http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59267
North-of-border link finishes NAFTA superhighway grid
Atlantic-Pacific route would allow cross-continental goods deliveries
Posted: December 18, 2007
10:07 p.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Canada has announced a plan to extend the NAFTA Superhighway network north in a way that would finish a continental grid designed to accommodate an anticipated tsunami of containers from China and the Far East.
The Canadian Intelligent Super Corridor, or CISCOR, is a national transportation route designed to reach from the West Coast ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert to Montreal and Halifax.
As WND has documented, recent articles published in The Nation and Newsweek magazines have attempted to characterize the NAFTA Superhighway as a "conspiracy theory."
Yet, the CISCOR case study provides strong evidence that the continent's ports, highways and rail lines are being reconfigured into an inter-modal system emphasizing technological logistics and "inland smart ports" designed to meet the demands of world trade, largely driven by the relocation of North American manufacturing to China.
Inter-modal is a transportation economics reference to containers that can be transported on several different modes of transportation, including container ships, trucks and trains, without having to be unloaded or repacked.
According to the CISCOR website, the Saskatchewan-based CISCOR Inland Port Network of the cities of Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw is designed to serve "as the central logistics and coordination hub, creating a Canadian east-west land bridge connecting three major North American north-south corridors: North America's SuperCorridor, or NASCO, the Canada-America-Mexico Corridor, or CANAMEX, and the River of Trade Corridor Coalition."
A multi-color North American continental map on the CISCOR website leaves no doubt the Canadian super corridor is designed to interface with the NAFTA Superhighway, extending down into Mexico.
The CISCOR map strongly models the continental map displayed by NASCO on the trade group's website in 2005.
The CISCOR website confirms an earlier WND report documenting the Canadian national transportation plan to open Prince Rupert and Vancouver as deep-water ports capable of handling the new class of 12,500 container-capacity post-Panamax ships now being built for China.
The CISCOR strategy falls under the umbrella of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative as defined by Transport Canada, the Canadian counterpart to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
WND previously documented how the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railroads are included in Canada's Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, positioned to operate as NAFTA railroads.
Under the CISCOR plan, the Saskatchewan cities are defined as an "inland smart port," as are Kansas City, San Antonio and Denver in the U.S.
The CISCOR website cites the University of Texas Center for Transportation research to define an inland port as follows: "An Inland Port is a physical site located away from traditional land, air and coastal borders with the vision to facilitate and process international trade through strategic investment in multi-modal transportation assets and by promoting value-added services as goods move through the supply chain."
The plan to make the Saskatchewan cities an inland port centers on utilizing the West Coast deep-water ports in British Columbia as the input point for millions of containers from China and the Far East.
American companies have taken advantage of cheap labor in China that in some cases functions at slave or near-slave levels. Communist Chinese prison camps also continue to make goods for the U.S. market, despite human rights pressure.
Reconfiguring the transportation infrastructure of North America into NAFTA Superhighways or Super Corridors drastically reduces the cost of transporting the containers from China
A quick look at the continental map shows the physical location of the Saskatchewan cities qualifies them to be an "inland port" because the area can function as a switching center, with easy access either to CANAMEX or to what NASCO refers to as the NASCO Corridor, the complex of Interstate Highways 35, 29 and 94.
Containers can be unloaded by crane in Saskatchewan and placed in giant warehouses. There they await pick-up by truck or train to be transported to the next regional warehouse for delivery to the final destination in North America.
An inland port is considered to be a "smart port" when technology – such as Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID systems – are utilized to facilitate customs clearance, security, warehouse distribution, multi-modal trans-load operations, empty container management and advanced container logistics tracking.
As WND reported, the Chinese ports management firm, Hutchison Ports Holdings, is working with Lockheed Martin in a joint venture with NASCO to place RFID sensors along I-35 to track inter-modal containers from China that enter North America through the Mexican ports of Lazaro Cardenas and Manzanillo.
An 87-page business analysis archived on the CISCOR website lays out the case for developing Saskatchewan as an Inland SmartPort in the following points that begin the report's Executive Summary:
A majority of the new containerships entering the world fleet in the next five years will be post-Panamax vessels ready to transport cargo from China, Southeast Asia and India to North American ports already strained with capacity.
The Panama Canal is approaching operational capacity and the U.S. transportation network is struggling to meet the predicted 15 percent annual rise in Asian container traffic.
In response to the rapid growth in North American trade, the shift in the global freight supply chain and the increased congestion at U.S. ports and along the inter-modal system, shippers are now routing a growing share of cargo via Canadian ports.
The CISCOR business report Executive Summary concludes, "Canada can serve as the North American gateway at the intersection of three powerful and shifting trade networks – the north-south North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the European-NAFTA, and the highly-utilized trans-Pacific route."
"The desired result is a fully-integrated, seamless cargo transport corridor moving cargo from the ports to rail and highways and to an inland port logistics center that serves all North American markets," the CISCOR Executive Summary concludes.
To open the connection to the European Union, CISCOR envisions extending the Canadian Intermodal Network to the east coast port of Halifax.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Students struggle as immigrants do (BULLSH*T LIBERAL AGENDA AGAIN)
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/12/15/OLHSCLASS.ART_ART_12-15-07_B1_M08PJ5M.html?sid=101
Students struggle as immigrants do
Saturday, December 15, 2007 3:18 AM
By Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Erica Vieyra's Spanish students at Olentangy Liberty High School present their projects on immigration -- the culmination of three weeks of pretending to go through the steps that Latino immigrants take to come to the United States, legally or illegally.
POWELL -- The students had a role-play project: assume a Latino identity, build an imaginary life in your home country and develop a workable plan to immigrate to the United States.
Try it legally, Erica Vieyra told her 40 senior Spanish students at Olentangy Liberty High School. Fill out the correct documents, follow the proper steps. And then, after they spent days completing the actual paperwork from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, she took out her red ink pad and stamped a big, fat DENIED across every request.
Now, she told the students, come illegally. Forge your documents, find a way across the border. Then, research real ads and find a place to live in Columbus. Figure out what it would cost, how to get food. Plan how to survive.
The students had to go to real businesses and ask for Spanish-language job applications. They had to visit a bank and ask for new-account documents written in Spanish.
Vieyra promised them that the process -- even in make-believe -- would frustrate them. But they would gain, she hoped, an understanding of what is one of the most important political and humanitarian issues facing the U.S. government today.
After three weeks of work, the students presented their projects yesterday and discussed their conclusions. Most said it was a grueling experience to even pretend to walk in an immigrant's shoes.
"I can't begin to fathom how they can survive here," said Yana Lyon, 17. "Everywhere you turn if you try to become legal or help yourself, there's a roadblock."
For her project, Yana assumed the identity of 28-year-old single mother Margarita Sola, a barmaid in Tijuana, Mexico. Yana had Margarita stay at a Columbus Knights Inn until she found a $7.50-an-hour job at Chipotle. Eventually, she rented a Town Street apartment for $320 a month because it was close to a bus stop. She quickly found a man to marry to gain legal residency.
At first, Yana didn't want to participate. She said as much to her father one night. She told him it was stupid, a bunch of busywork. He walked away from her and emerged from the basement a few minutes later with a faded box. It contained the paperwork from Yana's adoption from a Russian orphanage in 1994. Yana knew about it, but she'd never seen the papers.
"You tell her you already did it," Robert Lyon told his daughter as he handed her the box. He was supportive of the project, Yana said. But he sensed his daughter's trepidation at exploring a subject sure to be emotional for her.
"This project was about me," Yana said. "I realized that, for a grade, I was about to re-create what my parents had to endure to give me the opportunity to live the American dream. That scared me."
This is the fifth year that Vieyra has assigned this project to students in her Spanish V class. Each year someone, a teacher perhaps, maybe just a friend, cringes: "They say, 'That's such a hot topic. Are you sure you want to go there?' "
She always answers yes. But she cautions that the point isn't to sway the students, only to teach them a little empathy.
"These kids will become our leaders, maybe even the people who make the laws," she said. "At the very least, they'll certainly be the people who vote on them. Shouldn't they learn something about it all now?"
-----------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
I think it's very unwise to teach kids that they cannot enter the U.S. legally (because their liberal teacher seems to think every request is denied). The reason they are denied is because we only allow a certain number of immigrants from different countries every year so the numbers across the board stay the same and no group becomes more dominate than another). However, when you have large amounts of people breaking the law and abusing our system than we can allow fewer LEGAL entries per year. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO COME TO AMERICA, YOU ARE NOT BREAKING JUST ONE LAW WHEN YOU COME HERE ILLEGALLY, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE UNLESS YOU COME THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!
Go home and get in line like everyone else who loves this country and is willing to wait to be blessed to live here. It's worth the wait believe me!!!! IF YOU BREAK THE LAWS OR JUMP IN LINE I SAY DEPORTATION BABY AND DON'T LET THE DORR HIT YA ON THE WAY OUT!
Students struggle as immigrants do
Saturday, December 15, 2007 3:18 AM
By Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Erica Vieyra's Spanish students at Olentangy Liberty High School present their projects on immigration -- the culmination of three weeks of pretending to go through the steps that Latino immigrants take to come to the United States, legally or illegally.
POWELL -- The students had a role-play project: assume a Latino identity, build an imaginary life in your home country and develop a workable plan to immigrate to the United States.
Try it legally, Erica Vieyra told her 40 senior Spanish students at Olentangy Liberty High School. Fill out the correct documents, follow the proper steps. And then, after they spent days completing the actual paperwork from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, she took out her red ink pad and stamped a big, fat DENIED across every request.
Now, she told the students, come illegally. Forge your documents, find a way across the border. Then, research real ads and find a place to live in Columbus. Figure out what it would cost, how to get food. Plan how to survive.
The students had to go to real businesses and ask for Spanish-language job applications. They had to visit a bank and ask for new-account documents written in Spanish.
Vieyra promised them that the process -- even in make-believe -- would frustrate them. But they would gain, she hoped, an understanding of what is one of the most important political and humanitarian issues facing the U.S. government today.
After three weeks of work, the students presented their projects yesterday and discussed their conclusions. Most said it was a grueling experience to even pretend to walk in an immigrant's shoes.
"I can't begin to fathom how they can survive here," said Yana Lyon, 17. "Everywhere you turn if you try to become legal or help yourself, there's a roadblock."
For her project, Yana assumed the identity of 28-year-old single mother Margarita Sola, a barmaid in Tijuana, Mexico. Yana had Margarita stay at a Columbus Knights Inn until she found a $7.50-an-hour job at Chipotle. Eventually, she rented a Town Street apartment for $320 a month because it was close to a bus stop. She quickly found a man to marry to gain legal residency.
At first, Yana didn't want to participate. She said as much to her father one night. She told him it was stupid, a bunch of busywork. He walked away from her and emerged from the basement a few minutes later with a faded box. It contained the paperwork from Yana's adoption from a Russian orphanage in 1994. Yana knew about it, but she'd never seen the papers.
"You tell her you already did it," Robert Lyon told his daughter as he handed her the box. He was supportive of the project, Yana said. But he sensed his daughter's trepidation at exploring a subject sure to be emotional for her.
"This project was about me," Yana said. "I realized that, for a grade, I was about to re-create what my parents had to endure to give me the opportunity to live the American dream. That scared me."
This is the fifth year that Vieyra has assigned this project to students in her Spanish V class. Each year someone, a teacher perhaps, maybe just a friend, cringes: "They say, 'That's such a hot topic. Are you sure you want to go there?' "
She always answers yes. But she cautions that the point isn't to sway the students, only to teach them a little empathy.
"These kids will become our leaders, maybe even the people who make the laws," she said. "At the very least, they'll certainly be the people who vote on them. Shouldn't they learn something about it all now?"
-----------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
I think it's very unwise to teach kids that they cannot enter the U.S. legally (because their liberal teacher seems to think every request is denied). The reason they are denied is because we only allow a certain number of immigrants from different countries every year so the numbers across the board stay the same and no group becomes more dominate than another). However, when you have large amounts of people breaking the law and abusing our system than we can allow fewer LEGAL entries per year. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO COME TO AMERICA, YOU ARE NOT BREAKING JUST ONE LAW WHEN YOU COME HERE ILLEGALLY, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE UNLESS YOU COME THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!
Go home and get in line like everyone else who loves this country and is willing to wait to be blessed to live here. It's worth the wait believe me!!!! IF YOU BREAK THE LAWS OR JUMP IN LINE I SAY DEPORTATION BABY AND DON'T LET THE DORR HIT YA ON THE WAY OUT!
'Mosque' uncovered on college campus
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59245
'Mosque' uncovered on college campus
'For all practical purposes, this is essentially a Muslim prayer room'
Posted: December 17, 2007
4:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A Japanese garden on the campus of Normandale Community College in Minnesota
A Minnesota community college has "a Muslim place of worship" featuring "a schedule for Islam's five daily prayers," according to a local newspaper columnist who visited the campus.
Tax-supported Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn., also has a "sign requesting that shoes be removed" and a barrier that divides men's and women's "prayer spaces," writes Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
College officials denied it was anything more than a "meditation" room available for "all faiths."
The description of the facility, however, led one faculty member to tell Kersten the room is "unprecedented" and "goes beyond religious toleration."
"For all practical purposes, this meditation room is essentially a Muslim prayer room," said Chuck Chalberg of Normandale's history faculty.
WND has reported on "accommodations" for Muslims in public institutions, such as schools and airports, and the outrage triggered by the expenditure of public funds on a religion-specific facility.
At Normandale, Kersten reported, an "arrow informed worshippers of the direction of Mecca, and literature urged women to cover their faces."
She reported college officials converted a racquetball court into a "meditation" room during remodeling of some school facilities, which held another "meditation" room for students' use.
Her description continues:
A row of chest-high barriers splits the room into sex-segregated sections. In the smaller, enclosed area for women sits a pile of shawls and head-coverings. Literature titled "Hijaab [covering] and Modesty" was prominently placed there, instructing women on proper Islamic behavior. They should cover their faces and stay at home, it said, and their speech should not "be such that it is heard."
"Enter into Islaam completely and accept all the rulings of Islaam," the tract read in part. "It should not be that you accept what entertains your desires and leave what opposes your desires; this is from the manners of the Jews."
"[T]he Jews and the Christians" are described as "the enemies of Allaah's religion."
The document adds: "Remember that you will never succeed while you follow these people."
A poster on the room's door advertised a local lecture on "marriage from an Islamic perspective," with "useful tips for marital harmony from the Prophet's ... life." Other fliers invited students to join the Normandale Islamic Forum, or participate in Ramadan celebrations.
One thing was missing from the meditation room: evidence of any faith but Islam. No Bible, no crucifix, no Torah.
Normandale President Joe Opatz did not take a reporter's call with questions, instead deferring to college spokesman Geoff Jones, who said the article is "not accurate."
College chief Joe Opatz
Jones said the school is open to "diversity in terms of beliefs, values and cultural backgrounds."
The room, he said, was "created for use by any person for meditation purposes."
Jones confirmed it does have a partition that partially divides the room "that is something that was placed there."
But he denied there are any brochures, information or religious symbols or representations in the room.
"When I visited the room … there were no postings other than announcing it was a meditation room," Jones said.
"We've always sought to have persons of all cultures and backgrounds welcome here. As such we have student clubs and speakers from the community … that promote the dialogue and the discourse," he said.
"As a public institution, we have a responsibility to allow freedom of speech and freedom of religion. This is America," said Jones.
But he also confirmed there is no set schedule for the various groups to use the room.
"It's just been the ebb and flow [of meetings]," he said.
Opatz, on his website welcome to the school, called Normandale the "crown jewel" of the community college system.
He suggested the "clubs, student government, recreational sports and other organizations" provide "a winning combination for a lasting success."
The school website lists the Baha'I Club, Campus Crusade for Christ, College Democrats, Dental Hygiene, Ethiopian Student Union, Gay & Straight Student Alliance, Latter-day Saint Student Association, Muslim Student Association, Oromo Student Union, Somali Student Association and other special interest groups active on campus.
Ralph Anderson, dean of student affairs, told Kersten the college not only prepared the room but also posted signs at the room's entrance asking students to remove their shoes, which is a Muslim custom.
Anderson called it, "basically a courtesy to Muslim students."
He also told her the room is divided by sex, because "Muslim students prefer that. …"
Anderson refused to respond to questions about such segregation in a public facility.
"I don't want to comment on that," he said.
Chad Lunaas, a former student at the school, told Kersten he frequently on Fridays would discover that "every sink and toilet stall had someone washing his feet."
He said he was intimidated by Muslims who "seemed to be in charge." The student also said Muslims took over the meditation room.
"They made people who are not of the Muslim religion feel very uncomfortable, especially if they were female," he said.
Comments on Kersten's column blog were vehement.
"Each and every time this topic comes up I see my former Liberal friends compromising their principles of 'Separation of Church and State' by supporting the open display of religion in public places when it concerns any religion other the Christianity," said on. "Again, if you are against the public display of religion you are against ALL public displays of religion, PERIOD."
Another poster asked, "Why is a publicly funded instituion (sic) providing any accomodation (sic) for any religion on its campus? If you want religious accommodation (sic), go to a private educational institution that will accomodate (sic) this religion."
WND also has reported on a decision by officials at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., to appoint a practicing Hindu to head the college's religion department.
The issue of Muslim accommodations in public facilities such as airports already has attracted attention in Indianapolis, Phoenix and several other locations.
In a letter to Indianapolis officials, Rev. Jerry Hillenberg of Hope Baptist Church asked for a meeting over plans being developed by the airport authority to install footbaths on the airport property.
"I still desire to speak personally with you about this issue. It cannot go unchallenged and unattended to," he wrote. "It remains a concern of the public at large, and certainly is a concern of this pastor and our congregation.
"All of the input that we have received from the citizens of this city, county, surrounding counties, across the country, and around the world; has run 10 to one against the installation of these religious implements," he said.
"Most realize that public property, owned by the taxpayers, cannot be used by Christians for religious displays or implements of their religiosity. Then, the question amongst them becomes: Why can it be used for Muslims?"
'Mosque' uncovered on college campus
'For all practical purposes, this is essentially a Muslim prayer room'
Posted: December 17, 2007
4:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A Japanese garden on the campus of Normandale Community College in Minnesota
A Minnesota community college has "a Muslim place of worship" featuring "a schedule for Islam's five daily prayers," according to a local newspaper columnist who visited the campus.
Tax-supported Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn., also has a "sign requesting that shoes be removed" and a barrier that divides men's and women's "prayer spaces," writes Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
College officials denied it was anything more than a "meditation" room available for "all faiths."
The description of the facility, however, led one faculty member to tell Kersten the room is "unprecedented" and "goes beyond religious toleration."
"For all practical purposes, this meditation room is essentially a Muslim prayer room," said Chuck Chalberg of Normandale's history faculty.
WND has reported on "accommodations" for Muslims in public institutions, such as schools and airports, and the outrage triggered by the expenditure of public funds on a religion-specific facility.
At Normandale, Kersten reported, an "arrow informed worshippers of the direction of Mecca, and literature urged women to cover their faces."
She reported college officials converted a racquetball court into a "meditation" room during remodeling of some school facilities, which held another "meditation" room for students' use.
Her description continues:
A row of chest-high barriers splits the room into sex-segregated sections. In the smaller, enclosed area for women sits a pile of shawls and head-coverings. Literature titled "Hijaab [covering] and Modesty" was prominently placed there, instructing women on proper Islamic behavior. They should cover their faces and stay at home, it said, and their speech should not "be such that it is heard."
"Enter into Islaam completely and accept all the rulings of Islaam," the tract read in part. "It should not be that you accept what entertains your desires and leave what opposes your desires; this is from the manners of the Jews."
"[T]he Jews and the Christians" are described as "the enemies of Allaah's religion."
The document adds: "Remember that you will never succeed while you follow these people."
A poster on the room's door advertised a local lecture on "marriage from an Islamic perspective," with "useful tips for marital harmony from the Prophet's ... life." Other fliers invited students to join the Normandale Islamic Forum, or participate in Ramadan celebrations.
One thing was missing from the meditation room: evidence of any faith but Islam. No Bible, no crucifix, no Torah.
Normandale President Joe Opatz did not take a reporter's call with questions, instead deferring to college spokesman Geoff Jones, who said the article is "not accurate."
College chief Joe Opatz
Jones said the school is open to "diversity in terms of beliefs, values and cultural backgrounds."
The room, he said, was "created for use by any person for meditation purposes."
Jones confirmed it does have a partition that partially divides the room "that is something that was placed there."
But he denied there are any brochures, information or religious symbols or representations in the room.
"When I visited the room … there were no postings other than announcing it was a meditation room," Jones said.
"We've always sought to have persons of all cultures and backgrounds welcome here. As such we have student clubs and speakers from the community … that promote the dialogue and the discourse," he said.
"As a public institution, we have a responsibility to allow freedom of speech and freedom of religion. This is America," said Jones.
But he also confirmed there is no set schedule for the various groups to use the room.
"It's just been the ebb and flow [of meetings]," he said.
Opatz, on his website welcome to the school, called Normandale the "crown jewel" of the community college system.
He suggested the "clubs, student government, recreational sports and other organizations" provide "a winning combination for a lasting success."
The school website lists the Baha'I Club, Campus Crusade for Christ, College Democrats, Dental Hygiene, Ethiopian Student Union, Gay & Straight Student Alliance, Latter-day Saint Student Association, Muslim Student Association, Oromo Student Union, Somali Student Association and other special interest groups active on campus.
Ralph Anderson, dean of student affairs, told Kersten the college not only prepared the room but also posted signs at the room's entrance asking students to remove their shoes, which is a Muslim custom.
Anderson called it, "basically a courtesy to Muslim students."
He also told her the room is divided by sex, because "Muslim students prefer that. …"
Anderson refused to respond to questions about such segregation in a public facility.
"I don't want to comment on that," he said.
Chad Lunaas, a former student at the school, told Kersten he frequently on Fridays would discover that "every sink and toilet stall had someone washing his feet."
He said he was intimidated by Muslims who "seemed to be in charge." The student also said Muslims took over the meditation room.
"They made people who are not of the Muslim religion feel very uncomfortable, especially if they were female," he said.
Comments on Kersten's column blog were vehement.
"Each and every time this topic comes up I see my former Liberal friends compromising their principles of 'Separation of Church and State' by supporting the open display of religion in public places when it concerns any religion other the Christianity," said on. "Again, if you are against the public display of religion you are against ALL public displays of religion, PERIOD."
Another poster asked, "Why is a publicly funded instituion (sic) providing any accomodation (sic) for any religion on its campus? If you want religious accommodation (sic), go to a private educational institution that will accomodate (sic) this religion."
WND also has reported on a decision by officials at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., to appoint a practicing Hindu to head the college's religion department.
The issue of Muslim accommodations in public facilities such as airports already has attracted attention in Indianapolis, Phoenix and several other locations.
In a letter to Indianapolis officials, Rev. Jerry Hillenberg of Hope Baptist Church asked for a meeting over plans being developed by the airport authority to install footbaths on the airport property.
"I still desire to speak personally with you about this issue. It cannot go unchallenged and unattended to," he wrote. "It remains a concern of the public at large, and certainly is a concern of this pastor and our congregation.
"All of the input that we have received from the citizens of this city, county, surrounding counties, across the country, and around the world; has run 10 to one against the installation of these religious implements," he said.
"Most realize that public property, owned by the taxpayers, cannot be used by Christians for religious displays or implements of their religiosity. Then, the question amongst them becomes: Why can it be used for Muslims?"
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Global Carbon Tax Urged at UN Climate Conference
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=d5c3c93f-802a-23ad-4f29-fe59494b48a6&Issue_id=
Global Carbon Tax Urged at UN Climate Conference
December 13, 2007
Posted By Marc Morano – Marc_Morano@EPW.Senate.Gov – 5:35 PM ET
Over 100 Prominent Scientists Warn UN Against 'Futile' Climate Control Efforts
Skeptical Scientists Urge World To ‘Have the Courage to Do Nothing' At UN Conference ]
Global Carbon Tax Urged at UN Climate Conference
BALI, Indonesia – A global tax on carbon dioxide emissions was urged to help save the Earth from catastrophic man-made global warming at the United Nations climate conference. A panel of UN participants on Thursday urged the adoption of a tax that would represent “a global burden sharing system, fair, with solidarity, and legally binding to all nations.”
“Finally someone will pay for these [climate related] costs,” Othmar Schwank, a global tax advocate, told Inhofe EPW Press Blog following the panel discussion titled “A Global CO2 Tax.” Schwank is a consultant with the Switzerland based Mauch Consulting firm
Schwank said at least “$10-$40 billion dollars per year” could be generated by the tax, and wealthy nations like the U.S. would bear the biggest burden based on the “polluters pay principle.”
The U.S. and other wealthy nations need to “contribute significantly more to this global fund,” Schwank explained. He also added, “It is very essential to tax coal.”
The UN was presented with a new report from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment titled “Global Solidarity in Financing Adaptation.” The report stated there was an “urgent need” for a global tax in order for “damages [from climate change] to be kept from growing to truly catastrophic levels, especially in vulnerable countries of the developing world.”
The tens of billions of dollars per year generated by a global tax would “flow into a global Multilateral Adaptation Fund” to help nations cope with global warming, according to the report.
Schwank said a global carbon dioxide tax is an idea long overdue that is urgently needed to establish “a funding scheme which generates the resources required to address the dimension of challenge with regard to climate change costs.”
'Diminish future prosperity'
However, ideas like a global tax and the overall UN climate agenda met strong opposition Thursday from a team of over 100 prominent international scientists who warned the UN that attempting to control the Earth's climate was "ultimately futile."
The scientists wrote, “The IPCC's conclusions are quite inadequate as justification for implementing policies that will markedly diminish future prosperity. In particular, it is not established that it is possible to significantly alter global climate through cuts in human greenhouse gas emissions." The scientists, many of whom are current or former members of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), sent the December 13 letter to the UN Secretary-General. (See: Over 100 Prominent Scientists Warn UN Against 'Futile' Climate Control Efforts – LINK)
‘Redistribution of wealth’
The environmental group Friends of the Earth, in attendance in Bali, also advocated the transfer of money from rich to poor nations on Wednesday.
“A climate change response must have at its heart a redistribution of wealth and resources,” said Emma Brindal, a climate justice campaigner coordinator for Friends of the Earth. (LINK)
Calls for global regulations and taxes are not new at the UN. Former Vice President Al Gore, who arrived Thursday at the Bali conference, reiterated this week his call to place a price on carbon dioxide emissions. (LINK)
In 2000, then French President Jacques Chirac said the UN’s Kyoto Protocol represented "the first component of an authentic global governance." Former EU Environment Minister Margot Wallstrom said, "Kyoto is about the economy, about leveling the playing field for big businesses worldwide." Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper once dismissed Kyoto as a “socialist scheme.” (LINK)
'A bureaucrat's dream'
MIT climate scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen warned about these types of carbon regulations earlier this year. "Controlling carbon is a bureaucrat's dream. If you control carbon, you control life," Lindzen said in March 2007. (LINK)
In addition, many critics have often charged that proposed tax and regulatory “solutions” were more important to the promoters of man-made climate fears than the accuracy of their science.
Former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth reportedly said in 1990, "We've got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing — in terms of economic policy and environmental policy." (LINK)
------------------
MY COMMENTS:
It's nothing more than a scheme people... THERE IS NO GLOBAL WARMING!!!!!! It's just another tax... Those that own and regulate carbon own life!!!!
Global Carbon Tax Urged at UN Climate Conference
December 13, 2007
Posted By Marc Morano – Marc_Morano@EPW.Senate.Gov – 5:35 PM ET
Over 100 Prominent Scientists Warn UN Against 'Futile' Climate Control Efforts
Skeptical Scientists Urge World To ‘Have the Courage to Do Nothing' At UN Conference ]
Global Carbon Tax Urged at UN Climate Conference
BALI, Indonesia – A global tax on carbon dioxide emissions was urged to help save the Earth from catastrophic man-made global warming at the United Nations climate conference. A panel of UN participants on Thursday urged the adoption of a tax that would represent “a global burden sharing system, fair, with solidarity, and legally binding to all nations.”
“Finally someone will pay for these [climate related] costs,” Othmar Schwank, a global tax advocate, told Inhofe EPW Press Blog following the panel discussion titled “A Global CO2 Tax.” Schwank is a consultant with the Switzerland based Mauch Consulting firm
Schwank said at least “$10-$40 billion dollars per year” could be generated by the tax, and wealthy nations like the U.S. would bear the biggest burden based on the “polluters pay principle.”
The U.S. and other wealthy nations need to “contribute significantly more to this global fund,” Schwank explained. He also added, “It is very essential to tax coal.”
The UN was presented with a new report from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment titled “Global Solidarity in Financing Adaptation.” The report stated there was an “urgent need” for a global tax in order for “damages [from climate change] to be kept from growing to truly catastrophic levels, especially in vulnerable countries of the developing world.”
The tens of billions of dollars per year generated by a global tax would “flow into a global Multilateral Adaptation Fund” to help nations cope with global warming, according to the report.
Schwank said a global carbon dioxide tax is an idea long overdue that is urgently needed to establish “a funding scheme which generates the resources required to address the dimension of challenge with regard to climate change costs.”
'Diminish future prosperity'
However, ideas like a global tax and the overall UN climate agenda met strong opposition Thursday from a team of over 100 prominent international scientists who warned the UN that attempting to control the Earth's climate was "ultimately futile."
The scientists wrote, “The IPCC's conclusions are quite inadequate as justification for implementing policies that will markedly diminish future prosperity. In particular, it is not established that it is possible to significantly alter global climate through cuts in human greenhouse gas emissions." The scientists, many of whom are current or former members of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), sent the December 13 letter to the UN Secretary-General. (See: Over 100 Prominent Scientists Warn UN Against 'Futile' Climate Control Efforts – LINK)
‘Redistribution of wealth’
The environmental group Friends of the Earth, in attendance in Bali, also advocated the transfer of money from rich to poor nations on Wednesday.
“A climate change response must have at its heart a redistribution of wealth and resources,” said Emma Brindal, a climate justice campaigner coordinator for Friends of the Earth. (LINK)
Calls for global regulations and taxes are not new at the UN. Former Vice President Al Gore, who arrived Thursday at the Bali conference, reiterated this week his call to place a price on carbon dioxide emissions. (LINK)
In 2000, then French President Jacques Chirac said the UN’s Kyoto Protocol represented "the first component of an authentic global governance." Former EU Environment Minister Margot Wallstrom said, "Kyoto is about the economy, about leveling the playing field for big businesses worldwide." Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper once dismissed Kyoto as a “socialist scheme.” (LINK)
'A bureaucrat's dream'
MIT climate scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen warned about these types of carbon regulations earlier this year. "Controlling carbon is a bureaucrat's dream. If you control carbon, you control life," Lindzen said in March 2007. (LINK)
In addition, many critics have often charged that proposed tax and regulatory “solutions” were more important to the promoters of man-made climate fears than the accuracy of their science.
Former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth reportedly said in 1990, "We've got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing — in terms of economic policy and environmental policy." (LINK)
------------------
MY COMMENTS:
It's nothing more than a scheme people... THERE IS NO GLOBAL WARMING!!!!!! It's just another tax... Those that own and regulate carbon own life!!!!
Gore hits at US over climate change
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0dd147ec-a97e-11dc-aa8b-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
Gore hits at US over climate change
By John Aglionby in Nusa Dua, Bali and agencies
Published: December 13 2007 13:35 | Last updated: December 13 2007 14:52
Al Gore savaged the US government’s “obstructing” attitude and urged delegates at the UN conference on climate change to ignore Washington if necessary to pursue the “moral imperative” of a new global regime.
“My country is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali,” the former US vice-president told 2,000 of the 12,000 people attending the conference on Thursday. “[But] over the next two years the United States is going to be somewhere it is not now.”
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Emissions deal aimed at key sectors - Dec-13Bali leaders move towards agreement - Dec-12Asia acknowledges climate-change role - Dec-12Deal close on reward scheme to save forests - Dec-11UN warns on climate change-related conflict - Dec-11UN chief hits at China, India on climate - Dec-10The Bali meeting is trying to reach an agreement to start negotiations that will culminate in 2009 with a new global deal to tackle climate change. The US is due to elect a new president in November 2008 and the majority of the frontrunners have a more proactive attitude to climate change than the Bush administration.
European Union nations said they might boycott a U.S.-led climate meeting next month unless Washington compromises to achieve a deal on Bali.
‘‘No result in Bali means no Major Economies Meeting,’’ said Sigmar Gabriel, top EU environment official from Germany, referring to a series of separate climate talks initiated by President Bush in September. ‘‘This is the clear position of the EU. I do not know what we should talk about if there is no target.’’
The US invited 16 other major economies, including European countries, Japan, China and India, to discuss a program of what are expected to be nationally determined, voluntary cutbacks in greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Gore, fresh from receiving the Nobel peace prize jointly with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said delegates must “find the grace to navigate around this enormous obstacle, the elephant in the room that I have been undiplomatic enough to name.”
The US delegation in Bali has repeatedly said it is committed to finding a consensus and reaching a deal but numerous countries have accused it, as well as Japan, Canada and Saudi Arabia, of blocking progress.
A substantial part of Mr’s Gore’s hour-long address was a recap of material he has used on numerous occasions since making An Inconvenient Truth, his Oscar-winning film, in 2006. He described how scientists are warning of a rapidly escalating crisis unless greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced.
He sought to inspire the audience by telling them they had the privilege of being some of the few people in the world who can make a difference in saving “the world’s civilisation”.
“The way ahead from Bali is difficult,” he said. “The truth is that is the maximum now considered possible even here in this conference is still far short of the minimum that will really solve this process. So we have to expand the limits of what’s possible. We must have the moral imagination of humankind to see ourselves as the symbol of global civilisation.”
-------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Al Gore is the largest contributor to global warming... If he just closed his mouth he'd save the world from all his hot air.
Gore hits at US over climate change
By John Aglionby in Nusa Dua, Bali and agencies
Published: December 13 2007 13:35 | Last updated: December 13 2007 14:52
Al Gore savaged the US government’s “obstructing” attitude and urged delegates at the UN conference on climate change to ignore Washington if necessary to pursue the “moral imperative” of a new global regime.
“My country is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali,” the former US vice-president told 2,000 of the 12,000 people attending the conference on Thursday. “[But] over the next two years the United States is going to be somewhere it is not now.”
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Emissions deal aimed at key sectors - Dec-13Bali leaders move towards agreement - Dec-12Asia acknowledges climate-change role - Dec-12Deal close on reward scheme to save forests - Dec-11UN warns on climate change-related conflict - Dec-11UN chief hits at China, India on climate - Dec-10The Bali meeting is trying to reach an agreement to start negotiations that will culminate in 2009 with a new global deal to tackle climate change. The US is due to elect a new president in November 2008 and the majority of the frontrunners have a more proactive attitude to climate change than the Bush administration.
European Union nations said they might boycott a U.S.-led climate meeting next month unless Washington compromises to achieve a deal on Bali.
‘‘No result in Bali means no Major Economies Meeting,’’ said Sigmar Gabriel, top EU environment official from Germany, referring to a series of separate climate talks initiated by President Bush in September. ‘‘This is the clear position of the EU. I do not know what we should talk about if there is no target.’’
The US invited 16 other major economies, including European countries, Japan, China and India, to discuss a program of what are expected to be nationally determined, voluntary cutbacks in greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Gore, fresh from receiving the Nobel peace prize jointly with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said delegates must “find the grace to navigate around this enormous obstacle, the elephant in the room that I have been undiplomatic enough to name.”
The US delegation in Bali has repeatedly said it is committed to finding a consensus and reaching a deal but numerous countries have accused it, as well as Japan, Canada and Saudi Arabia, of blocking progress.
A substantial part of Mr’s Gore’s hour-long address was a recap of material he has used on numerous occasions since making An Inconvenient Truth, his Oscar-winning film, in 2006. He described how scientists are warning of a rapidly escalating crisis unless greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced.
