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"Hyde Bill Seeks to Curb Illegal Alien Voting Fraud"

This is good news and hopefully it won't get shot down by those corrupt, anti-American politicians who hope to profit from illegal alien voters:

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) has introduced a bill into the U.S. House of Representatives that would help curb voting fraud by requiring voters to provide photo identification when voting in federal elections.

"The Federal Election Integrity Act of 2004," or H.R. 4530, would specifically amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the Motor Voter law, to require any individual who desires to register or re-register to vote in an election for federal office to provide the state election official with proof of citizenship to prevent illegal aliens from voting in federal elections...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:08 PM | Comments (3)

"Authorities find 28 illegal immigrants at small hotel in South LA"

Another few weeks, another drop house busted. However, the important things in the AP report are the following:

Police investigating a report of a kidnapping found 28 suspected illegal Mexican immigrants who had been held by smugglers at a small hotel...

A crowd of mostly Hispanics gathered at two corners near the motel, holding large Mexican flags and chanting, "Let them go!"

At one point the crowd of about 30 people blocked the street as three large vans pulled up to take away the immigrants. One person threw a rock at police and struck a squad car. About a dozen officers lined up shoulder to shoulder and cleared the street as the vans departed...

An official from the Mexican Consulate office spoke to some of the immigrants to advise them of their rights to an attorney before they were taken away.

Louis Carrillo, a consulting attorney with the Mexican consulate, said it was the third time in recent months that he had seen Los Angeles police working in tandem with federal immigration authorities.

"That should not be permitted in Los Angeles," he said. "The police department assistance is counterproductive because it can lead illegal immigrants to fear reporting crimes."

This situation is only going to get worse. With enough "immigration" (in English: massive illegal immigration) it will soon be very difficult for even federal agents to bust a drop house. At that point, the "immigration" problem will spiral out of control. If we don't get a handle on it now while we still can, it might be too late.

The way to do that is to make it absolutely clear to your elected representatives that they either vote to stop massive illegal immigration or they won't get your vote. That goes for Bush and any other Republican too.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:00 PM | Comments (1)

Yes, please Cecilia, do take a deep breath

John Kerry is not completely insane. At least in the political sense:

Democrat John Kerry said he opposes state laws that give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, a position that puts him at odds with the Hispanic activists he is courting in the presidential race.

Immigrant advocates have been pushing for the laws, saying they help undocumented workers get around safely. Licensed drivers know the rules of the road and can buy insurance, making streets safer for everyone, they say.

Shortly after Kerry told the National Council of La Raza on Tuesday that he would make immigration reform a top priority to ease the path to citizenship for working immigrants, he took a tougher stance on the issue of driver's licenses in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo.

"I think that driver's licenses are part of the legality of being here and if you've been here a period of time we may work something out as part of that immigration process, but I wouldn't give somebody who is automatically one year in here illegally all the rights and privileges of being here legally," Kerry said in the interview.

"I think that's wrong. That defeats the purposes of the law," he said.

Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, said Wednesday that Kerry's comments "somewhat undercut" his well-received speech before her organization.

"Let me take a deep breath here," Munoz said after hearing about Kerry's comments, then paused before continuing. "I guess what's frustrating is that Sen. Kerry was just at our conference making terrific proposals that would benefit the immigrant community. ... This stand is going to be much less well received."

Munoz said driver's licenses have nothing to do with granting legal status or protecting against terrorism, as other opponents of the laws have suggested...

Guess what? She's wrong, and probably lying.

Details of Kerry's plan to grant a general amnesty here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:09 PM | Comments (2)

The First Rule of the liberal media is: There is no such thing as the liberal media. Part 4,391,338

The Arizona Republic - always an unbiased source with a completely non-liberal slant - headlines their story about Kerry's threat to declare a general amnesty for illegal aliens as "Kerry vows action for migrants".

The "action" in question is an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, not "migrants." Could their agenda be any more transparent?

Here are some helpful emails. Please, as always, be as polite as humanly possible:

Ward.Bushee@arizonarepublic.com
Randy.Lovely@arizonarepublic.com
jleach@azcentral.com
llevitt@azcentral.com
jeff.dozbaba@arizonarepublic.com

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)

"Undocumented immigrants [sic] may get help for college"

From the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

College shouldn't be difficult for Joaquin, who mastered Advanced Placement classes in a language he learned only four years ago and recently graduated 12th in his high school class.

But paying for it will be. The 19-year-old is an undocumented immigrant. He doesn't qualify for federal financial aid, which makes up 90 percent of the average Texas college student's aid package...

Congress is considering the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which would make some undocumented immigrant students eligible for federal loans, but not grants. The bill would make students who immigrated here five or more years ago at the age of 15 or younger eligible for legal status and federal loans...

In January 2000, he trekked 26 hours across a desert from Mexico with about 50 others to join his father, who was living in North Texas and performing odd jobs. His mother and sister came separately. The family said they paid a smuggler $1,800 each to get them across the border...

Here's a draft of the letter I'm sending to Rex Seline, Managing Editor/News (817-390-7729 rseline@star-telegram.com). Please send your own version.

I've seen several "news reports" very similar to this advocacy piece in other publications. They invariably feature one or two bright illegal aliens who are presented in the most sympathetic light possible. All of the upsides of the DREAM Act are presented, with few of the downsides. If you did a search, you might be surprised. It's almost as if they were all following the same template.

In any case, I'd like to suggest that you break new ground and cover the DREAM Act from a different perspective.

In a future article, could you cover someone who would be negatively impacted by the DREAM Act?

There are only a finite number of colleges, and only a finite amount of money available for discounted college educations. Joaquin (from the "news report") will be in competition with U.S. citizens for those finite discounted college educations.

What that means is there's a good chance that Joaquin will get a discounted college education, and a U.S. citizen will not. For instance, let's assume that there are just 1000 discounted college educations available, that there are 1001 applicants, and that 1000 of of those applicants are U.S. citizens but the 1001st is Joaquin. If Joaquin gets a discounted college education, that means that one of those 1000 U.S. citizens will not.

In other words, there's a good chance that Joaquin - an illegal alien and a citizen of Mexico - will take a discounted college education away from a United States citizen.

Perhaps you could find a citizen who might lose out to an illegal alien and do a sympathetic portrait/advocacy piece on them.

Also, you might want to ask why a) Joaquin can't go to Mexico for a college education, and b) why Mexico apparently is unable to offer him one.

I'll give you credit for including a dissenting voice in the "news report." In a future article perhaps you'll go into more depth on the effect if the DREAM Act passes. Won't that encourage even more illegal aliens to come here with their children to take advantage of the DREAM Act or a similar bill? And, as time goes on, won't those new illegal immigrants take even more discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens?

Also, please give a quick look to this older article: "Eighty-six percent of those surveyed for the Scripps Howard Texas Poll released Saturday said illegal immigration is a very serious or somewhat serious problem..."

I look forward to your next article on this topic.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)

I'm completely dry

I've stared and stared at this picture, and I just can't come up with one of my usual extremely funny captions. I mean, it is a funny picture, but I just can't come up with anything.

Something about teenagers? "Liberals?" Earth-firsters? A Kerry "family SUV" thing? I'm sorry, I'm just out of material.

Posted to WackyHumor at 09:25 AM | Comments (1)

"Mexican Official Wants Border Eliminated"

From this:

A new man is in charge of border relations for Mexico and he has some radical ideas for change at the border with the United States.

Arturo Gonzalez Cruz, a 52-year-old Tijuana businessman, says many improvements are needed at the border to benefit trade, including creating more lanes and adding border crossings. Ultimately, Cruz says flat out, he wants to see the border disappear...

In his first hundred days as President, Kerry (see the previous post) would help make Cruz' dream a reality. I say we make sure that neither of them get what they want.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

In his first hundred days, John Kerry would destroy the United States

This news release from Kerry's campaign explains how:

The Kerry Campaign today released the following fact sheet on immigration reform:

Today at the National Council of La Raza's annual conference, John Kerry will continue to talk about his plans to open the doors of opportunity and expand access to the American Dream, including reforming America's immigration laws...

He will offer a reform bill in his first 100 days that allows immigrants to earn legalization, encourages family reunification, and strengthens our border protections...

As President, John Kerry will make it a priority to make the DREAM Act the law of the land...

As President, John Kerry will make [the AgJobs amnesty bill] a reality...

In his first hundred days, John Kerry will also offer a comprehensive immigration reform bill with four basic components. And Kerry will work tirelessly until reform has become law.

