting") is not as damaging, but it includes this:
The impasse over the budget could also result in the public blaming Republicans for the state's fiscal crisis and ultimately could help Davis beat back the recall.
"All the polls suggest that if you don't have a budget, it lends itself to help support the effort for the 55 percent," one assemblyman said at the meeting. "Folks heading up the anti-recall effort say if they don't have a budget, it helps Democrats in the recall."
The San Jose Mercury News' report ("Overheard session causes squabble") is even wimpier, at just six paragraphs. However, it includes this laughable statement:
Goldberg criticized Republicans for recording the session and alerting reporters. ``That's the kind of stuff that makes you think there are no ethics in this place,'' she said.
However, in the Strangely Enough category, both the L.A. Times' report ("Democrats Discussed Extending Budget Crisis") and that from the S.F. Chronical ("Demos caught in budget gaffe
Open mike picks up faction's talk of profiting from a crisis") are lengthy and damaging to the "progressives."
The LAT even names those in attendance:
Jackie
Fabian Nunez, Los Angeles ("We don't have economic power because we don't own the means of production")
Patti Berg, Eureka
Judy Chu, Monterey Park
Mervyn Dymally, Compton
Loni Hancock, Berkeley
Hannah-Beth Jackson, Santa Barbara
John Laird, Santa Cruz
John Longville, Rialto
Alan Lowenthal, Long Beach
Patricia Wiggins, Santa Rosa
Posted to California at 01:12 PM | Comments (2)
Danegeld, then and now
Then:
The Danegeld was an English tax raised to pay off Viking raiders (usually lead by the Danish king) to save the land from being ravaged by the raiders...
the amount of silver paid impressed the Danes with the idea that it was more profitable to extort payments from the English than to take whatever booty they could plunder.
Now:
Corporate benefactors lined up on the dais of the Miami Beach Convention Center last week as the NAACP's national convention wound down, toting their generosity in the form of huge checks made out to the civil rights group.
One by one, corporate spokesmen from Wal-Mart, Shell Oil, General Motors and American Airlines announced donations ranging from $100,000 to $250,000 to the tax-exempt group, whose stated goal is "to advocate civil rights of minority groups in the U.S.A."
Then the Wachovia banking corporation produced a $1 million contribution to the NAACP's education initiatives, prompting an audible gasp and a standing ovation from the audience...
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, in his keynote speech for this year's convention, said Republicans appeal "to the dark underside of American culture, to that minority of Americans who reject democracy and equality."
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 10:31 PM | Comments (1)
Another day, another "peace" organization
Susan Medea Benjamin and friends are busy again, starting OccupationWatch.org, whose goals include:
* Research the dynamics, programs, and composition of the Iraqi movement to resist occupation in order to provide a more comprehensive picture to the international community;
* Support the creation of independent Iraqi organizations, such as media and environmental groups;
As if that weren't enough, they're going one step further:
"When the Green Party says, ‘Bring them home,’ the troops are right on with us,” Benjamin said.
She told MSNBC.com that the anti-war coalition United for Peace and Justice is consulting with Quaker groups and with an organization called Veterans for Peace to see what the options are for “counseling the troops.”
Benjamin said the Occupation Watch Baghdad office — currently with a staff of four — will “provide information and access to allow (U.S. troops) to make decisions for themselves.”
The idea of counseling soldiers on how to claim conscientious objector (CO) status is something that only occurred to her delegation after it had returned from its tour of Iraq on July 14, she said.
“It became obvious that it was something we had to look into because of the low morale,” Benjamin told MSNBC.com Sunday.
“If we decide it is important to do, we will test it out on the ground,” she added. “How the military reacts to it is something we don’t know.”
However, this quote from the above article is quite appropriate:
“I’m wondering where they were when they could have been monitoring Saddam Hussein’s human rights violations,” said Harald Stavenas, a spokesman for the House Armed Services Committee. “Mass graves continue to be unearthed in Iraq and it is estimated that up to one million corpses will be found. Millions of people have been liberated from that threat. In contrast, this group’s efforts seem ludicrous.”
Perhaps their actions might prove to be a bit more than just ludicrous. If they end up actually supporting the "resistance" directly or indirectly through a front organization, (not that they're planning to do that, but you never know) wouldn't they then become quite obviously just on the other side?
Previous Susan Medea Benjamin posts here and here.
(Via TalkLeft)
Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
Florida flights now triple-plus safe
According to "Videocams will monitor plane passengers":
Passengers who fly Southeast Airlines will be under the constant eye of digital video cameras providing a live feed and recordings of their faces and activities for security purposes.
Wired News said the Florida-based charter airline plans to store the video for up to 10 years and could use face-recognition software to match faces to names and personal records.
"One of the strong capabilities of the system is for the corporate office to be able to monitor what is going on at all times," said Scott Bacon, Southeast's vice president of planning, according to Wired. "From a security standpoint, this provides a great advantage to assure that there is a safe environment at all times."
Here's the press release:
"Conditions of the [Letter of Intent] call for the installation of the Sky Way Aircraft System on the entire fleet of Southeast Airlines aircraft. The Sky Way Aircraft System shall include high-speed wireless Internet, advanced In Flight Entertainment (IFE), Flight Management Avionics Data Links (FMADL), in-flight security and archiving of monitored information, air filtration system monitoring and, upon approval, cellular micro-cells to facilitate passengers personal cell phone use."