He sought to inspire the audience by telling them they had the privilege of being some of the few people in the world who can make a difference in saving “the world’s civilisation”.
“The way ahead from Bali is difficult,” he said. “The truth is that is the maximum now considered possible even here in this conference is still far short of the minimum that will really solve this process. So we have to expand the limits of what’s possible. We must have the moral imagination of humankind to see ourselves as the symbol of global civilisation.”
-------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Al Gore is the largest contributor to global warming... If he just closed his mouth he'd save the world from all his hot air.
Huck, Mitt, Rudy, McCain blame you for global warming
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59176
Huck, Mitt, Rudy, McCain blame you for global warming
GOP frontrunners all believe climate change serious threat
Posted: December 12, 2007
6:59 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The Republican presidential candidates shown leading the race in recent polls all believe global warming is a serious threat and caused by human activity.
Audience members listen to Republican presidential candidates at debate in Iowa (courtesy: Des Moines Register)
When asked at today's Des Moines Register debate in Iowa to raise their hands if they believed climate change were indeed a real problem caused by people, Sen. John McCain, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Gov. Mitt Romney all responded in the positive.
"Climate change is real. It's happening. I believe human beings are contributing to it," Giuliani said, calling for a "Manhattan Project" to wean America off foreign energy sources.
McCain chimed in, saying, "More than contributing, my friend."
"But let me put it to you this way: Suppose that climate change is not real and all we do is adopt green technologies which our economy and our technology is perfectly cable of. Then all we've done is given our kids a cleaner world," McCain said. "But suppose they're wrong and climate change is real and we've done nothing. What kind of a planet are we going to pass on to the next generation of Americans?"
Mitt Romney, who has fallen behind the surging Mike Huckabee in Iowa, said the United States could not act alone.
"We call it 'global warming,' not 'America warming,'" Romney said. "So let's not put a burden on us alone and have the rest of the world skate by without having to participate in this effort. It's a global effort."
Those not raising their hands on the original question of global climate change being a serious threat caused by human activity were former Sen. Fred Thompson, Reps. Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, and Ambassador Alan Keyes.
When Keyes was asked his thoughts, he gave a long answer condemning the betrayal of U.S. sovereignty, elite politicians and the destruction of the Constitution.
Thompson jumped in to say: "I agree with Alan Keyes' position on global warming."
As the audience laughed, Keyes said: "I think the most emission we need to control is the hot air emission of politicians who pretend one thing and don't deliver."
Huck, Mitt, Rudy, McCain blame you for global warming
GOP frontrunners all believe climate change serious threat
Posted: December 12, 2007
6:59 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The Republican presidential candidates shown leading the race in recent polls all believe global warming is a serious threat and caused by human activity.
Audience members listen to Republican presidential candidates at debate in Iowa (courtesy: Des Moines Register)
When asked at today's Des Moines Register debate in Iowa to raise their hands if they believed climate change were indeed a real problem caused by people, Sen. John McCain, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Gov. Mitt Romney all responded in the positive.
"Climate change is real. It's happening. I believe human beings are contributing to it," Giuliani said, calling for a "Manhattan Project" to wean America off foreign energy sources.
McCain chimed in, saying, "More than contributing, my friend."
"But let me put it to you this way: Suppose that climate change is not real and all we do is adopt green technologies which our economy and our technology is perfectly cable of. Then all we've done is given our kids a cleaner world," McCain said. "But suppose they're wrong and climate change is real and we've done nothing. What kind of a planet are we going to pass on to the next generation of Americans?"
Mitt Romney, who has fallen behind the surging Mike Huckabee in Iowa, said the United States could not act alone.
"We call it 'global warming,' not 'America warming,'" Romney said. "So let's not put a burden on us alone and have the rest of the world skate by without having to participate in this effort. It's a global effort."
Those not raising their hands on the original question of global climate change being a serious threat caused by human activity were former Sen. Fred Thompson, Reps. Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, and Ambassador Alan Keyes.
When Keyes was asked his thoughts, he gave a long answer condemning the betrayal of U.S. sovereignty, elite politicians and the destruction of the Constitution.
Thompson jumped in to say: "I agree with Alan Keyes' position on global warming."
As the audience laughed, Keyes said: "I think the most emission we need to control is the hot air emission of politicians who pretend one thing and don't deliver."
Amendment to check lawmakers' past dies in Senate
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/NEWS24/712120439
Amendment to check lawmakers' past dies in Senate
By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF
COLUMBUS - Republican state senators yesterday shut down debate on a proposed Democratic amendment that would have subjected lawmakers to the same criminal background checks they were about to impose on a menu of other professionals.
The move was in response to a House bill authorizing criminal background checks for license applicants for accountants, dentists, funeral directors, optometrists, pharmacists, doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, veterinarians, and numerous other professions.
"We ought to hold ourselves to the same standard that we're holding them," Sen. John Boccieri (D., New Middletown) said.
The GOP majority balked, voting 19-13 to block Democrats from offering the amendment. The bill passed 30-2 with the bulk of Democrats joining in to support the final version.
Afterward, Senate President Bill Harris (R., Ashland) said the chamber voted to block the amendment because it hadn't been vetted through the usual committee process.
"I think certainly if it had gone through the committee process and been passed by the committee, we'd have a vote," he said. He added that the vote was not a suggestion that any legislator had something to hide.
The refusal to consider the Boccieri amendment occurred just moments after the chamber accepted a floor amendment that was not in writing that removed barbers and barber shops from the background-check list. The vote counted on legislative staffers to later work it into the bill.
"They're just making up the rules as they see fit …" said Senate Minority Leader Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo). "They allow the process to happen when it's convenient … It seems we're over-regulating many different areas. Over-regulation may have a slippery slope."
The Ohio Constitution grants authority to the General Assembly to decide whether anyone convicted of a felony may serve in either chamber.
The Boccieri amendment, like the bill for other professions, would not have disqualified any lawmakers from running or serving if elected based on their background. But it would have required all candidates for the Ohio House and Senate to undergo background checks when they file with county boards of election. The bill returns to the House for approval of the Senate changes.
Sen. Bill Seitz (R., Cincinnati) said the boards and commissions involved in the bill are obligated under state law to consider a person's criminal record when it comes to licensing decisions.
"All the bill does is give those boards and commissions the ability to conduct the criminal background check to allow them to verify what the applicant tells them," he said.
Most Republicans joined Democrats in balking at the provision that included barbers and barber shop operators in the same category as anesthesiologist assistants, dental hygienists, psychologists, physical therapists, and social workers subject to background checks. Sen. Eric Kearney (D., Cincinnati) said he knows a barber shop operator who's worried he'll lose his license because of his criminal past.
"What is the purpose of this legislation?" he asked. "Are we afraid the public will somehow get injured by clippers, rubbing alcohol, or talcum powder? ... It's just too much."
Contact Jim Provance at:
jprovance@theblade.com,
or 614-221-0496.
Amendment to check lawmakers' past dies in Senate
By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF
COLUMBUS - Republican state senators yesterday shut down debate on a proposed Democratic amendment that would have subjected lawmakers to the same criminal background checks they were about to impose on a menu of other professionals.
The move was in response to a House bill authorizing criminal background checks for license applicants for accountants, dentists, funeral directors, optometrists, pharmacists, doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, veterinarians, and numerous other professions.
"We ought to hold ourselves to the same standard that we're holding them," Sen. John Boccieri (D., New Middletown) said.
The GOP majority balked, voting 19-13 to block Democrats from offering the amendment. The bill passed 30-2 with the bulk of Democrats joining in to support the final version.
Afterward, Senate President Bill Harris (R., Ashland) said the chamber voted to block the amendment because it hadn't been vetted through the usual committee process.
"I think certainly if it had gone through the committee process and been passed by the committee, we'd have a vote," he said. He added that the vote was not a suggestion that any legislator had something to hide.
The refusal to consider the Boccieri amendment occurred just moments after the chamber accepted a floor amendment that was not in writing that removed barbers and barber shops from the background-check list. The vote counted on legislative staffers to later work it into the bill.
"They're just making up the rules as they see fit …" said Senate Minority Leader Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo). "They allow the process to happen when it's convenient … It seems we're over-regulating many different areas. Over-regulation may have a slippery slope."
The Ohio Constitution grants authority to the General Assembly to decide whether anyone convicted of a felony may serve in either chamber.
The Boccieri amendment, like the bill for other professions, would not have disqualified any lawmakers from running or serving if elected based on their background. But it would have required all candidates for the Ohio House and Senate to undergo background checks when they file with county boards of election. The bill returns to the House for approval of the Senate changes.
Sen. Bill Seitz (R., Cincinnati) said the boards and commissions involved in the bill are obligated under state law to consider a person's criminal record when it comes to licensing decisions.
"All the bill does is give those boards and commissions the ability to conduct the criminal background check to allow them to verify what the applicant tells them," he said.
Most Republicans joined Democrats in balking at the provision that included barbers and barber shop operators in the same category as anesthesiologist assistants, dental hygienists, psychologists, physical therapists, and social workers subject to background checks. Sen. Eric Kearney (D., Cincinnati) said he knows a barber shop operator who's worried he'll lose his license because of his criminal past.
"What is the purpose of this legislation?" he asked. "Are we afraid the public will somehow get injured by clippers, rubbing alcohol, or talcum powder? ... It's just too much."
Contact Jim Provance at:
jprovance@theblade.com,
or 614-221-0496.
'Where's the fence?' activist asks Congress
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59159
'Where's the fence?' activist asks Congress
Budget amendment 'threatens' border security plan
Posted: December 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Steve Elliott, the president of Grassfire, says he still wants to know, "Where's the fence?"
Elliott, in a telephone interview, told WND an amendment submitted by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, for the Department of Homeland Security 2008 budget would gut the already-approved Secure Fence Act, which was adopted with the promise hundreds of miles of physical fencing would help secure the U.S. border with Mexico.
But the budget bill now in a conference committee contains the Hutchinson amendment, and Elliott says it simply would drop the requirement for the security project.
(Story continues below)
"After the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was signed into law by President Bush in October 2006, millions of Americans had a right to expect a double-layer fence would be built along our border with Mexico," Elliott said.
"Now, if the Hutchison amendment gets signed into law that fence is never going to be built," he said.
Elliott said the language of the amendment from Hutchison (S. Amdt. 2466) specifically would exempt the Department of Homeland Security from having to build any fence at all.
The Hutchison amendment reads, in part, " … nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States, if the Secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location."
"By slipping the Hutchison amendment into the DHS funding bill, Hutchison intends to give DHS total discretion to build a fence or to not build a fence in any particular location. That is not what the American people were led to believe would happen when Congress passed the Secure Fence Act in 2006," Elliott said.
In a special report filed on the Grassfire website titled "Border Fence Funding Hoax of 2006 and 2007," Elliott argues Hutchison first suggested this type of legislative modification on the very day the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was passed.
"A deal had already been struck to basically un-do the Secure Fence Act before the vote was ever taken," Elliott said.
In the report, Elliott says the Secure Fence Act was a carefully staged public relations event designed by Republicans "to create the impression that Congress was clamping down on illegal immigration.
"You see, Republicans were just a few weeks away from the '06 elections and were desperately looking for an issue that would save them from defeat," Elliott wrote.
Hutchison spokesman Matt Mackowiak objected.
"This statement by Grassfire.org is factually inaccurate," Mackowiak told WND in an e-mail. "Sen. Hutchison supports the border fence and voted for the Secure Fence Act."
Mackowiak further told WND that the main purpose of the amendment was to require DHS to consult with the Border Patrol and citizens along the border before beginning construction.
"Sen. Hutchison recognizes that the federal government has limited resources and border patrol agents manning the border know best where to put fencing to prevent illegal immigration and to thwart drug cartels," Mackowiak told WND. "Those decisions should not be left to legislators who have never even visited our border."
On Nov. 6, DHS released a "fact sheet" that appears to confirm Elliott's accusation.
The fact sheet notes that DHS has completed 76 miles of "pedestrian fence" and plans to build 670 miles of "pedestrian fence" by the end of 2008.
Yet, the DHS fact sheet makes no reference to the double-layer fence mandated by Congress in the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
On Aug. 23, WND has reported, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., wrote a letter to President Bush noting only 17.9 miles of the 854 miles of fencing called for in the Secure Fence Act had been completed as of Aug. 10, stressing that the Bush administration was falling behind the timetable mandated by Congress in the bill.
Yesterday, Hunter's office confirmed to WND the importance of building the double-layer fence as originally called for in the bill.
"The Secure Fence Act was clear in that it required two layers of fencing separated by a road and monitored by lights, cameras and sensors," Joe Kasper, communications director for Hunter, told WND in an e-mail.
Kasper acknowledged the Hutchison amendment will change the definition of the fence required by the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
"This new requirement no longer mandates that fencing be double-layered," Kasper wrote. "Given that double-layered fencing has worked so well in San Diego County, it is difficult to understand why this design wouldn't be replicated at other fencing locations along the border."
According to an Associated Press report, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, defended DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, arguing that DHS in letters prepared to go out this Friday is giving Texas landowners opposed to the border fence "one last chance" to allow access to their land before DHS goes to court.
"Sen. Cornyn is among the strongest advocates for increased border security in the Congress," Brian Walsh, communications director for Cornyn, told WND in an e-mail.
Still, Cornyn's office defended the demand in the Hutchison amendment to give flexibility to DHS in building the fence.
"Sen. Cornyn believes that it is important to consult with those who actually live and work on the border instead of simply relying on legislators and bureaucrats in Washington who have never even visited the border," Walsh wrote.
"Consultation with local landowners and officials has already produced ideas that will help better secure the border," Walsh continued. "Consultation will avoid lawsuits and other delays, and will lead to more effective measures to enforce our laws."
But will consultation lead to building the double-layered fence Congress mandated in the Secure Fence Act of 2006?
"I don't think so," Elliott told WND. "We're getting a lot of consultation and very little double-layered fence building. Where's the fence?"
"The Hutchison amendment should not be in the final bill," Elliott told WND. "We are encouraging our Grassfire.org members to call the conferees to tell them to take this amendment out."
Grassfire.org currently is running a campaign to encourage people to fax Congress to demand "the fence be built as promised."
Cornyn is listed as one of five co-sponsors to the Hutchison amendment.
President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 on Oct. 26, 2006.
'Where's the fence?' activist asks Congress
Budget amendment 'threatens' border security plan
Posted: December 12, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Steve Elliott, the president of Grassfire, says he still wants to know, "Where's the fence?"
Elliott, in a telephone interview, told WND an amendment submitted by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, for the Department of Homeland Security 2008 budget would gut the already-approved Secure Fence Act, which was adopted with the promise hundreds of miles of physical fencing would help secure the U.S. border with Mexico.
But the budget bill now in a conference committee contains the Hutchinson amendment, and Elliott says it simply would drop the requirement for the security project.
(Story continues below)
"After the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was signed into law by President Bush in October 2006, millions of Americans had a right to expect a double-layer fence would be built along our border with Mexico," Elliott said.
"Now, if the Hutchison amendment gets signed into law that fence is never going to be built," he said.
Elliott said the language of the amendment from Hutchison (S. Amdt. 2466) specifically would exempt the Department of Homeland Security from having to build any fence at all.
The Hutchison amendment reads, in part, " … nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States, if the Secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location."
"By slipping the Hutchison amendment into the DHS funding bill, Hutchison intends to give DHS total discretion to build a fence or to not build a fence in any particular location. That is not what the American people were led to believe would happen when Congress passed the Secure Fence Act in 2006," Elliott said.
In a special report filed on the Grassfire website titled "Border Fence Funding Hoax of 2006 and 2007," Elliott argues Hutchison first suggested this type of legislative modification on the very day the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was passed.
"A deal had already been struck to basically un-do the Secure Fence Act before the vote was ever taken," Elliott said.
In the report, Elliott says the Secure Fence Act was a carefully staged public relations event designed by Republicans "to create the impression that Congress was clamping down on illegal immigration.
"You see, Republicans were just a few weeks away from the '06 elections and were desperately looking for an issue that would save them from defeat," Elliott wrote.
Hutchison spokesman Matt Mackowiak objected.
"This statement by Grassfire.org is factually inaccurate," Mackowiak told WND in an e-mail. "Sen. Hutchison supports the border fence and voted for the Secure Fence Act."
Mackowiak further told WND that the main purpose of the amendment was to require DHS to consult with the Border Patrol and citizens along the border before beginning construction.
"Sen. Hutchison recognizes that the federal government has limited resources and border patrol agents manning the border know best where to put fencing to prevent illegal immigration and to thwart drug cartels," Mackowiak told WND. "Those decisions should not be left to legislators who have never even visited our border."
On Nov. 6, DHS released a "fact sheet" that appears to confirm Elliott's accusation.
The fact sheet notes that DHS has completed 76 miles of "pedestrian fence" and plans to build 670 miles of "pedestrian fence" by the end of 2008.
Yet, the DHS fact sheet makes no reference to the double-layer fence mandated by Congress in the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
On Aug. 23, WND has reported, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., wrote a letter to President Bush noting only 17.9 miles of the 854 miles of fencing called for in the Secure Fence Act had been completed as of Aug. 10, stressing that the Bush administration was falling behind the timetable mandated by Congress in the bill.
Yesterday, Hunter's office confirmed to WND the importance of building the double-layer fence as originally called for in the bill.
"The Secure Fence Act was clear in that it required two layers of fencing separated by a road and monitored by lights, cameras and sensors," Joe Kasper, communications director for Hunter, told WND in an e-mail.
Kasper acknowledged the Hutchison amendment will change the definition of the fence required by the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
"This new requirement no longer mandates that fencing be double-layered," Kasper wrote. "Given that double-layered fencing has worked so well in San Diego County, it is difficult to understand why this design wouldn't be replicated at other fencing locations along the border."
According to an Associated Press report, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, defended DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, arguing that DHS in letters prepared to go out this Friday is giving Texas landowners opposed to the border fence "one last chance" to allow access to their land before DHS goes to court.
"Sen. Cornyn is among the strongest advocates for increased border security in the Congress," Brian Walsh, communications director for Cornyn, told WND in an e-mail.
Still, Cornyn's office defended the demand in the Hutchison amendment to give flexibility to DHS in building the fence.
"Sen. Cornyn believes that it is important to consult with those who actually live and work on the border instead of simply relying on legislators and bureaucrats in Washington who have never even visited the border," Walsh wrote.
"Consultation with local landowners and officials has already produced ideas that will help better secure the border," Walsh continued. "Consultation will avoid lawsuits and other delays, and will lead to more effective measures to enforce our laws."
But will consultation lead to building the double-layered fence Congress mandated in the Secure Fence Act of 2006?
"I don't think so," Elliott told WND. "We're getting a lot of consultation and very little double-layered fence building. Where's the fence?"
"The Hutchison amendment should not be in the final bill," Elliott told WND. "We are encouraging our Grassfire.org members to call the conferees to tell them to take this amendment out."
Grassfire.org currently is running a campaign to encourage people to fax Congress to demand "the fence be built as promised."
Cornyn is listed as one of five co-sponsors to the Hutchison amendment.
President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 on Oct. 26, 2006.
Dems: Amen to Ramadan, but forget about Christmas
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59171
Dems: Amen to Ramadan, but forget about Christmas
9 House members praise Islamic faith, won't recognize Christian observance
Posted: December 12, 2007
8:55 p.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
U.S. Rep Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
Only weeks after voting for a resolution that "recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world," nine Democrats in the U.S. House refused to vote for a Christmas resolution that condemns the worldwide persecution of Christians.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., was on the list of those who endorsed the statement recognizing Islam but refused to support the Christmas resolution that noted the holiday "is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and around the world."
The Christmas resolution, like the Ramadan resolution, decried the violence that targets religion around the world.
A spokesman for DeGette told WND her vote was because the Ramadan resolution, which she endorsed, was about "rejecting religious extremism and promoting of religious tolerance."
The spokesman, Chris Aaron, however, said DeGette is a "strong supporter of separation of church and state and her view was that Congress should not favor one religion over another.
"She felt this resolution (recognizing Christmas and condemning persecution of Christians) promoted Christianity over other religions," he told WND.
Other Democrats who supported the acknowledgment of Islam's Ramadan but refused a similar recognition for Christianity's Christmas included Gary Ackerman and Yvette Clarke of N.Y., Alcee Hastings, Fla., Barbara Lee, Fortney Stark and Lynn Woolsey, Calif., Jim McDermott, Wash., and Robert Scott, Va.
Both resolutions, carrying similar wording, ultimately were approved. But the American Family Association of Pennsylvania also raised the issue of representatives supporting Ramadan, but refusing to offer the same support for Christmas.
"We are very pleased that 17 of our 19 congressmen voted to recognize the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith. Congressman John Murtha was one of 40 who did not vote and unfortunately Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz decided to simply vote 'present' rather than take a stand on such a controversial issue as Christmas," said Diane Gramley, president.
She noted on Oct. 2, Schwartz "did not hesitate" to vote for a resolution to support the religion "of the 19 hijackers of 9/11 who brought down the World Trade Center, flew their airliner/missile into the Pentagon, and caused the death of the crew and passengers of Flight 93 as it crashed into a field outside Shanksville, Pa."
"I believe there are more Christians in her district than Muslims and they deserve an explanation for her vote last night," Gramley said.
According to Liberty Counsel, the Christmas resolution was approved with nine "no" votes. Ten others voted "present" and 40 refused to vote at all.
"Amazingly, all but two of the representatives who answered "present" or voted against the Christmas resolution voted in favor of a resolution recognizing Ramadan, even though much of the language was similar," the group said.
The Ramadan resolution began:
Whereas Ramadan is the holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal for Muslims worldwide, and is the 9th month of the Muslim calendar year; and Whereas the observance of the Islamic holy month of Ramandan commenced at dusk on September 13, 2007, and continues for one lunar month: …"
The Christmas resolution started:
Whereas Christmas, a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world... Whereas on December 25 of each calendar year, American Christians observe Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ...Whereas many Christians and non-Christians throughout the United States and the rest of the world, celebrate Christmas as a time to serve others:"
The Ramadan resolution then acknowledged "the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world," expressed "friendship and support for Muslims," noted "the onset of Ramadan," and rejected "hatred, bigotry, and violence directed against Muslims." It also "commends Muslims … who have privately and publicly rejected interpretations and movements of Islam that justify and encourage hatred."
The Christmas resolution continued to acknowledge "the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world," expressed "continued support for Christians," noted the historical importance of Christmas, the role "played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States," and rejected "bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide."
"Notice that the Christmas resolution uses similar language. It is astonishing that those who supported the Ramadan Resolution would vote against the Christmas Resolution," Liberty Counsel said.
The group suggested voters check the lists for votes by their representatives. "If they voted against Christmas and in favor of Ramadan, respectfully point out their hypocrisy," the group said.
Concerned Women for America said the true message of Christmas is under assault in the U.S. Shari Rendall, director of the group's legislation and public policy divisions, noted Congress earlier approved not only the endorsement of Ramadan but also another resolution concern the Hindu religion.
"It astounds me that any member of Congress would oppose legislation that recognizes the important of Christmas in our country, particularly in light of the fact that earlier this year Congress passed two separate resolutions honoring the Hindu and Islamic religions…"
Dems: Amen to Ramadan, but forget about Christmas
9 House members praise Islamic faith, won't recognize Christian observance
Posted: December 12, 2007
8:55 p.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
U.S. Rep Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
Only weeks after voting for a resolution that "recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world," nine Democrats in the U.S. House refused to vote for a Christmas resolution that condemns the worldwide persecution of Christians.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., was on the list of those who endorsed the statement recognizing Islam but refused to support the Christmas resolution that noted the holiday "is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and around the world."
The Christmas resolution, like the Ramadan resolution, decried the violence that targets religion around the world.
A spokesman for DeGette told WND her vote was because the Ramadan resolution, which she endorsed, was about "rejecting religious extremism and promoting of religious tolerance."
The spokesman, Chris Aaron, however, said DeGette is a "strong supporter of separation of church and state and her view was that Congress should not favor one religion over another.
"She felt this resolution (recognizing Christmas and condemning persecution of Christians) promoted Christianity over other religions," he told WND.
Other Democrats who supported the acknowledgment of Islam's Ramadan but refused a similar recognition for Christianity's Christmas included Gary Ackerman and Yvette Clarke of N.Y., Alcee Hastings, Fla., Barbara Lee, Fortney Stark and Lynn Woolsey, Calif., Jim McDermott, Wash., and Robert Scott, Va.
Both resolutions, carrying similar wording, ultimately were approved. But the American Family Association of Pennsylvania also raised the issue of representatives supporting Ramadan, but refusing to offer the same support for Christmas.
"We are very pleased that 17 of our 19 congressmen voted to recognize the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith. Congressman John Murtha was one of 40 who did not vote and unfortunately Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz decided to simply vote 'present' rather than take a stand on such a controversial issue as Christmas," said Diane Gramley, president.
She noted on Oct. 2, Schwartz "did not hesitate" to vote for a resolution to support the religion "of the 19 hijackers of 9/11 who brought down the World Trade Center, flew their airliner/missile into the Pentagon, and caused the death of the crew and passengers of Flight 93 as it crashed into a field outside Shanksville, Pa."
"I believe there are more Christians in her district than Muslims and they deserve an explanation for her vote last night," Gramley said.
According to Liberty Counsel, the Christmas resolution was approved with nine "no" votes. Ten others voted "present" and 40 refused to vote at all.
"Amazingly, all but two of the representatives who answered "present" or voted against the Christmas resolution voted in favor of a resolution recognizing Ramadan, even though much of the language was similar," the group said.
The Ramadan resolution began:
Whereas Ramadan is the holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal for Muslims worldwide, and is the 9th month of the Muslim calendar year; and Whereas the observance of the Islamic holy month of Ramandan commenced at dusk on September 13, 2007, and continues for one lunar month: …"
The Christmas resolution started:
Whereas Christmas, a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world... Whereas on December 25 of each calendar year, American Christians observe Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ...Whereas many Christians and non-Christians throughout the United States and the rest of the world, celebrate Christmas as a time to serve others:"
The Ramadan resolution then acknowledged "the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world," expressed "friendship and support for Muslims," noted "the onset of Ramadan," and rejected "hatred, bigotry, and violence directed against Muslims." It also "commends Muslims … who have privately and publicly rejected interpretations and movements of Islam that justify and encourage hatred."
The Christmas resolution continued to acknowledge "the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world," expressed "continued support for Christians," noted the historical importance of Christmas, the role "played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States," and rejected "bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide."
"Notice that the Christmas resolution uses similar language. It is astonishing that those who supported the Ramadan Resolution would vote against the Christmas Resolution," Liberty Counsel said.
The group suggested voters check the lists for votes by their representatives. "If they voted against Christmas and in favor of Ramadan, respectfully point out their hypocrisy," the group said.
Concerned Women for America said the true message of Christmas is under assault in the U.S. Shari Rendall, director of the group's legislation and public policy divisions, noted Congress earlier approved not only the endorsement of Ramadan but also another resolution concern the Hindu religion.
"It astounds me that any member of Congress would oppose legislation that recognizes the important of Christmas in our country, particularly in light of the fact that earlier this year Congress passed two separate resolutions honoring the Hindu and Islamic religions…"
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
U.S. slams "massive" U.N. budget rise
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1151309020071211?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true
U.S. slams "massive" U.N. budget rise
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States urged the United Nations on Tuesday to cut spending and make tough decisions on its priorities to offset a "massive increase" in its proposed budget for the next two years.
The U.N. budget is typically settled through negotiations with major contributors like the United States and the European Union. Two years ago, Washington demanded U.N. reforms before the final figure was agreed.
U.S. ambassador Mark Wallace urged member states at a budget committee on Tuesday to delay approval of a proposed $4.2 billion initial budget until next year when full details are provided of additional items.
Such items already identified would take spending to $4.8 billion, Wallace said, and the final figure including other proposals and foreseeable costs could rise to $5.2 billion. That compares to $4.17 billion in 2006/2007.
The budget does not include peacekeeping costs which are forecast to rise from $5 billion to around $7 billion, fueled by the cost of a planned force for Darfur.
Wallace criticized what he called the "piecemeal" approach to budgeting and said U.N. budget hikes of recent years outstripped increases in the budgets of donor countries and of other international organizations.
"With the largest budget increase in history ... the credibility of the U.N. is at stake," Wallace said.
U.N. payments are assessed according to a nation's wealth. Washington has withheld contributions in the past and has been leading a drive for more transparency and efficiency.
One diplomat said the United States had not threatened to withhold funds or make payment of its contributions conditional on reforms, as it has in the past.
Wallace proposed voting to allow the United Nations to continue its activities but postponing the final vote until early next year.
In the last two-year budget, the United States contributed around 22 percent, Japan nearly 20 percent and the nations of the European Union a combined 38 percent.
"The great challenge before us is for member states to find the political will to truly prioritize and to identify meaningful offsets or to ask the SYG (Secretary General) to make such recommendations," Wallace said.
The 27-nation European Union said earlier this year the likely total of $4.8 billion after additional items already identified was a "very substantial increase."
One EU diplomat said the bloc was concerned about the budget but did not see a need to delay the vote.
U.S. slams "massive" U.N. budget rise
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States urged the United Nations on Tuesday to cut spending and make tough decisions on its priorities to offset a "massive increase" in its proposed budget for the next two years.
The U.N. budget is typically settled through negotiations with major contributors like the United States and the European Union. Two years ago, Washington demanded U.N. reforms before the final figure was agreed.
U.S. ambassador Mark Wallace urged member states at a budget committee on Tuesday to delay approval of a proposed $4.2 billion initial budget until next year when full details are provided of additional items.
Such items already identified would take spending to $4.8 billion, Wallace said, and the final figure including other proposals and foreseeable costs could rise to $5.2 billion. That compares to $4.17 billion in 2006/2007.
The budget does not include peacekeeping costs which are forecast to rise from $5 billion to around $7 billion, fueled by the cost of a planned force for Darfur.
Wallace criticized what he called the "piecemeal" approach to budgeting and said U.N. budget hikes of recent years outstripped increases in the budgets of donor countries and of other international organizations.
"With the largest budget increase in history ... the credibility of the U.N. is at stake," Wallace said.
U.N. payments are assessed according to a nation's wealth. Washington has withheld contributions in the past and has been leading a drive for more transparency and efficiency.
One diplomat said the United States had not threatened to withhold funds or make payment of its contributions conditional on reforms, as it has in the past.
Wallace proposed voting to allow the United Nations to continue its activities but postponing the final vote until early next year.
In the last two-year budget, the United States contributed around 22 percent, Japan nearly 20 percent and the nations of the European Union a combined 38 percent.
"The great challenge before us is for member states to find the political will to truly prioritize and to identify meaningful offsets or to ask the SYG (Secretary General) to make such recommendations," Wallace said.
The 27-nation European Union said earlier this year the likely total of $4.8 billion after additional items already identified was a "very substantial increase."
One EU diplomat said the bloc was concerned about the budget but did not see a need to delay the vote.
Book Excerpt: In New York, illegal immigration took a back seat to making the city safe
http://www.examiner.com/a-1097819~In_New_York__illegal_immigration_took_a_back_seat_to_making_the_city_safe.html
Book Excerpt: In New York, illegal immigration took a back seat to making the city safe
Filed under: WASHINGTON , Bill Sammon , Meet the Next President
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Rudy Giuliani says he wanted to deport all 400,000 illegal immigrants from New York City when he was mayor, but ended up welcoming most of those who were “causing me no trouble.”
In an interview for the new book “Meet the Next President,” Giuliani lamented that the Immigration and Naturalization Service deported only 700 to 1,500 of the city’s 400,000 aliens each year during his mayoralty. Giuliani said it was obvious the INS was not about to increase deportation “from 700 or 1,500 to 400,000.”
“If they could, I would have turned all the people over. It would have helped me. I would have had a smaller population. I would have had fewer problems,” the Republican presidential candidate told The Examiner in an interview. “But the practical reality was, they were going to make an infinitesimal, statistically insignificant contribution to the problem. I was stuck with it. And no matter what their promises, they weren’t going to do anything about it.”
In fact, according to Giuliani, the INS told his predecessor, David Dinkins, to stop reporting criminals for deportation. Dinkins complied, even though he had re-issued an executive order by his predecessor, Ed Koch, that called for the reporting of illegals suspected of “engaging in criminal activity.”
When Giuliani took over as mayor, he too re-issued the Koch order.
“Why don’t you throw out the people who are drug dealers, that are coming out of jail? And before they hit the streets, we can turn them over,” Giuliani recalled telling the INS. “We couldn’t work that out with them. They wouldn’t do it for us.
“They wouldn’t do it for us because they had, you know, some professor with a visa first, and they had two restaurant workers, and three gardeners. Now it may or may not be right for them to be here, but they’re not threatening anybody. These drug dealers are threatening people. I couldn’t get them to do that, so I had to handle the thing myself. And I handled it.”
Giuliani handled it by cracking down on illegals who broke more than immigration laws. Meanwhile, he adopted a laissez-faire attitude toward everyone else who entered the United States illegally.
“The ones that are causing me no trouble, I’m going to leave them alone,” he told The Examiner. “They’re contributing to the lawful part of the city. I’ve got so many citizens — legal immigrants, and then some illegal immigrants — committing crimes that I’ve got to pay attention to them.”
Similarly, Giuliani concluded that going after school-age illegals would be an empty political gesture.
“I had sixty-[thousand] to seventy-thousand children in school who were illegal immigrants,” he said. “So for the purpose of protecting my backside, I would turn over the names to the immigration service so I could sound like a tough guy? I would end up with fifty-[thousand] to sixty-thousand kids on the street. And crime would go up in New York, not go down.”
So the mayor resigned himself to the federal government’s inability or unwillingness to deport illegal immigrants. In the process, he absolved himself of any blame for the city’s ongoing status as a haven for 400,000 illegals.
“That’s the federal government’s problem,” he told The Examiner. “If you’re not hurting anybody in my city, I don’t care.”
But Giuliani’s “I don’t care” attitude toward illegals sometimes morphed into unabashed cheerleading, as if he were rolling out the red carpet for them.
“Some of the hardest-working and most productive people in this city are undocumented aliens,” the mayor said at a 1994 press conference. “If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you’re one of the people who we want in this city. You’re somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair.”
The Examiner asked Giuliani why it was unfair to apply fugitive status to someone who broke the law to enter the United States.
“We were going to treat them as a fugitive if they committed a crime,” he replied. “And we weren’t going to treat them like a fugitive if they were being calm and responsible and decent.
“And finally, it didn’t much matter what I did with them,” he added. “The turning over of names to the immigration service was a mere formal act. It was absurd to think that they could possibly handle it. It continues to be absurd.
“In order to deal with the 12 million illegals that are in this country, you would have to take the entire federal, state and local criminal justice systems and multiply it by some factor of seven or eight or nine.”
Instead of attempting such an impossible task, Giuliani said he would concentrate on securing the U.S.-Mexico border if elected president.
Although Giuliani has been savaged by rival Republicans for his record on immigration, he insisted to The Examiner that “immigration is an issue that is not a negative with any Republican voters for me.” He said he wants voters to view his immigration stance in the context of his tough-on-crime credentials.
“My objective was to make New York City safe,” he said. “Illegal immigration and the problem of illegal immigrants was just one of many problems that were part of that whole. So the real question is, did I deal with it intelligently, and did it result in the city becoming much safer? Or did I deal with it stupidly and the city became much more dangerous?”
He believes the answer to that question will calm any fears that voters might harbor about his immigration stance.
“I end up being the strongest candidate on immigration, for the reason that I ran a city and made it real safe,” he concluded. “And I don’t see any opponent that I have who has ever done nearly as much about bringing down illegality as I have.”