Earned Legalization. Under John Kerry's approach, undocumented workers who have lived and worked here for 5 years, who pay taxes, and who are successfully screened for security purposes will have a path to citizenship. Kerry will also expand opportunities to learn English and obtain civic education classes to help immigrants assume all of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Reuniting Families. Kerry will eliminate the massive administrative backlog and delay that has left many families unnecessarily divided for a decade or more. Our Nation's immigration system must be able to more quickly reunite husbands with wives, parents with children. Legal permanent residents seeking to reunify with spouses and children must be provided a fair and efficient process to do so.

Visa Program with Worker Protections. Kerry will establish a secure channel for a limited number of temporary workers to come into the United States. To protect all working people in the United States, Kerry will ensure that these temporary workers have the protections of U.S. employment and labor laws, including fair wage protections. These protections must be rigorously enforced.

Stronger Border Security. As an integral part of his reform, John Kerry will reach an accord with neighboring countries to improve security along our borders and stop illegal smuggling. He will improve our nation's security databases and watchlists and better control the borders to ensure that people who intend to harm us cannot cross our borders.

The AgJobs amnesty will, like all other amnesties, reward illegal behavior and encourage millions more illegal aliens to come here. Kerry's broader amnesty would have an even worse effect.

The DREAM Act would take discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens and give them to citizens of other countries.

Any lip service Kerry pays to future enforcement of immigration laws should be considered through the lens of history. For instance, the 1986 amnesty was supposed to be conditioned on stringent enforcement. However, those enforcement provisions were gutted by Teddy Kennedy. How are we going to ensure that Kerry's enforcement provisions aren't gutted by his friends on the far left?

Any weakness in our immigration policy - and that's exactly what Kerry's position is - will embolden our "friends" south of the border. If we can't stand up to corrupt third-world governments now, we certainly would not be able to under Kerry's plans.

This report has an excerpt from Kerry's speech:

"It is time to fulfill the promise of America, so that those who work hard and take responsibility and build a better life for them and their families, and live by the rules [*], and pay their taxes and raise their families have a right to share in America and its citizenship in the fullest," the Democratic candidate for president said...

* Except for that minor bit about a) entering or residing here illegally, b) no doubt working here illegally, and c) no doubt using false and thus illegal documents here. Just a few minor points. Oh, and remember to register to vote when you get your driver's license.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:18 PM | Comments (2)

Ex-wives, sons of Mobuto Sese-Seko detained

News from Africa: several ex-wives and sons of Mobuto Sese-Seko have been detained. Others detained include former high-ranking oil ministry officials, U.N. officials, and former clerks, executives, and board members of African banks. Former top officials of the Federal Government Contract Review Panel have also been detained, as well as several non-Africans who were employed by various banks around the world.

African officials will charge the suspects as soon as they have obtained the 5% document transfer fees.

Posted to WackyHumor at 10:24 PM | Comments (2)

What year is this again?

Several readers have emailed me this story:

San Francisco voters will have more than one chance to express their views on the U.S.-led war in Iraq this presidential election year after four local officials submitted a ballot measure Tuesday calling on the federal government to end the conflict...

Heh? I mean, huh? At first I thought this article might be from last year, but it's from today.

Indeedily.

Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

Just 30 people set federal policy

Imagine, if you will, a group of thirty people. Five groups of six people each will do. Keep that image in your mind:

With agents clad in dark riot gear looking on, about 30 activists gathered outsidethe Border Patrol station in Temecula on Monday to protest recent immigration sweeps in Southern California.

Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. citizens have phoned and emailed the DHS and other agencies in support of the sweeps. Yet, somehow, the illegal-alien-supporters win out. Odd, no?

Perhaps it's because those in Washington are afraid being called names:

"We're organized and we're ready to fight this Gestapo-style movement," said Joe Mota, who represented the United Farm Workers at the demonstration.

(BTW, BugMeNot.com is a great resource)

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:47 PM | Comments (1)

No "Chuck E. Charges" were filed

"Angry Mom Flings Pizza At Chuck E. Cheese Character":

A teenager dressed as Chuck E. Cheese was pelted with pizza and threatened with a beating Sunday by an angry parent who said the restaurant mascot wasn't paying enough attention to her child.

Macon police reported that a 17-year-old girl was in costume as the pizzeria chain character -- a gray cartoonlike rodent with large front teeth. That's when the 31-year-old Macon woman threw a piece of pizza at her...

Eh.

Posted to WackyHumor at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)

"To catch a Michael Moore, you have to bait the trap."

Indeed.

Posted to WackyHumor at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)

Koch on Moore

Ed Koch says "Moore's Film Is Shocking Propaganda":

It is shocking to me that Americans in a time of war, and we literally are at war with Americans being deliberately killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere by Islamic terrorists, will attack their own country, sapping its strength and making its enemies stronger.

I am not a supporter of the xenophobic slogan “My country right or wrong.”

But I do believe, when seeking to make it right if it is wrong, that none of us should endanger the country, our military personnel or our fellow citizens.

Disagreeing with America’s foreign policy and seeking to change it, responsibly or irresponsibly, is a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment. Shaming those who do it irresponsibly is our only lawful recourse and rightly so.

Senator John Kerry in criticizing United States’ foreign policy and the incumbent president is acting responsibly, albeit I disagree with many of his views.

On the other hand, Michael Moore, writer and director of the film “Fahrenheit 9/11,” crosses that line regularly. The line is not set forth in the criminal statutes, but it is determined by Americans who know instinctively what actions and statements taken and uttered violate the obligations of responsibility and citizenship they deem applicable in time of war...

Go read the whole thing.

Posted to Politics at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

Like imitates Lileks

Yesterday I pointed to yet another tasty Bleat:

“Why should the government have given you the money in the first place?”

“They didn’t give it to me. They just took less of my money.”

That was the last straw. Now she was angry. And the truth came out:

“Well, why is it your money? I think it should be their money.”

Then she left.

Compare Hillary Clinton yesterday in San Fran:

"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you," Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

Heh.

UPDATE: Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds weighs in.

ANOTHER UPDATE: If you haven't read XRLQ today, you should. Start here and keep scrolling back all the way.

Posted to Politics at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)

"50 Congressional Members Call on Border Undersecretary to Stay Course on Legal Raids"

From Congressman Tom Tancredo's site:

Congressman Tom Tancredo (CO-06) today along with 49 Congressmen applauded Border Patrol enforcement in California and urged Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson to resist pressure to halt arrests in the southern California by Democrat members of congress.

Fifty Members of Congress including House Majority Leader Tom Delay, Chairman of Homeland Security Appropriations Harold Rogers, Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner and California Representatives Richard Pombo, Dana Rohrabacher and Darrel Issa have praised the U.S. Border Patrol for its new enforcement actions in southern California. In a joint letter on Friday, the lawmakers asked Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson to "resist outside pressure to curtail it..."

Unfortunately, Hutchinson - or someone above him - has caved.

If you agree with Tancredo, here are some contacts:

Gloria Chavez Public Information Office U.S. Customs and Border Protection 202-927-1422 gloria.chavez@cbp.gov

Asa Hutchinson
Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security
202-282-8010
asa.hutchinson@dhs.gov

Robert Bonner
Commissioner
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
homeland@mail.house.gov
robert.bonner@dhs.gov

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:23 PM | Comments (1)

Anyone would look foolish in the same position

When I saw her in person I thought she was only worth $500 million or so. If I'd known she was a billionaire I would have hit her up for a loan.

Posted to Politics at 06:40 PM | Comments (0)

What if Barbara Boxer was your helpful Nanny?

She'd give you helpful, handy tips on how to conserve gas.

Posted to Politics at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

I too am looking for the "World's Highest Arches"

This request for models has nothing to do with this KOTH episode.

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

The Lonewacko Blog is not here for your amusement

A former reader writes in the comments here:

"...the reason your blog has a low readership and attracts few comments is that your work isn't very engaging...

...After a couple of years of living in blog-land, and giving my best effort to be a supporter, I'm not sure I can take the noise-to-signal ratio anymore. Your blog is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. There's no need for me or anybody else to waste our time here..."

It's unfortunate that you did not find this blog "engaging." However, I believe you don't understand the point of this here blog.

Initially, this blog made fun of blogging and other bloggers. Then, I started adding political content. There's still some meta-discussion and some wacky humor, but The Lonewacko Blog is now mostly politically- or news-oriented.

The fact remains that The Lonewacko Blog covers subjects that not only the mainstream media but the mainstream bloggers are afraid to discuss.

The Lonewacko Blog should be viewed as an information, research, and link source and not as entertainment.

Thank you.

Posted to Bloggage at 10:27 AM | Comments (1)

"Who is in charge of American immigration policy?"

Allan Wall wants to know:

The Mexican government is engaged in a deliberate strategy to influence American immigration policy, increase the population of Mexicans in the United States, slow their assimilation and retain their loyalty to Mexico. This is no secret conspiracy -- Mexican leaders speak openly of it. It is already bearing fruit. If allowed to continue, the inevitable outcome will be effective control of U.S. immigration policy by a foreign power.