To make me feel triple-plus safe, I hope Southeast not only records the video, but the WiFi and cellular traffic as well. Now that's what I call triple-plus safe!
Of course, if you want to boycott Southeast, be my guest.
Posted to Privacy at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
Bush and Blair are liars who should stand trial for genocide
...Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair [are] "liars" who should stand trial for genocide over their invasion of Iraq earlier this year.
"They have told lies to the world. They have committed genocide, and they are criminals these two, Bush and Blair," he said.
That's a statement by Robert Mugabe, the legally elected President of Zimbabwe. Note that he's not the Selected pResident like Shrub, he was actually elected by the people. President Mugabe, who was recently actually elected to the African Union, is a true patriot who is bringing peace and freedom to his people.
In other news, President Mugabe "warned Britain and the United States that their descendants living in the country "will be the first to die" if the two countries launch an attack." And good for him!
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)
Mr. Barbra Streisand (James) to star as The Gipper
Top Tinseltown Honchos have tabbed James "Mr. Barbra" Brolin to star as Ronald Reagan in a TV biopic. Maybe it's a passive-aggresive move against Babs putting him on the Other Side.
Posted to Celebrities at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)
Mmmmmm.... Gina Ryder
Sorry, all we've got to offer here at The Lonewacko Blog is stick-figure porn.
Posted to WackyHumor at 09:14 PM | Comments (1)
Try Canada!
O Canada! A land of constant free-flowing beer, sunshine 350 days a year, and fine liberal policies that will make many U.S. citizens want to - well - just move there!
For all they share economically and culturally, Canada and the United States are increasingly at odds on basic social policies to the point that at least a few discontented Americans are planning to move north and try their neighbors' way of life.
A husband and wife in Minnesota, a college student in Georgia, a young executive in New York. Though each has distinct motives for packing up, they agree the United States is growing too conservative and believe Canada offers a more inclusive, less selfish society...
Eh.
I took this idea from someone else, as I did the flag and the bottle. I drew the sun figure all by myself, and I put the picture together.
Posted to WackyHumor at 02:17 PM | Comments (2)
Strut, Arianna, Strut
From "Arianna touted as recall alternative":
The possibility of the SUV-hating Arianna squaring off against the Hummer-loving Arnold for the right to replace Gov. Gray Davis is creating a buzz from San Francisco to Santa Monica. One eager supporter has already dubbed the potential matchup "The Hybrid vs. the Hummer..."
Leading the charge is Bay Area activist Van Jones, director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in San Francisco. Jones and the fledgling campaign are preparing to unveil their Web site, www.RunAriannaRun.com, to generate enthusiasm.
Posted to California at 01:47 PM | Comments (1)
Now that's a shakedown!
According to this:
Republican state attorneys general in at least six states telephoned corporations or trade groups subject to lawsuits or regulations by their state governments to solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions...
One of the documents mentions potential state actions against health maintenance organizations and suggests the attorneys general should "start targeting the HMO's" for fundraising. It also cites a news article about consolidation and regulation of insurance firms and states that "this would be a natural area for us to focus on raising money."
Posted to Politics at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
"Ariz. Republicans say they'll fight bill to cut entrant costs"
From the Arizona Daily Star:
Republicans in Arizona's congressional delegation have joined their Democratic colleagues in opposing an initiative aimed at reducing the financial burdens created by illegal immigration...
In announcing the initiative earlier this month, supporters claimed illegal entrants are siphoning away tax dollars through welfare programs as government officials fail to stanch an "invasion" from Mexico. Many Democrats and Hispanics immediately criticized the measure as racist.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., called it "mean spirited" and said it has the potential to be as divisive as the bitter debate over the Martin Luther King jr. holiday...
[State Rep. Randy Graf of Green Valley] said [the opposition to the initiative] appeared to be part of "an orchestrated effort" by the highest echelons of the Republican Party who are concerned about wooing Hispanic voters.
"It's the only thing that can be motivating them," he said, adding that the Republican National Committee and "even the White House" could be involved.
Here are those responsible:
Senators:
John McCain
Jon Kyl
Representatives:
Jim Kolbe
Rick Renzi
Trent Franks
John Shadegg
J.D. Hayworth
Jeff Flake
If you support Grijalva's statement, be sure and follow the link (this).
Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)
"Guestworker amnesty not wanted, not needed"
From the article "Unemployed in the U.S.":
The Chamber of Commerce crowd and its liberal immigrant-advocate buddies just don't get it.
Unemployment has risen to 6.4 percent, the highest unemployment rate in nine years. Businesses cut 30,000 jobs in June alone, mostly in factories.
America's manufacturing sector lost 95,000 jobs in April. Forty-eight thousand other jobs disappeared the same month.
The combined elimination of American jobs in February and March was 477,000...
But the unpatriotic business lobby and its strange bedfellows of anti-Americanism keep pushing their Faustian bargain: a mass amnesty of illegal aliens that's dressed up as a "foreign guestworker" program.
Washington-based agriculture lobbyists are pushing as "urgent priorities" "adjustment of status" (a euphemism for legalizing illegal aliens) and foreign agricultural guestworkers. For instance, the National Council of Agricultural Employers wants Congress to "allow experienced farm workers who are out of status an opportunity to become documented..."