-------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
Examiner Reader said:
Rudy and the rest of you East Coast Liberals, with so called good intentions,--you haven't the slightest idea of what's going on in the southwest, come to the Arizona border and get a good look, I dare you!!! you're out of your Universe. You'll be next, vote for the 2nd ammendment.
Examiner Reader said:
Before deporting all the illegals we need to secure the borders ASAP. Once the borders are secure then we can start fining employers and tightening the purse strings to ensure any illegal is not entitled to any services. If an illegal ends up in a hospital their employer should be charged if the illegal can't pay. After the illegal has been sidentified, then the entire family needs to be deported. I'm tired of my taxes picking up the illegal tab! We also need to change the policy where if an illegal alien has a child in this country then the child automatically becomes an American citizen! If we as a country don't start taking care of our borders, we're not going to have to worry about illegal aliens. People from third world countries don't run to other third world countries. While we're at it we also need to make the United States' official language English. If you don't speak it...learn it.
Examiner Reader said:
I for one do not wish to be taken over by a foreign sovereinty. America is Ameica. It is what we (American Indians and ancestry, African descendants of slaves, white profiteers, jewish slave traders who control a lot of wealth in this day an age, and so on have made it.) Something wonderful is made in America out of all these struggles and evils. I dont' want to see is stolen by those that can take it so easily by sheer numbers. I am a Black American female and I will vote for one who upholds the laws of our country -- the Constitution. Its the only thing that will keep us safe and sane.
Better way guy said:
Rudy is being coy, cute or is just incompetent, because a much better way has existed for a long time, rather than "deporting" all the illegals. You get them to voluntarily go. And to do that, you concentrate on the *employers*. This is not political rocket surgery, these laws exist right now and aren't being enforced. Ten grand a head per illegal for employers who hire illegals, start arresting and prosecuting the employers, the bosses, the owners. Slap some of those mega fines around, the jobs will dry up within a week, the illegals will go home and those nations can sort out their own problems and learn to pay a living wage to their own people so they won't have to leave in the first place. And then the same employers can learn to pay a living wage *here*, because there isn't a job out there that the born here's won't do, if it pays a bare minimum enough to live on somewhat easily. I work full time on a farm, so I don't want to hear that "anglos" won't do hard manual labor
Examiner Reader said:
Joe - I agree that securing our borders is essential, but since the federal government refuses to do so, here's what the state and local governments can do: (1) no free medical care without proof of citizenship (I understand this is what Canada does). Non-citizens would have to pay upfront cash or with a credit card; (2) no enrollment in public schools without proof of citizenship (3) no social services (food stamps, housing vouchers, etc.) without proof of citizenship; (4) no job without proof of citizenship. In a nutshell, eliminate the welfare state and job market for illegals and they have no reason to stay or continue to come here. If certain industries, however, do need temporary workers they can petition the government to allow X number of workers to come for X number of months. Any temporary worker convicted of a crime or applying for public assistance would be immediately deported. We can put a man on the moon so why can't we figure out how to do that? Come on, get real
Scarlett said:
Joe Crandall is right. You cannot deport people without giving them due process. Ask any Immigration lawyer. When arrested, an illegal gets a summons to go to court. They never show up of course. But you can't just shove somebody on a bus and drop them of in Northern Mexico just because they have an Hispanic accent and anything more than that would cost way more than a simple bus ticket.
Examiner Reader said:
I believe that there is a conspiracy among the ones who control the wealth and those south of the border. You do the math. Who is for amnesty and illegal usurpation of our country to their own goals or future goals, including control of our military to promote their causes. Who controls the wealth and media?America is at a cross roads don't be fooled by those who would beguile you by their deceptions. Vote America first, whoever would maintain our majestic and courageous heritage and not be manipulated. Good old fashioned common sense is all it takes!
Examiner Reader said:
He's a liar. Both are the same safe borders, protect the law and implement the law.
Examiner Reader said:
I love where Rudy stands on a lot of issues, but his immigration stance is the one thing that worries me. If he would come out with a strong statement that seperated his past actions from future policy, then I would vote for him enthusiastically. As it stands now, I am trying to decide if I should hold my nose and vote for Rudy or possibly look elsewhere.
Book Excerpt: In New York, illegal immigration took a back seat to making the city safe
Filed under: WASHINGTON , Bill Sammon , Meet the Next President
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Rudy Giuliani says he wanted to deport all 400,000 illegal immigrants from New York City when he was mayor, but ended up welcoming most of those who were “causing me no trouble.”
In an interview for the new book “Meet the Next President,” Giuliani lamented that the Immigration and Naturalization Service deported only 700 to 1,500 of the city’s 400,000 aliens each year during his mayoralty. Giuliani said it was obvious the INS was not about to increase deportation “from 700 or 1,500 to 400,000.”
“If they could, I would have turned all the people over. It would have helped me. I would have had a smaller population. I would have had fewer problems,” the Republican presidential candidate told The Examiner in an interview. “But the practical reality was, they were going to make an infinitesimal, statistically insignificant contribution to the problem. I was stuck with it. And no matter what their promises, they weren’t going to do anything about it.”
In fact, according to Giuliani, the INS told his predecessor, David Dinkins, to stop reporting criminals for deportation. Dinkins complied, even though he had re-issued an executive order by his predecessor, Ed Koch, that called for the reporting of illegals suspected of “engaging in criminal activity.”
When Giuliani took over as mayor, he too re-issued the Koch order.
“Why don’t you throw out the people who are drug dealers, that are coming out of jail? And before they hit the streets, we can turn them over,” Giuliani recalled telling the INS. “We couldn’t work that out with them. They wouldn’t do it for us.
“They wouldn’t do it for us because they had, you know, some professor with a visa first, and they had two restaurant workers, and three gardeners. Now it may or may not be right for them to be here, but they’re not threatening anybody. These drug dealers are threatening people. I couldn’t get them to do that, so I had to handle the thing myself. And I handled it.”
Giuliani handled it by cracking down on illegals who broke more than immigration laws. Meanwhile, he adopted a laissez-faire attitude toward everyone else who entered the United States illegally.
“The ones that are causing me no trouble, I’m going to leave them alone,” he told The Examiner. “They’re contributing to the lawful part of the city. I’ve got so many citizens — legal immigrants, and then some illegal immigrants — committing crimes that I’ve got to pay attention to them.”
Similarly, Giuliani concluded that going after school-age illegals would be an empty political gesture.
“I had sixty-[thousand] to seventy-thousand children in school who were illegal immigrants,” he said. “So for the purpose of protecting my backside, I would turn over the names to the immigration service so I could sound like a tough guy? I would end up with fifty-[thousand] to sixty-thousand kids on the street. And crime would go up in New York, not go down.”
So the mayor resigned himself to the federal government’s inability or unwillingness to deport illegal immigrants. In the process, he absolved himself of any blame for the city’s ongoing status as a haven for 400,000 illegals.
“That’s the federal government’s problem,” he told The Examiner. “If you’re not hurting anybody in my city, I don’t care.”
But Giuliani’s “I don’t care” attitude toward illegals sometimes morphed into unabashed cheerleading, as if he were rolling out the red carpet for them.
“Some of the hardest-working and most productive people in this city are undocumented aliens,” the mayor said at a 1994 press conference. “If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you’re one of the people who we want in this city. You’re somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair.”
The Examiner asked Giuliani why it was unfair to apply fugitive status to someone who broke the law to enter the United States.
“We were going to treat them as a fugitive if they committed a crime,” he replied. “And we weren’t going to treat them like a fugitive if they were being calm and responsible and decent.
“And finally, it didn’t much matter what I did with them,” he added. “The turning over of names to the immigration service was a mere formal act. It was absurd to think that they could possibly handle it. It continues to be absurd.
“In order to deal with the 12 million illegals that are in this country, you would have to take the entire federal, state and local criminal justice systems and multiply it by some factor of seven or eight or nine.”
Instead of attempting such an impossible task, Giuliani said he would concentrate on securing the U.S.-Mexico border if elected president.
Although Giuliani has been savaged by rival Republicans for his record on immigration, he insisted to The Examiner that “immigration is an issue that is not a negative with any Republican voters for me.” He said he wants voters to view his immigration stance in the context of his tough-on-crime credentials.
“My objective was to make New York City safe,” he said. “Illegal immigration and the problem of illegal immigrants was just one of many problems that were part of that whole. So the real question is, did I deal with it intelligently, and did it result in the city becoming much safer? Or did I deal with it stupidly and the city became much more dangerous?”
He believes the answer to that question will calm any fears that voters might harbor about his immigration stance.
“I end up being the strongest candidate on immigration, for the reason that I ran a city and made it real safe,” he concluded. “And I don’t see any opponent that I have who has ever done nearly as much about bringing down illegality as I have.”
-------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
Examiner Reader said:
Rudy and the rest of you East Coast Liberals, with so called good intentions,--you haven't the slightest idea of what's going on in the southwest, come to the Arizona border and get a good look, I dare you!!! you're out of your Universe. You'll be next, vote for the 2nd ammendment.
Examiner Reader said:
Before deporting all the illegals we need to secure the borders ASAP. Once the borders are secure then we can start fining employers and tightening the purse strings to ensure any illegal is not entitled to any services. If an illegal ends up in a hospital their employer should be charged if the illegal can't pay. After the illegal has been sidentified, then the entire family needs to be deported. I'm tired of my taxes picking up the illegal tab! We also need to change the policy where if an illegal alien has a child in this country then the child automatically becomes an American citizen! If we as a country don't start taking care of our borders, we're not going to have to worry about illegal aliens. People from third world countries don't run to other third world countries. While we're at it we also need to make the United States' official language English. If you don't speak it...learn it.
Examiner Reader said:
I for one do not wish to be taken over by a foreign sovereinty. America is Ameica. It is what we (American Indians and ancestry, African descendants of slaves, white profiteers, jewish slave traders who control a lot of wealth in this day an age, and so on have made it.) Something wonderful is made in America out of all these struggles and evils. I dont' want to see is stolen by those that can take it so easily by sheer numbers. I am a Black American female and I will vote for one who upholds the laws of our country -- the Constitution. Its the only thing that will keep us safe and sane.
Better way guy said:
Rudy is being coy, cute or is just incompetent, because a much better way has existed for a long time, rather than "deporting" all the illegals. You get them to voluntarily go. And to do that, you concentrate on the *employers*. This is not political rocket surgery, these laws exist right now and aren't being enforced. Ten grand a head per illegal for employers who hire illegals, start arresting and prosecuting the employers, the bosses, the owners. Slap some of those mega fines around, the jobs will dry up within a week, the illegals will go home and those nations can sort out their own problems and learn to pay a living wage to their own people so they won't have to leave in the first place. And then the same employers can learn to pay a living wage *here*, because there isn't a job out there that the born here's won't do, if it pays a bare minimum enough to live on somewhat easily. I work full time on a farm, so I don't want to hear that "anglos" won't do hard manual labor
Examiner Reader said:
Joe - I agree that securing our borders is essential, but since the federal government refuses to do so, here's what the state and local governments can do: (1) no free medical care without proof of citizenship (I understand this is what Canada does). Non-citizens would have to pay upfront cash or with a credit card; (2) no enrollment in public schools without proof of citizenship (3) no social services (food stamps, housing vouchers, etc.) without proof of citizenship; (4) no job without proof of citizenship. In a nutshell, eliminate the welfare state and job market for illegals and they have no reason to stay or continue to come here. If certain industries, however, do need temporary workers they can petition the government to allow X number of workers to come for X number of months. Any temporary worker convicted of a crime or applying for public assistance would be immediately deported. We can put a man on the moon so why can't we figure out how to do that? Come on, get real
Scarlett said:
Joe Crandall is right. You cannot deport people without giving them due process. Ask any Immigration lawyer. When arrested, an illegal gets a summons to go to court. They never show up of course. But you can't just shove somebody on a bus and drop them of in Northern Mexico just because they have an Hispanic accent and anything more than that would cost way more than a simple bus ticket.
Examiner Reader said:
I believe that there is a conspiracy among the ones who control the wealth and those south of the border. You do the math. Who is for amnesty and illegal usurpation of our country to their own goals or future goals, including control of our military to promote their causes. Who controls the wealth and media?America is at a cross roads don't be fooled by those who would beguile you by their deceptions. Vote America first, whoever would maintain our majestic and courageous heritage and not be manipulated. Good old fashioned common sense is all it takes!
Examiner Reader said:
He's a liar. Both are the same safe borders, protect the law and implement the law.
Examiner Reader said:
I love where Rudy stands on a lot of issues, but his immigration stance is the one thing that worries me. If he would come out with a strong statement that seperated his past actions from future policy, then I would vote for him enthusiastically. As it stands now, I am trying to decide if I should hold my nose and vote for Rudy or possibly look elsewhere.
Father killed daughter for not wearing hijab, her friends say
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071211175557.p3d3kaah&show_article=1
Father killed daughter for not wearing hijab, her friends say
Dec 11 12:56 PM US/Eastern
Muslim Man Kills Daughter For Not Wearing Hijab
Friends and classmates of a 16-year-old girl who police say was murdered by her devout Muslim father in a Toronto suburb told local media Tuesday she was killed for not wearing a hijab.
Police said in a statement they received an emergency call at 7:55 am local time Monday from "a man who indicated that he had just killed his daughter."
The victim, Aqsa Parvez, was "rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but tragically passed away late last night."
Her father, Muhammad Parvez, 57, was arrested at the scene and will be formally charged with murder when he appears in court Wednesday, said police.
The girl's friends, meanwhile, told local media she was having trouble at home because she did not conform to the family's religious beliefs and refused to wear a traditional Islamic head scarf, or hijab.
"She wanted to go different ways than her family wanted to go, and she wanted to make her own path, but he (her father) wouldn't let her," one of her classmates told public broadcaster CBC.
"She loved clothes," another of her friends, Dominiquia Holmes-Thompson, told the daily Toronto Star. "She just wanted to show her beauty ... She just wanted to dress like us, just like a normal person."
According to her friends, Aqsa had worn the hijab at school last year, but rebelled in recent months.
They said she would leave home wearing a hijab and loose-fitting clothes, but would take off her head scarf and change into tighter garments at school, then change back before going home at the end of the day.
The victim's 26 year-old brother was also charged with obstructing police in the investigation.
------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
What a peaceful religion... These b@stards should rot for what they did to this beautiful girl. Real peaceful loving Muslims should speak out against this type of crime. However, I don't hear anything coming out from CAIR so.... I guess we know where they stand.
Father killed daughter for not wearing hijab, her friends say
Dec 11 12:56 PM US/Eastern
Muslim Man Kills Daughter For Not Wearing Hijab
Friends and classmates of a 16-year-old girl who police say was murdered by her devout Muslim father in a Toronto suburb told local media Tuesday she was killed for not wearing a hijab.
Police said in a statement they received an emergency call at 7:55 am local time Monday from "a man who indicated that he had just killed his daughter."
The victim, Aqsa Parvez, was "rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but tragically passed away late last night."
Her father, Muhammad Parvez, 57, was arrested at the scene and will be formally charged with murder when he appears in court Wednesday, said police.
The girl's friends, meanwhile, told local media she was having trouble at home because she did not conform to the family's religious beliefs and refused to wear a traditional Islamic head scarf, or hijab.
"She wanted to go different ways than her family wanted to go, and she wanted to make her own path, but he (her father) wouldn't let her," one of her classmates told public broadcaster CBC.
"She loved clothes," another of her friends, Dominiquia Holmes-Thompson, told the daily Toronto Star. "She just wanted to show her beauty ... She just wanted to dress like us, just like a normal person."
According to her friends, Aqsa had worn the hijab at school last year, but rebelled in recent months.
They said she would leave home wearing a hijab and loose-fitting clothes, but would take off her head scarf and change into tighter garments at school, then change back before going home at the end of the day.
The victim's 26 year-old brother was also charged with obstructing police in the investigation.
------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
What a peaceful religion... These b@stards should rot for what they did to this beautiful girl. Real peaceful loving Muslims should speak out against this type of crime. However, I don't hear anything coming out from CAIR so.... I guess we know where they stand.
UN chief: World risks oblivion without deal to battle global warming
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20071211/tap-as-gen-bali-climate-conference-5th-l-d3b07b8.html
UN chief: World risks oblivion without deal to battle global warming
By JOSEPH COLEMAN,Associated Press Writer AP - Wednesday, December 12
BALI, Indonesia - The human race faces oblivion if it fails to confront global warming, the U.N. secretary-general said Tuesday, as delegates to the U.N. climate conference haggled over a new document strengthening a call for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by rich nations.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived on the resort island of Bali to preside over the final days of the two-week conference, which aims to set an agenda and deadline for talks that will lead to a climate change pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.
Ban urged quick action as negotiators worked on a final conference decision document. A version obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday included guidelines for industrialized countries to cut their emissions overall by 2020 by between 25 percent and 40 percent.
"The situation is so desperately serious that any delay could push us past the tipping point, beyond which the ecological, financial and human costs would increase dramatically," Ban said in a speech to delegates.
"We are at a crossroad," he added. "One path leads to a comprehensive climate change agreement, the other to oblivion. The choice is clear."
The latest draft of the document, to be released at the conference's conclusion Friday, included a new mention of "quantified national emission limitation and reduction commitments" for industrialized countries.
The United States rejected the 1997 Kyoto pact in part because it included mandatory emissions cuts, and Washington has supported only voluntary targets. The word "commitment" _ which was not in an earlier draft obtained over the weekend _ was likely to draw opposition from the U.S. delegation.
The United States has publicly opposed mentions of targets or emissions cuts guidelines in the Bali document, arguing that it was premature to state goals at such an early date. Negotiations for a post-Kyoto pact are to last at least two years.
U.N. officials, however, say the numbers are only guidelines to be hashed out in coming talks. The European Union, developing countries and environmentalists have argued strenuously in favor of including general goals in the Bali declaration.
The latest draft included dozens of changes from the earlier version, suggesting that negotiators were far from reaching agreement on a final wording. In past years, talks on the declaration on the last day have dragged on into the night to the next morning.
Stavros Dimas, the European commissioner for environment, said emissions guidelines were crucial to prevent global temperatures from exceeding 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels. The European Union has committed itself to 20 percent to 30 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2020.
"We need this range of reductions by developed countries," he told reporters Tuesday. "Science tells us that these reductions are necessary. Logic requires that we listen to science."
Australia, despite its sudden embrace of the Kyoto pact, has shied away from supporting the emissions goals yet, saying it must await the conclusion of a study sometime next year.
"We recognize the need for an interim target," said Penny Wong, Australia's minister for climate change. "We have a clear process of scientific and economic analysis to determine what that interim target should be."
Canada and Japan also oppose inclusion of the suggested figures.
Environmentalists urged them to reconsider.
"This is not the direction we need to be going in. The stakes are too high for this kind of political games," Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said earlier in the day.
In one of the first concrete results of the talks, negotiators said Tuesday they had agreed on the oversight structure of a fund to help developing countries build seawalls and take other steps to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Delegates decided to let the Global Environment Facility _ a U.N. body that helps developing countries with environmental projects _ run the fund, though some countries accuse the facility of being slow to distribute money.
The GEF has only about US$60 million (�40 million), though the World Bank has estimated some tens of billions of dollars (euros) a year will be needed for adaptation. Nothing has been done at Bali to develop new sources of revenue.
The struggle over targets coincided with the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto accord on Dec. 11, 1997, in Japan. The U.N. cut up a giant birthday cake to mark the occasion.
The Kyoto pact requires 36 industrial nations to reduce carbon dioxide and other industrial, transportation and agricultural gases blamed for global warming by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels in the next five years.
The U.S. is the only major industrial nation to reject Kyoto. President George W. Bush contended the emissions cuts would harm the U.S. economy, and should have been imposed on China, India and other fast-growing poorer economies.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Can anyone else say scam...! It's just another get rich quick scheme, much like the food for oil program!
UN chief: World risks oblivion without deal to battle global warming
By JOSEPH COLEMAN,Associated Press Writer AP - Wednesday, December 12
BALI, Indonesia - The human race faces oblivion if it fails to confront global warming, the U.N. secretary-general said Tuesday, as delegates to the U.N. climate conference haggled over a new document strengthening a call for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by rich nations.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived on the resort island of Bali to preside over the final days of the two-week conference, which aims to set an agenda and deadline for talks that will lead to a climate change pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.
Ban urged quick action as negotiators worked on a final conference decision document. A version obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday included guidelines for industrialized countries to cut their emissions overall by 2020 by between 25 percent and 40 percent.
"The situation is so desperately serious that any delay could push us past the tipping point, beyond which the ecological, financial and human costs would increase dramatically," Ban said in a speech to delegates.
"We are at a crossroad," he added. "One path leads to a comprehensive climate change agreement, the other to oblivion. The choice is clear."
The latest draft of the document, to be released at the conference's conclusion Friday, included a new mention of "quantified national emission limitation and reduction commitments" for industrialized countries.
The United States rejected the 1997 Kyoto pact in part because it included mandatory emissions cuts, and Washington has supported only voluntary targets. The word "commitment" _ which was not in an earlier draft obtained over the weekend _ was likely to draw opposition from the U.S. delegation.
The United States has publicly opposed mentions of targets or emissions cuts guidelines in the Bali document, arguing that it was premature to state goals at such an early date. Negotiations for a post-Kyoto pact are to last at least two years.
U.N. officials, however, say the numbers are only guidelines to be hashed out in coming talks. The European Union, developing countries and environmentalists have argued strenuously in favor of including general goals in the Bali declaration.
The latest draft included dozens of changes from the earlier version, suggesting that negotiators were far from reaching agreement on a final wording. In past years, talks on the declaration on the last day have dragged on into the night to the next morning.
Stavros Dimas, the European commissioner for environment, said emissions guidelines were crucial to prevent global temperatures from exceeding 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels. The European Union has committed itself to 20 percent to 30 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2020.
"We need this range of reductions by developed countries," he told reporters Tuesday. "Science tells us that these reductions are necessary. Logic requires that we listen to science."
Australia, despite its sudden embrace of the Kyoto pact, has shied away from supporting the emissions goals yet, saying it must await the conclusion of a study sometime next year.
"We recognize the need for an interim target," said Penny Wong, Australia's minister for climate change. "We have a clear process of scientific and economic analysis to determine what that interim target should be."
Canada and Japan also oppose inclusion of the suggested figures.
Environmentalists urged them to reconsider.
"This is not the direction we need to be going in. The stakes are too high for this kind of political games," Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said earlier in the day.
In one of the first concrete results of the talks, negotiators said Tuesday they had agreed on the oversight structure of a fund to help developing countries build seawalls and take other steps to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Delegates decided to let the Global Environment Facility _ a U.N. body that helps developing countries with environmental projects _ run the fund, though some countries accuse the facility of being slow to distribute money.
The GEF has only about US$60 million (�40 million), though the World Bank has estimated some tens of billions of dollars (euros) a year will be needed for adaptation. Nothing has been done at Bali to develop new sources of revenue.
The struggle over targets coincided with the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto accord on Dec. 11, 1997, in Japan. The U.N. cut up a giant birthday cake to mark the occasion.
The Kyoto pact requires 36 industrial nations to reduce carbon dioxide and other industrial, transportation and agricultural gases blamed for global warming by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels in the next five years.
The U.S. is the only major industrial nation to reject Kyoto. President George W. Bush contended the emissions cuts would harm the U.S. economy, and should have been imposed on China, India and other fast-growing poorer economies.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Can anyone else say scam...! It's just another get rich quick scheme, much like the food for oil program!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Venezuelan, Guatemalan and Brazilian immigrants have made South Florida their home
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbenclave1209sbdec09%2C0%2C4594756.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Venezuelan, Guatemalan and Brazilian immigrants have made South Florida their home
Region's growing immigrant enclaves change faces of cities
By Tal Abbady, staff writer
December 9, 2007
In Caracas, Venezuela, Weston has a reputation as a safe, spotless city.
In Espiritu Santo, Brazil, residents know Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach as Brazilian enclaves where owning property and having stable jobs, unattainable for many in Brazil, are part of life.
And residents of Jacaltenango, Guatemala, enjoy electricity and tote around cell phones thanks to remittance money from Jupiter, making Palm Beach County cities natural destinations for Guatemalan immigrants.
Population increases of Venezuelans, Guatemalans and Brazilians in Broward and Palm Beach counties
Cross-border ties like these have given rise to sprawling immigrant enclaves that have brought profound local changes. There are multiple reasons that set immigrants on the trek to Florida, home to the country's fourth-largest foreign-born population: the hope of finding steady work, convincing calls from family members already here and political stability.
Three South Florida communities showcase the tales of struggle and success among South Florida's immigrants.
This is the fifth in an occasional series exploring how shifts in demographics, immigration, culture, our economy and mobility have changed the way we live.
"WESTONZUELA"
While Miami was the Venezuelan jet-setter's preferred destination in the early 1980s, a few families were lured by the relative quiet of Broward County, now home to 22,471 Venezuelans. By the mid 1990s, Venezuelans were investing in second homes in Weston — Arvida's picture-perfect American community. Those few investors turned into thousands looking for permanent homes after President Hugo Chavez was voted into power in 1998 on a platform of socialist reform. "Weston gained this reputation as the Beverly Hills of Miami," said Igor Acosta Rubio, a Miami-based Venezuelan real estate agent who has traveled to Caracas to sell property in Weston.
Acosta Rubio says Weston quickly became a magnet for high-end clients from wealthy Caracas neighborhoods.
"If you wanted to be Venezuelan in Weston, you had to own a Hummer and a Rolex," he said.
Mauricio Meneses' family was among the first wave of arrivals to Broward County from the oil-rich nation. Meneses, 35, began visiting Bonaventure, a small city later annexed by Weston, when he was 8 years old. Weston was then a 10,500-acre tract of land overrun with Brazilian peppers, cow pastures and alligators. The Meneses family has had ties to the area since.
Today, Meneses owns Panna Express Cafe, a small restaurant built into an Exxon station on Weston Road where he serves traditional Venezuelan pastries and sandwiches. He moved to the city from Miami one-and-a-half years ago. Every Saturday, Meneses stands with a throng of Venezuelan soccer dads and moms cheering on their kids at Weston's Regional Park.
"To those of us from Latin America, Weston is impeccable," said Meneses. "In terms of urbanization, Caracas is a disaster. You have mansions sitting next to ranchos. I might have more fun living there, but you take risks that can turn your life upside down. In Weston, the news of the day might be that a car hit a cat."
But the buying craze has subsided with the housing slump, according to Acosta Rubio, and Panama has become the new hot spot for Venezuelans moving abroad.
Maitane Zozaya, 43, doesn't mind that the crush of Venezuelan buyers has slowed.
"The whole point of this place is that you're separated from the bustle of life," said Zozaya, a homemaker and the mother of three sons. The family moved to Weston in 2001.
"This is the perfect place to raise kids," said Zozaya, who says she will never return to Venezuela.
Her longing to leave her troubled homeland began 11 years ago, before Chavez' rise, when she was briefly kidnapped at gunpoint in Caracas. With Chavez' election and self-styled socialist revolution, she says moving back is out of the question. Today, her husband is a partner in a Miami publicity agency and the family's weekends are filled with children's soccer and basketball games.
"It's true; we're living in a bubble," Zozaya said about the idyllic, landscaped communities and tree-lined streets she calls home. "You don't see what's outside this world. You're surrounded by parents who give their children brand new cars on their 15th birthdays."
Over the years, Weston has seeped into Venezuelan lore and pop culture, sometimes unflatteringly as the home of a pampered group of expatriates.
A character in Venezuelan writer Isaac Chacron's new novel, Personal Pronouns, declares, "Westonzuela, the paradise of our compatriots, the empire of tranquillity, security and mediocrity."
Westonzuelans themselves laugh at the stereotype. Mappy Salcedo, a real estate agent, moved from Venezuela to Weston in 1996. She misses aspects of Caracas, where she could afford a live-in maid and other luxuries. But like many expatriates, she says Weston's calm and order exceed that of any Caracas neighborhood.
"People look at this place and say it's out of a cartoon. It's not a real city. It's a fantasy," she said.
GUATEMALANS IN PALM BEACH COUNTY
Many of the earliest immigrants arrived in the 1980s, refugees of a civil war that ravaged Mayan villages throughout Guatemala. Today Mayan culture and dialects such as Mam and Qanjobal are part of daily life in parts of Palm Beach County where about 17,339 Guatemalans live, work and celebrate their heritage.
Most are concentrated in Lake Worth, Jupiter and West Palm Beach, cities that drew migrants who initially worked picking crops or in the garment industry in California. In the 1980s, many headed to Immokalee and Indiantown, where they knew crop-picking jobs were abundant. Over the years, Guatemalans trickled south into Palm Beach County in search of better jobs in construction and landscaping, according to Jeronimo Camposeco of the Jupiter-based community group Corn Maya.
The cultural and economic ties between Palm Beach County and Guatemala have grown strong. Remittances have improved the quality of life for villagers in Guatemala. In 2006, El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center, a labor center for undocumented workers that caters to many Guatemalans, opened in Jupiter.
Guatemalans help keep afloat the county's landscaping and maintenance industries, and work amid Palm Beach County's posh residential communities.
"This place has opened doors for me. Who knows what would have happened had I stayed home during the war," said Ervin Arevalo, 48, of West Palm Beach.
He left Guatemala in 1977 but didn't arrive in West Palm Beach until 1984.
"The Guatemalan community was a tiny minority back then," he recalled. "Now it's spread out from Indiantown [Martin County] to Jupiter to Lake Worth. Guatemala is in my blood, so I feel very comfortable here."
He spends his days surrounded by wealth in the exclusive Town of Palm Beach, where he works as a maintenance supervisor at a condominium.
"We have to recognize that there's a wide divide between the rich and the poor here. But if you adapt to the system, you can get ahead," he said.
Not everyone has found a welcoming haven here. Many of the county's Guatemalans are undocumented, which has stoked anger in some circles. Before El Sol opened in 2006, angry Jupiter residents called for the deportation of day laborers, many from Guatemala, who gathered on street corners waiting for contractors to ride up in their pickup trucks.
Patricio Silvestre left his native town of Jacaltenango in 1989 in the midst of civil war. Cousins in Jupiter told him he could easily earn a living in Florida, and to this day he describes Palm Beach County as "a place of movement and opportunities."
Silvestre, 39, works for a landscaping company and volunteers for Corn Maya, which helps new Guatemalan immigrants adapt to life in the United States. On weekends, he joins Jupiter's lively amateur soccer scene as a member of Estrellas del Sol, Guatemalan immigrants who usually play against teams consisting of Mexicans or other immigrant groups.
But the team spirit of the soccer field doesn't always extend to the community at large. A patchwork of Guatemalan groups provide services to new arrivals, but Silvestre says there's little unity.
"Everyone is pushing their own agenda. What we need is more solidarity, like the Cubans have achieved," Silvestre said.
Hoping to be a business owner one day, Silvestre is trying to set up a business with his cousin, a coffee grower from Jacaltenango, to import coffee from Guatemala to Jupiter.
"Your financial standing is very important here," he says of life in Palm Beach County. "But you also have the peacefulness and the good climate. I'd say I've assimilated pretty well."
BRAZILIANS IN BROWARD COUNTY
Walk into any number of Brazilian stores or cafes along Sample Road in Pompano Beach or Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, and you'll likely hear talk of Brazil's samba schools, soccer teams and national politics.
Many of Broward County's 19,816 Brazilians began arriving in the 1990s, from Brazil's southeastern region, with a large number from the state of Minas Gerais.
At the time, high inflation and an economic slump made for a bleak future back home. Most followed job prospects or the call of relatives already living here.
Today, their presence in Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach is evident in strip malls dotted with Brazilian stores, jazz clubs and restaurants.
Many in Broward County's Brazilian community say they feel welcome, perhaps because of the country's famed cultural exports.
"Everybody loves a good Brazilian steakhouse. And most of the audiences for local Brazilian jazz concerts consist of Americans," said Maria Fulfaro, chairperson of the Broward chapter of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. Of the Miami-based chamber's 900 members, about 30 percent are in Broward County.
The Brazilian government also has promoted Brazilian culture in South Florida, naming the Broward Center for Performing Arts a "point of culture" in 2000, Fulfaro said.
"Brazilian culture in itself is a charm," Fulfaro said. "That's what we contribute."
Joao Batista de Oliveira, part-owner of Brazilian Grill on Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, moved to Deerfield Beach a year ago after living in Boston since 1994. He became a partner in Brazilian Grill three months ago.
On evenings and weekends, customers crowd into the strip-mall restaurant for its caldos, or thick soups, and traditional fish stews called muquecas. Brazilian soap-operas and soccer games beam from a giant television screen.
"Being in Deerfield Beach is like being in Brazil," said de Oliveira, 40, who is from the southeastern state of Espiritu Santo, where he says both Deerfield Beach and Pompano Beach are well-known names among residents. "Brazil is the country of the sun, and the Florida is the state of the sun."
The author of several books published in Brazil, including a romance novel, Garoto Publico, or Public Boy, de Oliveira says moving to the United States forced him to "grow up."
"If you really work for it, you can have the nice car and the big house," he said.
As a restaurateur, he adds, "Brazilians add a lot to this state of tourists. We bring our food, our music, our spirit."
Staff Writer Tal Abbady can be reached at tabbady@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4523.
------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
America is the land of opportunity. You have the right to pursue happiness (it will not be given to you). If you work hard you can achieve your dreams. As long as you come to America LEGALLY then you are welcome.. If not, leave as you have broken our laws and are not welcome in this beautiful country.
Venezuelan, Guatemalan and Brazilian immigrants have made South Florida their home
Region's growing immigrant enclaves change faces of cities
By Tal Abbady, staff writer
December 9, 2007
In Caracas, Venezuela, Weston has a reputation as a safe, spotless city.
In Espiritu Santo, Brazil, residents know Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach as Brazilian enclaves where owning property and having stable jobs, unattainable for many in Brazil, are part of life.
And residents of Jacaltenango, Guatemala, enjoy electricity and tote around cell phones thanks to remittance money from Jupiter, making Palm Beach County cities natural destinations for Guatemalan immigrants.
Population increases of Venezuelans, Guatemalans and Brazilians in Broward and Palm Beach counties
Cross-border ties like these have given rise to sprawling immigrant enclaves that have brought profound local changes. There are multiple reasons that set immigrants on the trek to Florida, home to the country's fourth-largest foreign-born population: the hope of finding steady work, convincing calls from family members already here and political stability.
Three South Florida communities showcase the tales of struggle and success among South Florida's immigrants.
This is the fifth in an occasional series exploring how shifts in demographics, immigration, culture, our economy and mobility have changed the way we live.
"WESTONZUELA"
While Miami was the Venezuelan jet-setter's preferred destination in the early 1980s, a few families were lured by the relative quiet of Broward County, now home to 22,471 Venezuelans. By the mid 1990s, Venezuelans were investing in second homes in Weston — Arvida's picture-perfect American community. Those few investors turned into thousands looking for permanent homes after President Hugo Chavez was voted into power in 1998 on a platform of socialist reform. "Weston gained this reputation as the Beverly Hills of Miami," said Igor Acosta Rubio, a Miami-based Venezuelan real estate agent who has traveled to Caracas to sell property in Weston.
Acosta Rubio says Weston quickly became a magnet for high-end clients from wealthy Caracas neighborhoods.
"If you wanted to be Venezuelan in Weston, you had to own a Hummer and a Rolex," he said.
Mauricio Meneses' family was among the first wave of arrivals to Broward County from the oil-rich nation. Meneses, 35, began visiting Bonaventure, a small city later annexed by Weston, when he was 8 years old. Weston was then a 10,500-acre tract of land overrun with Brazilian peppers, cow pastures and alligators. The Meneses family has had ties to the area since.
Today, Meneses owns Panna Express Cafe, a small restaurant built into an Exxon station on Weston Road where he serves traditional Venezuelan pastries and sandwiches. He moved to the city from Miami one-and-a-half years ago. Every Saturday, Meneses stands with a throng of Venezuelan soccer dads and moms cheering on their kids at Weston's Regional Park.