Mexico's elite see the United States as a safety valve, where a part of Mexico's population can be exported, to relieve pressure on Mexico's troubled economy. This in turn reduces incentive for real economic reform. Why fix the problems when it's easier to export Mexicans?

The Mexican government works to hinder assimilation of Mexicans in the United States and to retain their loyalty. The goal is to gain control over U.S. immigration policy. And the strategy is working. Notice how U.S. immigration is no longer considered an internal U.S. matter but rather a bilateral issue to be negotiated between the United States and Mexico. Mexican immigration policy, stricter than our own, is off limits from such negotiation, of course.

Some influential Mexicans go even further, speaking openly in terms of a reconquista -- a reconquest of the U.S. Southwest, briefly a part of Mexico in the 19th century...

A great deal of supporting information for the above can be found in the Immigration category.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

"Wall Street Journal Misses the Mark on Immigration Debate"

Bobby Eberle of gopusa.com discusses the most recent WSJ smear attempt:

...How can conservatives such as myself stand up and discuss immigration reform in the context of border security when the Wall Street Journal is labeling us as "anti-immigrant?" Not once in the Journal's editorial was the topic of border security mentioned. Not once did the editorial mention that many conservatives rightfully believe that rewarding illegal behavior only encourages more illegal behavior. Shortly after President Bush's announcement of his guest worker program, illegal immigration shot up "dramatically" according to the National Border Patrol Council. However, if conservatives step forward and discuss this in a logical manner, the name-calling starts and the shouts of "I can't hear you" begin.

Publications such as the Wall Street Journal should recognize that the immigration issue is more than just an economic issue of cheap labor. They should also realize that a great many Americans, including myself, are deeply concerned about the security of our country, and we realize that an important battle in the war on terror is making sure our homeland is secure. We are taking the fight to the terrorists, and at the same time, we must make it as difficult as possible for the terrorists to take the fight to us. Squelching debate through hit pieces and name calling does nothing to address the real immigration and security problems facing America. Of all publications, the Wall Street Journal should know better than that.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:17 AM | Comments (1)

The Feds threatened L.A. radio station KFI?

[UPDATE #3 (7/6/04): despite UPDATE #2, this story appears to have been partly confirmed. See the post The White House is complaining about KFI's John & Ken]

[See UPDATE #2, which is rather important.]

The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly threatened to bar KFI reporters from DHS news conferences. KFI, at 640AM in Los Angeles, is one of most listened-to news-talk stations in the country and can be heard throughout Southern California and on the Internet.

The DHS will reportedly deny KFI reporters access unless KFI hosts John & Ken stop their current campaign requesting that their listeners contact the DHS in support of the recent immigration sweeps in Southern California.

Bowing to pressure from a few Congressmen, the DHS has placed these sweeps under review ("Official says SoCal immigration sweeps violated federal policy")

John & Ken do not encourage their listeners to harass the DHS in any way. They have simply been asking their listeners to contact the DHS and let their voices be heard. So far, the DHS has received thousands of emails and phone calls in support of the sweeps.

The right to "petition the government for a redress of grievances" is a fundamental American right enshrined in the First Amendment. John & Ken are simply encouraging the public participation of their listeners. Any government attempt to stifle these attempts is contrary to our most fundamental principles.

Many news organizations might disagree with John & Ken's positions on the sweeps. However, all news organizations should feel threatened when the government attempts to restrict access simply because talk-show hosts upset government agencies by encouraging listeners to pursue their First Amendment rights.

I urge all news organizations to look into this matter and to hold accountable anyone who has been responsible for this threat against our most basic rights.

Addendum:

John & Ken discussed the threat from the DHS at approximately 6:45pm on Friday June 25, 2004. Other listeners have confirmed that they said this.

From John & Ken's web site:

If you want to thanks the San Diego Border Patrol for taking care of business, you can e-mail them at SDC.PIO@DHS.GOV

Contact Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security and tell him that you want the Border Partol to do their job! Call at 202-282-8010 or e-mail him at asa.hutchinson [atsign] dhs.gov. Also, contact Robert Bonner, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection who sent out a memo for the Border Patrol to stop the sweeps at homeland [atsign] mail.house.gov or robert.bonner [atsign] dhs.gov.

Contact your Congressman! Click here, and simply find your Congressman and let them know that if they don�t support the Border Patrol Sweeps, then they WILL NOT get your vote in November!

UPDATE: It should be noted that John & Ken broadcast Monday through Friday from 3pm to 7pm Pacific time. Thus, this threat was discussed at the end of their show. Hopefully they will have more information on Monday.

UPDATE 2: I listened to their show on Monday but I didn't hear anything about this. So, I called KFI...

Unfortunately, they don't know whether the DHS threat was legitimate or not. The person who made the DHS threat called in and did not leave a message or phone number.

And, KFI has contacted Asa Hutchinson's secretary. She says KFI will not be banned and everything's hunky dory between DHS and KFI.

So...

I should have called KFI first and gotten the details. I at least could have included the bit about the call's legitimacy being in doubt in the post.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:01 PM | Comments (7)

"Amnesty for Illegals? Try Again"

The Christian Science Monitor comes out against both Bush's and the Democrat's plans:

The Latino vote has some chance of tipping the presidential election this year. That's why both Democrats and Republicans are dancing around different ideas about amnesty for illegal aliens.

Actually, amnesty isn't a word used too much anymore in the immigration debate. Since the amnesty of 1986, opposition has grown stronger against rewarding those who bust US borders, especially after Sept. 11.

Still, the "almost amnesty" proposals are worth some campaign debate. The issue has been helped along by two recent studies. One, from the Center for Immigration Studies, found the average yearly earnings of US-born men between 1980 and 2000 decreased by an estimated $1,700 as the number of immigrant workers rose. The other study, by the Inter-American Development Bank, calculated that the 16.7 million Latin American-born adults in the US send back more than $30 billion each year to their home countries, while contributing $450 billion to the US economy. One third of those adults are illegal aliens. Such benefits and costs of illegal immigration, however, are secondary to the corrosive effects of such massive lawbreaking.

The debate also has been enlivened by the work of Harvard Prof. Samuel P. Huntington...

Immigration is certainly a worthy issue for campaign debate. But proposals that are simply a backdoor approach to amnesty and designed mainly to woo a small percentage of votes are a stealthy way to a bad solution for a serious problem.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

Life imitates The Lonewacko Blog

On October 03, 2003, in response to the L.A. Times' Arnold hit-pieces, The Lonewacko Blog posted a wonderfully entertaining satire entitled "ARNOLD TRIED TO EAT FLUFFY".

Now, Arnold is trying to kill Fluffy, Rover, Pecky, and all your other favorite pet groups.

Note also that that article is entitled 'Schwarzenegger Wants Strays Killed Faster', it's an AP report, and none of the dozens of news organizations that have printed it have changed the headline.

UPDATE: Arnold has changed his mind.

Posted to California at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

No shame, Part 2

From an opinion piece in the L.A. Daily News:

Yet again Latino immigrants are being scapegoated.

This time the attacks are taking the form of immigrant raids in greater Los Angeles... [the sweeps do] nothing to address the U.S. policies that lead to immigration...

Believe me, it doesn't get better. How the Daily News could agree to print such an inaccurate and inflammatory piece is (almost) beyond me.

They aren't "attacks," they're "illegal aliens" not "immigrants," the law is being enforced and no one is being "scapegoated," and the I guess "greater Los Angeles" depends on how much you want to stretch the truth. They also blame U.S. policies for massive (illegal) immigration. It'd be nice if they distributed the blame to include the corrupt governments who use the U.S. as a safety valve.

There is one grain of truth in their piece. They complain that on the one hand "we" invite illegal aliens here to work, but on the other hand we deport them. We need to focus on workplace enforcement and fining and jailing those who hire illegal aliens. Of course there will still be complaints from the usual suspects, but at least we won't have a schizophrenic enforcement policy.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 03:26 PM | Comments (1)

Pro-illegal immigration advocates seemingly have no shame

They're attempting to not-so-subtly paint Schwarzenegger as a Nazi if he doesn't support Gil Cedillo's legal-driver's-licenses-for-illegal-aliens bill:

...in Tarzana a group of five rabbis from the Valley and one from Hollywood said they support giving licenses to illegal immigrants, but object to the governor's suggestion that such licenses have a mark which identifies the person as an illegal.

"It is inappropriate at best and deeply upsetting at worst," said Rabbi Dan Moscovitz of Temple Judea in Tarzana, reading a letter the rabbis sent to the governor last week.