In contrast to unscrupulous businesses' Washington mouthpieces, America's Main Street small businesses don't want a guestworker program and oppose amnesty. The National Federation of Independent Business finds in member surveys that small business owners by nearly 3-to-1 oppose "temporary guest worker programs to ease worker shortages." And only 16 percent of business owners actually favor "amnesty to illegal immigrants who have worked in this country for a specified number of years" that business lobbyists in Washington are pushing...
Compare the above with the statements made in the article "[SC] State House bill would crack down on illegal immigration":
One local state representative said he disagrees with Altman's bill. Rep. Fletcher Smith, D-Greenville, said he welcomes all immigrants — be they legal or illegal — as long as they are not terrorists."I don't have any problem with them being here," said Smith. "I think they are some of the hardest-working people around and I think any time you have competition in the labor force, you get a better product..."
A University of North Carolina demographics expert said that while federal authorities may be hunting terrorists, any crackdown on immigrant laborers may spur a "backlash" from employers in construction, poultry processing and other industries who thrive on immigrant labor...
And, compare the Democratic candidates' pandering on this issue.
Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
"Saudi mea culpa"
From the I'll-Believe-It-When-I-See-It department:
...Crown Prince Abdullah has issued new regulations prohibiting any reference to jihad, or holy war, in radio and television broadcasts.
The royals are also drafting new regulations that the Wahhabi clergy will most probably consider sacrilegious. The new rules would actually remove elements of Wahhabi doctrine — Islam's strictest interpretation of the Koran — as it is presently taught in mosques and schools around the kingdom.
Security chiefs of the 22 Arab League nations, meeting in Tunis last week, quickly agreed on the existence of a direct link between al Qaeda terrorist attacks and a clergy that promotes holy war in holy places.
Mohammed bin Al Kuman, chairman of the Arab League's council of interior (internal security) ministers, said the most urgent need was for moderate clerics who can see that Islam has been hijacked by extremists who preach hatred of the United States and Israel in particular, Western values in general.
The Saudis previously banned "strange preachers" from mosques, and have taken other steps. Arnaud de Borchgrave finishes this article with "The House of Saud has finally shed its blinkers. Not a moment too soon." I think it's a bit too early to tell whether this is just window dressing or the real deal. Indeed.
Posted to TheSaudis at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)
"PETA RENEWS REQUEST FOR NONVIOLENT 'SAUSAGE' AFTER PIRATE ATTACK"
PETA has written to Milwaukee Brewers President Wendy Selig-Prieb, renewing its request that a fifth contestant be entered in Miller Park's famous "Sausage Race" in light of the recent incident in which Pittsburgh Pirate Randall Simon attacked the "Italian Sausage" with a baseball bat. Traditionally, four participants dressed to represent various meat sausages race from the outfield to home plate, and last year, PETA requested that a vegetarian "soysage" be included in the race. Now, PETA recommends that, in order to set a nonviolent example to offset the recent brawls and "beanings" in MLB, the Brewers should field a Sausage Race participant that does not represent the violence inherent in meat production, which includes castration, debeaking, dehorning, and throat-slitting. [etc. etc. etc.]
[From their letter to Selig-Prieb:]
...Miller Park already offers veggie hot dogs in the stands - in fact, PETA named Miller Park one of the Top 10 Veg-Friendly Ballparks in our annual list this year. Why allow veggie dogs into the ballpark but then exclude them from the race? Perhaps Randall Simon was simply expressing his frustration at the fact that the vegetarian hot dog was not allowed to compete. By allowing the peaceful "soysage" in the race, you could possibly avoid future player-meat confrontations...
Ha ha. Good joke! Unfortunately, even after the Arafat letter, and the Chicken Holocaust, some people still continue to not only take PETA seriously, but to cave into their demands. See "PETA-Fried":
If KFC thought that it had bought peace and security from PETA by so clearly and publicly caving in to the organization's threats and intimidation, it didn't know its enemy. I use the word enemy in its literal sense. PETA's goal is not to reform KFC's practices. It isn't ultimately seeking a universal standard for humane treatment of chickens by food producers. These goals are mere tactical efforts on the way to PETA's ultimate goal: driving KFC - and all other meat-serving fast-food restaurants - out of business.
Indeed, in a follow-up five-page "Dear Cheryl" letter, PETA's Newkirk warned darkly that the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign would continue more energetically than ever unless KFC agreed to the rest of PETA's demands. Not only that, Newkirk more than hinted that PETA's current demands are merely the "bare minimums" of what they will ultimately seek from KFC now that the animal liberationists believe they have gained the upper hand against the corporation. In a preview of coming attractions, Newkirk served notice that PETA will one day require that KFC's chickens be "given sunlight, fresh air, the ability to dust, bathe or raise their families - in other words to be the animals nature intended them to be" (Emphasis added)...
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
Homeland Security: it's For The Children
According to this:
The U.S. federal government launched a new initiative Wednesday aimed at cracking down on child predators.
The program -- dubbed Operation: Predator -- is designed to protect children from pornographers, child prostitution rings, Internet predators and other criminals.
Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge announced the program along with the host TV's "America's Most wanted" John Walsh in Washington, D.C.
They deserve each other.
Glenn tries to make this out to be mission creep; an attempt by the DHS to justify its existence. To a certain extent it is; I for one would love to join in a jolly game of DHS-bashing.