"To those of us from Latin America, Weston is impeccable," said Meneses. "In terms of urbanization, Caracas is a disaster. You have mansions sitting next to ranchos. I might have more fun living there, but you take risks that can turn your life upside down. In Weston, the news of the day might be that a car hit a cat."
But the buying craze has subsided with the housing slump, according to Acosta Rubio, and Panama has become the new hot spot for Venezuelans moving abroad.
Maitane Zozaya, 43, doesn't mind that the crush of Venezuelan buyers has slowed.
"The whole point of this place is that you're separated from the bustle of life," said Zozaya, a homemaker and the mother of three sons. The family moved to Weston in 2001.
"This is the perfect place to raise kids," said Zozaya, who says she will never return to Venezuela.
Her longing to leave her troubled homeland began 11 years ago, before Chavez' rise, when she was briefly kidnapped at gunpoint in Caracas. With Chavez' election and self-styled socialist revolution, she says moving back is out of the question. Today, her husband is a partner in a Miami publicity agency and the family's weekends are filled with children's soccer and basketball games.
"It's true; we're living in a bubble," Zozaya said about the idyllic, landscaped communities and tree-lined streets she calls home. "You don't see what's outside this world. You're surrounded by parents who give their children brand new cars on their 15th birthdays."
Over the years, Weston has seeped into Venezuelan lore and pop culture, sometimes unflatteringly as the home of a pampered group of expatriates.
A character in Venezuelan writer Isaac Chacron's new novel, Personal Pronouns, declares, "Westonzuela, the paradise of our compatriots, the empire of tranquillity, security and mediocrity."
Westonzuelans themselves laugh at the stereotype. Mappy Salcedo, a real estate agent, moved from Venezuela to Weston in 1996. She misses aspects of Caracas, where she could afford a live-in maid and other luxuries. But like many expatriates, she says Weston's calm and order exceed that of any Caracas neighborhood.
"People look at this place and say it's out of a cartoon. It's not a real city. It's a fantasy," she said.
GUATEMALANS IN PALM BEACH COUNTY
Many of the earliest immigrants arrived in the 1980s, refugees of a civil war that ravaged Mayan villages throughout Guatemala. Today Mayan culture and dialects such as Mam and Qanjobal are part of daily life in parts of Palm Beach County where about 17,339 Guatemalans live, work and celebrate their heritage.
Most are concentrated in Lake Worth, Jupiter and West Palm Beach, cities that drew migrants who initially worked picking crops or in the garment industry in California. In the 1980s, many headed to Immokalee and Indiantown, where they knew crop-picking jobs were abundant. Over the years, Guatemalans trickled south into Palm Beach County in search of better jobs in construction and landscaping, according to Jeronimo Camposeco of the Jupiter-based community group Corn Maya.
The cultural and economic ties between Palm Beach County and Guatemala have grown strong. Remittances have improved the quality of life for villagers in Guatemala. In 2006, El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center, a labor center for undocumented workers that caters to many Guatemalans, opened in Jupiter.
Guatemalans help keep afloat the county's landscaping and maintenance industries, and work amid Palm Beach County's posh residential communities.
"This place has opened doors for me. Who knows what would have happened had I stayed home during the war," said Ervin Arevalo, 48, of West Palm Beach.
He left Guatemala in 1977 but didn't arrive in West Palm Beach until 1984.
"The Guatemalan community was a tiny minority back then," he recalled. "Now it's spread out from Indiantown [Martin County] to Jupiter to Lake Worth. Guatemala is in my blood, so I feel very comfortable here."
He spends his days surrounded by wealth in the exclusive Town of Palm Beach, where he works as a maintenance supervisor at a condominium.
"We have to recognize that there's a wide divide between the rich and the poor here. But if you adapt to the system, you can get ahead," he said.
Not everyone has found a welcoming haven here. Many of the county's Guatemalans are undocumented, which has stoked anger in some circles. Before El Sol opened in 2006, angry Jupiter residents called for the deportation of day laborers, many from Guatemala, who gathered on street corners waiting for contractors to ride up in their pickup trucks.
Patricio Silvestre left his native town of Jacaltenango in 1989 in the midst of civil war. Cousins in Jupiter told him he could easily earn a living in Florida, and to this day he describes Palm Beach County as "a place of movement and opportunities."
Silvestre, 39, works for a landscaping company and volunteers for Corn Maya, which helps new Guatemalan immigrants adapt to life in the United States. On weekends, he joins Jupiter's lively amateur soccer scene as a member of Estrellas del Sol, Guatemalan immigrants who usually play against teams consisting of Mexicans or other immigrant groups.
But the team spirit of the soccer field doesn't always extend to the community at large. A patchwork of Guatemalan groups provide services to new arrivals, but Silvestre says there's little unity.
"Everyone is pushing their own agenda. What we need is more solidarity, like the Cubans have achieved," Silvestre said.
Hoping to be a business owner one day, Silvestre is trying to set up a business with his cousin, a coffee grower from Jacaltenango, to import coffee from Guatemala to Jupiter.
"Your financial standing is very important here," he says of life in Palm Beach County. "But you also have the peacefulness and the good climate. I'd say I've assimilated pretty well."
BRAZILIANS IN BROWARD COUNTY
Walk into any number of Brazilian stores or cafes along Sample Road in Pompano Beach or Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, and you'll likely hear talk of Brazil's samba schools, soccer teams and national politics.
Many of Broward County's 19,816 Brazilians began arriving in the 1990s, from Brazil's southeastern region, with a large number from the state of Minas Gerais.
At the time, high inflation and an economic slump made for a bleak future back home. Most followed job prospects or the call of relatives already living here.
Today, their presence in Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach is evident in strip malls dotted with Brazilian stores, jazz clubs and restaurants.
Many in Broward County's Brazilian community say they feel welcome, perhaps because of the country's famed cultural exports.
"Everybody loves a good Brazilian steakhouse. And most of the audiences for local Brazilian jazz concerts consist of Americans," said Maria Fulfaro, chairperson of the Broward chapter of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. Of the Miami-based chamber's 900 members, about 30 percent are in Broward County.
The Brazilian government also has promoted Brazilian culture in South Florida, naming the Broward Center for Performing Arts a "point of culture" in 2000, Fulfaro said.
"Brazilian culture in itself is a charm," Fulfaro said. "That's what we contribute."
Joao Batista de Oliveira, part-owner of Brazilian Grill on Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, moved to Deerfield Beach a year ago after living in Boston since 1994. He became a partner in Brazilian Grill three months ago.
On evenings and weekends, customers crowd into the strip-mall restaurant for its caldos, or thick soups, and traditional fish stews called muquecas. Brazilian soap-operas and soccer games beam from a giant television screen.
"Being in Deerfield Beach is like being in Brazil," said de Oliveira, 40, who is from the southeastern state of Espiritu Santo, where he says both Deerfield Beach and Pompano Beach are well-known names among residents. "Brazil is the country of the sun, and the Florida is the state of the sun."
The author of several books published in Brazil, including a romance novel, Garoto Publico, or Public Boy, de Oliveira says moving to the United States forced him to "grow up."
"If you really work for it, you can have the nice car and the big house," he said.
As a restaurateur, he adds, "Brazilians add a lot to this state of tourists. We bring our food, our music, our spirit."
Staff Writer Tal Abbady can be reached at tabbady@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4523.
------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
America is the land of opportunity. You have the right to pursue happiness (it will not be given to you). If you work hard you can achieve your dreams. As long as you come to America LEGALLY then you are welcome.. If not, leave as you have broken our laws and are not welcome in this beautiful country.
Interpol chief warns of virus attack at sports event
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1919012007
Interpol chief warns of virus attack at sports event
RICHARD ELIAS
POLICE across the world say there is no doubt that terrorists are planning to release a plague virus at a major sports event.
Experts are convinced that the bacteria will be distributed using something as simple as a child's plastic horn.
With the Beijing Olympics just months away and the World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010, there are plenty of opportunities for an attack.
Although it is more than six years before Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games, its organisers say they are not taking anything for granted. A conference, codenamed 'Black Death' and organised by Interpol, was held last week in Lyon, France.
Ronald Noble, Interpol's general secretary, told delegates about the threat posed by bio-terrorists.
He said: "We will deal with a worst-case scenario of global proportion - terrorists that produce large amounts of a deadly bacteria, [or] plague - and disseminate it using hundreds of simple horns, the kind which children use at sporting events. In their wake are mass casualties and even greater disruption to society."
Security sources say the idea of terrorists using toy horns to distribute a deadly virus is a significant possibility.
One insider told Scotland on Sunday: "This has come from information received from the authorities in Indonesia, where references to such a form of attack were discovered."
He said it was simple and "very straightforward but potentially, absolutely deadly".
Noble said the threat needed to be addressed by everyone in order to prevent the terrorists from succeeding.
He said this type of attack "does not rely on advanced scientific expertise, large amounts of money or elaborate laboratories. This is the truly frightening form aspect of bio-terrorism. It is the perfect storm of opportunity and motivation".
The subject of targeting major sporting events was also identified recently by experts at Indiana University.
The authors of a report called 'Bio-terrorism and me' wrote: "Biological and chemical toxins can be released in several different ways.
"For practical purposes, certain delivery methods are more likely to be used than others. If the goal is to launch an unforeseen attack on the population of a certain region causing the highest possible number of deaths, an aerosol delivery of the agent is the most likely choice."
A spokesman for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games said: "Security is our number one priority and we will be liaising extremely closely with experts constantly throughout the build-up to the games.
"With a track record of regularly hosting major sporting, cultural and political events, the police and security services in this country have the knowledge and capacity to make sure that security is something that will not impinge on the Games' experience of competitors, spectators or the media."
---------------------
COMMENTS:
Scary stuff.. but if we stay at home and change our living habits the terrorists win.. so GO ENJOY LIFE and LIVE IT TO IT'S FULLEST!
Interpol chief warns of virus attack at sports event
RICHARD ELIAS
POLICE across the world say there is no doubt that terrorists are planning to release a plague virus at a major sports event.
Experts are convinced that the bacteria will be distributed using something as simple as a child's plastic horn.
With the Beijing Olympics just months away and the World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010, there are plenty of opportunities for an attack.
Although it is more than six years before Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games, its organisers say they are not taking anything for granted. A conference, codenamed 'Black Death' and organised by Interpol, was held last week in Lyon, France.
Ronald Noble, Interpol's general secretary, told delegates about the threat posed by bio-terrorists.
He said: "We will deal with a worst-case scenario of global proportion - terrorists that produce large amounts of a deadly bacteria, [or] plague - and disseminate it using hundreds of simple horns, the kind which children use at sporting events. In their wake are mass casualties and even greater disruption to society."
Security sources say the idea of terrorists using toy horns to distribute a deadly virus is a significant possibility.
One insider told Scotland on Sunday: "This has come from information received from the authorities in Indonesia, where references to such a form of attack were discovered."
He said it was simple and "very straightforward but potentially, absolutely deadly".
Noble said the threat needed to be addressed by everyone in order to prevent the terrorists from succeeding.
He said this type of attack "does not rely on advanced scientific expertise, large amounts of money or elaborate laboratories. This is the truly frightening form aspect of bio-terrorism. It is the perfect storm of opportunity and motivation".
The subject of targeting major sporting events was also identified recently by experts at Indiana University.
The authors of a report called 'Bio-terrorism and me' wrote: "Biological and chemical toxins can be released in several different ways.
"For practical purposes, certain delivery methods are more likely to be used than others. If the goal is to launch an unforeseen attack on the population of a certain region causing the highest possible number of deaths, an aerosol delivery of the agent is the most likely choice."
A spokesman for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games said: "Security is our number one priority and we will be liaising extremely closely with experts constantly throughout the build-up to the games.
"With a track record of regularly hosting major sporting, cultural and political events, the police and security services in this country have the knowledge and capacity to make sure that security is something that will not impinge on the Games' experience of competitors, spectators or the media."
---------------------
COMMENTS:
Scary stuff.. but if we stay at home and change our living habits the terrorists win.. so GO ENJOY LIFE and LIVE IT TO IT'S FULLEST!
Huckabee's dubious achievement
http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_07_14_04/huckabee4.html
Huckabee's dubious achievement
Governor sets record for clemencies
Gov. Huckabee is on a roll: He has freed more convicts than all of his recent predecessors combined – more than 10 times as many as Gov. Clinton during a 10-year period from 1983 to 1992.
Huckabee has issued more clemencies in the last 18 months than he did during his first six years in office. This feverish pace of clemencies suggests that he'll free hundreds of convicts before he leaves office in January 2007.
In the face of in-creasing criticism from victims' families and law-enforcement officials, you'd think our incredible shrinking governor would take a breather from signing clemency papers, but he's doing just the opposite: Like a child who will not behave even after he's reprimanded, Huckabee, to prove he's boss, keeps issuing more and more clemencies– 214 pardons and 40 commutations since last year, and, all told, 567 pardons and 102 commutations since he took office in 1996, for a total of 669 and still rising. He'll end up with more than 1,000 clemencies –that is, combining pardons and commutations.
He likes issuing clemency papers the way other people enjoy fishing and camping: It's his hobby. We have analyzed the record, and what we've found will shock you.
Let's put the scandal of Huckabee's clemencies in perspective:
Even that lying, liberal, no-good, cheating Bill Clinton has a better record on pardons and commutations than Huckabee. True, when young Clinton became governor in 1979, he did what Huckabee is doing now: In his first two-year term, Clinton went on
He lost his re-election bid in 1980 in part because of his generous clemencies. But when he came back in 1982, he'd learned his lesson and did just nine commutations and 279 pardons during the next decade.
Frank White, the Republican who defeated Clinton for one term, issued just four commutations and 35 pardons. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who succeeded Clinton when he was elected president in 1992, granted about the same number of clemencies in the next four years: just seven commutations and 35 pardons .
Politicians of all stripes realized in the 1980s and 1990s that there was a price to pay if they kept freeing murderers and rapists, who were usually serving life sentences without parole before they were pardoned. It was also around that time that the rights of victims were recognized across the nation. Families were suddenly consulted about pardons and clemencies.
Huckabee has reversed that trend, ignoring victims' families and lending a sympathetic ear to killers, rapists and drunks, especially if a minister from Huckabee's circle vouches for their jailhouse conversion.
Last week alone, he issued 12 clemencies, several over the objections of local prosecutors, and, in one local case, even over the objections of the usually pliable Post-Prison Transfer Board. The board unanimously disagreed with Huckabee and a minister friend that former Air Force Sgt. Glen M. Green, who is serving life without parole, didn't mean to kill a pregnant woman, and even if he did, he has been rehabilitated.
Last week's clemencies are as strange as the others. Arkansans are shaking their heads in disbelief that Huckabee would free a monster like Glen M. Green, a former sergeant at Little Rock Air Force Base, who beat a pregnant Gravel Ridge woman with a martial-arts weapon, raped her and then drove over her with his car in Lonoke County.
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain and the Jacksonville police aren't too happy with Huckabee, but that doesn't bother him because his friend, the Rev. Johnny Jackson, says Green is a good guy.
Huckabee also likes Denver Witham, a fellow musician who plays in the Cummins Prison band and is serving life without parole.
Witham, who was also granted clemency last week, beat his victim with a lead pipe during a robbery in a Saline County cemetery.
Huckabee and his staff will not discuss his clemencies, except for a brief statement he issued to the Leader last month claiming that he acts on only 10 percent of the cases that are put before him.
But, as we have shown, even that 10 percent translates into hundreds of pardons and commutations.
Victims' families fear there will be many more in the coming months, but they're organizing to stop Huckabee before he cleans out the prisons. Some victims' families are so unhappy with Huckabee, they're demanding that he resign.
This scandal should haunt him for the rest of his term and probably for the rest of his life. His shameless refusal to explain his actions and his insensitivity toward victims' families tell a lot about the man's character.
Through a combination of ig-norance and arrogance, Huckabee has alienated both Republicans and Democrats – probably more of the former, who are angry that a supposedly conservative governor has brought shame on their party.
Huckabee's dubious achievement
Governor sets record for clemencies
Gov. Huckabee is on a roll: He has freed more convicts than all of his recent predecessors combined – more than 10 times as many as Gov. Clinton during a 10-year period from 1983 to 1992.
Huckabee has issued more clemencies in the last 18 months than he did during his first six years in office. This feverish pace of clemencies suggests that he'll free hundreds of convicts before he leaves office in January 2007.
In the face of in-creasing criticism from victims' families and law-enforcement officials, you'd think our incredible shrinking governor would take a breather from signing clemency papers, but he's doing just the opposite: Like a child who will not behave even after he's reprimanded, Huckabee, to prove he's boss, keeps issuing more and more clemencies– 214 pardons and 40 commutations since last year, and, all told, 567 pardons and 102 commutations since he took office in 1996, for a total of 669 and still rising. He'll end up with more than 1,000 clemencies –that is, combining pardons and commutations.
He likes issuing clemency papers the way other people enjoy fishing and camping: It's his hobby. We have analyzed the record, and what we've found will shock you.
Let's put the scandal of Huckabee's clemencies in perspective:
Even that lying, liberal, no-good, cheating Bill Clinton has a better record on pardons and commutations than Huckabee. True, when young Clinton became governor in 1979, he did what Huckabee is doing now: In his first two-year term, Clinton went on
He lost his re-election bid in 1980 in part because of his generous clemencies. But when he came back in 1982, he'd learned his lesson and did just nine commutations and 279 pardons during the next decade.
Frank White, the Republican who defeated Clinton for one term, issued just four commutations and 35 pardons. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who succeeded Clinton when he was elected president in 1992, granted about the same number of clemencies in the next four years: just seven commutations and 35 pardons .
Politicians of all stripes realized in the 1980s and 1990s that there was a price to pay if they kept freeing murderers and rapists, who were usually serving life sentences without parole before they were pardoned. It was also around that time that the rights of victims were recognized across the nation. Families were suddenly consulted about pardons and clemencies.
Huckabee has reversed that trend, ignoring victims' families and lending a sympathetic ear to killers, rapists and drunks, especially if a minister from Huckabee's circle vouches for their jailhouse conversion.
Last week alone, he issued 12 clemencies, several over the objections of local prosecutors, and, in one local case, even over the objections of the usually pliable Post-Prison Transfer Board. The board unanimously disagreed with Huckabee and a minister friend that former Air Force Sgt. Glen M. Green, who is serving life without parole, didn't mean to kill a pregnant woman, and even if he did, he has been rehabilitated.
Last week's clemencies are as strange as the others. Arkansans are shaking their heads in disbelief that Huckabee would free a monster like Glen M. Green, a former sergeant at Little Rock Air Force Base, who beat a pregnant Gravel Ridge woman with a martial-arts weapon, raped her and then drove over her with his car in Lonoke County.
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain and the Jacksonville police aren't too happy with Huckabee, but that doesn't bother him because his friend, the Rev. Johnny Jackson, says Green is a good guy.
Huckabee also likes Denver Witham, a fellow musician who plays in the Cummins Prison band and is serving life without parole.
Witham, who was also granted clemency last week, beat his victim with a lead pipe during a robbery in a Saline County cemetery.
Huckabee and his staff will not discuss his clemencies, except for a brief statement he issued to the Leader last month claiming that he acts on only 10 percent of the cases that are put before him.
But, as we have shown, even that 10 percent translates into hundreds of pardons and commutations.
Victims' families fear there will be many more in the coming months, but they're organizing to stop Huckabee before he cleans out the prisons. Some victims' families are so unhappy with Huckabee, they're demanding that he resign.
This scandal should haunt him for the rest of his term and probably for the rest of his life. His shameless refusal to explain his actions and his insensitivity toward victims' families tell a lot about the man's character.
Through a combination of ig-norance and arrogance, Huckabee has alienated both Republicans and Democrats – probably more of the former, who are angry that a supposedly conservative governor has brought shame on their party.
Huckabee, prosecutors go on offensive
http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_06_23_04/huckabee.html
Huckabee, prosecutors go on offensive
They trade jabs over sentencing, pardoning of killers, other thugs
Several prosecutors around the state are upset with Gov. Huckabee for granting clemency to violent criminals, but he is blaming the prosecutors for often not seeking the maximum penalty and keeping felons locked up longer.
Until now, Huckabee has refused to comment on his controversial policy of making violent prisoners eligible for parole– they include murderers, armed robbers and rapists, who often return to a life of crime after they're freed – but in a statement to The Leader this week, he lashed out at prosecutors for not doing more to keep prisoners behind bars – to which Pulaski County Prosecuting Attor-ney Larry Jegley had this response: "That's a load of baloney."
"I'm offended as a prosecutor and as a citizen. He can blame the prosecutors, but ultimately he's the man responsible," Jegley says. "He's the only one who can sign on the dotted line.
"All he has to do is look in the mirror and say, 'I let (convicted rapist) Wayne DuMond go free who then killed at least once and probably twice.'"
Jegley says the governor ignores the will of the people when he reduces a life sentence without parole that was handed down by a jury.
"He has obviously disregarded the jury's decision. It's a crying shame that a sitting governor would be so insensitive to victims' right and disregard the system," says Jegley, who points to several clemency cases where felons went free and then committed more crimes.
In addition, Jegley, Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld and others have accused Huckabee of violating the state Constitution when he commutes sentences without explanation. The Constitution requires the governor to give reasons why he grants clemency to criminals.
"He doesn't do it," insists Herzfeld, who recently had a clemency overturned because Huckabee did not explain why he commuted a murderer's life sentence.
Here is Huckabee's response to critics:
"Have Robert Herzfeld, Larry Jegley and the other prosecuting attorneys prosecuted every crime to the full extent the law allows? In other words, have they in every case pursued the maximum penalties? Did they ever plea bargain? How often? What's the percentage of cases in which they've accepted less than the maximum penalties allowed by law?
"My point is this: They used their discretion to decide they would ask for less punishment than the maximum sentences. They exercised their personal judgment. In about 10 percent of the cases before me, I might use my discretion based on recommendations of the Post Prison Transfer Board, the testimony of officials, prison records, etc.," Huckabee told us.
"In those cases, I'm doing the same thing Herzfeld, Jegley and others have done – using my judgment. The difference is that we never know about their plea bargains and the thought pro-cesses they used. I have to give public notice, contact all officials and then have a 30-day public comment period.
"I'm thinking of trying to get the law changed so prosecutors are required to give notice to all involved, have a 30-day public comment period and seek input prior to a plea bargain or any decision to seek less than the maximum sentences allowed by law," Huckabee says.
Prosecutor Jegley is furious with the governor's justification for pardoning killers.
"That's pathetic. It's as bogus as any $3 bill out there. Plea bargains are a necessary part of the criminal justice system," Jegley says, but once a sentence is handed down, the governor shouldn't meddle.
"Life without parole should mean life without parole," he insists."The governor's use of clemency power in refusing to explain his turning over the will of the people deprives the general public of due process."
Herzfeld says, "The governor's statement makes absolutely no sense. It is another example of the governor's disconnection on this issue, and his lame attempts at shifting blame. In the two primary clemency cases I have been working on, the defendants are serving life in prison–that is the maximum penalty possible for first degree murder, the crime for which they were both convicted.
"After seven months of fighting the governor to keep murderers behind bars, I am still continually amazed at his actions and words regarding clemency. He just doesn't get it."
Jegley cites numerous examples of Huckabee's freeing felons who go on committing more crimes and wind up back in prison.
Maurice Clemmons received a 35-year sentence in the early 1990s for armed robbery and theft. His sentence was commuted in May 2000, and he was let out three months later.
The following March, Clem-mons committed two armed robberies and other crimes and was sentenced to 10 years. You'd think they'd keep him locked up after that, but no: He was paroled last March and is now wanted for aggravated robbery.
If Huckabee decides to set these criminals free, Jegley says, at least "he ought to give an accounting. I can't imagine why in the world they'd want them released from jail. There's a good reason we're afraid of them. The sad truth is that a significant number of people re-offend."
The victims' families, Jegley says, "deserve an explanation. I look into people's eyes who've suffered the unspeakable. I believe they deserve justice.
"People are paying attention," the prosecutor says. "They don't like it. People ask me, 'Why is he letting criminals out of prison?' I tell them I don't know why. I have no earthly idea how come. Maybe he doesn't know what common folk think."
Jegley says although he'll never know why Huckabee is releasing hardened criminals, it often helps if they're assigned to the Governor's Mansion.
"If you do a good job raking the governor's leaves," Jegley says, "you can go free."
-------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Huckabee is just as abd as Bill Clintona dn Hillary to me. His lack of respect for the victims and their families is unforgivable, not to mention his duty to protect the people of Arkansas. THIS IS CRAZY! One can only wonder who he'd pardon should he become president...
Huckabee, prosecutors go on offensive
They trade jabs over sentencing, pardoning of killers, other thugs
Several prosecutors around the state are upset with Gov. Huckabee for granting clemency to violent criminals, but he is blaming the prosecutors for often not seeking the maximum penalty and keeping felons locked up longer.
Until now, Huckabee has refused to comment on his controversial policy of making violent prisoners eligible for parole– they include murderers, armed robbers and rapists, who often return to a life of crime after they're freed – but in a statement to The Leader this week, he lashed out at prosecutors for not doing more to keep prisoners behind bars – to which Pulaski County Prosecuting Attor-ney Larry Jegley had this response: "That's a load of baloney."
"I'm offended as a prosecutor and as a citizen. He can blame the prosecutors, but ultimately he's the man responsible," Jegley says. "He's the only one who can sign on the dotted line.
"All he has to do is look in the mirror and say, 'I let (convicted rapist) Wayne DuMond go free who then killed at least once and probably twice.'"
Jegley says the governor ignores the will of the people when he reduces a life sentence without parole that was handed down by a jury.
"He has obviously disregarded the jury's decision. It's a crying shame that a sitting governor would be so insensitive to victims' right and disregard the system," says Jegley, who points to several clemency cases where felons went free and then committed more crimes.
In addition, Jegley, Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld and others have accused Huckabee of violating the state Constitution when he commutes sentences without explanation. The Constitution requires the governor to give reasons why he grants clemency to criminals.
"He doesn't do it," insists Herzfeld, who recently had a clemency overturned because Huckabee did not explain why he commuted a murderer's life sentence.
Here is Huckabee's response to critics:
"Have Robert Herzfeld, Larry Jegley and the other prosecuting attorneys prosecuted every crime to the full extent the law allows? In other words, have they in every case pursued the maximum penalties? Did they ever plea bargain? How often? What's the percentage of cases in which they've accepted less than the maximum penalties allowed by law?
"My point is this: They used their discretion to decide they would ask for less punishment than the maximum sentences. They exercised their personal judgment. In about 10 percent of the cases before me, I might use my discretion based on recommendations of the Post Prison Transfer Board, the testimony of officials, prison records, etc.," Huckabee told us.
"In those cases, I'm doing the same thing Herzfeld, Jegley and others have done – using my judgment. The difference is that we never know about their plea bargains and the thought pro-cesses they used. I have to give public notice, contact all officials and then have a 30-day public comment period.
"I'm thinking of trying to get the law changed so prosecutors are required to give notice to all involved, have a 30-day public comment period and seek input prior to a plea bargain or any decision to seek less than the maximum sentences allowed by law," Huckabee says.
Prosecutor Jegley is furious with the governor's justification for pardoning killers.
"That's pathetic. It's as bogus as any $3 bill out there. Plea bargains are a necessary part of the criminal justice system," Jegley says, but once a sentence is handed down, the governor shouldn't meddle.
"Life without parole should mean life without parole," he insists."The governor's use of clemency power in refusing to explain his turning over the will of the people deprives the general public of due process."
Herzfeld says, "The governor's statement makes absolutely no sense. It is another example of the governor's disconnection on this issue, and his lame attempts at shifting blame. In the two primary clemency cases I have been working on, the defendants are serving life in prison–that is the maximum penalty possible for first degree murder, the crime for which they were both convicted.
"After seven months of fighting the governor to keep murderers behind bars, I am still continually amazed at his actions and words regarding clemency. He just doesn't get it."
Jegley cites numerous examples of Huckabee's freeing felons who go on committing more crimes and wind up back in prison.
Maurice Clemmons received a 35-year sentence in the early 1990s for armed robbery and theft. His sentence was commuted in May 2000, and he was let out three months later.
The following March, Clem-mons committed two armed robberies and other crimes and was sentenced to 10 years. You'd think they'd keep him locked up after that, but no: He was paroled last March and is now wanted for aggravated robbery.
If Huckabee decides to set these criminals free, Jegley says, at least "he ought to give an accounting. I can't imagine why in the world they'd want them released from jail. There's a good reason we're afraid of them. The sad truth is that a significant number of people re-offend."
The victims' families, Jegley says, "deserve an explanation. I look into people's eyes who've suffered the unspeakable. I believe they deserve justice.
"People are paying attention," the prosecutor says. "They don't like it. People ask me, 'Why is he letting criminals out of prison?' I tell them I don't know why. I have no earthly idea how come. Maybe he doesn't know what common folk think."
Jegley says although he'll never know why Huckabee is releasing hardened criminals, it often helps if they're assigned to the Governor's Mansion.
"If you do a good job raking the governor's leaves," Jegley says, "you can go free."
-------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Huckabee is just as abd as Bill Clintona dn Hillary to me. His lack of respect for the victims and their families is unforgivable, not to mention his duty to protect the people of Arkansas. THIS IS CRAZY! One can only wonder who he'd pardon should he become president...
Why parole a monster like Green
http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_07_21_04/huckabee5.html
Why parole a monster like Green
Gov. Huckabee probably never read the confession of a demented killer named Glen Green before he made the monster eligible for parole.
Green's confession is so depraved, its sadistic details so scary that no sane, responsible adult would consider him for parole.
If the governor didn't read the confession, he is guilty of dereliction of duty.
But if he read the confession and still considers Green deserving of parole, he's certainly unfit to hold office. Who would free a madman who beat an 18-year-old woman with Chinese martial-arts sticks, raped her as she barely clung to life, ran over her with his car, then dumped her in the bayou, her hand reaching up, as if begging for mercy?
We're publishing the gruesome picture of Green's victim on the front page because we believe her hand is reaching up to demand justice.
In usual fashion, Huckabee's office didn't even contact the victim's family about the clemency.
Although he's required to by the Constitution, the governor, as is his custom, won't say why he granted clemency to this crazed killer (over the unanimous objections of the Post-Prison Transfer Board).
Huckabee apparently listened to Green's minister (and a friend of the governor), who thinks the murder was an accident and Green was forced to confess.
The Jacksonville police, who arrested Green in 1974 after a witness linked him to the crime, think the minister and Huckabee are both delusional, which is the mildest epitaph we can print.
This old police reporter knows a genuine confession when he sees one, and Green's depravity has the ring of truth.
Green, a 22-year-old sergeant, kidnapped Helen Lynette Spencer on Little Rock Air Force Base, where he beat and kicked her as he tried to rape her in a secluded area. She broke loose and ran toward the barracks' parking lot, where he caught up with her and beat her with a pair of nunchucks.
He then stuffed her into the trunk of his car and left her there while he cleaned up. Several hours later, he drove down Graham Road, past Loop Road and stopped near a bridge in Lonoke County. Green told investigators he put her body in the front seat and raped her because her body was still warm.
He dragged Spencer out of his vehicle and put her in front of the car and ran over her several times, going back and forth. He then collected himself long enough to dump her body in Twin Prairie Bayou.
This is what the Rev. Johnny Jackson, interim pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Jacksonville, calls an accident, and apparently Huckabee believes him.
"There is no doubt in my mind that he could kill again," warns Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley.
The crime started out in his jurisdiction and ended in Lonoke County, where Prosecutor Lona McCastlain has also spoken out against the clemency.
"Life means life," she said, referring to Green's sentence after he plead guilty to Spencer's kidnapping, rape and murder.
As he grants clemency to scores of violent criminals, Huckabee's motives are the subject of speculation: Why, people are asking, is he doing it? After studying the record for several weeks, all one can say is that his actions perhaps reflect a combination of arrogance and avarice and ignorance.
While his fellow governors keep electing him to top positions in their little club, he has alienated Arkansans of both parties. They're shocked at not only the amazing number of clemencies but also at the way he ignores the suffering of the victims' families, who are always the last to know when their loved one's killer is up for parole.
Bilenda Harris-Ritter, an attorney who now lives in California, is one of those people who worry all the time that Huckabee might free the man who killed their relatives. Harris-Ritter's parents were murdered in north Arkansas, and she has had to deal with heartless state bureaucrats as she fights to keep the killer locked up.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently named Harris-Ritter chairman of the Public Employees Board, which oversees collective-bargaining agreements among 7,000 employers and 2 million employees.
She is upset that our governor has not been more forthright about his clemencies.
"Huckabee is required by law to make certain notifications. When he does not, the pardon should be voidable," she told us.
She continued, "The people of the good state of Arkansas (and I really mean that) need to think seriously about impeachment."
When told that many people consider Huckabee our worst governor in recent memory, Harris-Ritter replied, "No argument from me, and I am a Republican!"
Why parole a monster like Green
Gov. Huckabee probably never read the confession of a demented killer named Glen Green before he made the monster eligible for parole.
Green's confession is so depraved, its sadistic details so scary that no sane, responsible adult would consider him for parole.
If the governor didn't read the confession, he is guilty of dereliction of duty.
But if he read the confession and still considers Green deserving of parole, he's certainly unfit to hold office. Who would free a madman who beat an 18-year-old woman with Chinese martial-arts sticks, raped her as she barely clung to life, ran over her with his car, then dumped her in the bayou, her hand reaching up, as if begging for mercy?
We're publishing the gruesome picture of Green's victim on the front page because we believe her hand is reaching up to demand justice.
In usual fashion, Huckabee's office didn't even contact the victim's family about the clemency.
Although he's required to by the Constitution, the governor, as is his custom, won't say why he granted clemency to this crazed killer (over the unanimous objections of the Post-Prison Transfer Board).
Huckabee apparently listened to Green's minister (and a friend of the governor), who thinks the murder was an accident and Green was forced to confess.
The Jacksonville police, who arrested Green in 1974 after a witness linked him to the crime, think the minister and Huckabee are both delusional, which is the mildest epitaph we can print.
This old police reporter knows a genuine confession when he sees one, and Green's depravity has the ring of truth.
Green, a 22-year-old sergeant, kidnapped Helen Lynette Spencer on Little Rock Air Force Base, where he beat and kicked her as he tried to rape her in a secluded area. She broke loose and ran toward the barracks' parking lot, where he caught up with her and beat her with a pair of nunchucks.
He then stuffed her into the trunk of his car and left her there while he cleaned up. Several hours later, he drove down Graham Road, past Loop Road and stopped near a bridge in Lonoke County. Green told investigators he put her body in the front seat and raped her because her body was still warm.
He dragged Spencer out of his vehicle and put her in front of the car and ran over her several times, going back and forth. He then collected himself long enough to dump her body in Twin Prairie Bayou.
This is what the Rev. Johnny Jackson, interim pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Jacksonville, calls an accident, and apparently Huckabee believes him.
"There is no doubt in my mind that he could kill again," warns Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley.
The crime started out in his jurisdiction and ended in Lonoke County, where Prosecutor Lona McCastlain has also spoken out against the clemency.
"Life means life," she said, referring to Green's sentence after he plead guilty to Spencer's kidnapping, rape and murder.
As he grants clemency to scores of violent criminals, Huckabee's motives are the subject of speculation: Why, people are asking, is he doing it? After studying the record for several weeks, all one can say is that his actions perhaps reflect a combination of arrogance and avarice and ignorance.
While his fellow governors keep electing him to top positions in their little club, he has alienated Arkansans of both parties. They're shocked at not only the amazing number of clemencies but also at the way he ignores the suffering of the victims' families, who are always the last to know when their loved one's killer is up for parole.