"It will be used by some persons to treat the undocumented with scorn and ethnic discrimination."

Signers of the letter included Moscovitz, Rabbis Karen Bender and Donald Goor of Temple Judea, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs of Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills, Rabbi Jim Kaufman of Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village and Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood.

Moscovitz cited the Jewish experience in being singled out during the Holocaust and said that, had this bill been proposed 40 years ago, Jews would have become targets of such discrimination.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said the governor is not committed to the idea of the identifying mark, but has looked at it as a possibility.

See also the earlier post 'Gil Cedillo: using a horrible crime for political purposes'.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 03:16 PM | Comments (1)

$35,000 over 5 years to get all the state highpoints? Sounds like a bargain to me.

An article written by a Highpointer appeared earlier this year in the San Antonio Express-News. It's apparently not available online except in this excerpt:

In the annals of mountaineering, standing on top of all 50 state high points ranks right up there with, say, crossing America on a unicycle. It's ambitious, physically and logistically difficult, and more than a bit off the wall. There's even a club for it. When a friend and I began our esoteric pursuit six years ago, 58 people had climbed all 50 state pinnacles. By the time we completed our final high point last July — the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley — the number had nearly doubled. The Highpointers Club (see "Hanging with the Highpointers," page 3M) likes to point out that more people have climbed Mount Everest than made it to the top of all 50 state summits.

While many of the high points are accessible to anyone with a car and the ability to put one foot in front of the other, standing on top of all 50 is surprisingly hard: You need time, money, mountaineering skills and amble motivation. Not to mention a good car stereo.

To accomplish our goal, Nels Akerlund, a 31-year-old photographer who came up with this enormously impractical project, and I drove approximately 12,000 miles and flew about as far again to Alaska and Hawaii. Tallying gas, motels, airfare and food, we spent roughly $30,000 — and 150 days — over the course of five years. Nels took pictures, I took notes, and together we produced a book documenting our journey called "To the Top" (NorthWord Press, $24.95)...

Posted to OutdoorSports at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)

PBS's Hypocrisy Revealed: PBS station opposes day-laborer center

From CEO of DC’s PBS Station Mad About Day Laborers Next to Studio:

Earlier this week [August 1, 2003], Sharon Percy Rockefeller, CEO of WETA, the Washington, DC PBS station really located in Arlington County, Virginia, lashed out at the county board for voting to build a pavilion, to house day laborers waiting for work, next door to WETA’s studios where the PBS NewsHour and Washington Week are taped.

“WETA balks at having day-labor shelter next door,” declared the headline over the July 31 story in the Northern Virginia Journal about WETA’s reaction to the Tuesday night vote by the all-Democratic county Board of Supervisors.

See the previous post about PBS's new Farmingville documentary.

As can be expected, there are two sets of rules. PBS and other elites follow one set, while the rest of us are supposed to watch Farmingville and read its execrable "discussion guide" and follow a different set of rules.

The elites are able to isolate themselves from the negative impacts of their policies that they want to impose on the rest of us.

The solution is to demand accountability on the part of your elected representatives.

The specific solution in PBS's case is to stop donating money to them and encourage your elected representatives to cut their funding.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)

Lies from PBS? Say it ain't so.

PBS's new documentary 'Farmingville' was broadcast on many PBS stations tonight. It covers a Long Island community's reaction to a sudden influx of illegal immigrants.

From PBS's synopsis:

The shocking hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers catapult a small Long Island town into national headlines, unmasking a new front line in the border wars: suburbia. For nearly a year, Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini lived and worked in Farmingville, New York, so they could capture first-hand the stories of residents, day laborers and activists on all sides of the debate.

Lou Dobbs calls it "[o]ne of the most important documentaries in years", but others say it's strongly biased in favor of illegal immigration. FAIR says it "Distorts Views of the Community". And, many of the visitors to PBS's discussion forums say it's biased as well. I have not seen it yet.

However, the documentary comes with its own discussion guide, and that might give us some clues to the documentary's intent. The guide could fairly be described as a pro-illegal immigration brochure. It gives the upsides to massive illegal immigration, and attempts to counter or sidestep the downsides.

Part of the brochure has been repurposed and placed in HTML pages on PBS's Farmingville site in their special features section. Because it forms a core part of their description of the documentary, that would tend to indicate that the views it expresses are endorsed by PBS.

The documentary makers had a web chat, and the transcript is here. The transcript makes clear where they stand as well as their misconceptions. Those misconceptions range from small things like the derivation of the word wop on up. In the web chat, they also attempt to subtly smear those who hold opposing viewpoints as racists.

Dan Stein of FAIR is given a chance to answer a few questions at PBS's site, however they're mostly meaningless questions and PBS does not provide an opposing view of the documentary itself.

There are past reports on the documentary here and here.

It'd be helpful if interested parties could look through at least the materials at PBS's site and point out all the lies and misrepresentations. Then, that hefty compilation could be sent to PBS and the documentary's sponsors. More importantly, the compilation could be sent to Congress with the suggestion that they use it as PBS not serving the community as their charter says they should.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:03 PM | Comments (1)

Local WiFi expert: now a TV star

Local WiFi expert Mike Outmesguine - a fellow member of the Southern California Wireless Users Group - will be featured on Los Angeles TV station KCOP tonight at 11pm. According to the press release:

I will be on TV for about 1 minute tonight (Wednesday) on the Los Angeles local station: UPN 13 News at 11:00.

During the interview, I talked about wireless networking, security woes, and what you can do to protect yourself (my suggestion was to get someone who knows what they are doing to help you - like the teenager next door - or hiring a consultant.) I drove a bit to show how one scans for wireless networks and they filmed that, too all Jim Rockford-style. Also, I spoke about Wi-Fi Toys, which is starting to ship any day now...

I want to know how he's going to get the UPN/KCOP stank out of his clothes.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 07:22 PM | Comments (0)

The Lonewacko Blog is now 98% spam-free!

Surf with confidence, bloggees!

I used to get a few spam comments every once in a while, which I'd remove immediately. However, I've gotten waves of one or two dozen at a time recently, and many spam comments were still on the site. So, something had to be done.

I implemented the "secret input item in form" trick. That worked to some extent, but this one real jerk spammer apparently found out a way around it either manually or programmatically. That's the guy or group who posts links to sites which look like personal sites, but which are actually link whores for casino sites and spyware/dialers.

So, onto the changes.

I was using the Berkeley DB with MoveableType.

I changed it to use MySQL. The change was easy and is covered in MT's help files. MT includes a migration script.

Then, I was able to use MySQL's client, because I'm familiar with it. I did a 'select distinct comment_url from mt_comment' to get a list of all of the distinct URLs people have left in their comments. Then, I removed the good URLs from that list.

Then, I wrote a small Java program which moved every comment with a 'bad' URL into a new table, bad_comments.

Then, I wrote another small Java program to print out excerpts from the comments to make sure I hadn't forgotten any. Surprisingly, there were only a couple spammers who hadn't provided spam URLs in their comments, so it seems to have worked.

Except, I deleted a comment from someone who left a link to a site that sells Cuban cigars. However, the comment appears legitimate, so when I get a chance I'll put that back.

I also accidentally did not remove Howard Owens from the list of bad URLs, and one of his comments got moved into the bad table and thus removed from the site.

He's not blogging anymore, so who cares?

I kid.

I'll also add the code that inserts an 'edit this comment' link in the email I receive when someone adds a comment. That should make deleting spam comments easier in the future. Also, MT's mt_comment table has a creation date field, so I will only have to look at comments made after this date.

Posted to Bloggage at 11:43 PM | Comments (0)

Some Citizens get nifty new debit cards

I'm jealous! Here are some of the comments on the new card:

"[The new debit card] gives you a lot more privacy in purchasing merchandise." - Frederick Henry, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla.

"The more money you have in your hand, the more you spend. But with [the new debit card], I budget myself for the month" - Jessette Santiago of New York City

"[I'll take either the debit card or the paper format] as long as I have something to eat" - Phillip Harrison, 67, of Manhattan

Wait, how'd that last one get in there?

Because the new debit cards replace paper food stamps:

...The food stamp program has its roots in the Depression era. It operated as a temporary measure from 1939 to 1943. After 18 years of studies and legislative debate, it was restarted as a pilot program in 1961 and made permanent three years later as part of President Johnson's Great Society.

In signing the law on Aug. 31, 1964, Johnson said the program, "one of our most valuable weapons for the war on poverty," combines humanitarian instincts with the best of the free-enterprise system, improving the diets of low-income people "while strengthening markets for the farmer and immeasurably improving the volume of retail food sales."

And, anyone who's driven through, for instance, South L.A. can see the massive benefits such programs have wrought.