However, note that this program is going after illegal alien pedophiles et al., and that it's administered by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the DHS. As this page informs we people:
On March 1, 2003, functions of several border and security agencies including the U.S. Customs Service, Federal Protective Service (FPS), and former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) were transferred into the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security within the Department of Homeland Security. As part of this transition, these agency functions were reorganized into the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
So, in other words, to a certain extent this is within the DHS's purview.
Posted to Privacy at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)
Help me with my homework please
1. The L.A. Times' reader's representative wants to know why I referred to two of their recent articles as pro-illegal-immigration. Please provide me with a short list of reasons. For extra credit, write the whole letter.
2. I'm writing a letter to CA representatives in opposition to SB60, which would give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Help me write the letter:
I strongly encourage you to vote no on SB 60 [explain bill]. Why would CA representatives want to encourage further illegal immigration? Isn't illegal immigration against the laws that you were sworn to uphold?Any attempts to encourage illegal aliens currently in the U.S. to stay and to encourage millions more to come will only drive CA closer to financial ruin. At the present time CA is even facing the possibility of a default, "Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs," "Blacks Lose Better Jobs Faster as Middle-Class Work Drops," etc.
If I believed Gil Cedillo's stated claims that this bill is for "public safety," I would consider myself the most naive person in the world. Obviously, this is not about "public safety," but about an attempt to increase ones constituency and power base.
["they were here first" and other Cedilloisms]... Cedillo is not alone in uttering statements such as those, see Vasconcellos' "since we stole it, let them steal it back" comments...
DLs as breeder documents... Rule of law... you were sworn to uphold the laws of the land. Please respect your oath.
Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
Not-so-free speech
Brother Drudge indicates that "Disney/Miramax [are] set to release [a] film depicting [members of the] America[n] military as drug dealers; criminals..." According to the opus' Director, Gregor Jordan:
"Here in the UK no one gets upset, but over there, where the President is fighting these military campaigns in the name of democracy, the first casualty seems to be freedom of speech, the cornerstone of any democracy."
And, according to the film's star, Joaquin Phoenix:
"I don't know why anyone would be offended. It wasn't a movie that was intended to offend. And if we don't show things as they really happen, then what's that about? Censorship!"
I'm as high on free speech as the next blogger. And, I realize that the "free" part doesn't refer to the cost it takes to get that speech out amongst hoi polloi.
However, don't movies kinda blur the line between the already blurred line between commercial and non-commercial speech?
Isn't a movie that costs millions of dollars to make and advertise, and that is expected to earn a profit, much more of a commercial venture than an "artistic" one? Isn't it a bit like referring to the speech content of a line of breakfast cereals?
Just something for Joaquin to think about.
Posted to Celebrities at 10:46 PM | Comments (3)
"Victims Of Immigration Chronicling Experiences"
That's the name-to-fit-an-acronym of the new website victimsvoice.org:
Victims Of Immigration Chronicling Experiences (VOICE) is the place on the Internet where Americans who have been harmed by out-of-control U.S. immigration policies can go to have their side of the story told.
Most of us realize that too many news stories about immigration begin something like, "Maria sobbed as she recounted her difficulties as a hard-working, but undocumented, taxpayer."
Rarely is the other side of the story told...
Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)
The L.A. Times prints a correction
In a previous post I complained about an LAT article that had a statement from CA State Senator Gil Cedillo in which he stated that illegal aliens could join the U.S. military.
The LAT has now printed a "For the record" section in which they state that only legal residents and citizens can join the military. Lonewacko gets results, but Lonewacko doesn't crow about it.
Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)
Prop. 187 for Arizona
Some years ago, California voters passed Proposition 187, which would have ceased public funding to illegal aliens. Governor Gray Davis and a U.S. District Court judge got it overturned. The former chairman of the CA Democratic Party referred to its being passed as the "last gasp of white America in California." The Mexican government actively opposed it.
Now, a group in Arizona has proposed a 187-like Initiative:
[Protect Arizona NOW Committee] Treasurer, local businessman Rusty Childress, adds, "The people of Arizona have heard more than enough of state and local officials' lame excuse that illegal immigration is a federal problem. Clearly. the federal government is endangering the whole country by not putting the military on our own borders–like the vast majority of Americans want done, but a lot of the underlying problem is that state and local governments have created a mammoth welfare state–illegally, with taxpayers' money–that attracts illegals here. These traitorous bureaucrats thumb their noses at their legal constituents and blatantly violate laws, even U.S. Supreme Court decisions. If elected leaders don't have the courage or integrity to stop this nonsense right now, the citizens of this state do have it and will stop it."
For a microcosm of the upcoming debate, consider the words used to describe those who this Initiative would affect. In the story above, they're referred to as "illegal aliens." In the Arizona Republic's story, they're referred to by various euphemisms, such as "undocumented migrants."
The Director of the Committe, Kathy McKee, wrote an editorial for the Arizona Republic a while back concerning a Phoenix day labor center:
INA § 274A makes it unlawful to recruit an alien for employment or refer him for a fee, so the city is illegally facilitating employers who are illegally hiring these aliens. Councilwoman Peggy Neely said in an April 20, 2002 Republic article that "hiring immigrants for occasional day work is not unlawful." Unfortunately for Neely, I don't believe the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agrees with her...
A Feb. 16 Republic article reported "unemployment" is 100 percent at some work centers in California, so day laborers peddle drugs for street gangs for pocket change. Proponents say the center needs to attract more employers - in other words, the city needs to coerce more employers to lay off citizens and legal immigrants, then hire illegal aliens?