Bilenda Harris-Ritter, an attorney who now lives in California, is one of those people who worry all the time that Huckabee might free the man who killed their relatives. Harris-Ritter's parents were murdered in north Arkansas, and she has had to deal with heartless state bureaucrats as she fights to keep the killer locked up.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently named Harris-Ritter chairman of the Public Employees Board, which oversees collective-bargaining agreements among 7,000 employers and 2 million employees.
She is upset that our governor has not been more forthright about his clemencies.
"Huckabee is required by law to make certain notifications. When he does not, the pardon should be voidable," she told us.
She continued, "The people of the good state of Arkansas (and I really mean that) need to think seriously about impeachment."
When told that many people consider Huckabee our worst governor in recent memory, Harris-Ritter replied, "No argument from me, and I am a Republican!"
Iran students break campus gate in protest: reports
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071209122906.ydxg6hkk&show_article=1
Iran students break campus gate in protest: reports
Dec 9 08:24 AM US/Eastern
Iranian students staged a new demonstration at Tehran University on Sunday, damaging the main gate to allow outsiders into the campus and denouncing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, news agencies reported.
The protesters chanted slogans against the president and carried banners calling for the release of three fellow students who have been held since May in a high-profile case, the Fars news agency and state-run IRNA reported.
The reports did not disclose the number of students involved. Both news agencies said that the demonstration had been called by the radical wing of the Office to Foster Unity, a reformist student group.
"The students marched on the gate and damaged it, and this allowed several non-students to enter the campus. The students chanted slogans and carried protesting placards," IRNA reported.
"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!" chanted the protesters, playing on the names of the Iranian president and late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Fars reported.
The students also burned a copy of Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of the clerical establishment that is bitterly critical of the Iranian reformist movement, it said.
According to IRNA, anti-riot police were stationed outside the campus but did not intervene.
There has been a string of demonstrations at Tehran universities in past months as students protest against the replacement of liberal professors, pressure on activists by the authorities and the detention of three students.
The demonstration on Sunday was at least the second within a week at Tehran University after dozens of students held a similar protest on Tuesday.
Mehdi Arabshahi, a member of the central board of the Office to Foster Unity, said that 1,500 people joined the latest protest, although there was no confirmation of this figure from Iranian media.
Arabshahi told AFP that university security officials had initially shut the main gate in a bid to prevent large numbers gathering for the protest.
"But the students forced their way in and broke the gate so that others could enter.
"They protested against the detention of the students, the oppressive policies of the government and advocated rights for all Iranians," he added, saying that the participants included liberals and ethnic Kurds.
Arabshahi said the protest lasted for more than two hours after starting at 12:00 pm (0830 GMT) and that it was peaceful.
"We are gathered here to say students are alive and are critical of wrong polices," IRNA quoted another unnamed student as saying.
The demonstration came a day after the intelligence ministry said it had arrested an unspecified number of people using "fake student cards to hold an illegal demonstration" at Tehran University.
The timing of those arrests was not given, but it is likely that they took place before Friday which was annual students' day in Iran.
The case of the three detained students from Tehran's Amir Kabir University has become a major issue for the protesting students.
Detained since May, the trio were given jail sentences of up to three years in October on charges of printing anti-Islamic images in four student newspapers -- accusations they vehemently deny.
Reformist leaders such as former president Mohammad Khatami have openly called for the three to be released, but hardliners have said the gravity of their crimes means they must stay behind bars.
Meanwhile, a group of Islamist students held a counter-demonstration outside the offices of the Iranian judiciary to protest against the Tehran University gathering, Fars reported.
"We condemn the demonstrations by the liberals at Tehran University, which are supported financially and morally by the opposition and the enemies," one demonstrator told the agency.
"We are astonished that this is not prevented when they are growing bolder by the day."
----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
A FREE IRAN IS COMING!!!!!
Iran students break campus gate in protest: reports
Dec 9 08:24 AM US/Eastern
Iranian students staged a new demonstration at Tehran University on Sunday, damaging the main gate to allow outsiders into the campus and denouncing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, news agencies reported.
The protesters chanted slogans against the president and carried banners calling for the release of three fellow students who have been held since May in a high-profile case, the Fars news agency and state-run IRNA reported.
The reports did not disclose the number of students involved. Both news agencies said that the demonstration had been called by the radical wing of the Office to Foster Unity, a reformist student group.
"The students marched on the gate and damaged it, and this allowed several non-students to enter the campus. The students chanted slogans and carried protesting placards," IRNA reported.
"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!" chanted the protesters, playing on the names of the Iranian president and late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Fars reported.
The students also burned a copy of Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of the clerical establishment that is bitterly critical of the Iranian reformist movement, it said.
According to IRNA, anti-riot police were stationed outside the campus but did not intervene.
There has been a string of demonstrations at Tehran universities in past months as students protest against the replacement of liberal professors, pressure on activists by the authorities and the detention of three students.
The demonstration on Sunday was at least the second within a week at Tehran University after dozens of students held a similar protest on Tuesday.
Mehdi Arabshahi, a member of the central board of the Office to Foster Unity, said that 1,500 people joined the latest protest, although there was no confirmation of this figure from Iranian media.
Arabshahi told AFP that university security officials had initially shut the main gate in a bid to prevent large numbers gathering for the protest.
"But the students forced their way in and broke the gate so that others could enter.
"They protested against the detention of the students, the oppressive policies of the government and advocated rights for all Iranians," he added, saying that the participants included liberals and ethnic Kurds.
Arabshahi said the protest lasted for more than two hours after starting at 12:00 pm (0830 GMT) and that it was peaceful.
"We are gathered here to say students are alive and are critical of wrong polices," IRNA quoted another unnamed student as saying.
The demonstration came a day after the intelligence ministry said it had arrested an unspecified number of people using "fake student cards to hold an illegal demonstration" at Tehran University.
The timing of those arrests was not given, but it is likely that they took place before Friday which was annual students' day in Iran.
The case of the three detained students from Tehran's Amir Kabir University has become a major issue for the protesting students.
Detained since May, the trio were given jail sentences of up to three years in October on charges of printing anti-Islamic images in four student newspapers -- accusations they vehemently deny.
Reformist leaders such as former president Mohammad Khatami have openly called for the three to be released, but hardliners have said the gravity of their crimes means they must stay behind bars.
Meanwhile, a group of Islamist students held a counter-demonstration outside the offices of the Iranian judiciary to protest against the Tehran University gathering, Fars reported.
"We condemn the demonstrations by the liberals at Tehran University, which are supported financially and morally by the opposition and the enemies," one demonstrator told the agency.
"We are astonished that this is not prevented when they are growing bolder by the day."
----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
A FREE IRAN IS COMING!!!!!
China calling shots in Central, South America now!
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59107
China calling shots in Central, South America now!
Offered control of Ecuadorian airport, Panama opts to teach language
Posted: December 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
China's influence in North America has reached the point that Canada, the United States and Mexico all are proposing new super-ports to accept mega-ships loaded with thousands of containers of goods from the exporting nation. Now it's reaching into Central and South America as well.
The BBC is reporting that the Panamanian National Assembly has approved a plan to make teaching Mandarin obligatory, "in recognition of China's growing importance in the world economy."
The report said the bill's supporters believe boosting the number of people who speak Chinese will help boost the economic competitiveness Panama offers the global economy.
At this point, China is the single biggest user of the Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Supporters of the plan say that while English now is the international language of business, Mandarin soon will be required for significant progress.
The two nations already have trade estimated at $1 billion a year.
The Panamanian legislative proposal, while not yet final, would establish a deadline of 10 years for Mandarin to be among subjects in all of the nation's school's.
Since Panama took full control of the U.S.-built canal from the United States in 1999, traffic has grown by more than 30 percent. Officials say it's been spurred particularly by the expansion of China's exports to the rest of the world, and the traffic now is dominated by containers holding electronics, textiles and other goods.
Panama also is expanding the canal in order to allow the so-called post-Panamax ships to use its locks, which at the present time are too small.
Another report by the World Tribune also notes that Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has announced he will not renew with the United States a contract that expires in 2009 for operations at the Manta Airport, instead offering the facility to China.
The airfield, one of the last outposts in South America for the U.S. military, would be leased to Beijing if Correa has his way, according to a report on the nation's presidential website.
Correa reported that the airport is part of a plan for his nation to become a "doorway" that would give China access to Latin America.
The company that already is running Manta's seaport and government officials have had discussions about a Chinese investment in a rail system, too, the report said.
As WND has reported, Canada is in the North American competition with a proposal for a mega-port on its western coast that would allow such super cargo ships to dock, and deliver goods that then would be carried by rail and truck throughout North America.
Mexico already has several plans for such ports on its Pacific Coast, and Texas even has proposed such deepwater docking facilities on its Gulf Coast, to service ships that would need to pass through the Panama Canal.
The expansions all are to handle those consumer goods being gobbled up around the world. U.S. international trade grew from 13 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 1990 to 24 percent in 2000, with projections of 30 percent by 2010, according to Andrew Goetz and Sutapa Bandyopadhyay, transportation economists at the University of Denver.
But the experts noted for now, most of the foreign trade enters the U.S. through containers delivered to West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, with the containers "transferred to rail cars and trucks for distribution to inland load centers and eventually to wholesale and retail outlets throughout North America."
They suggest that the transportation infrastructure soon will look vastly different, with deep-water ports in Canada and Mexico and advanced truck-train options throughout the continent.
WND previously reported plans to deepen and widen the Panama Canal so post-Panamax container ships can access U.S. ports such as New Orleans, Houston and Corpus Christi.
In 2005, the largest container ships carried an average of less than 2,500 containers. Today, megaships containing 9,500 containers are in operation. The Emma Maersk, one of the largest container ships, is over four football fields long (1,300 feet) and capable of handling 12,500 containers, stacked in 22 rows across its deck.
A YouTube.com video showing the Emma Maersk at sea gives an idea of the megaship's magnitude.
According to the foreign trade statistics maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. imbalance of trade with China is in the billions and growing every year, from a deficit of approximately $162 billion in 2004, to $202 billion in 2005, and $233 billion in 2006.
China now holds $1.3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, 80 percent of which is held in U.S. dollar assets, the largest amount of foreign exchange currency ever held by any country in the world, officials report.
But as WND reported, repeated visits of top Bush administration bureaucrats, including Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, have failed to get China to eliminate unfair trade practices, including subsidizing its currency.
Alan S. Blinder, a Princeton University economist who was former Federal Reserve Board vice chairman, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview reported March 28 that the U.S. was at risk of 40 million jobs being shipped out of the country to outsourcing in the next decade or two.
-----------------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
This is bad.. Very bad... We already rely too much on exports from China for cheap goods. Our economy will be inflitrated with so much cheap crap how will the average American businessman afford to keep manufacturing jobs in America?
China calling shots in Central, South America now!
Offered control of Ecuadorian airport, Panama opts to teach language
Posted: December 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
China's influence in North America has reached the point that Canada, the United States and Mexico all are proposing new super-ports to accept mega-ships loaded with thousands of containers of goods from the exporting nation. Now it's reaching into Central and South America as well.
The BBC is reporting that the Panamanian National Assembly has approved a plan to make teaching Mandarin obligatory, "in recognition of China's growing importance in the world economy."
The report said the bill's supporters believe boosting the number of people who speak Chinese will help boost the economic competitiveness Panama offers the global economy.
At this point, China is the single biggest user of the Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Supporters of the plan say that while English now is the international language of business, Mandarin soon will be required for significant progress.
The two nations already have trade estimated at $1 billion a year.
The Panamanian legislative proposal, while not yet final, would establish a deadline of 10 years for Mandarin to be among subjects in all of the nation's school's.
Since Panama took full control of the U.S.-built canal from the United States in 1999, traffic has grown by more than 30 percent. Officials say it's been spurred particularly by the expansion of China's exports to the rest of the world, and the traffic now is dominated by containers holding electronics, textiles and other goods.
Panama also is expanding the canal in order to allow the so-called post-Panamax ships to use its locks, which at the present time are too small.
Another report by the World Tribune also notes that Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has announced he will not renew with the United States a contract that expires in 2009 for operations at the Manta Airport, instead offering the facility to China.
The airfield, one of the last outposts in South America for the U.S. military, would be leased to Beijing if Correa has his way, according to a report on the nation's presidential website.
Correa reported that the airport is part of a plan for his nation to become a "doorway" that would give China access to Latin America.
The company that already is running Manta's seaport and government officials have had discussions about a Chinese investment in a rail system, too, the report said.
As WND has reported, Canada is in the North American competition with a proposal for a mega-port on its western coast that would allow such super cargo ships to dock, and deliver goods that then would be carried by rail and truck throughout North America.
Mexico already has several plans for such ports on its Pacific Coast, and Texas even has proposed such deepwater docking facilities on its Gulf Coast, to service ships that would need to pass through the Panama Canal.
The expansions all are to handle those consumer goods being gobbled up around the world. U.S. international trade grew from 13 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 1990 to 24 percent in 2000, with projections of 30 percent by 2010, according to Andrew Goetz and Sutapa Bandyopadhyay, transportation economists at the University of Denver.
But the experts noted for now, most of the foreign trade enters the U.S. through containers delivered to West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, with the containers "transferred to rail cars and trucks for distribution to inland load centers and eventually to wholesale and retail outlets throughout North America."
They suggest that the transportation infrastructure soon will look vastly different, with deep-water ports in Canada and Mexico and advanced truck-train options throughout the continent.
WND previously reported plans to deepen and widen the Panama Canal so post-Panamax container ships can access U.S. ports such as New Orleans, Houston and Corpus Christi.
In 2005, the largest container ships carried an average of less than 2,500 containers. Today, megaships containing 9,500 containers are in operation. The Emma Maersk, one of the largest container ships, is over four football fields long (1,300 feet) and capable of handling 12,500 containers, stacked in 22 rows across its deck.
A YouTube.com video showing the Emma Maersk at sea gives an idea of the megaship's magnitude.
According to the foreign trade statistics maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. imbalance of trade with China is in the billions and growing every year, from a deficit of approximately $162 billion in 2004, to $202 billion in 2005, and $233 billion in 2006.
China now holds $1.3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, 80 percent of which is held in U.S. dollar assets, the largest amount of foreign exchange currency ever held by any country in the world, officials report.
But as WND reported, repeated visits of top Bush administration bureaucrats, including Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, have failed to get China to eliminate unfair trade practices, including subsidizing its currency.
Alan S. Blinder, a Princeton University economist who was former Federal Reserve Board vice chairman, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview reported March 28 that the U.S. was at risk of 40 million jobs being shipped out of the country to outsourcing in the next decade or two.
-----------------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
This is bad.. Very bad... We already rely too much on exports from China for cheap goods. Our economy will be inflitrated with so much cheap crap how will the average American businessman afford to keep manufacturing jobs in America?
Republican Candidates Firm on Immigration
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/us/politics/10repubs.html?ex=1197867600&en=3a97e6a7cc41ec44&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY
Republican Candidates Firm on Immigration
Alex Quesada for The New York Times
By MICHAEL COOPER and MARC SANTORA
Published: December 10, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla., Dec. 9 — In front of what will probably be their most pro-immigration audience, Republican candidates toned down their rhetoric but told Spanish-language television viewers in a debate on Sunday that they would take strong measures to close off the country’s borders to illegal immigration.
The candidates were forced into a difficult balancing act by the debate, broadcast on Univision, as they tried to offend neither the Hispanic audience nor the Republican base many of them have tried to appeal to by taking a hard line on illegal immigration. The topic has led to some of the fiercest rhetoric in past debates.
Most of the seven candidates took a softer tone on Sunday, even as many spoke of working to eradicate illegal immigration. Some spoke of trying to send some of the 12 million people who are estimated to be in the United States illegally back to their native countries.
They sandwiched their remarks between gauzy paeans to legal immigration and the values of immigrants.
The debate, less than a month before the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire cast the first ballots, came as the battle to the Republican presidential nomination assumed greater intensity and uncertainty. Candidates found themselves fending off attacks on their records, and a shifting field threatened to throw some campaign strategies into disarray.
The sudden rise of Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who was hardly considered a factor a month ago, has shaken up the race and thrust him into the center of controversies.
He began the day defending his record on “Fox News Sunday,” where he argued that when he called in 1992 for taking steps to isolate people with AIDS, he was not advocating a quarantine. Then Rudolph W. Giuliani was questioned aggressively on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about his judgment, his record and his business dealings.
Mr. Huckabee said that when he called for isolating AIDS patients, “we didn’t know as much as we do now about AIDS.” But as early as 1986, the United States surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, had stated that AIDS was not spread by casual contact.
Mr. Giuliani, on “Meet the Press,” found himself on defense for nearly the entire hour. He was questioned about Bernard B. Kerik, who was his police commissioner when he was mayor of New York City and who was recently indicted; the security arrangements that were made when he began an extramarital affair as mayor; and his decision to quit the Iraq Study Group, which was supposed to come up with a way forward in Iraq, at a time when he was giving many lucrative speeches.
At the debate, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who lost considerable political capital last spring when he supported an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws to offer some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, criticized some of his opponents for the tone they have used in discussing immigration. That tone, he said, has cost the Republican Party vital support from Hispanic voters.
“I’ll give you some straight talk,” he said. “I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor, or seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country.”
In the debate, which was sponsored by Univision and held here at the University of Miami, questions in Spanish were translated for the candidates, and their answers in English were then translated for the audience.
Mitt Romney, who was an outspoken critic of the proposed immigration law and who sent out a mailing on the subject last week with a chain-link fence on the cover, was forced to again defend himself for employing a lawn service that used illegal workers at his home in Massachusetts, where he was governor.
At the debate, Mr. Romney, who once said on Fox News that he would tell illegal immigrants to “go home,” used a different tone to describe his policy. “Those who have come illegally, in my view, should be given the opportunity to get in line with everybody else,” he said, “but there should be no special pathway for those that have come here illegally to jump ahead of the line or to be come permanent residents or citizens.” Mr. Giuliani said the nation’s first priority should be securing the border and establishing a tamperproof identification card. But he seemed to suggest that there could be a path to granting legal status to illegal workers once that is done.
“When we have control of our borders, when we preserve the legality of immigration, we can then turn to the people who are here, we can have them get the tamperproof ID cards, and the people that come forward and sign up, they can pay taxes,” he said. The people who do not do that, he said, “should be expelled from the United States.”
Mr. Huckabee, who has voiced compassion for illegal immigrants and who has had to defend a proposal he supported as governor of Arkansas to offer taxpayer-financed scholarships to the children of illegal immigrants, recently issued a proposal that focuses on strict penalties for illegal immigration. At the debate he said the illegal immigrants should go “to the back, not the front of the line,” and said they should start the process by going back to their native countries.
One candidate, Tom Tancredo, who has based his campaign on heated rhetoric about illegal immigration, boycotted the debate, saying in a statement that the very idea of having the forum in Spanish was un-American and that those who participated were simply "pandering" to Hispanic voters. The debate was originally planned for September, but most of the candidates declined to appear then, citing scheduling conflicts.
Several of the candidates praised legal immigration emphasized their ties to the Hispanic community. Representative Duncan Hunter of California recalled that he was once “a practicing lawyer in the barrio.” And Mr. Giuliani said he was the mayor of “the largest Hispanic city — maybe not in the hemisphere, but in the United States.”
Representative Ron Paul of Texas did not appear to tailor his message at all, drawing loud boos when he called for engaging with Fidel Castro in Cuba.
The changing dynamic of the race was evident in the way Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Giuliani found themselves on defense on the talk shows Sunday morning.
On “Meet the Press” Mr. Giuliani was asked, in light of the National Intelligence Estimate that found that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, about the views of one of his foreign policy advisers, Norman Podhoretz, who has been a vocal proponent of bombing Iran as soon as possible. Mr. Giuliani said he would not eliminate the option of a pre-emptive military strike against Iran because it would build pressure for a diplomatic solution, but he added that such action should be taken only as a last resort.
Mr. Giuliani, known for testy responses to pointed questions as mayor, displayed in the combative interview a lighter side, as he often does on the campaign trail. He even took a page from the playbook of a Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and laughed off tough questions.
When the program’s host, Tim Russert, asked Mr. Giuliani about the work that his firm did for Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, who has accused President Bush of genocide, and about other clients, Mr. Giuliani laughed hard, leading Mr. Russert to interject, “These are all accusations being made in a very serious way about your business.”
Mr. Giuliani, who said he would not disclose a client list for his private business, said the claim that his firm had represented Mr. Chávez was a stretch. He said the firm had merely represented Citgo, which he described as an American company. Citgo is the American subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. His firm announced that it had severed ties with Citgo last June, after reports of Mr. Chávez’s connection to the firm surfaced. The firm said the decision had not been influenced by politics.
At the debate here Sunday night, though, Mr. Giuliani had tough words for Mr. Chávez. “I actually agree with the way King Juan Carlos spoke to Chávez,” he said, referring to the suggestion by the king of Spain last month that Mr. Chávez should “shut up.”
----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
THE ONLY WAY TO VOTE IS FOR TOM TANCREDO!!! He is the only one who actually speaks his mind and doesn't pander to the audience he is speaking to. GO TOM GO!
Republican Candidates Firm on Immigration
Alex Quesada for The New York Times
By MICHAEL COOPER and MARC SANTORA
Published: December 10, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla., Dec. 9 — In front of what will probably be their most pro-immigration audience, Republican candidates toned down their rhetoric but told Spanish-language television viewers in a debate on Sunday that they would take strong measures to close off the country’s borders to illegal immigration.
The candidates were forced into a difficult balancing act by the debate, broadcast on Univision, as they tried to offend neither the Hispanic audience nor the Republican base many of them have tried to appeal to by taking a hard line on illegal immigration. The topic has led to some of the fiercest rhetoric in past debates.
Most of the seven candidates took a softer tone on Sunday, even as many spoke of working to eradicate illegal immigration. Some spoke of trying to send some of the 12 million people who are estimated to be in the United States illegally back to their native countries.
They sandwiched their remarks between gauzy paeans to legal immigration and the values of immigrants.
The debate, less than a month before the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire cast the first ballots, came as the battle to the Republican presidential nomination assumed greater intensity and uncertainty. Candidates found themselves fending off attacks on their records, and a shifting field threatened to throw some campaign strategies into disarray.
The sudden rise of Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who was hardly considered a factor a month ago, has shaken up the race and thrust him into the center of controversies.
He began the day defending his record on “Fox News Sunday,” where he argued that when he called in 1992 for taking steps to isolate people with AIDS, he was not advocating a quarantine. Then Rudolph W. Giuliani was questioned aggressively on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about his judgment, his record and his business dealings.
Mr. Huckabee said that when he called for isolating AIDS patients, “we didn’t know as much as we do now about AIDS.” But as early as 1986, the United States surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, had stated that AIDS was not spread by casual contact.
Mr. Giuliani, on “Meet the Press,” found himself on defense for nearly the entire hour. He was questioned about Bernard B. Kerik, who was his police commissioner when he was mayor of New York City and who was recently indicted; the security arrangements that were made when he began an extramarital affair as mayor; and his decision to quit the Iraq Study Group, which was supposed to come up with a way forward in Iraq, at a time when he was giving many lucrative speeches.
At the debate, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who lost considerable political capital last spring when he supported an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws to offer some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, criticized some of his opponents for the tone they have used in discussing immigration. That tone, he said, has cost the Republican Party vital support from Hispanic voters.
“I’ll give you some straight talk,” he said. “I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor, or seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country.”
In the debate, which was sponsored by Univision and held here at the University of Miami, questions in Spanish were translated for the candidates, and their answers in English were then translated for the audience.
Mitt Romney, who was an outspoken critic of the proposed immigration law and who sent out a mailing on the subject last week with a chain-link fence on the cover, was forced to again defend himself for employing a lawn service that used illegal workers at his home in Massachusetts, where he was governor.
At the debate, Mr. Romney, who once said on Fox News that he would tell illegal immigrants to “go home,” used a different tone to describe his policy. “Those who have come illegally, in my view, should be given the opportunity to get in line with everybody else,” he said, “but there should be no special pathway for those that have come here illegally to jump ahead of the line or to be come permanent residents or citizens.” Mr. Giuliani said the nation’s first priority should be securing the border and establishing a tamperproof identification card. But he seemed to suggest that there could be a path to granting legal status to illegal workers once that is done.
“When we have control of our borders, when we preserve the legality of immigration, we can then turn to the people who are here, we can have them get the tamperproof ID cards, and the people that come forward and sign up, they can pay taxes,” he said. The people who do not do that, he said, “should be expelled from the United States.”
Mr. Huckabee, who has voiced compassion for illegal immigrants and who has had to defend a proposal he supported as governor of Arkansas to offer taxpayer-financed scholarships to the children of illegal immigrants, recently issued a proposal that focuses on strict penalties for illegal immigration. At the debate he said the illegal immigrants should go “to the back, not the front of the line,” and said they should start the process by going back to their native countries.
One candidate, Tom Tancredo, who has based his campaign on heated rhetoric about illegal immigration, boycotted the debate, saying in a statement that the very idea of having the forum in Spanish was un-American and that those who participated were simply "pandering" to Hispanic voters. The debate was originally planned for September, but most of the candidates declined to appear then, citing scheduling conflicts.
Several of the candidates praised legal immigration emphasized their ties to the Hispanic community. Representative Duncan Hunter of California recalled that he was once “a practicing lawyer in the barrio.” And Mr. Giuliani said he was the mayor of “the largest Hispanic city — maybe not in the hemisphere, but in the United States.”
Representative Ron Paul of Texas did not appear to tailor his message at all, drawing loud boos when he called for engaging with Fidel Castro in Cuba.
The changing dynamic of the race was evident in the way Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Giuliani found themselves on defense on the talk shows Sunday morning.
On “Meet the Press” Mr. Giuliani was asked, in light of the National Intelligence Estimate that found that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, about the views of one of his foreign policy advisers, Norman Podhoretz, who has been a vocal proponent of bombing Iran as soon as possible. Mr. Giuliani said he would not eliminate the option of a pre-emptive military strike against Iran because it would build pressure for a diplomatic solution, but he added that such action should be taken only as a last resort.
Mr. Giuliani, known for testy responses to pointed questions as mayor, displayed in the combative interview a lighter side, as he often does on the campaign trail. He even took a page from the playbook of a Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and laughed off tough questions.
When the program’s host, Tim Russert, asked Mr. Giuliani about the work that his firm did for Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, who has accused President Bush of genocide, and about other clients, Mr. Giuliani laughed hard, leading Mr. Russert to interject, “These are all accusations being made in a very serious way about your business.”
Mr. Giuliani, who said he would not disclose a client list for his private business, said the claim that his firm had represented Mr. Chávez was a stretch. He said the firm had merely represented Citgo, which he described as an American company. Citgo is the American subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. His firm announced that it had severed ties with Citgo last June, after reports of Mr. Chávez’s connection to the firm surfaced. The firm said the decision had not been influenced by politics.
At the debate here Sunday night, though, Mr. Giuliani had tough words for Mr. Chávez. “I actually agree with the way King Juan Carlos spoke to Chávez,” he said, referring to the suggestion by the king of Spain last month that Mr. Chávez should “shut up.”
----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
THE ONLY WAY TO VOTE IS FOR TOM TANCREDO!!! He is the only one who actually speaks his mind and doesn't pander to the audience he is speaking to. GO TOM GO!
Tancredo: GOP Candidates 'Pandering' At Spanish-Language Debate
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/politics/14805549/detail.html?rss=den&psp=news
Tancredo: GOP Candidates 'Pandering' At Spanish-Language Debate
POSTED: 12:06 pm MST December 8, 2007
UPDATED: 12:15 pm MST December 8, 2007
DENVER -- Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is boycotting a Spanish-language debate with his fellow GOP presidential candidates in Miami on Sunday, saying it has no place in presidential race and accusing his rivals of "pandering."
"It is the law that to become a naturalized citizen of this country you must have knowledge and understanding of English, including a basic ability to read, write, and speak the language," Tancredo said in a release Friday. "So what may I ask are our presidential candidates doing participating in a Spanish speaking debate?"
Tancredo has made hard-line immigration issues the hallmark of his long shot presidential campaign in much the same way it has branded his five terms in the House. The Congressman's two campaign ads focused on border security and threats ranging from terrorist to gangs -- using bloody images to underscore the point in both cases.
Tancredo said he will not join the other candidates at the Univision Republican debate at the University of Miami to drive home the idea that the nation needs a common language.
"Bilingualism is a great asset for any individual, but it has perilous consequences for a nation," Tancredo said. "As such, a Spanish debate has no place in a presidential campaign."
----------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
YEA! I LOVE TOM TANCREDO!!!! VOTE TOM!
Tancredo: GOP Candidates 'Pandering' At Spanish-Language Debate
POSTED: 12:06 pm MST December 8, 2007
UPDATED: 12:15 pm MST December 8, 2007
DENVER -- Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is boycotting a Spanish-language debate with his fellow GOP presidential candidates in Miami on Sunday, saying it has no place in presidential race and accusing his rivals of "pandering."
"It is the law that to become a naturalized citizen of this country you must have knowledge and understanding of English, including a basic ability to read, write, and speak the language," Tancredo said in a release Friday. "So what may I ask are our presidential candidates doing participating in a Spanish speaking debate?"
Tancredo has made hard-line immigration issues the hallmark of his long shot presidential campaign in much the same way it has branded his five terms in the House. The Congressman's two campaign ads focused on border security and threats ranging from terrorist to gangs -- using bloody images to underscore the point in both cases.
Tancredo said he will not join the other candidates at the Univision Republican debate at the University of Miami to drive home the idea that the nation needs a common language.
"Bilingualism is a great asset for any individual, but it has perilous consequences for a nation," Tancredo said. "As such, a Spanish debate has no place in a presidential campaign."
----------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
YEA! I LOVE TOM TANCREDO!!!! VOTE TOM!
Baby tax needed to save planet
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22896334-2,00.html
Baby tax needed to save planet, claims expertBy Jen Kelly
December 10, 2007 01:00am
A WEST Australian medical expert wants families to pay a $5000-plus "baby levy" at birth and an annual carbon tax of up to $800 a child.
Writing in today's Medical Journal of Australia, Associate Professor Barry Walters said every couple with more than two children should be taxed to pay for enough trees to offset the carbon emissions generated over each child's lifetime.
Professor Walters, clinical associate professor of obstetric medicine at the University of Western Australia and the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, called for condoms and "greenhouse-friendly" services such as sterilisation procedures to earn carbon credits.
And he implied the Federal Government should ditch the $4133 baby bonus and consider population controls like those in China and India.
Professor Walters said the average annual carbon dioxide emission by an Australian individual was about 17 metric tons, including energy use.
"Every newborn baby in Australia represents a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions for an average of 80 years, not simply by breathing but by the profligate consumption of resources typical of our society," he wrote.
"Far from showering financial booty on new mothers and rewarding greenhouse-unfriendly behaviour, a 'baby levy' in the form of a carbon tax should apply, in line with the 'polluter pays' principle."
Australian Family Association spokeswoman Angela Conway said it was ridiculous to blame babies for global warming.
"I think self-important professors with silly ideas should have to pay carbon tax for all the hot air they create," she said. "There's masses of evidence to say that child-rich families have much lower resource consumption per head than other styles of households.
But the plan won praise from high-profile doctor Garry Egger. "One must wonder why population control is spoken of today only in whispers," he wrote in an MJA response article.
---------------------
MY COMMENTS:
These global warming fanatics are dangerous people. They'd rather assist in abortions than bring an innocent loving child into the world. Talk ABOUT INSANITY!
Baby tax needed to save planet, claims expertBy Jen Kelly
December 10, 2007 01:00am
A WEST Australian medical expert wants families to pay a $5000-plus "baby levy" at birth and an annual carbon tax of up to $800 a child.
Writing in today's Medical Journal of Australia, Associate Professor Barry Walters said every couple with more than two children should be taxed to pay for enough trees to offset the carbon emissions generated over each child's lifetime.
Professor Walters, clinical associate professor of obstetric medicine at the University of Western Australia and the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, called for condoms and "greenhouse-friendly" services such as sterilisation procedures to earn carbon credits.
And he implied the Federal Government should ditch the $4133 baby bonus and consider population controls like those in China and India.
Professor Walters said the average annual carbon dioxide emission by an Australian individual was about 17 metric tons, including energy use.
"Every newborn baby in Australia represents a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions for an average of 80 years, not simply by breathing but by the profligate consumption of resources typical of our society," he wrote.
"Far from showering financial booty on new mothers and rewarding greenhouse-unfriendly behaviour, a 'baby levy' in the form of a carbon tax should apply, in line with the 'polluter pays' principle."
Australian Family Association spokeswoman Angela Conway said it was ridiculous to blame babies for global warming.
"I think self-important professors with silly ideas should have to pay carbon tax for all the hot air they create," she said. "There's masses of evidence to say that child-rich families have much lower resource consumption per head than other styles of households.
But the plan won praise from high-profile doctor Garry Egger. "One must wonder why population control is spoken of today only in whispers," he wrote in an MJA response article.
---------------------
MY COMMENTS:
These global warming fanatics are dangerous people. They'd rather assist in abortions than bring an innocent loving child into the world. Talk ABOUT INSANITY!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
28 Women Miscarry After Receiving HPV Vaccine Gardasil; FDA Says No Reason to Re-Examine Approval
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C315466%2C00.html
28 Women Miscarry After Receiving HPV Vaccine Gardasil; FDA Says No Reason to Re-Examine Approval
Thursday, December 06, 2007
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil is safe despite that 28 U.S. women who received the vaccination had miscarriages, CNSnews.com reports.
Clinical trials show the vaccine's miscarriage rate is consistent with that of women in the general population who were given placebos, and most of the miscarriages reported cannot directly be connected to Gardasil, the FDA said.
Click here to read the whole story at CNSnews.com.
A 24-year-old woman miscarried in May after being vaccinated with Gardasil and an investigator reported to the federal government that the miscarriage "may have been caused by Gardasil because the patient received the injection within 30 days of the pregnancy."
The vaccine is used to prevent the human papillomavirus — a sexually transmitted disease believed to be the cause of most cases of cervical cancer.
There have been 3,461 adverse reactions, including eight deaths, reported since the vaccine was approved for use in girls as young as 9 in June 2006. The FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have concluded most side effects are minor and believe there is no reason to re-examine the drug's approval.
------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
I WILL NEVER, and NONE OF MY CHILDREN WILL EVER be given this dangerous vaccine. Read the side effects and adverse reactions and you will be SHOCKED at how many time this vaccine has cause permanent damage.... IT SHOULD BE STOPPED and RE-EXAMINED IMMEDIATELY!
28 Women Miscarry After Receiving HPV Vaccine Gardasil; FDA Says No Reason to Re-Examine Approval
Thursday, December 06, 2007
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil is safe despite that 28 U.S. women who received the vaccination had miscarriages, CNSnews.com reports.
Clinical trials show the vaccine's miscarriage rate is consistent with that of women in the general population who were given placebos, and most of the miscarriages reported cannot directly be connected to Gardasil, the FDA said.
Click here to read the whole story at CNSnews.com.
A 24-year-old woman miscarried in May after being vaccinated with Gardasil and an investigator reported to the federal government that the miscarriage "may have been caused by Gardasil because the patient received the injection within 30 days of the pregnancy."
The vaccine is used to prevent the human papillomavirus — a sexually transmitted disease believed to be the cause of most cases of cervical cancer.
There have been 3,461 adverse reactions, including eight deaths, reported since the vaccine was approved for use in girls as young as 9 in June 2006. The FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have concluded most side effects are minor and believe there is no reason to re-examine the drug's approval.
------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
I WILL NEVER, and NONE OF MY CHILDREN WILL EVER be given this dangerous vaccine. Read the side effects and adverse reactions and you will be SHOCKED at how many time this vaccine has cause permanent damage.... IT SHOULD BE STOPPED and RE-EXAMINED IMMEDIATELY!
Parents protesting flu-shot proposal
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20071208_Parents_protest_plan_for_flu_shots.html
Parents protesting flu-shot proposal
New Jersey would be the first state to require the shots in preschool. It wants to mandate three other vaccinations as well.