Posted to Politics at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

"Loose Cannon in Utah"

Human Events has an overview of Chris Cannon and today's primary that might send him packing:

Congressman Chris Cannon of Utah apparently is in real danger of losing his seat in Congress, and apparently that’s causing him to employ extreme measures.

Cannon faces serious GOP primary opposition from former state legislator Matt Throckmorton. In the Republican state convention, Throckmorton forced Cannon into a primary election happening today. Throckmorton hammered Cannon’s mass immigration stance, as well as his support for the controversial No Child Left Behind education law.

Throckmorton, a solid conservative who is 100 percent pro-life and for enforcing immigration laws, has found an easy target because of Cannon’s immigration stance (Americans for Better Immigration grade: D)...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 11:00 AM | Comments (1)

"Post-Americans: They've just 'grown' beyond their country."

Mark Krikorian nails the Wall Street Journal's latest desperate smear attempt:

The Wall Street Journal editorial page published another of its periodic eructations on immigration last week. This one was essentially a campaign ad for Utah Congressman Chris Cannon, the administration point-man on immigration in the House of Representatives, who was forced into a primary (being held today) because of his avid support for illegal-alien amnesties...

So why all the ink, why the lead editorial with 25 column-inches of smears, innuendo, and half-truths? (Full disclosure � some of it's about me personally.) Why the belabored efforts to paint pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, anti-tax traditionalist conservatives like congressmen Tom Tancredo and John Hostettler as part of a cabal of ChiCom-loving, baby-killing white supremacists?

Because for post-Americans, there can be no legitimate opposition to their open-borders views. To the degree that Cannon is facing political trouble, it must be because his opponent is "running hard on xenophobia," as the Journal writes, "courtesy of deep-pocketed restrictionists." (Attention any "deep-pocketed restrictionists." Call me!) To concede that supporters of more moderate immigration levels and tighter enforcement might be anything other than racists or "humanity-is-a-virus" leftists would be to acknowledge the legitimacy of a nationalist, as opposed to a post-nationalist, worldview; in other words, to admit that borders have value, rather than being awkward anachronisms that interfere with business...

My discussion of the pro-Cannon smear is here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)

Seven of Nine: pressured for public sex

The horror!

CHICAGO (AP) Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan pressured his wife, actress Jeri Lynn Ryan, to have sex in clubs while others watched, she charged in custody documents related to their divorce that were released Monday...

Avant-Garde

Ryan told the governor nothing about the allegation of visiting sex clubs and pressuring Jeri Ryan to have sex in public, said spokesman Eric Robinson. The version Ryan presented to Edgar was limited to visiting one Paris nightclub that turned out to be so ``avant-garde'' that the couple felt uncomfortable and left, he said...

Surprised

Jeri Lynn Ryan charged during a custody hearing that Ryan took her on surprise trips to New Orleans, New York and Paris in 1998, and that he insisted she go to sex clubs with him on each trip.

Dinner

She said that after going out to dinner with Ryan in New York, he demanded that she go to a club with him.

Sex Apparatus

``It was a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling,'' she said. She said Ryan asked her to perform a sexual act while others watched, and she refused...

Paris

She said they left and Ryan apologized to her and said it was out of his system. But then, she said, he took her to Paris and again took her to a sex club...

Solemn Vows

``We did go to one avant-garde nightclub in Paris which was more than either one of us felt comfortable with. We left and vowed never to return,'' he told the court...

In next week's installment: "costume play" at the Star Trek Convention. Enveloping...

UPDATE: From the trial transcript:

"I have an implant for you!"

"No, Locutus, no!"

"Yes, my borgette, you will be assimilated!"

[... some time later ... ]

"Who is the leader of the collective! Say it! Say it!"

"LOCUTUS IS THE LEADER OF THE COLLECTIVE!"

UPDATE: I added the last line, I think it was needed. Also, the Smoking Gun has Seven of Nine's declaration here.

Posted to Politics at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)

Re-education for "liberals"

Christopher Hitchens reviews Mikey Moore's latest opus and at the same time manages to eviscerate just about everything the "liberals" believe about Iraq, Afghanistan, and the general GWOT.

Posted to Politics at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)

Repeating my generous offer

If I get $3000, I'll cover the Democratic National Convention, credentialed or not.

Why choose a mainstream blogger when you can choose someone who's not an insider in any way?

See the Amazon honor system link in the upper-right corner of this page.

Posted to Bloggage at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)

"Escape from National Service. become a foreigner."

Via spam:

Subject: Escape from National Service. become a foreigner.

Do you need a new identity, a new citizenship or a new country to call home.

You are pre-qualified. 50 Countries Available.

That's OK, but I can suggest several prospective customers.

Posted to WackyHumor at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)

"A Hospital on Border Going Over the Edge"

The L.A. Times reports from the front lines:

BISBEE, Ariz. — Besieged by illegal immigrants who jam its emergency room, then disappear without paying, tiny Copper Queen Community Hospital is growing desperate.

The 13-bed private facility lost $800,000 caring for migrants last year and $500,000 the year before. At this rate, hospital administrator Jim Dickson predicts, he'll shut down in three years, leaving the town of Bisbee without a hospital...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)

Blog: Local, unimportant Democratic activists to make Libertarian Party slightly less irrelevant

A Democratic activist named Chaz Proulx is organizing a protest:

Many concerned citizens from around the state will be protesting the so-called "2004 Liberty Dinner".

DATE: Friday, June 25, 2004
5:00 - 9:00 pm
Plymouth State University's Prospect Hall

Governor Benson is the keynote speaker. He will be addressing the Free State Project. The governor and the Free Staters share the same far-right agenda of gutting our state government and public institutions...

Did we mention that the Liberty Dinner is some kind of charitable soiree for disadvantaged kids?

Longer term, every religious cult political party needs a devil, and the Free Staters might have just found their own personal Satan.

Posted to Politics at 12:13 AM | Comments (2)

"U.S. Officials: Saddam's Hijack Drills Were Counterterror Ops"

From this:

State Department and CIA officials have quietly told reporters that they believe Saddam Hussein trained his elite troops in airline hijacking techniques before the 9/11 attacks – but they accept the Iraqi dictator's explanation that the drills were counterterrorism operations.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to the Knight Ridder news service, the officials challenged the credibility of two White House reports issued last year that had raised questions about whether activities at the notorious terrorist training camp Salman Pak were linked to the 9/11 attacks...

Posted to Terrorism at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

"C'mon, Dan, shake my hand."

"After what you've told me, Mr. President, I don't know if I want to. [laughter]"

"Don't worry Dan, you're already 30 minutes into giving me a wet sloppy one."

UPDATE: Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds weighs in.

Posted to Politics at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)

"Iraqi Officer Tied to Al Qaeda - 9/11 Commissioner"

From Reuters:

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks has been told "a very prominent member" of al Qaeda served as an officer in Saddam Hussein's militia, a panel member said on Sunday.

Republican commissioner John Lehman told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the new intelligence, if proven true, buttresses claims by the Bush administration of ties between Iraq and the militant network believed responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.

"We are now in the process of getting this latest intelligence," Lehman said...

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

But, think of all the benefits of your new custom lift and window-cleaning boom to scrub in between the 70-foot glass rotunda and its sunshade!

The San Jose Mercury does some good for a change and has an expose of San Jose's plans to spend $45 million on outfitting their new City Hall:

When Mayor Ron Gonzales enters his glitzy conference room atop San Jose's new City Hall, he could dim the lights with his $4,400 touch-screen remote control, then use one finger to fire up his $12,000, 50-inch plasma-screen TV or another to run his $23,200 video teleconferencing system.

On the 17 floors below, 1,800 other city employees would enjoy the benefits of a furniture-and-technology budget that spends an average of $25,000 on each of them. Many would sit in their new $3,600 cubicles and make calls on $400 Internet telephones connected to an $8 million phone-and-computer network...

All is not joy for those civil servants: $5 million is being spent to make their cubicles smaller.

Posted to California at 01:50 PM | Comments (2)

That's it, "no" more "scare" quotes for "me"

TalkLeft points to the article 'George Bush: The Torturer-in-Chief' written by Marjorie Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

If you want to see frothing-at-the-mouth hatred of Bush, look no further. She also "uses" enough "scare" quotes to "scare" anyone off using "scare" quotes "ever" "again." A taste:

From the first day of his presidency, the neocons in Bush’s cabal determined to "stabilize" Iraq for U.S. corporate investment. Bush had his own motives to "git" Saddam for his would-be hit on George I...

Cloaking themselves in the "War on Terror," Bush and his minions methodically wove an intricate web of deception to convince the American people that Saddam was about to launch the "mushroom cloud," ending civilization as we know it...

And then "the leaks" began...