You'll note that the Republic kindly failed to edit a few mistakes out of her article - including one in the title - as I suspect they would have with someone else.
Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
This space is NOT for rent
After reading the article "Who's Behind the Attack on Liberal Professors?" I want to categorically state that I have refused - and I will continue to refuse - any attempts by Richard Mellon Scaife and other right-wing foundations to provide funding of this blog. As the article points out, such funding always comes with strings attached, and I want to assure my readership that I am, and will continue to be, beholden to no one.
As for the article, it does have a grain or two of truth. However, why is it necessarily evidence of evil intent when a specific group of foundations tend to fund organizations with which they're ideologically in agreement? But, once again, let it be known far and wide that I will refuse any attempts by anyone to fund this space. I remain incorruptible and above it all.
Posted to Bloggage at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)
"In his own way, the hillbilly has a point"
Please bear with me through the following:
The motivation of the Republican Party in general and the current administration in particular to gain ever greater amounts of power - by whatever means possible and damn the consequences - is evidenced most recently in the Supreme Court's partisan appointment of George Bush Jr. as President, the attempt to recall California Governor Gray Davis, and the Ken Starr investigation and attempted impeachment of President Clinton.
That's from an article about the possibility of electronic voting systems being rigged. Apparently, as Diebold is the major manufacturer of said systems, and as several of their board members are Republicans, this is all a part of the VRWC to take over America, etc. etc.
Now, just because someone is wearing a triple-strength tinfoil hat doesn't mean that they couldn't be right about one or two things. Whether this is part of the VRWC or not I don't know; sometimes I just scan my instructions, and I might have missed the one concerning electronic voting.
However, the possibility exists that someone of any political leaning could modify these systems or the data they produce to change the results of an election. This is a non-partisan issue, so I'd suggest just ignoring those who try to make it one.
I don't know VerifiedVoting.org's political leanings, but their resolution - which you can sign - appears reasonable enough. (I can't get their online form to work, so I sent my information via the chat at the bottom of their contact page.)
The key to prevent abuse of these systems would appear to involve some kind of "Voter Verifiable Audit Trail." Without knowing the details of what experts in the field have developed, here's my suggestion:
Don't worry too much about whether the hardware or software is secure, just print out two copies of the person's vote. The voter verifies that both copies are accurate, takes one home with them, and drops the other in a secure box. Then, a sample is taken from that box (like, 100 ballots) which are statistically checked against the results. If there's a discrepancy, then something went wrong. The printout would take precedence over the electronic results in the cases of discrepancies being found, a tight race requiring a recount, etc.
With that scheme, there are a few possible problems:
1. The printer could fail, stopping voting at that location or in that booth.
2. The user could fail to take, to verify, or to leave one copy of their voting.
3. Someone could tamper with the contents of the box.
4. Someone could tamper with the sampling of the contents of the box.
I think those four (there might be more) are manageable. Much more so than trying to ensure that the software and the hardware is secure.
Posted to Politics at 12:43 AM | Comments (0)
Feds are appealing Ed Rosenthal's sentence
From this:
Still licking their wounds, federal prosecutors have fired another shot at freed grass guru Ed Rosenthal, appealing the light sentence that let the convicted medical pot grower walk away a free man last month.
The motion, filed late Thursday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, does not go into any detail about the grounds of appeal, according to Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Jacobs, who would not comment on why the Department of Justice decided to appeal the sentence...
"I think the Ninth Circuit is going to knock that appeal down quicker that you can knock down a stack of cards on your desk," said [Golden Gate University law school dean Peter Keane]...
"The U.S. Attorney got its marching orders from Washington, as a matter of course," he said. "(Attorney General John) Ashcroft is very idealistic on the subject of marijuana and medical marijuana and wants the U.S. Attorney to emphasize the fact that they don't like it..."
"They should be happy with what they got," [Rosenthal] said. "Right now, I'm a felon and by the time I'm done with this, not only will I be exonerated, the courts will find that these laws should be thrown out."
(Via TalkLeft)
Posted to WarOnDrugs at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)
"Dear cost of `cheap' labor for state"
Dan Stein of FAIR has an editorial in the Mercury News:
...The most recent effort to assess the cost of immigration in California was made by the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, which estimated that costs associated with immigration added approximately $1,300 a year to the tax liability of the typical California household. At the time these estimates were made, the state had fewer immigrants, and the economy was reaching the zenith of the high-tech boom.
Most recently, Los Angeles County, which is experiencing a full-blown health care crisis, estimated that caring for uninsured illegal aliens now costs $350 million a year. The state health budget is projected to encounter $3 billion in unreimbursed health care costs for illegal immigrants over the next five years...
Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
Yes, but did he tag the highpoint?
Insty is back from the Cayman Islands, with scuba diving pictures. According to this page, there are three Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman), and the highest point is on Cayman Brac at a whopping 140' (one hundred and fourty feet) above sea level. This page says: "Rock climbing enthusiasts have touted the bluff as a great platform for sheer vertical cliff climbing." In fact, here are several articles about it. Hiking to the highest point doesn't seem to be too difficult. And, here's a recount of a 1938 biological expedition there.
Posted to Bloggage at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)
What the heck is a blog?
For those of you who have never heard of a "blog" before, I'll try to offer the following explanation. This explanation will be very simplified, which I'll correct at the end.