By Linda A. Johnson
Associated Press
TRENTON - Parents concerned about possible vaccine dangers and government intrusion are trying to block New Jersey from becoming the first state to require annual flu shots for children in licensed preschool or day-care centers.
The Public Health Council is set to consider on Monday whether the state should mandate flu shots as well as three other vaccines. State health officials also want to require a pneumococcal vaccine for preschoolers, a booster shot to fight whooping cough for sixth graders, and meningitis shots for schoolchildren as young as 11.
According to the deputy health commissioner, Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the requirements have been approved by the state health department and Gov. Corzine. They are expected to be approved by the council on Monday.
Bresnitz said that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports the requirements and that public health officials in other states are likely to follow suit.
He said he is convinced that the vaccines will reduce the incidence of the diseases, preventable hospitalizations, and parents' staying home with sick children.
"It's a great day for public health in New Jersey," he said.
But some parents say there is inadequate proof that the vaccines are safe and effective.
At a Statehouse news conference yesterday, about a dozen parents protested the new measures and urged people to call the governor's office to ask him to stop the vote on Monday.
"This will be the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to make the flu shot mandatory" for school attendance, said Jon Gilmore, a board member of Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning. He blames his 7-year-old son's autism on vaccines.
Bresnitz said he did not know whether foreign jurisdictions require flu shots for schoolchildren.
The parents yesterday also urged support for a bill that would give parents the right to "philosophical objection" to vaccine mandates. The bill has sat in a committee for four years.
"It is not right for the government and unelected councils to dictate what we put into our children," said Sue Collins, cofounder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination.
When asked about the mandates yesterday, Corzine said he didn't want to "speak to the specifics."
Several parents noted that unlike other common vaccines, most of the influenza vaccine available contains mercury, a toxic heavy metal that some have called a cause of autism despite the lack of any evidence.
A few speakers also said there is no research showing that it is safe to give children the more than 30 vaccines required in New Jersey today.
"They're really being treated as guinea pigs, and not all children can handle all vaccines," said Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R., Bergen), sponsor of the philosophical-objection bill.
The new vaccines that New Jersey backs are recommended by the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups.
--------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Vaccines should NOT be mandatory. If we deported all illegals we probably wouldn't even need to vaccinate for whooping couch or meningitis.
THIS IS INSANE!
Parents protesting flu-shot proposal
New Jersey would be the first state to require the shots in preschool. It wants to mandate three other vaccinations as well.
By Linda A. Johnson
Associated Press
TRENTON - Parents concerned about possible vaccine dangers and government intrusion are trying to block New Jersey from becoming the first state to require annual flu shots for children in licensed preschool or day-care centers.
The Public Health Council is set to consider on Monday whether the state should mandate flu shots as well as three other vaccines. State health officials also want to require a pneumococcal vaccine for preschoolers, a booster shot to fight whooping cough for sixth graders, and meningitis shots for schoolchildren as young as 11.
According to the deputy health commissioner, Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the requirements have been approved by the state health department and Gov. Corzine. They are expected to be approved by the council on Monday.
Bresnitz said that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports the requirements and that public health officials in other states are likely to follow suit.
He said he is convinced that the vaccines will reduce the incidence of the diseases, preventable hospitalizations, and parents' staying home with sick children.
"It's a great day for public health in New Jersey," he said.
But some parents say there is inadequate proof that the vaccines are safe and effective.
At a Statehouse news conference yesterday, about a dozen parents protested the new measures and urged people to call the governor's office to ask him to stop the vote on Monday.
"This will be the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to make the flu shot mandatory" for school attendance, said Jon Gilmore, a board member of Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning. He blames his 7-year-old son's autism on vaccines.
Bresnitz said he did not know whether foreign jurisdictions require flu shots for schoolchildren.
The parents yesterday also urged support for a bill that would give parents the right to "philosophical objection" to vaccine mandates. The bill has sat in a committee for four years.
"It is not right for the government and unelected councils to dictate what we put into our children," said Sue Collins, cofounder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination.
When asked about the mandates yesterday, Corzine said he didn't want to "speak to the specifics."
Several parents noted that unlike other common vaccines, most of the influenza vaccine available contains mercury, a toxic heavy metal that some have called a cause of autism despite the lack of any evidence.
A few speakers also said there is no research showing that it is safe to give children the more than 30 vaccines required in New Jersey today.
"They're really being treated as guinea pigs, and not all children can handle all vaccines," said Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R., Bergen), sponsor of the philosophical-objection bill.
The new vaccines that New Jersey backs are recommended by the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups.
--------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Vaccines should NOT be mandatory. If we deported all illegals we probably wouldn't even need to vaccinate for whooping couch or meningitis.
THIS IS INSANE!
Canada openly proclaims NAFTA Superhighway
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59105
Canada openly proclaims NAFTA Superhighway
Readers bombard Newsweek with evidence after adverse story on Ron Paul
Posted: December 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A Newsweek story critical of Rep. Ron Paul and labeling the NAFTA Superhighway a baseless conspiracy theory has generated approximately 250 adverse reader responses on the "comments" section of Newsweek's website, many citing hard evidence that the proposed transcontinental trade corridor is quite real.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul
"There is a broad coalition of Americans developing across the United States who are opposed to a North American Union and know that Ron Paul is right and we need to take action now before it is too late," Jesse Benton, national press secretary for the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign 08 told WND.
Particularly interesting among Newsweek's reader comments were citations of Canadian government websites that openly discuss and declare plans to create a NAFTA Superhighway.
Several readers pointed to a Canadian government video clip gaining wide circulation on the Internet. It involves a Nov. 20 "Speech from the Throne," in which John Harvard, lieutenant-governor of the Province of Manitoba, Canada, opened the second session of the 39th assembly of the provincial legislature with comments proclaiming support for the development of a "Mid-Continent Trade Corridor."
"Manitoba is also taking a major role in the development of a Mid-Continent Trade Corridor, connecting our northern Port of Churchill with trade markets throughout the central United States and Mexico," Harvard told the legislature.
"To advance the concept," Harvard continued, "an alliance has been built with business leaders and state and city governments spanning the entire length of the Corridor. When fully developed, the trade route will incorporate an 'inland port' in Winnipeg with pre-clearance for international shipping."
A video posted on YouTube shows excerpts from Harvard's speech juxtaposed with clips of President Bush and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the press conference of the third summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership in Montebello, Quebec, on Aug. 21, ridiculing the North American Union and the NAFTA Superhighway as baseless conspiracy theories.
A Destination-Winnipeg trade group website identifies the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor as "the northern gateway of this vast Corridor, a network of highways and railways linking the business community with cities to the south, through the U.S. and into Mexico."
The Canadian government's Canada Transport website describes the Mid-Continent International Trade Corridor as a rail and highway network which stretches from Manitoba to Mexico.
Other Newsweek readers provided links to an Alberta government website.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation in Alberta, Canada, has posted on its website a trade corridor map that shows a NAFTA Superhighway clearly designated in the same route, including Interstate Highways 35, 29 and 94, that the North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, or NASCO, designates as the I-35 NAFTA Superhighway.
Craig Offman of the National Post writes that this Alberta map of the NAFTA Superhighway on the Alberta Government website is currently Number Two on the popular U.S. web site Digg.com.
"Well, now, Mr. Paul might think he has some real fodder," Offman writes. "The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation website uses the exact phrase, showing a thoroughfare that begins in Manitoba and drops all the way down to West Texas."
"Why would the Canadian government web page in Alberta show a NAFTA Superhighway if the highway doesn't exist?" asks a Newsweek reader linking to the Alberta site. "Keep on lying to the people, Newsweek, it is what you do best."
"We have had that map with the NAFTA Superhighway on our website for 5 years or more," Jerry Bellikka, director of communications for the Alberta Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation told WND in a telephone interview.
"The website is a site for truckers," Bellikka explained. "We try to harmonize our trucking regulations with Canada and the United States so truckers can log on and see where they fit on our requirements when they are traveling along these North American corridors."
WND asked Bellikka if the Alberta Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation had any intention of changing the NAFTA Superhighway map on its website.
"No," Bellinkka answered directly. "We have no plan to change the designation of NAFTA Superhighway on our website."
-------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
It's coming... We can still stop it by informing all our family and friends of the plans. SPREAD THE WORD! People may tell you you're crazy, but hey.... Tell them to research it for themselves if they don't belive you, and usually they end up realizing what really is going on.
Canada openly proclaims NAFTA Superhighway
Readers bombard Newsweek with evidence after adverse story on Ron Paul
Posted: December 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A Newsweek story critical of Rep. Ron Paul and labeling the NAFTA Superhighway a baseless conspiracy theory has generated approximately 250 adverse reader responses on the "comments" section of Newsweek's website, many citing hard evidence that the proposed transcontinental trade corridor is quite real.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul
"There is a broad coalition of Americans developing across the United States who are opposed to a North American Union and know that Ron Paul is right and we need to take action now before it is too late," Jesse Benton, national press secretary for the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign 08 told WND.
Particularly interesting among Newsweek's reader comments were citations of Canadian government websites that openly discuss and declare plans to create a NAFTA Superhighway.
Several readers pointed to a Canadian government video clip gaining wide circulation on the Internet. It involves a Nov. 20 "Speech from the Throne," in which John Harvard, lieutenant-governor of the Province of Manitoba, Canada, opened the second session of the 39th assembly of the provincial legislature with comments proclaiming support for the development of a "Mid-Continent Trade Corridor."
"Manitoba is also taking a major role in the development of a Mid-Continent Trade Corridor, connecting our northern Port of Churchill with trade markets throughout the central United States and Mexico," Harvard told the legislature.
"To advance the concept," Harvard continued, "an alliance has been built with business leaders and state and city governments spanning the entire length of the Corridor. When fully developed, the trade route will incorporate an 'inland port' in Winnipeg with pre-clearance for international shipping."
A video posted on YouTube shows excerpts from Harvard's speech juxtaposed with clips of President Bush and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the press conference of the third summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership in Montebello, Quebec, on Aug. 21, ridiculing the North American Union and the NAFTA Superhighway as baseless conspiracy theories.
A Destination-Winnipeg trade group website identifies the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor as "the northern gateway of this vast Corridor, a network of highways and railways linking the business community with cities to the south, through the U.S. and into Mexico."
The Canadian government's Canada Transport website describes the Mid-Continent International Trade Corridor as a rail and highway network which stretches from Manitoba to Mexico.
Other Newsweek readers provided links to an Alberta government website.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation in Alberta, Canada, has posted on its website a trade corridor map that shows a NAFTA Superhighway clearly designated in the same route, including Interstate Highways 35, 29 and 94, that the North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, or NASCO, designates as the I-35 NAFTA Superhighway.
Craig Offman of the National Post writes that this Alberta map of the NAFTA Superhighway on the Alberta Government website is currently Number Two on the popular U.S. web site Digg.com.
"Well, now, Mr. Paul might think he has some real fodder," Offman writes. "The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation website uses the exact phrase, showing a thoroughfare that begins in Manitoba and drops all the way down to West Texas."
"Why would the Canadian government web page in Alberta show a NAFTA Superhighway if the highway doesn't exist?" asks a Newsweek reader linking to the Alberta site. "Keep on lying to the people, Newsweek, it is what you do best."
"We have had that map with the NAFTA Superhighway on our website for 5 years or more," Jerry Bellikka, director of communications for the Alberta Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation told WND in a telephone interview.
"The website is a site for truckers," Bellikka explained. "We try to harmonize our trucking regulations with Canada and the United States so truckers can log on and see where they fit on our requirements when they are traveling along these North American corridors."
WND asked Bellikka if the Alberta Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation had any intention of changing the NAFTA Superhighway map on its website.
"No," Bellinkka answered directly. "We have no plan to change the designation of NAFTA Superhighway on our website."
-------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
It's coming... We can still stop it by informing all our family and friends of the plans. SPREAD THE WORD! People may tell you you're crazy, but hey.... Tell them to research it for themselves if they don't belive you, and usually they end up realizing what really is going on.
Foreigners Invest Greenbacks in Return for Green Cards
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/07/AR2007120702256.html?nav=rss_business
Foreigners Invest Greenbacks in Return for Green Cards
By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 8, 2007; Page D01
At a recent conference in Rockville, where Chinese business owners mingled with local entrepreneurs, Timothy Milbrath stood out.
Wearing rainbow Mardi Gras beads, the gregarious retired Air Force colonel was herding conference-goers to his trade-fair booth to deliver an unusual pitch: invest in his fund to rebuild New Orleans and get a green card in return.
"So many of our immigration policies don't make sense, but this does," said Milbrath, co-founder of NobleOutReach.
Through a little-known visa program that connects international fortunes to depressed economies around the country, Gaithersburg-based NobleOutReach has set out to rebuild parts of New Orleans through investments from wealthy foreigners seeking a gateway for immigration.
The visa program, known as the EB-5 immigrant investor pilot program, is a relatively small one. It reserves 3,000 visas a year for foreign investors who put at least $500,000 into one of 17 projects around the country, all designed to stimulate troubled local economies. One project involves a dairy-farming business in South Dakota, another an ethanol production plant in Texas. There's a project focusing on tourism, technology and trade in Pittsburgh and another that centers on professional business service companies in Milwaukee.
In exchange for their investments, the foreigners receive whatever dividends result from the projects and green cards for their immediate family.
In NobleOutReach's program, which began last spring, money raised by immigrant investors will be used to develop office buildings, hotels, restaurants and medical clinics in New Orleans. So far, the fund has attracted about 50 investors from South Korea, China, Britain and the Middle East, according to the company. Nothing has been built, but with a 30-year contract with the city of New Orleans, NobleOutReach hopes to invest about $100 million in projects that it says could create thousands of jobs.
During the recent get-together in Montgomery County, local business leader Duc Duong was among many who stopped by NobleOutReach's booth to hear about details of the visa program. He was joined by Ying Chen, a real estate agent with Long & Foster, who talked to Milbrath about introducing her investor contacts from China to the fund. Once they were here, she figured, she would try to sell them houses.
"There are many, many people in China with wealth. The problem is that they don't have the quality of life that they want in China, particularly with education for their children," said Duong, who serves as the local chairman of an Asian American technology business group known as Monte Jade.
The EB-5 pilot visa program grew from a program that critics called the "million-dollar visa," because it granted permanent residency in return for $1 million in direct business investments. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services restructured the program in 2002 after problems arose with fraud and abuse by investors. Under a pilot effort, investors no longer have to serve as day-to-day managers of the projects. The revamped program operates more like a mutual fund and leaves managing the work to others. The pilot offers immigrants the same green-card benefits for half the investment, and the money is directed into regional centers, such as New Orleans. As under the old program, each investment must create 10 local jobs.
"After the problems of the program in the late 1990s, the program grew into disfavor by immigration lawyers and investors. But now with new revisions and regional centers, it makes much more sense and is stirring more attention," said Raj Singh, an immigration attorney in Rockville who is helping a client from Pakistan with large real estate holdings in Dubai apply for the pilot program.
In fiscal year 2007, which ended in September, 779 people applied for the visa program, double the 389 who applied in 2006. The greatest number of investors have come from South Korea, China, and Britain.
Though the number of applicants each year is still far below the quota, Berez said the amount invested through EB-5 visas was $500 million last year and is projected to rise to $800 million in 2007 and $1 billion in 2008.
"This is only going to get bigger," said Morrie Berez, chief of the EB-5 program at the USCIS.
One South Korean family, living temporarily in Florida on a separate investor visa program while running an orchid farm, has applied to switch visa programs and invest in NobleOutReach's fund for the chance of gaining permanent residency, according to the firm.
"With the weak dollar, it makes more and more sense to look at this kind of investment," said William B. Hungerford Jr., president of NobleOutReach.
Some criticize the program for being an immigration loophole for the world's privileged. But the head of the immigration program said the process is more difficult than it seems.
Berez said applicants undergo exhaustive background checks and are required to submit piles of legal paperwork. Investors initially receive two-year residencies while immigration authorities monitor their investments and participation in the program. After a foreign investor passes all checks by the USCIS and the regional center verifies that the investment produced 10 jobs, the applicant is granted permanent residency.
The program appealed to foreign nationals like Suzette Williams, a citizen of Jamaica who has lived in New Jersey for the past seven years. With her husband, she's applied to invest in NobleOutReach's fund, even though she's never been to New Orleans and isn't required to do so after making her investment. Williams said her temporary work permit, an H-1B visa, is slated to expire next year. She put $500,000 she's raised through property investments and savings into the visa program so that she and her husband can continue to raise their two young children in the United States.
"There are more opportunities here for us and our children," Williams said. "Besides, they were born here; we are rooted."
Martin Scherer and Pamela Dance, Britons who live in Sarasota, Fla., are in the process of investing in NobleOutReach's fund. For seven years, the couple, who own properties in Britain and Florida, had to leave the United States every three months to renew their temporary visitor visas. They hope their investment will allow them to travel between Britain and the United States more freely. But beyond the promise of a green card, they also see an upside in their investment.
"We have the chance to invest in New Orleans on the ground floor" Scherer said. "It could be a chance of a lifetime."
------------------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
lademain wrote:
O, is this how so many Saudi radicals entered our country? With their large families, retainers, servants and relatives? (They presumably spread everywhere in the US) So many Saudis that our State Department gave them a free pass to fly away the day after 9/11 when our own aircraft were grounded?
12/8/2007 4:26:05 PM
bfjackjernigan wrote:
Selling citizenship is further proof that we're selling out our own people as we sell off the country in huge numbers of small pieces.
12/8/2007 3:25:08 PM
Patriot1 wrote:
"Nothing has been built" with the exception of a corrupt business selling American citizenship and the ever growing over population of America.
12/8/2007 2:55:42 PM
preich1 wrote:
You see who's running this country people?
12/8/2007 2:20:01 PM
wolfram1 wrote:
This program illustrates the villany and hypocrisy of the so-called "immigration debate." Are schoolchildren still taught the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: "Give us your tired, your poor, your hungry, your huddled masses yearning to be free"?
12/8/2007 3:03:22 AM
Ciap wrote:
Do what?
Selling citizenship?
I doubt the Founding Fathers would approve.
12/8/2007 2:04:34 AM
kevinschmidt wrote:
So how is this not bribery?
Oh, that's right, they lobbied (bribed) Congress into making green card visa bribery into a law, but only for the rich, as usual, again.
Foreigners Invest Greenbacks in Return for Green Cards
By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 8, 2007; Page D01
At a recent conference in Rockville, where Chinese business owners mingled with local entrepreneurs, Timothy Milbrath stood out.
Wearing rainbow Mardi Gras beads, the gregarious retired Air Force colonel was herding conference-goers to his trade-fair booth to deliver an unusual pitch: invest in his fund to rebuild New Orleans and get a green card in return.
"So many of our immigration policies don't make sense, but this does," said Milbrath, co-founder of NobleOutReach.
Through a little-known visa program that connects international fortunes to depressed economies around the country, Gaithersburg-based NobleOutReach has set out to rebuild parts of New Orleans through investments from wealthy foreigners seeking a gateway for immigration.
The visa program, known as the EB-5 immigrant investor pilot program, is a relatively small one. It reserves 3,000 visas a year for foreign investors who put at least $500,000 into one of 17 projects around the country, all designed to stimulate troubled local economies. One project involves a dairy-farming business in South Dakota, another an ethanol production plant in Texas. There's a project focusing on tourism, technology and trade in Pittsburgh and another that centers on professional business service companies in Milwaukee.
In exchange for their investments, the foreigners receive whatever dividends result from the projects and green cards for their immediate family.
In NobleOutReach's program, which began last spring, money raised by immigrant investors will be used to develop office buildings, hotels, restaurants and medical clinics in New Orleans. So far, the fund has attracted about 50 investors from South Korea, China, Britain and the Middle East, according to the company. Nothing has been built, but with a 30-year contract with the city of New Orleans, NobleOutReach hopes to invest about $100 million in projects that it says could create thousands of jobs.
During the recent get-together in Montgomery County, local business leader Duc Duong was among many who stopped by NobleOutReach's booth to hear about details of the visa program. He was joined by Ying Chen, a real estate agent with Long & Foster, who talked to Milbrath about introducing her investor contacts from China to the fund. Once they were here, she figured, she would try to sell them houses.
"There are many, many people in China with wealth. The problem is that they don't have the quality of life that they want in China, particularly with education for their children," said Duong, who serves as the local chairman of an Asian American technology business group known as Monte Jade.
The EB-5 pilot visa program grew from a program that critics called the "million-dollar visa," because it granted permanent residency in return for $1 million in direct business investments. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services restructured the program in 2002 after problems arose with fraud and abuse by investors. Under a pilot effort, investors no longer have to serve as day-to-day managers of the projects. The revamped program operates more like a mutual fund and leaves managing the work to others. The pilot offers immigrants the same green-card benefits for half the investment, and the money is directed into regional centers, such as New Orleans. As under the old program, each investment must create 10 local jobs.
"After the problems of the program in the late 1990s, the program grew into disfavor by immigration lawyers and investors. But now with new revisions and regional centers, it makes much more sense and is stirring more attention," said Raj Singh, an immigration attorney in Rockville who is helping a client from Pakistan with large real estate holdings in Dubai apply for the pilot program.
In fiscal year 2007, which ended in September, 779 people applied for the visa program, double the 389 who applied in 2006. The greatest number of investors have come from South Korea, China, and Britain.
Though the number of applicants each year is still far below the quota, Berez said the amount invested through EB-5 visas was $500 million last year and is projected to rise to $800 million in 2007 and $1 billion in 2008.
"This is only going to get bigger," said Morrie Berez, chief of the EB-5 program at the USCIS.
One South Korean family, living temporarily in Florida on a separate investor visa program while running an orchid farm, has applied to switch visa programs and invest in NobleOutReach's fund for the chance of gaining permanent residency, according to the firm.
"With the weak dollar, it makes more and more sense to look at this kind of investment," said William B. Hungerford Jr., president of NobleOutReach.
Some criticize the program for being an immigration loophole for the world's privileged. But the head of the immigration program said the process is more difficult than it seems.
Berez said applicants undergo exhaustive background checks and are required to submit piles of legal paperwork. Investors initially receive two-year residencies while immigration authorities monitor their investments and participation in the program. After a foreign investor passes all checks by the USCIS and the regional center verifies that the investment produced 10 jobs, the applicant is granted permanent residency.
The program appealed to foreign nationals like Suzette Williams, a citizen of Jamaica who has lived in New Jersey for the past seven years. With her husband, she's applied to invest in NobleOutReach's fund, even though she's never been to New Orleans and isn't required to do so after making her investment. Williams said her temporary work permit, an H-1B visa, is slated to expire next year. She put $500,000 she's raised through property investments and savings into the visa program so that she and her husband can continue to raise their two young children in the United States.
"There are more opportunities here for us and our children," Williams said. "Besides, they were born here; we are rooted."
Martin Scherer and Pamela Dance, Britons who live in Sarasota, Fla., are in the process of investing in NobleOutReach's fund. For seven years, the couple, who own properties in Britain and Florida, had to leave the United States every three months to renew their temporary visitor visas. They hope their investment will allow them to travel between Britain and the United States more freely. But beyond the promise of a green card, they also see an upside in their investment.
"We have the chance to invest in New Orleans on the ground floor" Scherer said. "It could be a chance of a lifetime."
------------------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
lademain wrote:
O, is this how so many Saudi radicals entered our country? With their large families, retainers, servants and relatives? (They presumably spread everywhere in the US) So many Saudis that our State Department gave them a free pass to fly away the day after 9/11 when our own aircraft were grounded?
12/8/2007 4:26:05 PM
bfjackjernigan wrote:
Selling citizenship is further proof that we're selling out our own people as we sell off the country in huge numbers of small pieces.
12/8/2007 3:25:08 PM
Patriot1 wrote:
"Nothing has been built" with the exception of a corrupt business selling American citizenship and the ever growing over population of America.
12/8/2007 2:55:42 PM
preich1 wrote:
You see who's running this country people?
12/8/2007 2:20:01 PM
wolfram1 wrote:
This program illustrates the villany and hypocrisy of the so-called "immigration debate." Are schoolchildren still taught the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: "Give us your tired, your poor, your hungry, your huddled masses yearning to be free"?
12/8/2007 3:03:22 AM
Ciap wrote:
Do what?
Selling citizenship?
I doubt the Founding Fathers would approve.
12/8/2007 2:04:34 AM
kevinschmidt wrote:
So how is this not bribery?
Oh, that's right, they lobbied (bribed) Congress into making green card visa bribery into a law, but only for the rich, as usual, again.
Businesses encourage employees to learn Spanish
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-12-08-spanish_N.htm?csp=34
Businesses encourage employees to learn Spanish
By Jack Kurtz, The Arizona Republic via Gannett News Service
Bobbi Bartolomeo, left, and Wesley Lawrence, right, participate in a Survival Spanish class for apartment managers in Phoenix.
LEARNING SPANISH
When attempting to learn Spanish for the workplace, Myelita Melton, head of SpeakEasy Communications, suggests these tips:
• Learn emergency phrases first, along with the words you use most often.
• Work on your accent, but don't worry about it.
• Say what you know, even if it's not a complete sentence.
• Make notes, carry cheat sheets and practice every day.
• Laugh at your mistakes, but don't laugh at the mistakes of others.
• Have fun, proceed at your own speed and don't give up.
— The Arizona Republic
More employers, and many of their English-speaking workers, are showing an interest in learning Spanish customized to specific jobs, to help them communicate with Hispanic customers, suppliers or assistants.
The trend isn't without controversy, as English-only proponents say it slows the assimilation of immigrants from Mexico and elsewhere. But others say teaching at least rudimentary workplace-Spanish skills is a necessity in some industries and reflects the reality that many immigrants, including some of those here legally, don't have a good grasp of English.
Roughly 32 million people age 5 or older speak Spanish at home, and nearly half of these people say they don't speak English very well, according to Census Bureau figures.
"Let's face it: there are obvious demographic changes happening," said Bonnie Wheeler-Nelson, a retired real estate broker in Surprise, Ariz., who owns rental properties and sits on the board of a homeowners association. "It's wise to know what's going on."
Wheeler-Nelson and a dozen other Arizonans participated in a recent one-day "survival Spanish" session geared to apartment managers and others in real estate. Those who attended said an improved grasp of the language would help them do their jobs better.
"I've had situations where workers sprayed the wrong texture on the ceiling or where they didn't have the right type of safety equipment on," said Wesley Lawrence, a project coordinator for a condominium conversion in Chandler, Ariz.
Christina Quarnstrom, manager of a west Phoenix apartment building, said better language skills would help her communicate with some of her tenants.
"Sometimes (a tenant) will hunt down a bilingual maintenance guy or bring in little kids to translate, but often they'll say it wrong," she said.
Community colleges have taken a lead in teaching Spanish tailored to the workplace. For example, Phoenix College offers classes for workers in more than a dozen fields, including nursing, banking, firefighting and corrections. The college has added more classes in recent years and has shifted the scope toward oral communication, faster results and more specific applications.
"We used to have a general customer-service course, but now we offer Spanish for auto-insurance representatives, tax preparers and apartment managers," said Anna Lopez, director of the school's custom training and education program.
Bashas' Supermarkets, State Farm Insurance and BlueCross BlueShield are among the mix of Arizona employers that have sent students into the program, which is built around a minimum of 16 classroom hours over six weeks.
Myelita Melton, head of SpeakEasy Communications, traveled to Phoenix from North Carolina to teach the survival Spanish course to the apartment-industry employees.
"There's every reason for someone involved in business to acquire some Spanish survival skills, and learning it doesn't mean you're helping Spanish overtake English," she told her students. "Rather, it's an opportunity to reach out and help people, to treat your Hispanic residents with dignity and respect."
In her classes, Melton also covers cultural issues that can trigger communication breakdowns. One example is the Hispanic custom of using four personal names — first, middle and last names from both the mother and father. Another example is the tendency to write dates differently from Americans, proceeding in a day/month/year order, not month/day/year.
"Writing someone's birthday as 5/7 isn't the same as writing it 7/5," Melton said. "That's how you could order the wrong credit report on someone."
Melton acknowledges workplace-Spanish instruction is somewhat controversial, and she occasionally has students with uncooperative attitudes, especially when employers are paying for the instruction.
"But I also hear from students that what they learned helped save a life," she said. "Those stories inspire me to continue, no matter what."
---------------------
MY COMMENTS:
How about we kick all the illegal aliens, that"s right, illegal because they are here illegally, out of this country. How about we remove all this Spanish language double printing on government documents. We make it easy for them and we only get more of them coming here.
I sick and tired of all this hee-hawing about amnesty and our economy will crash and all that nonsense.
I am more than willing to pay twice or three times to cost for agriculture products in order to get those leeches out of this country. There are plenty of walfare recipients here to fill in those positions.
All those illegals need to go back where they came from and work in their own countries to make better lives and/or change their governments to make it happen.
We let them stay here and they will bring this country down to the level of where they came from.
I'll learn Spanish if I want too, not to communicate with a bunch of criminals.
These politicians better wise up or they will be on the next bus out of Washington, too
Businesses encourage employees to learn Spanish
By Jack Kurtz, The Arizona Republic via Gannett News Service
Bobbi Bartolomeo, left, and Wesley Lawrence, right, participate in a Survival Spanish class for apartment managers in Phoenix.
LEARNING SPANISH
When attempting to learn Spanish for the workplace, Myelita Melton, head of SpeakEasy Communications, suggests these tips:
• Learn emergency phrases first, along with the words you use most often.
• Work on your accent, but don't worry about it.
• Say what you know, even if it's not a complete sentence.
• Make notes, carry cheat sheets and practice every day.
• Laugh at your mistakes, but don't laugh at the mistakes of others.
• Have fun, proceed at your own speed and don't give up.
— The Arizona Republic
More employers, and many of their English-speaking workers, are showing an interest in learning Spanish customized to specific jobs, to help them communicate with Hispanic customers, suppliers or assistants.
The trend isn't without controversy, as English-only proponents say it slows the assimilation of immigrants from Mexico and elsewhere. But others say teaching at least rudimentary workplace-Spanish skills is a necessity in some industries and reflects the reality that many immigrants, including some of those here legally, don't have a good grasp of English.
Roughly 32 million people age 5 or older speak Spanish at home, and nearly half of these people say they don't speak English very well, according to Census Bureau figures.
"Let's face it: there are obvious demographic changes happening," said Bonnie Wheeler-Nelson, a retired real estate broker in Surprise, Ariz., who owns rental properties and sits on the board of a homeowners association. "It's wise to know what's going on."
Wheeler-Nelson and a dozen other Arizonans participated in a recent one-day "survival Spanish" session geared to apartment managers and others in real estate. Those who attended said an improved grasp of the language would help them do their jobs better.
"I've had situations where workers sprayed the wrong texture on the ceiling or where they didn't have the right type of safety equipment on," said Wesley Lawrence, a project coordinator for a condominium conversion in Chandler, Ariz.
Christina Quarnstrom, manager of a west Phoenix apartment building, said better language skills would help her communicate with some of her tenants.
"Sometimes (a tenant) will hunt down a bilingual maintenance guy or bring in little kids to translate, but often they'll say it wrong," she said.
Community colleges have taken a lead in teaching Spanish tailored to the workplace. For example, Phoenix College offers classes for workers in more than a dozen fields, including nursing, banking, firefighting and corrections. The college has added more classes in recent years and has shifted the scope toward oral communication, faster results and more specific applications.
"We used to have a general customer-service course, but now we offer Spanish for auto-insurance representatives, tax preparers and apartment managers," said Anna Lopez, director of the school's custom training and education program.
Bashas' Supermarkets, State Farm Insurance and BlueCross BlueShield are among the mix of Arizona employers that have sent students into the program, which is built around a minimum of 16 classroom hours over six weeks.
Myelita Melton, head of SpeakEasy Communications, traveled to Phoenix from North Carolina to teach the survival Spanish course to the apartment-industry employees.
"There's every reason for someone involved in business to acquire some Spanish survival skills, and learning it doesn't mean you're helping Spanish overtake English," she told her students. "Rather, it's an opportunity to reach out and help people, to treat your Hispanic residents with dignity and respect."
In her classes, Melton also covers cultural issues that can trigger communication breakdowns. One example is the Hispanic custom of using four personal names — first, middle and last names from both the mother and father. Another example is the tendency to write dates differently from Americans, proceeding in a day/month/year order, not month/day/year.
"Writing someone's birthday as 5/7 isn't the same as writing it 7/5," Melton said. "That's how you could order the wrong credit report on someone."
Melton acknowledges workplace-Spanish instruction is somewhat controversial, and she occasionally has students with uncooperative attitudes, especially when employers are paying for the instruction.
"But I also hear from students that what they learned helped save a life," she said. "Those stories inspire me to continue, no matter what."
---------------------
MY COMMENTS:
How about we kick all the illegal aliens, that"s right, illegal because they are here illegally, out of this country. How about we remove all this Spanish language double printing on government documents. We make it easy for them and we only get more of them coming here.
I sick and tired of all this hee-hawing about amnesty and our economy will crash and all that nonsense.
I am more than willing to pay twice or three times to cost for agriculture products in order to get those leeches out of this country. There are plenty of walfare recipients here to fill in those positions.
All those illegals need to go back where they came from and work in their own countries to make better lives and/or change their governments to make it happen.
We let them stay here and they will bring this country down to the level of where they came from.
I'll learn Spanish if I want too, not to communicate with a bunch of criminals.
These politicians better wise up or they will be on the next bus out of Washington, too
Man receives 3 life sentences for raping 10-year-old girl
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-rape0807dec08%2C0%2C13968.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout
Man receives 3 life sentences for raping 10-year-old girl
Rene Stutzman | Sentinel Staff Writer
December 8, 2007
SANFORD - A judge on Friday gave three consecutive life sentences to a man convicted of dragging a 10-year-old girl into the woods, choking her, and then raping her.
A day earlier, a jury had found Antonio Rosales, 41, a homeless man who was living in those woods, guilty of child rape, kidnapping and attempted first-degree murder.
Because of the girl's age, the rape charge carries a mandatory life sentence, but Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson stacked on two additional ones. She did not explain her thinking during the three-minute hearing, which had originally been set for next week.
There was little discussion at the hearing. The victim, now 15, was there with her family. She did not say anything to the judge.
Neither did Rosales, who sat quietly behind the defense table, the same one he knocked over during an angry outburst two days earlier.
The victim testified Tuesday that her attacker dragged her into the woods in Casselberry about dusk Nov. 1, 2003, as she was on her way to the grocery store on her brother's push-scooter. The man choked her until she lost consciousness, she said.
Rosales confessed to authorities a week later, saying he had pulled down the girl's pants and touched her. He also confessed to an unrelated crime -- killing an elderly woman in Arizona.
Delores N. Salvatierra was found dead in her Tucson home Aug. 9, 2001.
"She essentially felt sorry for him," said Tucson police Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, "gave him a place to stay in a garage. They made a little room for him, even went so far as to find him a job nearby."
Rosales has been named in an arrest warrant in that slaying but has not been charged.
He will likely be sent to a Florida state prison for a few months, then shipped to Tucson for possible trial, said Barb Lauritzen with the Pima County Attorney's office in Tucson.
After the Tucson case is concluded, he'll be returned to Florida to finish serving his time here, Lauritzen said.
Rosales has already spent time in a Central American prison for another homicide. Guatemalan federal criminal records show he was judged guilty of homicide in 1991, although they provide no detail.
"They found him next to a dead woman," said Jeffrey Danziger, a Winter Park psychiatrist who evaluated Rosales' mental state and testified Thursday. "He spent some time in a Guatemalan prison. How much, I don't know."
During Rosales' confession to local authorities four years ago, he said he was born in Guatemala and had twice sneaked into the United States, once in 1995 and again in 2002.