George W. Bush came into the White House - albeit through the back door - pledging to restore honor to the White House. Instead, he has dishonored America by leading us into an illegal war under false pretenses...

It should come as no surprise that:

Marjorie Cohn [is the] executive vice president of the National Lawyers Guild

TalkLeft also mentions an effort by over 400 legal "experts" to impeach "President" Bush. [stop it! --ed.]

After much searching, I found their site, complete with a list of signatories: iraq-letter.com It's run by a couple of profs from Harvard, and Alan Dershowitz is the most famous signatory.

I'd wager that most - if not all - of those legal scholars are members of either A.N.S.W.E.R., the NLG, or even the CPUSA.

Their press release is here. Teddy Kennedy shies away from directly supporting them here. Fan of Ramsey Clark? Sign his impeachment petition here. And, here's yet another impeachment petition. Maybe they just need a hobby.

Posted to Politics at 01:13 PM | Comments (1)

Damn the NYT, buy Clinton's book

If you're going to buy the book anyway, do it here. That way you can prevent the Amazon fee from going to a "liberal."

Posted to Politics at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)

"Former President Clinton to be tried for crimes against the State"

The New York Times' scathing review of Bubba's Book should be examined in the same manner as a Kremlinologist analyzing show trials and posthumous rehabilitations: 'The Pastiche of a Presidency, Imitating a Life, in 957 Pages'.

What exactly is the NYT trying to say? Are they just being contrary, or is Bubba on the outs with the Politburo? And, what does this portend for the other Clintonistas?

Will Bubba flee to Mexico, or will he be convicted and sentenced to a gulag? Is his show trial designed to cement Ivan John Kerry as our new Magnificent Leader?

Posted to Politics at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)

Lakers flags flying at half-staff

It's a sad day in River Town. All throughout the city, Lakers flags can be seen flying at half-staff. I have personally attached even more Lakers flags to my phat ride in a show of solidarity.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 07:18 PM | Comments (1)

The world's longest excuse slip

The New York Times summarizes Bubba's book in 'In a Sprawling Memoir, Clinton Cites Storms and Settles Scores'.

It's not a review, just a summary with some notes. About the only part where the NYT raises its left-leaning eyebrows is in this sentence:

He explained the sudden appearance of Mrs. Clinton's legal billing records in the White House residence as the product merely of sloppy record-keeping in Arkansas...

The NYT says they picked up a copy of the book in a bookstore. How egalitarian of them. They must have picked up two or three copies, because two other reporters are noted as having contributed to the article.

I'll leave it to the dedicated Bubbologists to pick apart Bubba's lies and omissions.

Posted to Politics at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

Second-hand smears

Professor Bainbridge quotes approvingly from the WSJ's latest smear. See the previous post for why he shouldn't.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

The WSJ gets desperate(r)

The WSJ has an editorial supporting - you guessed it - illegal immigration and the politicians who are paid to support it, contrary to the wishes of the vast majority of their constituents.

As you can imagine, it's filled with smears:

Mr. Cannon tops the restrictionists' target list because he's been one of the few politicians in either party to expose the extreme nature of their underlying agendas, which has less to do with immigration per se and more to do with environmental extremism and population-growth concerns influenced by the discredited claims of the 19th-century British economist Thomas Malthus...

Huh? This WSJ-only meme has already been discredited (See also this and this). And, note that their readers are - as usual - opposed to their pro-illegal immigration stance.

Why, you might ask, is the WSJ supporting a politician so desperate that he has to have an aide beg for money from illegal aliens? Because, of course, they're desperate themselves.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

"Free beer if you register to vote"

From this:

Monroe County Democrats have teamed up with High Falls Brewery to offer two free 2-ounce beers to those who register to vote at [today’s East End Festival in Rochester NY]...

Four ounces of beer? I think it would require at least a twelve-pack of tallboys for most people who were not already drunk to register as a D.

Posted to Politics at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

Bill Clinton has a blog

You knew it had to happen. Bush has one. Kent Schocknek has one. Ed Gillespie, Noam Chomsky do too.

Now, Bill Clinton has his own blog to promote his new book.

An excerpt:

Don't want to gloat, but have you seen the presidential portrait Simmie Knox made of me, which will be hung in the White House? Monday, me and Hillary attended the White House ceremony. I wanted to mention it before, but I thought I better wait till I can post the pictures too. Bush said a few words, made a joke, which was actually funny and me and Hillary unveiled the portraits. She has a portrait too. Smaller than mine. I choose Simmie Knox to paint my portrait. Hillary chose Simmie too (How original!). I like his work. He's an African American and normally only paints African Americans. The first time I saw the painting I was confused. It looks like Simmie darkened me up a bit. I don't mind, but I have this feeling that when people look at the painting in 200 years they'll think I really was the first black president.

Posted to Bloggage at 11:56 AM | Comments (2)

"Institutionalizing our demise: America vs. multiculturalism"

There's a long but worthwhile discussion of "multiculturalism" here. It has a specific discussion of Samuel Huntington's recent book Who Are We?

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)

"Groups May Sue to Halt Arrests by Border Patrol"

From the LAT:

Latino community leaders and civil rights groups on Tuesday said they might take legal action to stop a U.S. Border Patrol crackdown on suspected illegal immigrants in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

"The only way to stop this is if the community comes together," said UC Riverside political science professor and local organizer Armando Navarro. "All of a sudden, the Border Patrol is hitting different parts of Southern California away from the border. Something is going on."

Hold on for a second, please. The L.A. Times is accepting quotes and statements from Armando Navarro? You mean, this guy?

"Ladies and gentlemen, what [the displacement of whites, blacks, and Asians by Hispanics in California] means is a transfer of power, it means control, it means whose going to influence. And it is the young people, the people who are now moving to develop an agenda for the twenty first century. They are really going to be in a position to really make the promise of what the Chicano movement was all about in terms of self-determination, in terms of empowerment, and even in the terms of the idea of an Aztlan!"

Or, this guy?

I'm not going to liken it to the L.A. Times taking quotes from Tom Metzger at face value, but it's too close for a "responsible" news organization like the Times.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

"Many New Jobs Going to Noncitizens"

From the LAT:

Immigrants are filling nearly three out of every 10 new jobs in the rebounding U.S. economy, a development that may dilute the political dividend to President Bush from an election-year recovery, a study to be released today concludes...

No doubt Kerry - whose Campaign co-chairman is a former member of a racial separatist group - would do better...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 08:24 PM | Comments (1)

":Scientists Transfer Info Between Atoms"

Holy Moses Malone:

Basically, researchers can use lab techniques to create a weird relationship between pairs of tiny particles. After that, the fate of one particle instantly affects the other; if one particle is made to take on a certain set of properties, the other immediately takes on identical or opposite properties, no matter how far away it is and without any apparent physical connection to the first particle.

Posted to Miscellania at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

"U.N. prober in graft scandal"

From this:

The United Nations was rocked by a new scandal yesterday when reports surfaced that the diplomat in charge of rooting out corruption in the world body is himself facing allegiations about unethical conduct...

Posted to Iraq at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

Ein Volk, Eine Heimat

From the AP, always an unbiased source of immigration information:

Mexican President Vicente Fox said Wednesday that Mexicans in the United States have improved their standard of living, but must still fight for better access to education, jobs and social services.

"Mexicans?" As in, Mexican-Americans? Or, as in Mexican tourists and the small number of legitimate temporary workers and visitors? Or, as in the millions of Mexican illegal aliens in the U.S.? I believe Fox is claiming all of them as his own.

At a ceremony commemorating the opening of a new $8 million Mexican Consulate...

"We are Mexicans that live in our territories and we are Mexicans that live in other territories," he said in a 20-minute speech in Spanish. "In reality, we are 120 million people that live together and are working to construct a nation."

That's OK, don't worry about it. A foreign leader is just claiming a sizable chunk of our population as his own. Don't worry about it!

Here, have some cheap lettuce.

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

Local yahoo sheriffs get fun new toy

The Army has donated armored personnel carriers to local sheriffs in Georgia. It weights 10 tons and can crush a house.

Please feel free to make up your own satire about this wonderful event.

Bonus points for the use of the words and phrases "Citizen," "Citzen ID," "retina scan," "security camera," "Posse Comitatus," "if you aren't a criminal you have nothing to fear," "we're from the government and we're here to help," "Waco," "Ruby Ridge," "black helicopters," "U.N. mandate," and "but, it's for our safety."

Posted to Privacy at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

"America's insane asylum for terrorists"

From Michelle Malkin:

Do you know how the alleged "shopping-mall" bomber entered our country? He didn't cross the border illegally. He didn't sneak in on a ship. He came through the front door at America's invitation.