First of all, a blog is a specific type of a website. A blog allows the blog's owner to act as a bit of a non-professional journalist or pundit. The blog's author ("blogger" for short) posts observations about daily events in the hope that his or her observations find a wider audience and influence the way people think.
Let me give an example.
Let's say you're reading the New York Times one day, and you notice an article about snail darters (a type of endangered fish that was in the news 20-some years back.) And, let's say you're up on all things snail darter. You notice that nearly everything about the New York Times article is wrong: the reporter misunderstood the snail darter habitat, the reporter only interviewed scientists with one set of snail darter views, the reporter misrepresented the views of the scientists who hold opposing views, etc., etc.
Some people would just read this article and move on. Others would read the article, get angry, and make dispelling the NYT's misrepresentations their life's work. Let's say you're in the latter group.
To complicate matters, let's further say that it's 1979. What can you do? Perhaps you can write a letter to the editor, but there's no guarantee they'll print it, and it probably wouldn't change much anyway. Perhaps you could form a group of people who would raise money in order to print up brochures presenting the facts about snail darters. Other than those two things, about the only thing you can do is become a pamphleteer: print, xerox, or (yes) even mimeograph a small flyer presenting your point of view and pass it out. You certainly don't own a newspaper printing press or a TV station, so writing letters, forming groups, or pamphleteering are about all the options you have.
But, what if it's the 1980s? Well, the above applies, with the possible addition of public access cable TV which no one watches.
Now, in the 1990s, we had the growth of the Internet, complete with millions of Internet users. Instead of the difficult and expensive routes described above, now you can put up a web page presenting your view of snail darters, for all to read.
So, blogs are like that.
An additional feature that separates blogs from non-blog websites is that blogs are almost always arranged in a chronological fashion. As you can see by scrolling down this page, there are dates listed between the current date and the latter dates of June. For instance, everything south of "July 02, 2003" was written on that date; everything south of "July 01, 2003" was written on that date, etc. On the second of this month, I wrote two entries (called "posts:") "Today's Hillary-related news" and "Are L.A. Times reporters incompetent?"
In that way, blogs are similar to TV pundit shows. For instance, each day Bill O'Reilly appears on TV sets throughout the land to present his view of the events of the day. Unlike O'Reilly, however, I can post 100 entries in one day, and then not post anything for the next week. Just because the entries are in chronological order doesn't mean I'm compelled, like O'Reilly, to come up with something interesting each day.
As I said above, this is a simplified explanation. Not all blogs cover political or news matters. Some blogs are simply personal journals, in which the blogger describes what happened to them that day, or their views on general matters. Maybe they'll write about the occasional news event, but it's usually more of a personal journal. Other blogs are simply concerned with technical and computer matters, for instance, they might offer discussion of new computers or software, etc. etc. There are many blogs that cover other topics as well.
Now that you understand the fundamentals, how about checking out some blogs? Click this link for a list of blogs from the most popular to the least popular. It certainly doesn't include all blogs, but the first 20 or so are definitely the most popular blogs around. Check it out, but make sure to come back...
Now, you might be asking, is there some kind of licensure I need in order to start a blog, or do I need to pay someone money?
No, not at all. There's even a homeless guy who has a blog. He writes his entries on a library computer, and his blog is hosted for free.
So, how do you get your very own free blog? The easiest way is to go to blogspot.com Simply choose a name for your new blog, type its name into the box, fill out the resulting form, and you're on your way. When you want to comment on something, log onto your account using the instructions provided, type your text into the box, press the button, and, hey presto!, you're self-published.
Now, the problem comes in how to get people to visit your blog to read your pearls of wisdom. Others have written articles discussing that, but, for now, just concentrate on putting up a week's worth of entries to get the hang of things.
You also might be asking, isn't this just a self-indulgent waste of time? Well, I actually thought the same thing too, and sometimes I still think that. (You'll notice in the previous sentence that I included a link to something that I'd written before. We bloggers insert links like crazy. Why just reference something, when you can also provide a link to more information or the original source?)
As I said, sometimes I think I'm wasting my time. However, I think that to a certain extent I'm able to at least make people somewhat more aware of different aspects of a news story, and to have somewhat of an effect. The basic idea I and others hope to achieve is that our ideas will percolate upwards to a wider audience.
For instance, at the same time as the L.A. Times and other newspapers were presenting a rather benign view of the anti-war protesters, I was out there taking pictures of their swastikas, Nazi tableaus, little-red-book stands, etc., etc. I posted my pictures and reports, other bloggers linked to them, and pretty soon tens of thousands of people knew that the LAT, the NYT and others were presenting a sanitized version of these protests. For a while, bloggers going out and taking pictures of anti-war protests was the rage. This percolated upwards to the "real" media. It wasn't long before Janeane Garofalo was being asked on national TV about a picture of a particulary disturbing anti-war sign.
Now, of course, I didn't write everything above just because I'm a nice blogger. No, one of the goals of the foregoing is to get links from other bloggers. You see, when someone links to me, it brings me hits, which, in TV terms, is like having someone switch the channel to my station. Hopefully, if a blogger wants to point to an introductory article on blogging, they'll link to this post, and those who read this post will read the rest of my blog and perhaps consider linking to my other posts as well. They should also click on the Amazon link at the start of the page and buy a few books.