But according to U.S. immigration records, he has entered the U.S. unlawfully at least three times. He was deported in 1998 and again in 2000, according to Barbara Gonzalez, spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The federal government thinks he's a native of Mexico. He has provided no evidence that he's from Guatemala, Gonzalez wrote in an e-mail Friday, and each time he was deported, it was to Mexico.
----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Fry the bastard and save us all the trouble of having to find him later when some liberal judge wants him released. Some people are better put out of their misery, like molestors, rapists and murderers. OH AND I LOPVE how they DON'T mention until THE VERY END of the ARTICLE THAT HE IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN! LOVE IT!
Man receives 3 life sentences for raping 10-year-old girl
Rene Stutzman | Sentinel Staff Writer
December 8, 2007
SANFORD - A judge on Friday gave three consecutive life sentences to a man convicted of dragging a 10-year-old girl into the woods, choking her, and then raping her.
A day earlier, a jury had found Antonio Rosales, 41, a homeless man who was living in those woods, guilty of child rape, kidnapping and attempted first-degree murder.
Because of the girl's age, the rape charge carries a mandatory life sentence, but Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson stacked on two additional ones. She did not explain her thinking during the three-minute hearing, which had originally been set for next week.
There was little discussion at the hearing. The victim, now 15, was there with her family. She did not say anything to the judge.
Neither did Rosales, who sat quietly behind the defense table, the same one he knocked over during an angry outburst two days earlier.
The victim testified Tuesday that her attacker dragged her into the woods in Casselberry about dusk Nov. 1, 2003, as she was on her way to the grocery store on her brother's push-scooter. The man choked her until she lost consciousness, she said.
Rosales confessed to authorities a week later, saying he had pulled down the girl's pants and touched her. He also confessed to an unrelated crime -- killing an elderly woman in Arizona.
Delores N. Salvatierra was found dead in her Tucson home Aug. 9, 2001.
"She essentially felt sorry for him," said Tucson police Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, "gave him a place to stay in a garage. They made a little room for him, even went so far as to find him a job nearby."
Rosales has been named in an arrest warrant in that slaying but has not been charged.
He will likely be sent to a Florida state prison for a few months, then shipped to Tucson for possible trial, said Barb Lauritzen with the Pima County Attorney's office in Tucson.
After the Tucson case is concluded, he'll be returned to Florida to finish serving his time here, Lauritzen said.
Rosales has already spent time in a Central American prison for another homicide. Guatemalan federal criminal records show he was judged guilty of homicide in 1991, although they provide no detail.
"They found him next to a dead woman," said Jeffrey Danziger, a Winter Park psychiatrist who evaluated Rosales' mental state and testified Thursday. "He spent some time in a Guatemalan prison. How much, I don't know."
During Rosales' confession to local authorities four years ago, he said he was born in Guatemala and had twice sneaked into the United States, once in 1995 and again in 2002.
But according to U.S. immigration records, he has entered the U.S. unlawfully at least three times. He was deported in 1998 and again in 2000, according to Barbara Gonzalez, spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The federal government thinks he's a native of Mexico. He has provided no evidence that he's from Guatemala, Gonzalez wrote in an e-mail Friday, and each time he was deported, it was to Mexico.
----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Fry the bastard and save us all the trouble of having to find him later when some liberal judge wants him released. Some people are better put out of their misery, like molestors, rapists and murderers. OH AND I LOPVE how they DON'T mention until THE VERY END of the ARTICLE THAT HE IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN! LOVE IT!
CAIR, FBI at odds over hate crimes
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59102
CAIR, FBI at odds over hate crimes
Bureau report indicates Muslim group's claims wildly inflated
Posted: December 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Chuck Hustmyre
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Two recently released reports highlight the difference between the FBI's calculation of the number of religiously motivated hate crimes and that of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
In CAIR's annual report, "The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States – 2007," the subtitle of which, "Presumption of Guilt," foreshadows the report's main theme, the Muslim lobby group claims the number of hate crimes committed against Muslims has risen each year since 1996. CAIR began keeping track of civil rights violations and hate crimes against Muslims that year because of what the report calls the "anti-Muslim backlash that followed the 1995 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City."
According to that report, CAIR received 2,467 complaints of civil rights violations in 2006 – 25 percent more than it received in 2005. CAIR also said it received 167 allegations of anti-Muslim hate crimes, up more than 9 percent from last year's 153 complaints.
The report goes on to say that in 2006, "Several key polls indicated that the level of Islamophobia continues to rise today in American society."
But CAIR's report stands in stark contrast to a report released last month by the FBI. In that report, titled "Hate Crime Statistics, 2006," compiled from the input of more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, FBI figures show that the number of incidents of religious hate crime against Muslims plunged 68 percent since 2001.
According to the FBI report, the Justice Department defines hate crimes as "criminal offenses that are motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or disability and are committed against persons, property, or society."
The FBI's methodology is also explained in its report.
CAIR's 42-page report, on the other hand, does not explain what the organization considers a hate crime. Although CAIR's report contains a "glossary of Islamic terms" – including Allah, Hajj, hijab, kufi and Ramadan – it does not include a definition of "hate crime."
CAIR did not respond to WND's e-mail or telephone requests for clarification of the organization's use of the term "hate crime" in its annual report.
Even though the CAIR report does not define a hate crime, it does provide a few examples of them, including this one: "September 20, 2006 – A copy of the Quran was found in a toilet at the library of Pace University in New York."
The report goes on to say, "Initially, (the) Pace University administration called the desecration 'vandalism,' but with the collaborative efforts of CAIR-NY, the Association of Muslim American Lawyers, the New York Police Department Hate Crimes Task Force ... and the Muslim Students Association at Pace, university administrators now recognize the incident as a hate crime."
According to published news reports, a 23-year-old former Pace student was arrested last summer and charged with felony hate crimes. The charges carry with them a possible sentence of up to four years in prison.
Critics point to a double standard: Burning an American flag is considered free speech, and the submersion of a Christian Crucifix in urine has not only been called art, but funded by U.S. taxpayers – and yet flushing a paperback copy of the Quran down a toilet is now a hate crime.
Contradicting CAIR's claim that U.S. Muslims are increasingly the target of hate-mongers, the annual FBI report on hate crime has for several years consistently shown that Jews are far more likely to be victims of religious hate crimes than Muslims. In 2006, according to the report, 65 percent of the victims of religious hate crimes were Jewish, while only 12 percent were Muslim.
Of the 6,832 incidents of religious hate crime committed between 2002 and 2006, some 4,627, or 68 percent, were committed against Jews, while 744, or 11 percent, were committed against Muslims.
According to FBI statistics going back to 2000, Jews are more than five times more likely than Muslims to be the victims of hate crimes.
The CAIR report does not mention hate crimes committed against any population group other than Muslims.
One factor that could account for some of the disparity in the number of hate crimes committed against members of the two groups would be a significant difference in the size of their populations. If, for instance, there were five times as many Jews as Muslims in the United States, a five-fold increase in the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes might be expected.
Accurate population figures for religious groups are hard to come by, especially since the U.S. Census Bureau is prohibited from asking respondents about their religion. But according to several recent estimates, including a 2007 survey, Jews in the United States of America number approximately 6 million.
CAIR claims the U.S. Muslim population numbers at least 6 million.
However, in May, Investor's Business Daily took CAIR to task on that figure based on a recently released and exhaustive study by the Pew Research Center, called "Muslim Americans: Middle Class and mostly Mainstream."
The Pew study, the methodology for which was also exhaustively explained, estimated the adult Muslim population in the United States to be 1.5 million, with a total Muslim population of 2.35 million, less than half the number claimed by CAIR, which has attacked the validity of the Pew study.
Just after the study was released, Investor's Business Daily called CAIR's estimate of 6 million American Muslims a "wildly inflated guess" based on "fuzzy math."
"Politicians in Washington are intimidated by the figure," the newspaper said, "which CAIR uses as a cudgel to help advance its Islamist agenda."
Politicians and business executives have for years caved in to pressure from CAIR, the newspaper said, because they feared the repercussions from the organization's millions of voters and consumers. But, the article concluded, the bloated population figure was "the Wahhabi lobby's big lie. CAIR couldn't deliver even 2 million voters if it tried. ... There is no big Muslim lobby, just CAIR's big, hollow PR machine."
Regardless of whose estimate is correct as to the number of Muslims in the U.S. – CAIR's 6 million or Pew's 2.35 million – they are not outnumbered five-to-one by Jews.
An additional finding of the Pew study was the revelation that 26 percent of American Muslims younger than 30 expressed support, under at least some circumstances, for suicide bombings in defense of Islam. CAIR denounced that Pew finding as well.
CAIR, FBI at odds over hate crimes
Bureau report indicates Muslim group's claims wildly inflated
Posted: December 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Chuck Hustmyre
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Two recently released reports highlight the difference between the FBI's calculation of the number of religiously motivated hate crimes and that of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
In CAIR's annual report, "The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States – 2007," the subtitle of which, "Presumption of Guilt," foreshadows the report's main theme, the Muslim lobby group claims the number of hate crimes committed against Muslims has risen each year since 1996. CAIR began keeping track of civil rights violations and hate crimes against Muslims that year because of what the report calls the "anti-Muslim backlash that followed the 1995 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City."
According to that report, CAIR received 2,467 complaints of civil rights violations in 2006 – 25 percent more than it received in 2005. CAIR also said it received 167 allegations of anti-Muslim hate crimes, up more than 9 percent from last year's 153 complaints.
The report goes on to say that in 2006, "Several key polls indicated that the level of Islamophobia continues to rise today in American society."
But CAIR's report stands in stark contrast to a report released last month by the FBI. In that report, titled "Hate Crime Statistics, 2006," compiled from the input of more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, FBI figures show that the number of incidents of religious hate crime against Muslims plunged 68 percent since 2001.
According to the FBI report, the Justice Department defines hate crimes as "criminal offenses that are motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or disability and are committed against persons, property, or society."
The FBI's methodology is also explained in its report.
CAIR's 42-page report, on the other hand, does not explain what the organization considers a hate crime. Although CAIR's report contains a "glossary of Islamic terms" – including Allah, Hajj, hijab, kufi and Ramadan – it does not include a definition of "hate crime."
CAIR did not respond to WND's e-mail or telephone requests for clarification of the organization's use of the term "hate crime" in its annual report.
Even though the CAIR report does not define a hate crime, it does provide a few examples of them, including this one: "September 20, 2006 – A copy of the Quran was found in a toilet at the library of Pace University in New York."
The report goes on to say, "Initially, (the) Pace University administration called the desecration 'vandalism,' but with the collaborative efforts of CAIR-NY, the Association of Muslim American Lawyers, the New York Police Department Hate Crimes Task Force ... and the Muslim Students Association at Pace, university administrators now recognize the incident as a hate crime."
According to published news reports, a 23-year-old former Pace student was arrested last summer and charged with felony hate crimes. The charges carry with them a possible sentence of up to four years in prison.
Critics point to a double standard: Burning an American flag is considered free speech, and the submersion of a Christian Crucifix in urine has not only been called art, but funded by U.S. taxpayers – and yet flushing a paperback copy of the Quran down a toilet is now a hate crime.
Contradicting CAIR's claim that U.S. Muslims are increasingly the target of hate-mongers, the annual FBI report on hate crime has for several years consistently shown that Jews are far more likely to be victims of religious hate crimes than Muslims. In 2006, according to the report, 65 percent of the victims of religious hate crimes were Jewish, while only 12 percent were Muslim.
Of the 6,832 incidents of religious hate crime committed between 2002 and 2006, some 4,627, or 68 percent, were committed against Jews, while 744, or 11 percent, were committed against Muslims.
According to FBI statistics going back to 2000, Jews are more than five times more likely than Muslims to be the victims of hate crimes.
The CAIR report does not mention hate crimes committed against any population group other than Muslims.
One factor that could account for some of the disparity in the number of hate crimes committed against members of the two groups would be a significant difference in the size of their populations. If, for instance, there were five times as many Jews as Muslims in the United States, a five-fold increase in the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes might be expected.
Accurate population figures for religious groups are hard to come by, especially since the U.S. Census Bureau is prohibited from asking respondents about their religion. But according to several recent estimates, including a 2007 survey, Jews in the United States of America number approximately 6 million.
CAIR claims the U.S. Muslim population numbers at least 6 million.
However, in May, Investor's Business Daily took CAIR to task on that figure based on a recently released and exhaustive study by the Pew Research Center, called "Muslim Americans: Middle Class and mostly Mainstream."
The Pew study, the methodology for which was also exhaustively explained, estimated the adult Muslim population in the United States to be 1.5 million, with a total Muslim population of 2.35 million, less than half the number claimed by CAIR, which has attacked the validity of the Pew study.
Just after the study was released, Investor's Business Daily called CAIR's estimate of 6 million American Muslims a "wildly inflated guess" based on "fuzzy math."
"Politicians in Washington are intimidated by the figure," the newspaper said, "which CAIR uses as a cudgel to help advance its Islamist agenda."
Politicians and business executives have for years caved in to pressure from CAIR, the newspaper said, because they feared the repercussions from the organization's millions of voters and consumers. But, the article concluded, the bloated population figure was "the Wahhabi lobby's big lie. CAIR couldn't deliver even 2 million voters if it tried. ... There is no big Muslim lobby, just CAIR's big, hollow PR machine."
Regardless of whose estimate is correct as to the number of Muslims in the U.S. – CAIR's 6 million or Pew's 2.35 million – they are not outnumbered five-to-one by Jews.
An additional finding of the Pew study was the revelation that 26 percent of American Muslims younger than 30 expressed support, under at least some circumstances, for suicide bombings in defense of Islam. CAIR denounced that Pew finding as well.
Friday, December 7, 2007
CAIR's Islamist quizzers featured at prez debates
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59087
CAIR's Islamist quizzers featured at prez debates
Activists posing as ordinary citizens influencing national security dialogue
Posted: December 7, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Radical Islamist groups are planting activists posing as ordinary Muslim Americans to ask candidates questions at the presidential debates.
Most recently, the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations, several of whose leaders have been prosecuted on terror-related charges, sent the executive director of its Chicago chapter to take part in the Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, which was supposed to be an opportunity for "ordinary people" to ply candidates with questions.
Ahmed Rehab
At Saturday's debate, aired on C-Span, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab stood up and asked Sen. John Edwards if he would help Muslims fight "prejudice" and other "abuses" such as hate crimes.
"It seems we're facing a culture of fear-mongering," Rehab complained.
"Senator, in the '60s, Malcolm and Martin gave up their lives fighting for justice for all," he added. "The civil rights movement is not over. It's not done yet. We're still fighting.
"Senator," he continued, "we would like to know if you will fight with us if elected president."
A number of Muslim activists around Rehab erupted into applause and cheers.
"You've got some fans," Edwards remarked, before vowing to end "profiling" of and "spying" on Muslim terrorist suspects. He also promised to "close Guantanamo" and stop the "torture" of terrorist detainees.
Despite Rehab's assertion that Muslims are victims of hate crimes and other abuses on a "regular basis," the FBI last month released 2006 data showing anti-Islamic crimes have fallen 68 percent since 2001, and represent just 11 percent of all religiously motivated attacks. According to a report in Investor's Business Daily, the overwhelming majority of such crimes – 66 percent – target Jews.
Also, at last month's Republican debate in St. Petersburg, Fla., a former CAIR intern was selected by host CNN to challenge GOP presidential hopefuls about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and complain about the anger they've created in the Muslim world.
Yasmin Elhady
Wearing a hijab, Yasmin Elhady complained they've created anger in the Muslim world. "My question has to do with the current crisis in Iraq, as well as the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan," she said.
"After living abroad personally in the Middle East for a year, I realized just how much damage the Iraq war and the perception of invasion has done to the image of America," Elhady added. "What would you do as president to repair the image of America in the eyes of the Muslim world?"
CNN, which claimed to pick questioners at random from a pool of "undecided voters," did not cite Elhady's activist background with CAIR. The network simply identified her as "Yasmin from Huntsville, Ala." (She actually lives in Los Angeles, where she attends college at UCLA.)
Federal prosecutors have named CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing terror fund-raising case. Moreover, as WND first reported, no fewer than 14 CAIR officials – including the Washington-based group's founder and its executive director – have either been convicted or named in terrorism investigations.
Earlier, at CNN's Democratic debate in Las Vegas, another Muslim activist associated with CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood was handed the microphone.
Again, CNN failed to identify him as anything but an average American Muslim.
Khalid Khan
"Our next questioner is – Khalid Khan, if you would please stand for a moment," CNN host Suzanne Malveaux said. "You and I spoke very briefly, and you said you have some concerns about racial profiling."
"Yes, I do," Khan said, sternly. "I am an American citizen and have been profiled all the time at the airport. Since 9/11, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been profiled. And, you know, it is like harassment."
Edwards, who fielded the question first, responded that the Patriot Act needs to be "dramatically changed," to which Khan nodded in agreement.
But Khan, an immigrant from Pakistan, is no ordinary American citizen. He's president of the Islamic Society of Nevada, which has its roots with the radical Muslim Student Association. MSA, which was founded by members of the notorious Muslim Brotherhood, is the forerunner of the Islamic Society of North America, an unindicted co-conspirator in the same terror case with CAIR.
Khan runs the largest mosque in Las Vegas, and hired its controversial imam, Aslam Abdullah, former vice chairman of MPAC in Los Angeles.
In June 2004, Abdullah, who heads an Islamic "seminary" in Pakistan, accused President Bush of engaging in "a religious and racist agenda and prejudice against Islam, Muslims and Arabs." He also has likened Marines in Iraq to the 9/11 terrorists, and publicly questioned whether videotapes showing Osama bin Laden gloating over the attacks were authentic.
Abdullah claims to be moderate, even "progressive," but terror expert Steve Emerson says he is in fact an Islamic extremist.
"The record of Aslam Abdullah's comments during the past few years demonstrates an ideology of militant Islamic extremism," Emerson said. "Pretending to be moderate, his radical agenda typifies the deception of groups that falsely assert to be non-extremist."
Khan, who runs several businesses registered at his home address in Henderson, Nev., had his access badge revoked in 2004 by officials at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
The FBI suspects several of the 9/11 hijackers, who met in Vegas before the attacks, may have visited Khan's mosque, Jamia Masjid. The mosque's website links to CAIR's website.
CAIR's Islamist quizzers featured at prez debates
Activists posing as ordinary citizens influencing national security dialogue
Posted: December 7, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Radical Islamist groups are planting activists posing as ordinary Muslim Americans to ask candidates questions at the presidential debates.
Most recently, the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations, several of whose leaders have been prosecuted on terror-related charges, sent the executive director of its Chicago chapter to take part in the Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, which was supposed to be an opportunity for "ordinary people" to ply candidates with questions.
Ahmed Rehab
At Saturday's debate, aired on C-Span, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab stood up and asked Sen. John Edwards if he would help Muslims fight "prejudice" and other "abuses" such as hate crimes.
"It seems we're facing a culture of fear-mongering," Rehab complained.
"Senator, in the '60s, Malcolm and Martin gave up their lives fighting for justice for all," he added. "The civil rights movement is not over. It's not done yet. We're still fighting.
"Senator," he continued, "we would like to know if you will fight with us if elected president."
A number of Muslim activists around Rehab erupted into applause and cheers.
"You've got some fans," Edwards remarked, before vowing to end "profiling" of and "spying" on Muslim terrorist suspects. He also promised to "close Guantanamo" and stop the "torture" of terrorist detainees.
Despite Rehab's assertion that Muslims are victims of hate crimes and other abuses on a "regular basis," the FBI last month released 2006 data showing anti-Islamic crimes have fallen 68 percent since 2001, and represent just 11 percent of all religiously motivated attacks. According to a report in Investor's Business Daily, the overwhelming majority of such crimes – 66 percent – target Jews.
Also, at last month's Republican debate in St. Petersburg, Fla., a former CAIR intern was selected by host CNN to challenge GOP presidential hopefuls about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and complain about the anger they've created in the Muslim world.
Yasmin Elhady
Wearing a hijab, Yasmin Elhady complained they've created anger in the Muslim world. "My question has to do with the current crisis in Iraq, as well as the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan," she said.
"After living abroad personally in the Middle East for a year, I realized just how much damage the Iraq war and the perception of invasion has done to the image of America," Elhady added. "What would you do as president to repair the image of America in the eyes of the Muslim world?"
CNN, which claimed to pick questioners at random from a pool of "undecided voters," did not cite Elhady's activist background with CAIR. The network simply identified her as "Yasmin from Huntsville, Ala." (She actually lives in Los Angeles, where she attends college at UCLA.)
Federal prosecutors have named CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing terror fund-raising case. Moreover, as WND first reported, no fewer than 14 CAIR officials – including the Washington-based group's founder and its executive director – have either been convicted or named in terrorism investigations.
Earlier, at CNN's Democratic debate in Las Vegas, another Muslim activist associated with CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood was handed the microphone.
Again, CNN failed to identify him as anything but an average American Muslim.
Khalid Khan
"Our next questioner is – Khalid Khan, if you would please stand for a moment," CNN host Suzanne Malveaux said. "You and I spoke very briefly, and you said you have some concerns about racial profiling."
"Yes, I do," Khan said, sternly. "I am an American citizen and have been profiled all the time at the airport. Since 9/11, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been profiled. And, you know, it is like harassment."
Edwards, who fielded the question first, responded that the Patriot Act needs to be "dramatically changed," to which Khan nodded in agreement.
But Khan, an immigrant from Pakistan, is no ordinary American citizen. He's president of the Islamic Society of Nevada, which has its roots with the radical Muslim Student Association. MSA, which was founded by members of the notorious Muslim Brotherhood, is the forerunner of the Islamic Society of North America, an unindicted co-conspirator in the same terror case with CAIR.
Khan runs the largest mosque in Las Vegas, and hired its controversial imam, Aslam Abdullah, former vice chairman of MPAC in Los Angeles.
In June 2004, Abdullah, who heads an Islamic "seminary" in Pakistan, accused President Bush of engaging in "a religious and racist agenda and prejudice against Islam, Muslims and Arabs." He also has likened Marines in Iraq to the 9/11 terrorists, and publicly questioned whether videotapes showing Osama bin Laden gloating over the attacks were authentic.
Abdullah claims to be moderate, even "progressive," but terror expert Steve Emerson says he is in fact an Islamic extremist.
"The record of Aslam Abdullah's comments during the past few years demonstrates an ideology of militant Islamic extremism," Emerson said. "Pretending to be moderate, his radical agenda typifies the deception of groups that falsely assert to be non-extremist."
Khan, who runs several businesses registered at his home address in Henderson, Nev., had his access badge revoked in 2004 by officials at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
The FBI suspects several of the 9/11 hijackers, who met in Vegas before the attacks, may have visited Khan's mosque, Jamia Masjid. The mosque's website links to CAIR's website.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Baseball Mascot Gets New Name After 'PorkChop' Is Deemed Offensive
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C314901%2C00.html
Baseball Mascot Gets New Name After 'PorkChop' Is Deemed Offensive
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two days after naming its mascot "PorkChop," the Philadelphia Phillies' new Triple-A affiliate abruptly dropped the moniker after receiving complaints from Hispanics that it was offensive.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs, whose mascot is a large, furry pig, had selected PorkChop from more than 7,300 fan submissions. The team, which begins play in 2008, announced Monday that the mascot will be named "Ferrous" instead.
General Manager Kurt Landes said he heard from several Hispanics who said PorkChop was derogatory.
"We were really unaware of any negative connotations with the word 'pork chop,"' he said. "If it offended a few, it's a few too many."
Guillermo Lopez, vice president of the Latino Leadership Alliance, said he was called "pork chop" when he worked at Bethlehem Steel decades ago.
"If my parents were alive, they'd be having fits," said Lopez, among those who complained to the team. "It meant much more to them than it does to Puerto Ricans now in the Lehigh Valley."
PorkChop had been submitted by 32 fans. The replacement name, Ferrous — from the Latin word "ferrum," or iron — received the most fan nominations, with 235.
The team moved to Allentown from Ottawa — where it was known as the Lynx — following the 2007 season. Construction is wrapping up on a new stadium in east Allentown.
-------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
"If it offended a few, it's a few too many."
HA! This is what is killing America today.... Trying to please the few instead of the many.
Baseball Mascot Gets New Name After 'PorkChop' Is Deemed Offensive
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two days after naming its mascot "PorkChop," the Philadelphia Phillies' new Triple-A affiliate abruptly dropped the moniker after receiving complaints from Hispanics that it was offensive.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs, whose mascot is a large, furry pig, had selected PorkChop from more than 7,300 fan submissions. The team, which begins play in 2008, announced Monday that the mascot will be named "Ferrous" instead.
General Manager Kurt Landes said he heard from several Hispanics who said PorkChop was derogatory.
"We were really unaware of any negative connotations with the word 'pork chop,"' he said. "If it offended a few, it's a few too many."
Guillermo Lopez, vice president of the Latino Leadership Alliance, said he was called "pork chop" when he worked at Bethlehem Steel decades ago.
"If my parents were alive, they'd be having fits," said Lopez, among those who complained to the team. "It meant much more to them than it does to Puerto Ricans now in the Lehigh Valley."
PorkChop had been submitted by 32 fans. The replacement name, Ferrous — from the Latin word "ferrum," or iron — received the most fan nominations, with 235.
The team moved to Allentown from Ottawa — where it was known as the Lynx — following the 2007 season. Construction is wrapping up on a new stadium in east Allentown.
-------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
"If it offended a few, it's a few too many."
HA! This is what is killing America today.... Trying to please the few instead of the many.
Immigrant ‘hero’ honored by U.S., Mexico
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22101067/
Immigrant ‘hero’ honored by U.S., Mexico
Mexican rescued 9-year-old in desert after mother died in car crash
Good Samaritan, but not American
updated 2:38 p.m. CT, Tues., Dec. 4, 2007
NOGALES, Arizona - An illegal immigrant who rescued a 9-year-old after the boy's mother died in the Arizona desert was honored for his actions Tuesday by U.S. and Mexican officials at a border crossing here.
Manuel Jesus Cordova Soberanes, 26, stood shyly with his mother and stepfather as officials talked about his efforts to save Christopher Buchleitner on the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday.
"The desert has a way of rearranging priorities and to Manuel Jesus Cordova the priority was standing right in front of (him) that day," said Beatriz Lopez Gargallo, the Mexican consul general for Nogales. "And this man, this hero, did what men of honor do in all nations and in all cultures."
Authorities say if it had not been for Cordova, Christopher might be dead.
Cordova was two days into his journey from Mexico when he saw Christopher, alone and injured in the desert. He was dressed in shorts despite the desert cold, and his mother had just been killed when their van went over a cliff.
Cordova had said he gave the boy his sweater, fed him chocolate and cookies and built a bonfire. As the boy slept, Cordova kept watch and tended the fire.
"The only thing I was thinking about was keeping the boy warm," Cordova said Tuesday. "I was worried no one would come."
Migrant 'never' thought to leave boy
The two were discovered after a long, cold night in the desert by a group of hunters, who called authorities.
Christopher was flown to a hospital and later reunited with family members.
Cordova was taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol and agreed to return to his home in the Mexican state of Sonora without going through formal deportation proceedings.
The district director for U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva said Cordova deserved the opportunity to come to America to work and that the congressman plans to introduce legislation that will let him get a special visa. Such legislation rarely passes, but Grijalva aide Ruben Reyes said it was the only way they knew of to show their thanks.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Yeah, the guy did the right thing. I don't think he should be given a special visa however.
Immigrant ‘hero’ honored by U.S., Mexico
Mexican rescued 9-year-old in desert after mother died in car crash
Good Samaritan, but not American
updated 2:38 p.m. CT, Tues., Dec. 4, 2007
NOGALES, Arizona - An illegal immigrant who rescued a 9-year-old after the boy's mother died in the Arizona desert was honored for his actions Tuesday by U.S. and Mexican officials at a border crossing here.
Manuel Jesus Cordova Soberanes, 26, stood shyly with his mother and stepfather as officials talked about his efforts to save Christopher Buchleitner on the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday.
"The desert has a way of rearranging priorities and to Manuel Jesus Cordova the priority was standing right in front of (him) that day," said Beatriz Lopez Gargallo, the Mexican consul general for Nogales. "And this man, this hero, did what men of honor do in all nations and in all cultures."
Authorities say if it had not been for Cordova, Christopher might be dead.
Cordova was two days into his journey from Mexico when he saw Christopher, alone and injured in the desert. He was dressed in shorts despite the desert cold, and his mother had just been killed when their van went over a cliff.
Cordova had said he gave the boy his sweater, fed him chocolate and cookies and built a bonfire. As the boy slept, Cordova kept watch and tended the fire.
"The only thing I was thinking about was keeping the boy warm," Cordova said Tuesday. "I was worried no one would come."
Migrant 'never' thought to leave boy
The two were discovered after a long, cold night in the desert by a group of hunters, who called authorities.
Christopher was flown to a hospital and later reunited with family members.
Cordova was taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol and agreed to return to his home in the Mexican state of Sonora without going through formal deportation proceedings.
The district director for U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva said Cordova deserved the opportunity to come to America to work and that the congressman plans to introduce legislation that will let him get a special visa. Such legislation rarely passes, but Grijalva aide Ruben Reyes said it was the only way they knew of to show their thanks.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Yeah, the guy did the right thing. I don't think he should be given a special visa however.
NURSES TOLD TO TURN MUSLIMS’ BEDS TO MECCA
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/27213/Nurses-told-to-turn-Muslims-beds-to-Mecca
NURSES TOLD TO TURN MUSLIMS’ BEDS TO MECCA
TURMOIL: Beds are moved five times a day
Tuesday December 4,2007
By Paul Jeeves Have your say(64)
OVERWORKED nurses have been ordered to stop all medical work five times every day to move Muslim patients’ beds so they face towards Mecca.
The lengthy procedure, which also includes providing fresh bathing water, is creating turmoil among overstretched staff on bustling NHS wards.
But despite the havoc, Mid- Yorkshire NHS Trust says the rule must be instigated whenever possible to ensure Muslim patients have “a more comfortable stay in hospital”.
And a taxpayer-funded training programme for several hundred hospital staff has begun to ensure that all are familiar with the workings of the Muslim faith.
The scheme is initially being run at Dewsbury and District Hospital, West Yorkshire, but is set to be introduced at other hospitals in the new year.
It comes on the back of the introduction in some NHS hospitals last year of Burka-style gowns for Muslim patients who did not wish medical staff to see their face while operating or caring for them.
Last night critics slammed the procedure and claimed the NHS would be better off investing its resources in tackling killer superbugs such as C.diff and MRSA.
One experienced nurse working at Dewsbury said: “It would be easier to create Muslim-only wards with every bed facing Mecca than have to deal with this.
“Some people might think it is not that big a deal, but we have a huge Muslim population in Dewsbury and if we are having to turn dozens of beds to face Mecca five times a day, plus provide running water for them to wash before and after prayers, it is bound to impact on the essential medical service we are supposed to be providing.
“Although the beds are designed to be moved, the bays are not really suitable for having loads of beds moved around to face a different direction, and despite our best efforts it does cause disruption for non-Muslim patients.”
The changes have been instigated by Dewsbury and District Hospital’s chief matron, Catherine Briggs, after she held a series of consultation meetings with local Asian GPs, ethnic minority patients groups and Muslim chaplain Ilyas Dalal to find out what staff could do to further improve Muslim patients’ experience of the NHS.
In accordance with the rules of Islam, Muslims are required to pray five times a day. The religion dictates they must wash themselves in running water prior to prayer and must be facing in the direction of Mecca while praying. Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is revered as the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed, who was born around 570AD.
Turning beds so they face towards Mecca was a key proposal put forward during the hospital meetings, along with suggestions that Muslim women should only be seen by female doctors.
Although the Trust, which also oversees hospitals in Wakefield and Pontefract, could not guarantee women-only doctors, they agreed that “wherever possible” specific patient requests would be carried out.
Mrs Briggs said: “Some of our former Muslim patients suggested that a more informed understanding of the Islamic cultures would help staff to further improve their service.”
Last night Conservative MP David Davies said: “Hospitals should be concentrating on stopping the spread of infections than kow-towing to the politically correct brigade.
“If the need for fresh running water is so great then perhaps family members could be on hand to assist the already overworked medical staff.”
--------------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
DISGUSTING
05.12.07, 4:59pm
I have been in and out of hospital all my life, due to suffering from chronic rheumatoid arthritis, I was once put in a childrens ward at age 16 and was menustrating, I was put in a bed next to a 15 year old boy, in the ward there was no curtains to go round the beds, as it was a childrens ward, there was no privacy, I asked to be put in a bay, where I could have some privacy and was refused as all the bays were full of asian children with there large asian families, the nurses were even going mad as they were puting other children in the cots with sick children, thei is supposed to be Britain, we cant go to an asian country and call a bear mohammed, so why do we have to have hospital beds facing mecca, I have a stiff neck but the nurses wouldnt turn my bed to face the TV. If they live in this country, they should live like us. Stop giving in to the minorities, have a backbone and put the GREAT back into BRITAIN.
• Posted by: luckybug • Report Comment
WHEN IN ROME!
05.12.07, 3:02pm
And if thats not good enough you bring in your own slaves to do your bidding, I worked with a fella like that once always stopped work to prey!
He never stoppped anything else he was doing tho!
We do not see them pulling up along the motorways and stopping on the hard shoulder horses for courses and more trouble making from Islamic fanatics.
Christian countries Christian rules Islamic Countries Islamic rules take it or leave it you can always find an acceptable lifestyle somewhere else!
• Posted by: The_Way_I_See_It • Report Comment
TURNING BEDS TO MECCA
05.12.07, 8:47am
I agree absolutely with Mr Smith and Lizabeth -these are indeed difficult times. I'm appalled that hospital bosses agreed to this request. They're absolutely terrified of upsetting Muslims but don't care at all if others get upset because Muslims get the preferential treatment while they have to wait in line.
I'm going into hospital soon for a major op and heaven help them if my care is compromised because the overworked nursing staff are to busy turning beds towards Mecca, to look after me.
• Posted by: CUJimmy22 • Report Comment
AND BRITS CALL AMERICANS RELIGIOUS FANATICS!
05.12.07, 1:33am
Everytime I read one of these stories from euroland, I laugh because of the constant criticisms the euro elites have for the United States being a "religious nation" full of Christian "zealots," and then these same people bend over backwards to accommodate the most radical Muslims. In 10 years when Britain is living under Sharia law, you will still be criticizing the U.S. for being too religious. Do you people in Europe have any introspection at all? Are you capable of putting yourself under the microscope for once? You better worry about your own backyards before it's too late.
• Posted by: uglyAmericanANDproud • Report Comment
NURSES TOLD TO TURN MUSLIMS’ BEDS TO MECCA
TURMOIL: Beds are moved five times a day
Tuesday December 4,2007
By Paul Jeeves Have your say(64)
OVERWORKED nurses have been ordered to stop all medical work five times every day to move Muslim patients’ beds so they face towards Mecca.
The lengthy procedure, which also includes providing fresh bathing water, is creating turmoil among overstretched staff on bustling NHS wards.
But despite the havoc, Mid- Yorkshire NHS Trust says the rule must be instigated whenever possible to ensure Muslim patients have “a more comfortable stay in hospital”.
And a taxpayer-funded training programme for several hundred hospital staff has begun to ensure that all are familiar with the workings of the Muslim faith.
The scheme is initially being run at Dewsbury and District Hospital, West Yorkshire, but is set to be introduced at other hospitals in the new year.
It comes on the back of the introduction in some NHS hospitals last year of Burka-style gowns for Muslim patients who did not wish medical staff to see their face while operating or caring for them.
Last night critics slammed the procedure and claimed the NHS would be better off investing its resources in tackling killer superbugs such as C.diff and MRSA.
One experienced nurse working at Dewsbury said: “It would be easier to create Muslim-only wards with every bed facing Mecca than have to deal with this.