Nuradin M. Abdi, who was indicted last week for plotting with al-Qaida to blow up an Ohio shopping mall, flew here from Somalia and received bogus "refugee" status in 1999, according to authorities. Prosecutors allege that Abdi then fraudulently obtained a refugee travel document, which he used to fly to Ethiopia for jihad training. After returning, Abdi blended back into the American landscape along with tens of thousands of other refugees from a country known to be a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists. Columbus, Abdi's home base, is home to more than 30,000 Somalis — the second-largest Somali community in the United States, after Minneapolis...

Not every Somalian refugee or asylum-seeker is a terrorist, of course. But the system for screening out the well-meaning from the menaces is completely overwhelmed. Claims of "credible fear of persecution" are almost impossible to document but are rarely rejected. Federal homeland security officials are unable to detain asylum-seekers for background checks without the civil liberties brigade screaming "racial profiling." And there is still a woeful shortage of detention space — just 2,000 beds nationwide — to hold those with suspect claims...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)

"[NY Employment] Agencies Sued Over Low-Paying Jobs"

From the NYT:

rustrated that so many companies in New York State pay less than the minimum wage, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced a new strategy yesterday to attack the problem: sue the employment agencies that steer thousands of workers into these low-paying jobs each year.

Mr. Spitzer announced lawsuits against four employment agencies and settlements with five others to stop them from supplying workers to businesses that often pay just $3 or $4 an hour, far less than the $5.15-an-hour federal minimum wage. He said nine other agencies were under investigation.

The vast majority of workers who use these employment agencies are Hispanic immigrants, Mr. Spitzer said, noting that the agencies typically steer these workers to greengrocers, dry cleaners and restaurants...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)

"Chechen gunmen eyed in ambush"

From this:

Mercenaries believed to be from Chechnya are suspected of carrying out the deadly ambush of civilian security contractors on a road outside Baghdad earlier this month.

The attackers killed four civilians working with Blackwater USA. Three contractors who managed to escape concluded that the assault was the work of trained gunmen...

Supposedly, two or more of those on the Berg tape said something in Russian.

I don't know why two Chechens would speak Russian to each other, but that could be a lingua franca for two people from different parts of the FSU.

Posted to Iraq at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) solicits campaign contributions from illegal aliens

This is pretty brazen. Since the solicitation was made on a radio show and it was taped, it can't be denied. From 'Illegal plea for illegals' cash?':

As Rep. Chris Cannon sat by, one of his aides urged any illegal aliens listening to a Spanish-language radio talk show to funnel money into his campaign by giving it to U.S. citizens who could donate it legally.

However, federal law not only bans political donations from foreign nationals, it also bans such funneling through citizens, too — and the solicitation or receipt of it.

Still, Marco Diaz, an aide to Cannon, R-Utah, told Radio Unica in Spanish on May 22, "If you are undocumented you must find, we welcome this money, but you have to find someone who is legal in order to donate money."

A couple other ways to get Cannon his money were discussed on the show, such as through the U.S. citizen children of illegal aliens.

The 6/14/04 entry here has quotes from both the show and the Federal election laws.

Previous Cannon coverage starts here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:46 PM | Comments (1)

They're here

Posted to WackyHumor at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)

As you read this, I'm still taking a shower

You'll feel like taking a shower too after you read Time Magazine's take on blogging.

It does have one benefit however: you can't go wrong if you avoid each blog the article mentions.

Posted to Bloggage at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

"Don't offer tuition break; enforce law"

Dan Stein of FAIR has an editorial about Kansas' new law that takes discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens and gives them to citizens of other countries:

Empathy for the situation of young people who are caught in this kind of legal limbo is understandable. The problem is that in signing the in-state tuition bill, Sebelius transferred the responsibility for the predicament of these kids from where it correctly belongs -- on their parents, who knowingly violated our laws -- to the hardworking, law-abiding citizens of Kansas. Second, it contributes to the self-fulfilling prophecy that illegal aliens aren't going anywhere, so we'd better placate them.

While a taxpayer-subsidized college education for their kids may not have been the primary motivation for parents to enter the United States illegally, it is one more incentive to remain here illegally. The federal government does nothing to enforce immigration laws, while state and local governments not only assure illegal aliens that they will not report them to federal immigration authorities, but also encourage these families to take advantage of myriad social programs and benefits.

There is an alternative. Instead of requiring law-abiding residents to shell out for one costly social benefit after another, Kansas can actively discourage immigration law violators from taking up residence in the state by denying illegal immigrants nonemergency benefits and by actively cooperating with federal immigration enforcement authorities.

There is another very costly consequence of Sebelius' decision to grant in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. The state is now liable for violating the civil rights of U.S. citizens from the other 49 states who are protected by federal law from discrimination in favor of illegal aliens in the provision of postsecondary education benefits. A number of aggrieved students have already come forward, and the Federation for American Immigration Reform is moving forward with a lawsuit to protect their rights and the rights of all persons legally resident in Kansas...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)

Japanese man invents special 'bukkake cloak'

That's what the headline to this article says. Here's Ananova's translated version.

And, here's the homepage of the scientist himself, and here's a page about his invention.

Posted to WackyHumor at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

Geneva man invents yellow cauliflower

It took him 30 years of hard work, but Geneva resident Michael Dickson's dream has finally paid off: his yellow cauliflower will be hitting store shelves later this year.

"It's another variant farmers can grow and at this point it will probably sell a little better because it's new and looks attractive," he said. "The color stays well after cooking too. I think it will be quite popular. We did test marketing several years ago and it was quite well received," Dickson told the Associated Press.

"We had hybrid cabbage, but cauliflower is a different kettle of fish," Dickson told the AP, who retired in 1995. "If you don't have the right parents, you don't necessarily get a nice color, you get a pale, pukey color."

After all that hard work, expect the yellow cauliflowers to be available at Food Barn and Joe's Ranch Market on Broadway later this year.

Posted to WackyHumor at 12:36 PM | Comments (1)

"The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels Ramona Ripston of the Little Portion"

The L.A. Daily News asks: 'L.A.'s name too divine?':

No L.A.? It's no joke.

A strong legal argument can be made that the name of the city of Los Angeles -- even worse its formal name, "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion" -- violates the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state.

Some constitutional law experts say the American Civil Liberties Union's campaign to remove a small cross from the Los Angeles County seal and similar efforts elsewhere in the country help build a foundation for challenges against communities like San Francisco, San Diego or Santa Barbara.

"That's absolutely right," said Joerg Knipprath, a professor of constitutional law at the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles...

ACLU spokesman Tenoch Flores said the organization only becomes involved in issues when contacted by people who believe there is a problem, and he doesn't expect anyone to challenge the name of Los Angeles or other communities.

"That has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Nobody is considering suing to change city names. If anybody were to bring such a suit, it would laughed out of court and rightfully so.

"We don't go around looking for things, but we certainly don't back down in the face of criticism if it's determined that a constitutional issue is at stake..."

Someone - perhaps me - should start an organization to push this forward...

Posted to Los_Angeles at 09:44 PM | Comments (1)

"Radical imams trouble Europe"

The Chicago Tribune has an overview of Abu Hamza, al-Muhajiroun, and the general problems Europe is having accepting its new role as the future Eurabia.

Posted to Terrorism at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

"When the feds come knocking"

From the Times, er, the Trenton Times:

His name is Ruben. The 32-year-old father of four grew up in Guatemala but lives in Trenton now. His hope is to someday live the American dream...

[100 more lines of sub-Sally Struthers advocacy for illegal aliens deleted]

Rather than bog you down with the rest of this "news report," here's the letter I sent to Brian S. Malone, the editor of the Trenton Times:

I have a few questions on "When the feds come knocking" by Eva Loayza.

There are several "yes, but" spots in this story. For instance, why doesn't Ruben stay in Guatamala and try to improve that country? If hundreds of thousands of Guatamalans stayed home, wouldn't that put pressure on the government to do something other than draining their country of their most energetic citizens?

Why didn't your reporter raise any of those "yes, but" points?

Why is this story written more like a weepy advocacy piece than a real news report?

When was the last time the Trenton Times covered immigration matters from the perspective of those who are negatively impacted by massive illegal immigration? Certainly it shouldn't be that difficult for a resourceful reporter to find such people.

If you would like to send your own polite email, here's his address: bmalone@njtimes.com

Posted to Immigration2003 at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

"Data, President Reagan... President Reagan, Data"

In 1991, Reagan visited the set of Star Trek: TNG. Pictured above, he meets Brent Spiner, aka "Data."

(Via this)

Posted to Politics at 06:13 PM | Comments (0)

Antonio Villaraigosa: "let's face it. Is anyone excited about electing John Kerry...?"