Posted to Bloggage at 10:11 PM | Comments (3)
"Lightning Strikes Preacher Who Asked For Sign"
From this:
FOREST, Ohio -- Damage to a church in Forest, Ohio, is estimated at $20,000 after a preacher asked God for a sign.
A member of the First Baptist Church said a guest evangelist was preaching repentance and seeking a sign from God when lightning struck the steeple...
Cheney said the lightning traveled through the microphone, blew out the sound system and enveloped the preacher, who wasn't hurt.
(Since no one was hurt, I'm not making this today's "Are you a sick, horrible person?" entry.)
Posted to WackyHumor at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
John Allen Muhammad tries to block Moose's book
TalkLeft links to "Sniper suspect's lawyers try to postpone publication of police chief's book":
In a request filed in federal court, attorney Thomas Mann said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose has ''strategically planned the launch of his book just prior to Muhammad's trial in an attempt to obtain as much money as possible from the results of his official investigation.''
I don't know whether past attempts to ban books about on-going trials have been successful or not, but I think I can predict Mrs. Moose's reaction based on past events:
Instead of following the law, he and his big-mouthed wife, an image consultant and CEO of Chief Moose Inc., have hurled reckless charges of racism at county employees. Mrs. Moose whined to the panel that the couple resented having to answer to "a fully white group to give him permission to make some money." She likened her spouse to Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela as a civil-rights trailblazer who "stood for principle."
Click the category link directly below for more Beltway Sniper coverage.
If you want to buy Moose's book ("Three Weeks in October"), click here.
Posted to Sniper at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)
'Since We Stole It, Let Them Steal It Back'
I linked to the article "California's Racial Iceberg" in the last post, but I think it deserves its own post:...This piece examines what several very powerful California politicians have revealed in their own words, perhaps divulging where ultimate loyalties reside, using words many would consider incendiary and racist. If one definition of loyalty is "faithful in allegiance to one's lawful government," then we may have some real problems on our hands...
On June 17, I watched an incredible exchange during the legislative hearing over the Matricula Consular card (SB522) introduced by Manny Diaz, D-San Jose. The bill would require every state public officer or employee to accept, for identification purposes, the card as equivalent to a California driver's license or ID card issued by the DMV...
Yeh Ling-Ling, the executive director of the Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America (DASA), stated:
"... [Mexico and/or Mexican-American politicians] said publicly that they are going to use immigration to control the Southwest, retake the Southwest, and eventually, take over the entire U.S...."
Interruption by State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose: "Since we stole it from them, why do you say it's unfair to steal it back from us?"
Yeh Ling-Ling: "I'm sorry?"
Vasconcellos: "We stole it from them in the first place."
Yeh Ling-Ling: "Exactly what do you want to have happen?"
Vasconcellos: "I found your testimony (shaking his head, putting his glasses down) - I don't want to debate you."
Yeh Ling-Ling: (with a questioning look) "Exactly?"
Vasconcellos: "I don't want to debate you. I've listened to what you've had to say, period."
Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)
"Let Their People Come"
VodkaPundit and HereticalIdeas link to a WSJ editorial about immigration, "Let Their People Come."
The article, as one might suspect, supports immigration. However, no details are given as to whether that includes legal immigration or illegal immigration, what types and levels thereof, etc. The entire editorial could be replaced with the simple statement "immigration good," and Brendan Miniter could have saved himself and his readers a few minutes.
About the only actual content in the editorial is when he misrepresents Michelle Malkin's various writings about immigration into a strawman platitude: "Of course, these arguments have some merit; America needs to be vigilant about keeping terrorists out."
As I suggested in comments sent to the WSJ, perhaps for his next editorial he could includes actual facts and proposals. For instance, what does the WSJ think of SB60, the bill proposed by CA state Senator Gil Cedillo that would give driver's licenses to illegal aliens? Since one of the reasons given by Cedillo is that "they were here first," perhaps the WSJ could address whether that's historically accurate (hint: it isn't) and whether it's a patently anti-American sentiment. And, perhaps they could address the various consequences of this bill. Nothing like a few details, right?
I'll also note that the reader comments to this article provide much more detail than the editorial and are almost all in favor of some form of immigration reform. Those are what you should read, not the editorial.
Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
Today's Hillary-related news
Hillary Clinton will be signing her book at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver on July 26. Perhaps some plucky blogger could cover it.
In other news, "Making Hillary Clinton Uncomfortable in Marin" is a report from a Hillary book signing in one of the epicenters of wacky liberaldom. There are no pictures, but the author actually spoke with the great lady herself.
And, P.J. O'Rourke offers a review of her opus here.
(My report on Hillary's Pasadena appearance is here, including a link to my pics and a report from the LAT.)
Posted to Politics at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
Are L.A. Times reporters incompetent?
Here's a letter to the L.A. Times:
VIA EMAIL AND BLOG
To: John.Carroll@latimes.com
Jim.Newton@latimes.com
David.Lauter@latimes.com
Jamie.Gold@latimes.com
Subject: Illegal aliens can't serve in the U.S. military
In two recent pro-illegal-immigration articles, two different elected representatives have erroneously stated or implied that illegal aliens can serve in the U.S. military. That is completely false.While non-citizens do serve in the military, only legal residents are allowed to serve, not illegal aliens.
Since I know this, and your reporters or at least editors should know this, and since a fair proportion of your readership should know this, I wonder why you would fail to point it out that these politicians are in error.