The BoiFromTroy attended a California League of Conservation Voters meeting last night, and here's what he says Antonio Villaraigosa said:

"After all, let's face it. Is anyone excited about electing John Kerry or do you really want to defeat George Bush?"

As you'll recall, Antonio Villaraigosa is Kerry's Campaign Co-Chairman...

Of course, Villaraigosa is also the former president of the racial separatist and nationalistic organization MEChA.

Just don't expect the quote or his past affiliations to appear in the LAT or the WaPo, both of whom were in attendance at the meeting. I wasn't there either and I can't verify if the Boi got the quote right. Perhaps another attendee can verify what he said since the mainstream press probably wouldn't cover it even if he said something worse...

(Via LAObserved)

Posted to Politics at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

There is no such thing as the "invitation-only Reynolds-l"

In an earlier post, I made a joking reference to the "invitation-only Reynolds-l." There is no mailing list by that name, I just made that up.

I apologize for any confusion I might have caused.

Posted to Bloggage at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)

SOVIET ITAR-TASS NEWS AGENGY HAILS KERRY'S STAND AGAINST REAGAN DOCTRINE (1987)

Presented in the interesting-if-true category is this (alleged) News Release from the Soviet Union's ITAR-TASS News Agency in May 1987:

SENATOR KERRY ON THE FAILURE OF THE REAGAN DOCTRINE

WASHINGTON, MAY 5

THE IRANGATE IS A PROOF NOT ONLY OF ABUSE OF POWER BY A FEW OFFICIALS OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IN THE USA BUT ALSO OF THE FAILURE OF THE WHOLE "REAGAN DOCTRINE", SENATOR JOHN KERRY WRITES IN TODAY'S WASHINGTON POST.

THIS DOCTRINE, HE POINTS OUT, IS BASED ON A CORE ASSUMPTION OF SUPPORTING THE SO-CALLED ANTICOMMUNIST FORCES AS LONG AS THEY WILL COUNTEROPPOSE COMMUNISM. UNDER THE DOCTRINE, COVERT OPERATIONS PRESENT THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY OF ACHIEVING THIS GOAL. THE ARMS SALES TO IRAN AND THE DIVERSION OF PART OF THE PROCEEDS TO CONTRAS WERE CARRIED OUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REAGAN DOCTRINE AND PROVED ANEW ITS INCONSISTENCY BECAUSE IT IS BASED ON A FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF LAW, KERRY CONCLUDES.

Posted to Politics at 01:36 PM | Comments (1)

Now that's disturbing!

I consider myself a grizzled web veteran. I've been around, seen a lot of sites. I've also posted hundreds of messages to Usenet, and read thousands of them.

But, some things are just beyond the pale. Some things are just too disturbing.

I've put this link in the 'MORE' section, so you still have a chance to just move on to the next entry.

IF YOU ARE A MINOR OR YOU HAVE A WEAK CONSTITUTION, MOVE ON. CLICK HERE INSTEAD.

IF YOU DARE, CLICK 'MORE' DIRECTLY BELOW.

I WARNED YOU. DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO BE SHOCKED.

LAST WARNING!

OK, YOU ASKED FOR IT.

(Via the invitation-only Reynolds-l)

UPDATE: There is no such thing as the "invitation-only Reynolds-l." I just made that up.

Posted to WackyHumor at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

Sinkhole, mole people, space aliens, or?

Someone or some group - perhaps including the mole people or space aliens or - even - both groups working in concert - is draining the man-made lakes of the MidWest.

The latest lake to fall victim is Lake Chesterfield outside St. Louis:

"It's real creepy," said Donna Ripp, who lives near what had been Lake Chesterfield. "That lake was 23 acres -- no small lake. And to wake up one morning, drive by and it's gone?"

As can be expected, mainstream scientists associated with the Illuminati offer their explanation, but readers of the Lonewacko Blog know better. Stay tuned.

Posted to WackyHumor at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)

Robert Mugabe to finally get what's been coming

From 'Mandarin on the menu as Zimbabwe looks East':

Zimbabweans are to learn Chinese.

At least that is President Robert Mugabe's plan - to prepare the people for the expected influx of Chinese tourists and to strengthen ties with the Asian country...

Over the years, tourism from Europe has slumped by more than 95% because of the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe has repeatedly declared he would no longer seek economic ties with the West, which has imposed sanctions on his government, in preference to establishing stronger ties with Asia.

He has also pledged to work at helping to establish China as a superpower to counter the United States...

Buh-bye.

Posted to Politics at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)

"UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD before war and after"

UNMOVIC admits that Saddam sent "weapons of mass destruction components as well as medium-range ballistic missiles before, during and after the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003..."

Oops.

Expected "liberal" reaction:

1. Ignore
2. "Yes, but the components to make 20,000 liters of anthrax are not the same as 20,000 liters of anthrax, you XRM-SBAH!"
3. "Well, the way I see it, it's like this. $hrubCo and their NeoCon handlers got to UNMOVIC and threatend to release information on Kofi Annan's secret love child if they didn't invent all these shipments. Plus, those satellite photos were obviously doctored."
4. Go to #1.

Posted to Iraq at 01:38 PM | Comments (2)

"GOP Immigration Stance Far From Reagan Reforms"

From immigration lawyer Matt Hayes:

In exchange for legal status for the group [the 1986 illegal alien amnesty --LW], Reagan insisted that the magnet attracting illegal aliens to the United States be removed by extinguishing any incentive for U.S. employers to hire illegal aliens. In tandem with the amnesty, Reagan campaigned for employer sanctions for hiring illegal aliens, sanctions so stringent that many at the time regarded them as draconian.

Reagan reasoned that if an employer were fined for hiring an illegal alien (as much as $1 million in the worst cases), any payroll savings achieved by the hiring would be wiped out by the fine. In effect, it would be more expensive to hire illegal aliens than to hire Americans or lawful permanent residents. The few illegal aliens who continued to take the gamble and cross the border would be intercepted by a robust and more generously funded Border Patrol.

While Reagan’s 1986 immigration reforms can at least be called rational, they were a failure. Today, there are between 8 million and 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. The majority of them crossed our southern border and has found employment — illegal employment, but employment nonetheless. This is attributed to Sen. Ted Kennedy’s eventual gutting of the enforcement mechanism for Reagan's employer sanctions, and successive administrations refusing to give our Border Patrol the resources it needs to achieve its mission...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)

"[L.A.] Officials Get Tough on Rent Subsidies"

No more Section 8 (subsidized housing) for illegal aliens:

The change in policy means that thousands of undocumented immigrants who receive housing assistance will lose their monthly subsidy or face higher rents. The regulation, which has existed since 1995, prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving assistance in public housing developments or through Section 8, a federal program that provides help with monthly rents...

The decision is the latest fallout from a funding crisis that surfaced in February and threatened the Housing Authority with being placed in a federal receivership. An agreement between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the agency gives federal officials greater control over Housing Authority matters and requires local officials to abide by all HUD regulations.

Predictably, pro-illegal-alien advocates are having a cow. It's things like this that can create a backlash, and cause more harm than good. We need to crackdown on employers. Otherwise it looks like we're inviting illegals with one hand and telling some of them they need to live on the streets with the other.

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)

"Border Patrol checks 'interior'"

The Washington Times reports on the recent arrests of illegal aliens in the interior. (Previous coverage of this here).

It contains this interesting bit:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, who oversees the Border Patrol, in August overturned an order by the agency's sector chief in San Diego directing agents not to arrest illegal aliens on city streets or to question them except along the border.

Mr. Bonner... ordered Chief William T. Veal to recall an Aug. 8 memo ordering his 1,600 agents to make arrests only along the U.S.-Mexico border or at highway checkpoints.

Chief Veal, who has since retired, issued the memo after protests from the Mexican Consulate over the arrests in San Diego of illegal aliens seeking to obtain Mexican identification cards.

Mr. Bonner said the Veal order was "overly broad and restrictive" and should be rescinded. He has since directed the Border Patrol to review its enforcement policies nationwide and, last month, named Tucson sector Chief David Aguilar, considered an aggressive enforcement proponent, to head the Border Patrol...

Chief Veal... said in his memo that the future of Border Patrol operations was dependent on the elimination of the perception that agents were conducting neighborhood sweeps.

The memo prohibited agents from initiating arrests in cities, residential areas, near workplaces and locations where day laborers gathered, and from making arrests while driving to their assignments. It also described the agents' main priority as the "maximum containment" of illegal immigration at the border and preventing terrorists from entering the country...

Posted to Immigration2003 at 01:27 PM | Comments (1)

"Political, business elites tell us how to fix immigration"

A panel of political and business elites - convened by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations - has determined that we must declare an amnesty for the 8 million (or so) illegal aliens in the U.S.: 'Panel urges immigration reform, Newcomers are called key to future'.

That