Of course, it's never too late to print a correction, right? Please let me know when you plan to do that.
1. From "Senate Backs 'Freedom Ride' Planned to Improve Immigrant Workers' Status"
"State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) said it is time to recognize immigrants' contributions to this country, particularly after the military sent more than 30,000 noncitizens to Iraq." (Considering the article is about illegal aliens, some will naturally assume that when he says "non-citizens" he means "illegal aliens.")2. From "Panel OKs Driver's License Bill"
"Cedillo said he also found it to be the height of irony that illegal immigrants who served in the U.S. armed forces could legally operate military fighting vehicles in the war with Iraq, "but they can't drive a car in California."
I'll have more to say on SB60, the bill to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens, later.
For now, please consider contacting the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee members, as described here. Even if you don't live in CA, do it.
I'll provide an update if the LAT replies or prints a correction. Of course, since the false or misleading statements came not from the LAT, they can't really print a correction. However, they should have called them on their statements, and hopefully these reporters and editors will pay attention next time. That's assuming that these were just honest mistakes on the LAT's part.
Posted to Immigration2003 at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
Sometimes laughing at a crazy person only makes matters worse
Diane Ravitch, author of the book The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn, has an article in the WSJ giving some examples of those wacky multi-culti cultists at work, and offering a solution:
A freelance writer sent me the "bias guidelines" for a major publisher of texts and tests. The "bias guidelines" consist of advice to writers and editors about words and topics that must be avoided, as well as specifications for illustrations. Like other publishers, this one requires adherence to gender and ethnic balance. All lessons, test questions, and illustrations must reflect the following ratios: 50-50 male-female; 45% Caucasian; 25% African American; 22% Hispanic American; 5% Asian American; 5% American Indian and others; and 3% "persons with disabilities." These figures do not total 100%, nor do they represent actual U.S. Census numbers, but the principle of representation is well understood by writers and editors. American society, as represented in the textbooks, is perfectly integrated by race, ethnicity, gender, age, and disability...
The specifications for photographs, I have learned, are exquisitely detailed. Men and boys must not be larger than women and girls. Asians must not appear as shorter than non-Asians. Women must wear bras, and men must not have noticeable bulges below the waist. People must wear shoes and socks, never showing bare feet or the soles of shoes, and their shoelaces must be solid black, brown, or white. People must never gesture with their fingers, nor should anyone be depicted eating with the left hand. Things to avoid: holiday decorations and scenes in which a church or a bar appears in the background...
And of one thing I am convinced: The widespread censorship of language and ideas in education caused by the demands of advocacy groups will not end unless it is regularly exposed to public review and ridicule. The next time someone in a publishing office or a state education agency suggests deleting a literary passage from a test or textbook because it contains the word "anchorman" or shows a witch flying around on a broomstick, perhaps someone in the room will say, "Wait, if we do that, people will laugh at us."
I and many others have been laughing at these assholes for years, and it hasn't done a bit of good. Like Pod People, they just keep coming and coming and self-replicating.
While millions of people joining to ridicule them would be fairly effective, the PC assholes would just circle their wagons, and their supporters would rise to their defense. Even if one set of assholes were no longer able to spew for fear of being ridiculed, another set would spring up to replace it.
Ridicule is a big step in the right direction, but it isn't enough.
The entire multi-culti cult must be completely extirpated and its fields salted. Their movement must be completely and utterly discredited. They must be declared to be delusional and treated like crazy people. Anyone who continues to support them must be marginalized and compared with them.
And, their funding must be cut. A reduction in PC university courses and programs. Schoolbooks similar to those mentioned above must be boycotted. Other economic measures must be taken to ensure that this is a most unprofitable movement. If that means giving these mental midgets make-work jobs where they can't do any harm, consider the alternative.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)
"Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood's Stars and Their Outrageous Politics"
I haven't read this book, but it looks interesting:
In Tales from the Left Coast, author and political commentator James Hirsen digs deep into the liberal underbelly of Hollywood to reveal how biased politics have corrupted the entire entertainment industry. Through extensive research and scores of interviews, Hirsen uncovers some of the most ridiculous, infuriating, and damning political stunts pulled by celebrities of yesterday and today, and he traces the tangled web of influence the Hollywood elite have over politicians in Washington, D.C.
Just be aware that, like many people, he fails to correctly parse some of Janeane Garofalo's sarcastic statements.
Posted to Celebrities at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
Lonewacko assignment desk
- I'm going to try calling supermarche managers asking them a) are there recall petitioners outside your store, and b) have you received complaints about them from "members of the general public."
- I'm working on getting an interview with an anonymous Fry's Electronics employee to answer allegations made by various anti-Fry's sites. This didn't just come out of nowhere.
Posted to Bloggage at 11:49 AM | Comments (1)
Salon moves into Hayward "residency hotel," "regroups"
OK, the headline isn't 100% accurate, but it's getting closer by the day:
[San Francisco-based salon.com] struck a deal with its landlord late last week that will reduce its monthly rent from $70,000 to $21,000, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As part of the deal, Salon will forfeit a $400,000 deposit and rent just one floor of the office, instead of the two floors covered in its previous lease.
Hint to Salon: move across the Bay or to San Jose. That's assuming you even need an office in the first place. Have you considered a PMB and voice mail?
Posted to Politics at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