“Some people might think it is not that big a deal, but we have a huge Muslim population in Dewsbury and if we are having to turn dozens of beds to face Mecca five times a day, plus provide running water for them to wash before and after prayers, it is bound to impact on the essential medical service we are supposed to be providing.
“Although the beds are designed to be moved, the bays are not really suitable for having loads of beds moved around to face a different direction, and despite our best efforts it does cause disruption for non-Muslim patients.”
The changes have been instigated by Dewsbury and District Hospital’s chief matron, Catherine Briggs, after she held a series of consultation meetings with local Asian GPs, ethnic minority patients groups and Muslim chaplain Ilyas Dalal to find out what staff could do to further improve Muslim patients’ experience of the NHS.
In accordance with the rules of Islam, Muslims are required to pray five times a day. The religion dictates they must wash themselves in running water prior to prayer and must be facing in the direction of Mecca while praying. Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is revered as the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed, who was born around 570AD.
Turning beds so they face towards Mecca was a key proposal put forward during the hospital meetings, along with suggestions that Muslim women should only be seen by female doctors.
Although the Trust, which also oversees hospitals in Wakefield and Pontefract, could not guarantee women-only doctors, they agreed that “wherever possible” specific patient requests would be carried out.
Mrs Briggs said: “Some of our former Muslim patients suggested that a more informed understanding of the Islamic cultures would help staff to further improve their service.”
Last night Conservative MP David Davies said: “Hospitals should be concentrating on stopping the spread of infections than kow-towing to the politically correct brigade.
“If the need for fresh running water is so great then perhaps family members could be on hand to assist the already overworked medical staff.”
--------------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
DISGUSTING
05.12.07, 4:59pm
I have been in and out of hospital all my life, due to suffering from chronic rheumatoid arthritis, I was once put in a childrens ward at age 16 and was menustrating, I was put in a bed next to a 15 year old boy, in the ward there was no curtains to go round the beds, as it was a childrens ward, there was no privacy, I asked to be put in a bay, where I could have some privacy and was refused as all the bays were full of asian children with there large asian families, the nurses were even going mad as they were puting other children in the cots with sick children, thei is supposed to be Britain, we cant go to an asian country and call a bear mohammed, so why do we have to have hospital beds facing mecca, I have a stiff neck but the nurses wouldnt turn my bed to face the TV. If they live in this country, they should live like us. Stop giving in to the minorities, have a backbone and put the GREAT back into BRITAIN.
• Posted by: luckybug • Report Comment
WHEN IN ROME!
05.12.07, 3:02pm
And if thats not good enough you bring in your own slaves to do your bidding, I worked with a fella like that once always stopped work to prey!
He never stoppped anything else he was doing tho!
We do not see them pulling up along the motorways and stopping on the hard shoulder horses for courses and more trouble making from Islamic fanatics.
Christian countries Christian rules Islamic Countries Islamic rules take it or leave it you can always find an acceptable lifestyle somewhere else!
• Posted by: The_Way_I_See_It • Report Comment
TURNING BEDS TO MECCA
05.12.07, 8:47am
I agree absolutely with Mr Smith and Lizabeth -these are indeed difficult times. I'm appalled that hospital bosses agreed to this request. They're absolutely terrified of upsetting Muslims but don't care at all if others get upset because Muslims get the preferential treatment while they have to wait in line.
I'm going into hospital soon for a major op and heaven help them if my care is compromised because the overworked nursing staff are to busy turning beds towards Mecca, to look after me.
• Posted by: CUJimmy22 • Report Comment
AND BRITS CALL AMERICANS RELIGIOUS FANATICS!
05.12.07, 1:33am
Everytime I read one of these stories from euroland, I laugh because of the constant criticisms the euro elites have for the United States being a "religious nation" full of Christian "zealots," and then these same people bend over backwards to accommodate the most radical Muslims. In 10 years when Britain is living under Sharia law, you will still be criticizing the U.S. for being too religious. Do you people in Europe have any introspection at all? Are you capable of putting yourself under the microscope for once? You better worry about your own backyards before it's too late.
• Posted by: uglyAmericanANDproud • Report Comment
DPS was watching burglars shot by Horn
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou071204_tnt_pasadenaburglars.69d89aae.html
DPS was watching burglars shot by Horn
10:16 PM CST on Tuesday, December 4, 2007
By Rucks Russell / 11 News
Rucks Russell's 11 News report
Even before their deaths prompted a series of heated debates about the use of deadly force, detectives at the Department of Public Safety had their eye on Diego Ortiz and Miguel Dejesus.
The two were shot and killed by Joe Horn, a Pasadena man who thought they were burglarizing his neighbor’s home last month.
According to a DPS memo obtained by 11 News, the department was investigating the use of Puerto Rican birth certificates by Colombians seeking to obtain Texas driver’s licenses.
Both Ortiz and Dejesus had applied for licenses. Dejesus listed his country of origin as Puerto Rico, but both men were Colombian.
Apparently, the DPS is investigating hundreds of immigrants who may have used illegal papers to get Texas licenses.
But that’s not all.
A much wider probe has been launched into an organized syndicate of Colombians who are engaged in illegal weapons sales and home break-ins – just like the one Ortiz and Dejesus were involved in last month in Pasadena.
That day, Joe Horn and a shotgun stood in the way of the suspected thieves, but in many instances the suspects have gotten away.
The ATF, ICE and DPS have reportedly formed a task force to bring the crime wave to an end.
Man shoots, kills suspected burglars
The burglars are said to be very effective at what they do, conducting extensive surveillance on their targets before striking. Some of the suspects are extremely violent.
The investigations have already led to several arrests
DPS was watching burglars shot by Horn
10:16 PM CST on Tuesday, December 4, 2007
By Rucks Russell / 11 News
Rucks Russell's 11 News report
Even before their deaths prompted a series of heated debates about the use of deadly force, detectives at the Department of Public Safety had their eye on Diego Ortiz and Miguel Dejesus.
The two were shot and killed by Joe Horn, a Pasadena man who thought they were burglarizing his neighbor’s home last month.
According to a DPS memo obtained by 11 News, the department was investigating the use of Puerto Rican birth certificates by Colombians seeking to obtain Texas driver’s licenses.
Both Ortiz and Dejesus had applied for licenses. Dejesus listed his country of origin as Puerto Rico, but both men were Colombian.
Apparently, the DPS is investigating hundreds of immigrants who may have used illegal papers to get Texas licenses.
But that’s not all.
A much wider probe has been launched into an organized syndicate of Colombians who are engaged in illegal weapons sales and home break-ins – just like the one Ortiz and Dejesus were involved in last month in Pasadena.
That day, Joe Horn and a shotgun stood in the way of the suspected thieves, but in many instances the suspects have gotten away.
The ATF, ICE and DPS have reportedly formed a task force to bring the crime wave to an end.
Man shoots, kills suspected burglars
The burglars are said to be very effective at what they do, conducting extensive surveillance on their targets before striking. Some of the suspects are extremely violent.
The investigations have already led to several arrests
Muslims given prison for beheading schoolgirls
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59045
Muslims given prison for beheading schoolgirls
But attack survivor already had forgiven attackers
Posted: December 5, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Three Muslim extremists have been sentenced to prison for their roles in the ambush of four Indonesian schoolgirls, three of whom were decapitated – with their heads wrapped in plastic and delivered to nearby villages.
While the sentences of 14-19 years may seem light considering the horrific crime, the minister at large for Open Doors USA, a Christian ministry that has worked in the area of Indonesia where the attack happened, said it not only is a relatively severe penalty, it also is raising fears of violence as the Christmas season approaches.
The report of the sentences comes from Compass Direct News, which confirmed Rahman Kalahe was given 19 years, Agus Nur Huhammad was given 14 years and Yudi Heryanto 10 years after being found guilty of beheading Theresia Morangke and Yarni Samubue, 15, and Alfita Poliwo, 17, in an Oct. 29, 2005, attack.
A fourth girl attacked, Noviana Malewa, then 15, was seriously hurt but survived the machete attack.
As WND reported earlier, three militant Islamists earlier were given prison sentences of 14 and 20 years for their part in the girls' deaths.
Islamist Hasanuddin, the son-in-law of Islamist militant leader Adnan Arsal, reportedly has trained in the Philippines with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He said the attack on the schoolgirls was in revenge for Christians killing Muslims during the early stages of the sectarian conflict in Central Sulawesi.
Hasanuddin was given 20 years in prison for masterminding the attack and Lilik Purnomo and Irwanto Irano each got 14 years as accomplices.
Paul Estabrooks, of Open Doors USA told WND the sentences may appear light from a Western perspective. But he said in a culture dominated by Islam, it is a serious statement, and also will bring "some closure" for Christians in the region.
"The interesting thing is the timing," he said. "The last few Christmases have been pretty violent (in the region). … There is some concern this would inflame the sectarian violence of the area again."
He said his organization was publicizing a prayer request for the Christians in the region during this season. And he noted that the girl who survived the attack that killed her three friends already has made public statements of her forgiveness for her attackers.
As WND reported, Malewa and three of her friends were walking on a school path that morning when they were assaulted by radical Islamic jihadists wielding machetes.
Malewa fought back as she was struck, then fell to the ground and rolled down into a ravine. Above, she heard her friends screaming.
The militants put the heads of the three girls in plastic bags and dumped them in nearby villages with notes stating, "We still need another 100 heads. Blood for blood, a life for life and a head for a head."
Reports in the Jakarta Post said the Islamic suspects confessed to the fatal attack. Authorities reported the suspects have ties to Noordin Top, considered a key leader of the al-Qaida-linked group Jamaah Islamiyah.
In contrast to the sentences for the beheading of the three girls, in September 2006 Indonesia executed by firing squad three Catholics – Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva – whose responsibility for violence in Poso rioting in 2000 was much less clear, Compass Direct reported. The death sentences were carried out in spite of an outpouring of international protest over trial irregularities.
Conflict between Muslim and Christian communities in Central Sulawesi erupted in 2000 and continued until a peace agreement was signed in December 2001. Sporadic violence has continued since then, with the majority of victims being Christians, Compass Direct said.
Muslims given prison for beheading schoolgirls
But attack survivor already had forgiven attackers
Posted: December 5, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Three Muslim extremists have been sentenced to prison for their roles in the ambush of four Indonesian schoolgirls, three of whom were decapitated – with their heads wrapped in plastic and delivered to nearby villages.
While the sentences of 14-19 years may seem light considering the horrific crime, the minister at large for Open Doors USA, a Christian ministry that has worked in the area of Indonesia where the attack happened, said it not only is a relatively severe penalty, it also is raising fears of violence as the Christmas season approaches.
The report of the sentences comes from Compass Direct News, which confirmed Rahman Kalahe was given 19 years, Agus Nur Huhammad was given 14 years and Yudi Heryanto 10 years after being found guilty of beheading Theresia Morangke and Yarni Samubue, 15, and Alfita Poliwo, 17, in an Oct. 29, 2005, attack.
A fourth girl attacked, Noviana Malewa, then 15, was seriously hurt but survived the machete attack.
As WND reported earlier, three militant Islamists earlier were given prison sentences of 14 and 20 years for their part in the girls' deaths.
Islamist Hasanuddin, the son-in-law of Islamist militant leader Adnan Arsal, reportedly has trained in the Philippines with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He said the attack on the schoolgirls was in revenge for Christians killing Muslims during the early stages of the sectarian conflict in Central Sulawesi.
Hasanuddin was given 20 years in prison for masterminding the attack and Lilik Purnomo and Irwanto Irano each got 14 years as accomplices.
Paul Estabrooks, of Open Doors USA told WND the sentences may appear light from a Western perspective. But he said in a culture dominated by Islam, it is a serious statement, and also will bring "some closure" for Christians in the region.
"The interesting thing is the timing," he said. "The last few Christmases have been pretty violent (in the region). … There is some concern this would inflame the sectarian violence of the area again."
He said his organization was publicizing a prayer request for the Christians in the region during this season. And he noted that the girl who survived the attack that killed her three friends already has made public statements of her forgiveness for her attackers.
As WND reported, Malewa and three of her friends were walking on a school path that morning when they were assaulted by radical Islamic jihadists wielding machetes.
Malewa fought back as she was struck, then fell to the ground and rolled down into a ravine. Above, she heard her friends screaming.
The militants put the heads of the three girls in plastic bags and dumped them in nearby villages with notes stating, "We still need another 100 heads. Blood for blood, a life for life and a head for a head."
Reports in the Jakarta Post said the Islamic suspects confessed to the fatal attack. Authorities reported the suspects have ties to Noordin Top, considered a key leader of the al-Qaida-linked group Jamaah Islamiyah.
In contrast to the sentences for the beheading of the three girls, in September 2006 Indonesia executed by firing squad three Catholics – Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva – whose responsibility for violence in Poso rioting in 2000 was much less clear, Compass Direct reported. The death sentences were carried out in spite of an outpouring of international protest over trial irregularities.
Conflict between Muslim and Christian communities in Central Sulawesi erupted in 2000 and continued until a peace agreement was signed in December 2001. Sporadic violence has continued since then, with the majority of victims being Christians, Compass Direct said.
Hundreds of safety violations documented for Mexican rigs
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59044
Hundreds of safety violations documented for Mexican rigs
'Clear double standard' subs foreign limits for U.S. laws
Posted: December 5, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Members of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association say they have documented hundreds of safety violations by Mexican trucks rolling on U.S. roads under the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck demonstration project.
"The Department of Transportation is allowing Mexican long-haul rigs to operate in the United States without requiring U.S. rules and regulations to be enforced," Rick Craig, the director of regulatory affairs for the group, told WND in a telephone interview yesterday.
"The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is providing exemptions from U.S. safety rules that the FMCSA claim are covered in a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Mexico," Craig continued.
"It's a clear double standard," he said. "Mexican truck safety regulations are being accepted by the FMCSA as equivalent to U.S. rules, even though the FMCSA refuses to provide any real detail about how or why the decision was made."
The association has filed a lawsuit against the DOT and FMCSA in San Francisco, challenging that the Mexican trucks the government is allowing into the U.S. under the DOT demonstration project are unsafe when tested by U.S. safety rules and regulations.
Catherine O'Mara, a paralegal at the Cullen Law Firm which is representing OOIDA, has provided the court with documentation of her research on safety violations by the Mexican trucks.
She searched the FMCSA database looking for all safety violations cited for four of the Mexican trucking companies currently in the DOT test for the year preceding the start of the demonstration project on Sept. 21, 2007.
The largest number of safety violations, 1,123 in total, was found for Trinity Industries De Mexico S de R L de CV.
Second on the list was GCC Transporte SA de CV, with 372 violations, followed by Avomex Internacional SA DE CV with 206 violations and Fidepal S de RL de IP y CV with 11 violations.
WND examined the FMCSA violation records O'Mara provided the court.
Among the safety violations listed on the FMCSA database for the four carriers were multiple infractions for inoperative or defective brakes, faulty suspension, defective systems to secure loads, defective lighting devices, tension bars cracked and/or broken, axle positioning parts defective or missing, tires with less than adequate tread depth, various parts and accessories needing repair, inoperable required lamps including headlights and tail lights, wheel fasteners loose and/or missing, and defective power steering systems.
Other violations in the OOIDA database included drivers who were not licensed for the type of vehicle being operated.
Each violation in the database was identified by the vehicle description and license plate number, as well as the time, date, report number and inspection facility location where the infraction was documented.
"Our search of the FMCSA records indicates the FMCSA should know the Mexican trucking companies in their test have unsafe safety inspection records according to U.S. standards," Craig told WND.
The FMCSA is also accepting the Mexican commercial driver's license, or CDL, as equivalent to the U.S. CDL," he added, "even though Mexico has no CDL database that is reliable. There is no way, for instance, to track driving violations in Mexico that Mexican drivers are cited for."
Craig also pointed out that the FMCSA is operating under a 1991 MOU with Mexico regarding commercial driver's licenses.
"This is a problem," Craig told WND, "because U.S. CDL regulations have changed a lot since 1991. Now, U.S. drivers who are cited for violations in non-commercial vehicles, for instance DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs violations, that can go toward disqualifying a CDL, even if the driver is driving the family car on their own time when they are cited for the DUI."
The legal brief filed by the Cullen Law Firm objects to the FMCSA argument that Mexican regulations will provide the same level of safety as compliance that corresponds with U.S. safety regulations.
Under the current terms of the DOT Mexican truck demonstration project, the Cullen Law Firm argues, the FMCSA has decided to substitute compliance with Mexican regulations with compliance of FMCSA regulations.
Under FMCSA's own admission there is no drug or alcohol testing facility in the entire country that is certified," Craig pointed out. "The current FMCSA plan is for Mexican drivers to send drug and alcohol testing specimens to a U.S. certified testing facility, even though there is no reliable way to determine who the specimen came from in Mexico."
"In light of the empirical data set forth in Mr. Craig's declaration"” the brief argues, "there is no question that the harm faced by American truckers is concrete, particularized, and imminent."
The brief contends the safety violations noted for the Mexican truck should have prompted out-of-service orders.
"In examining the records of violations for these Mexican operators, we found many cases where the same truck comes back over the border and is cited again for the same types of violation," Craig told WND.
The brief also points out that the terms of NAFTA had specified the border would be open to the extent that Mexico-domiciled carriers are willing and able to abide by the same laws and regulations as are applicable to U.S.-domiciled motor carriers.
The OOIDA lawsuit seeks an order from the federal court to halt the DOT Mexican trucking demonstration project until the FMCSA is able to demonstrate its ability to enforce the standards of U.S. safety rules and regulation upon the Mexican trucks given access to U.S. roads.
On Nov. 14, the House of Representatives passed the DOT Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill by an overwhelming bi-paritsan 270-147 vote.
WND reported at the time Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., offered an amendment to the DOT Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill to block DOT funding for the Mexican trucks, which passed by a voice vote.
WND also reported Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, successfully offered in the Senate an amendment comparable to DeFazio's.
The House bill emerging from the conference committee included language to de-fund the DOT Mexican trucking demonstration project.
The Senate version of the DOT Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill also contains the language which emerged from the conference committee to de-fund the DOT Mexican trucking project.
President Bush has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk with these provisions
---------------
My Comments:
It's only a matter of time before lawsuits start piling up against these Mexican trucking companies. I'd also sue the Federal government since they are knowing allowing these truckers to break our laws by accepting their standards at the same level as ours.
Hundreds of safety violations documented for Mexican rigs
'Clear double standard' subs foreign limits for U.S. laws
Posted: December 5, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Members of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association say they have documented hundreds of safety violations by Mexican trucks rolling on U.S. roads under the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck demonstration project.
"The Department of Transportation is allowing Mexican long-haul rigs to operate in the United States without requiring U.S. rules and regulations to be enforced," Rick Craig, the director of regulatory affairs for the group, told WND in a telephone interview yesterday.
"The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is providing exemptions from U.S. safety rules that the FMCSA claim are covered in a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Mexico," Craig continued.
"It's a clear double standard," he said. "Mexican truck safety regulations are being accepted by the FMCSA as equivalent to U.S. rules, even though the FMCSA refuses to provide any real detail about how or why the decision was made."
The association has filed a lawsuit against the DOT and FMCSA in San Francisco, challenging that the Mexican trucks the government is allowing into the U.S. under the DOT demonstration project are unsafe when tested by U.S. safety rules and regulations.
Catherine O'Mara, a paralegal at the Cullen Law Firm which is representing OOIDA, has provided the court with documentation of her research on safety violations by the Mexican trucks.
She searched the FMCSA database looking for all safety violations cited for four of the Mexican trucking companies currently in the DOT test for the year preceding the start of the demonstration project on Sept. 21, 2007.
The largest number of safety violations, 1,123 in total, was found for Trinity Industries De Mexico S de R L de CV.
Second on the list was GCC Transporte SA de CV, with 372 violations, followed by Avomex Internacional SA DE CV with 206 violations and Fidepal S de RL de IP y CV with 11 violations.
WND examined the FMCSA violation records O'Mara provided the court.
Among the safety violations listed on the FMCSA database for the four carriers were multiple infractions for inoperative or defective brakes, faulty suspension, defective systems to secure loads, defective lighting devices, tension bars cracked and/or broken, axle positioning parts defective or missing, tires with less than adequate tread depth, various parts and accessories needing repair, inoperable required lamps including headlights and tail lights, wheel fasteners loose and/or missing, and defective power steering systems.
Other violations in the OOIDA database included drivers who were not licensed for the type of vehicle being operated.
Each violation in the database was identified by the vehicle description and license plate number, as well as the time, date, report number and inspection facility location where the infraction was documented.
"Our search of the FMCSA records indicates the FMCSA should know the Mexican trucking companies in their test have unsafe safety inspection records according to U.S. standards," Craig told WND.
The FMCSA is also accepting the Mexican commercial driver's license, or CDL, as equivalent to the U.S. CDL," he added, "even though Mexico has no CDL database that is reliable. There is no way, for instance, to track driving violations in Mexico that Mexican drivers are cited for."
Craig also pointed out that the FMCSA is operating under a 1991 MOU with Mexico regarding commercial driver's licenses.
"This is a problem," Craig told WND, "because U.S. CDL regulations have changed a lot since 1991. Now, U.S. drivers who are cited for violations in non-commercial vehicles, for instance DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs violations, that can go toward disqualifying a CDL, even if the driver is driving the family car on their own time when they are cited for the DUI."
The legal brief filed by the Cullen Law Firm objects to the FMCSA argument that Mexican regulations will provide the same level of safety as compliance that corresponds with U.S. safety regulations.
Under the current terms of the DOT Mexican truck demonstration project, the Cullen Law Firm argues, the FMCSA has decided to substitute compliance with Mexican regulations with compliance of FMCSA regulations.
Under FMCSA's own admission there is no drug or alcohol testing facility in the entire country that is certified," Craig pointed out. "The current FMCSA plan is for Mexican drivers to send drug and alcohol testing specimens to a U.S. certified testing facility, even though there is no reliable way to determine who the specimen came from in Mexico."
"In light of the empirical data set forth in Mr. Craig's declaration"” the brief argues, "there is no question that the harm faced by American truckers is concrete, particularized, and imminent."
The brief contends the safety violations noted for the Mexican truck should have prompted out-of-service orders.
"In examining the records of violations for these Mexican operators, we found many cases where the same truck comes back over the border and is cited again for the same types of violation," Craig told WND.
The brief also points out that the terms of NAFTA had specified the border would be open to the extent that Mexico-domiciled carriers are willing and able to abide by the same laws and regulations as are applicable to U.S.-domiciled motor carriers.
The OOIDA lawsuit seeks an order from the federal court to halt the DOT Mexican trucking demonstration project until the FMCSA is able to demonstrate its ability to enforce the standards of U.S. safety rules and regulation upon the Mexican trucks given access to U.S. roads.
On Nov. 14, the House of Representatives passed the DOT Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill by an overwhelming bi-paritsan 270-147 vote.
WND reported at the time Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., offered an amendment to the DOT Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill to block DOT funding for the Mexican trucks, which passed by a voice vote.
WND also reported Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, successfully offered in the Senate an amendment comparable to DeFazio's.
The House bill emerging from the conference committee included language to de-fund the DOT Mexican trucking demonstration project.
The Senate version of the DOT Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill also contains the language which emerged from the conference committee to de-fund the DOT Mexican trucking project.
President Bush has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk with these provisions
---------------
My Comments:
It's only a matter of time before lawsuits start piling up against these Mexican trucking companies. I'd also sue the Federal government since they are knowing allowing these truckers to break our laws by accepting their standards at the same level as ours.
Romney Fires Landscaper Over Illegals
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071205/D8TB4DFG0.html
Romney Fires Landscaper Over Illegals
By GLEN JOHNSON
(AP) Republican presidential hopeful former Massachussets Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a meeting with...
MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) - Republican Mitt Romney, ridiculed by rival Rudy Giuliani for employing illegal immigrants at his "sanctuary mansion," said Tuesday he had fired the landscaper for his suburban Boston home after learning for a second time about undocumented workers laboring on the property.
In a statement issued after he concluded his campaign appearances for the day, Romney said: "After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions. They were instructed to make sure people working for the company were of legal status.
"We personally met with the company in order to inform them about the importance of this matter," he said. "The owner of the company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in total compliance with the law going forward."
Romney termed the recurrence "disappointing and inexcusable." The company, Community Lawn Service of Chelsea, Mass., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The former Massachusetts governor has made combatting illegal immigration a core theme of his White House run.
His three-point plan includes building fences along the U.S.-Mexico border; developing a tamperproof ID card so only legal immigrants can work and cutting off federal money to "sanctuary cities" providing safe haven to illegal immigrants.
During a debate last week in St. Petersburg, Fla., Romney chastised Giuliani for continuing sanctuary status for New York while he served as the city's mayor. That prompted Giuliani to accuse Romney of owning a "sanctuary mansion" after The Boston Globe reported last year his landscaper employed illegal workers.
Romney denied the charge, saying he wasn't responsible for a legal company hiring illegal workers. He also grew indignant, trying to turn the criticism against Giuliani.
Romney said it would "not be American" to check the papers of workers employed by a contractor simply because they have a "funny accent."
Yet the paper, in a follow-up report, said it observed at least two illegal workers on Romney's property the morning after the debate, raking leaves from the grass and debris from the tennis court. The newspaper said it had also observed the same workers during the prior two months.
The Globe said it interviewed the two workers and one said he had paid $7,000 to a smuggler to escort him across the desert into Arizona. The other said he had come to the country with a student visa that has since expired.
The newspaper contacted the Romney campaign Tuesday for comment, prompting the candidate to draft a two-paragraph letter to Ricardo Saenz, the company's owner, informing him of the termination.
Saenz is a legal immigrant from Colombia who met Romney by attending his Mormon church. Saenz did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press placed to his company headquarters.
"As soon as we were given credible information that people assigned to work on the governor's property were not of legal status, we acted," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said. "The governor has been on the road almost constantly since the beginning the year and hasn't interacted with the people working on his lawn."
Last year, workers said that Romney sometimes waved as they tended to the grounds, occasionally calling out, "Buenos dias," or "Good day." They also said Romney's wife, Ann, brought the workers water one especially hot day.
Katie Levinson, speaking for Giuliani's campaign, said of the recurrence: "I think it speaks for itself."
Todd Harris, speaking for rival Fred Thompson, said: "First Mitt Romney was for illegal immigrants working on his lawn, and then he was against it, then for it, and now I guess he's against it again. Sounds like his position on amnesty."
In fact, Romney's opponents have not accused him of favoring the use of illegal immigrants on his property. Rather, they've asserted he was not sufficiently attentive to the matter and they've cast that as emblematic of softness on illegal immigration.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
ANYONE BUT HILLARY OR RUDY OR OBAMA GETS MY VOTE! Go Tom Tancredo!
Romney Fires Landscaper Over Illegals
By GLEN JOHNSON
(AP) Republican presidential hopeful former Massachussets Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a meeting with...
MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) - Republican Mitt Romney, ridiculed by rival Rudy Giuliani for employing illegal immigrants at his "sanctuary mansion," said Tuesday he had fired the landscaper for his suburban Boston home after learning for a second time about undocumented workers laboring on the property.
In a statement issued after he concluded his campaign appearances for the day, Romney said: "After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions. They were instructed to make sure people working for the company were of legal status.
"We personally met with the company in order to inform them about the importance of this matter," he said. "The owner of the company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in total compliance with the law going forward."
Romney termed the recurrence "disappointing and inexcusable." The company, Community Lawn Service of Chelsea, Mass., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The former Massachusetts governor has made combatting illegal immigration a core theme of his White House run.
His three-point plan includes building fences along the U.S.-Mexico border; developing a tamperproof ID card so only legal immigrants can work and cutting off federal money to "sanctuary cities" providing safe haven to illegal immigrants.
During a debate last week in St. Petersburg, Fla., Romney chastised Giuliani for continuing sanctuary status for New York while he served as the city's mayor. That prompted Giuliani to accuse Romney of owning a "sanctuary mansion" after The Boston Globe reported last year his landscaper employed illegal workers.
Romney denied the charge, saying he wasn't responsible for a legal company hiring illegal workers. He also grew indignant, trying to turn the criticism against Giuliani.
Romney said it would "not be American" to check the papers of workers employed by a contractor simply because they have a "funny accent."
Yet the paper, in a follow-up report, said it observed at least two illegal workers on Romney's property the morning after the debate, raking leaves from the grass and debris from the tennis court. The newspaper said it had also observed the same workers during the prior two months.
The Globe said it interviewed the two workers and one said he had paid $7,000 to a smuggler to escort him across the desert into Arizona. The other said he had come to the country with a student visa that has since expired.
The newspaper contacted the Romney campaign Tuesday for comment, prompting the candidate to draft a two-paragraph letter to Ricardo Saenz, the company's owner, informing him of the termination.
Saenz is a legal immigrant from Colombia who met Romney by attending his Mormon church. Saenz did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press placed to his company headquarters.
"As soon as we were given credible information that people assigned to work on the governor's property were not of legal status, we acted," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said. "The governor has been on the road almost constantly since the beginning the year and hasn't interacted with the people working on his lawn."
Last year, workers said that Romney sometimes waved as they tended to the grounds, occasionally calling out, "Buenos dias," or "Good day." They also said Romney's wife, Ann, brought the workers water one especially hot day.
Katie Levinson, speaking for Giuliani's campaign, said of the recurrence: "I think it speaks for itself."
Todd Harris, speaking for rival Fred Thompson, said: "First Mitt Romney was for illegal immigrants working on his lawn, and then he was against it, then for it, and now I guess he's against it again. Sounds like his position on amnesty."
In fact, Romney's opponents have not accused him of favoring the use of illegal immigrants on his property. Rather, they've asserted he was not sufficiently attentive to the matter and they've cast that as emblematic of softness on illegal immigration.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
ANYONE BUT HILLARY OR RUDY OR OBAMA GETS MY VOTE! Go Tom Tancredo!
Victim's family sues in 'Jena 6' beating case
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20071205/a_jena05.art.htm
Victim's family sues in 'Jena 6' beating case
The (Alexandria-Pineville, La.) Town Talk
JENA, La. — The family of a white student allegedly beaten by six black classmates in rural Louisiana has filed a civil lawsuit against the teens' parents, the adult teens, an additional student and the local school board.
One teen, Mychal Bell, pleaded guilty to battery in juvenile court on Monday in the attack. Five other teens face criminal charges in the case and are awaiting court appearances.
Justin Barker, 18, and his parents, David and Kelli, allege in the suit that seven Jena High School students attacked Justin on Dec. 4, 2006, as he left the school gym.
The suit names the attackers as the "Jena Six" students — Bell, Bryant Purvis, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Theo Shaw and a juvenile — as well as a second juvenile.
Law enforcement officials have not named the second juvenile as one of the attackers.
"Petitioners show that Justin was singled out by Mychal, Bryant, Robert, Carwin, Theodore (and the two juveniles), and that the malicious and willful attack of Justin was of such extreme nature so as to require emergency medical care and treatment for the harm inflicted by the attack, and resulting in extensive and permanently disabling injuries," the lawsuit states.
Barker was hit by Bell, knocked unconscious and then repeatedly kicked and stomped by a group of students, according to testimony and court documents.
The beating was preceded by racial incidents, including three white students hanging nooses from a tree.
The civil suit was filed Thursday. The lawsuit alleges that the LaSalle Parish School Board, through its employees, was not adequately supervising students or maintaining discipline.
Lawyers for the Barkers and the defendants couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Bell, who pleaded guilty in juvenile court to second-degree battery, was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of the Office of Youth Development.
Bell and the other students were initially charged with attempted murder. In May, Bell was convicted as an adult of aggravated assault, but the conviction was overturned. The conviction led to a protest in September by at least 20,000 demonstrators.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
I think these boys not being sentenced for attempted manslaughter is crazy! They are all guilty as sin. Not to mention that this wasn't brought on by some nooses hanging from a tree. The noose incident was two months prior to the attack and the nooses hung from the tree for a pep rally (hang the tigers or something to that nature). THE NOOSES WERE NO RACIALLY CHARGED SYMBOLS. These boys knowingly singled out this white kid (THIS WAS RACIALLY CHARGED) and beat him near death.
Victim's family sues in 'Jena 6' beating case
The (Alexandria-Pineville, La.) Town Talk
JENA, La. — The family of a white student allegedly beaten by six black classmates in rural Louisiana has filed a civil lawsuit against the teens' parents, the adult teens, an additional student and the local school board.
One teen, Mychal Bell, pleaded guilty to battery in juvenile court on Monday in the attack. Five other teens face criminal charges in the case and are awaiting court appearances.
Justin Barker, 18, and his parents, David and Kelli, allege in the suit that seven Jena High School students attacked Justin on Dec. 4, 2006, as he left the school gym.
The suit names the attackers as the "Jena Six" students — Bell, Bryant Purvis, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Theo Shaw and a juvenile — as well as a second juvenile.
Law enforcement officials have not named the second juvenile as one of the attackers.
"Petitioners show that Justin was singled out by Mychal, Bryant, Robert, Carwin, Theodore (and the two juveniles), and that the malicious and willful attack of Justin was of such extreme nature so as to require emergency medical care and treatment for the harm inflicted by the attack, and resulting in extensive and permanently disabling injuries," the lawsuit states.
Barker was hit by Bell, knocked unconscious and then repeatedly kicked and stomped by a group of students, according to testimony and court documents.
The beating was preceded by racial incidents, including three white students hanging nooses from a tree.
The civil suit was filed Thursday. The lawsuit alleges that the LaSalle Parish School Board, through its employees, was not adequately supervising students or maintaining discipline.
Lawyers for the Barkers and the defendants couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Bell, who pleaded guilty in juvenile court to second-degree battery, was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of the Office of Youth Development.
Bell and the other students were initially charged with attempted murder. In May, Bell was convicted as an adult of aggravated assault, but the conviction was overturned. The conviction led to a protest in September by at least 20,000 demonstrators.
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
I think these boys not being sentenced for attempted manslaughter is crazy! They are all guilty as sin. Not to mention that this wasn't brought on by some nooses hanging from a tree. The noose incident was two months prior to the attack and the nooses hung from the tree for a pep rally (hang the tigers or something to that nature). THE NOOSES WERE NO RACIALLY CHARGED SYMBOLS. These boys knowingly singled out this white kid (THIS WAS RACIALLY CHARGED) and beat him near death.
Giuliani Assails 'Fair Tax' Plan
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TA7PV00&show_article=1
Giuliani Assails 'Fair Tax' Plan
Dec 3 06:00 PM US/Eastern
By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press Writer Write a Comment
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani criticized the "fair tax" plan that has been touted by rival candidate Mike Huckabee on Monday, saying it could hurt home buyers.
The former New York City mayor cited the struggling U.S. housing market as a reason to avoid the plan, which would eliminate all taxes on income and investments in favor of a hefty federal sales tax.
A questioner asked about the plan but did not mention Huckabee. Nor did Giuliani mention his rival in his response.
"I think there are several tax deductions that are vital to our economy," Giuliani said. "This would not be a good time—I don't know if there would ever be a good time to do this—to advocate ending the home mortgage deduction. The home mortgage deduction is considered by many critical to the ability of people to buy a home and keep their home."
He also said deductions for charitable contributions and state and local taxes were important tax breaks that the plan would eliminate. The plan calls for getting rid of the Internal Revenue Service and giving taxpayers a monthly rebate on taxes on purchases up to the poverty line.
"Why waste our time trying to do this if we can't actually accomplish it?" Giuliani said. "I try to put my time into things that we can actually accomplish."
Still, Giuliani said he, too, wants to simplify the tax code so a return could be completed with one piece of paper.
Huckabee is running about even in Iowa with Mitt Romney, according to a Sunday poll in The Des Moines Register. Huckabee is at 29 percent to Romney's 24 percent with a 4.4 percentage point margin of error. Giuliani is at 13 percent.
Giuliani spent much of his time in Greensboro criticizing Democratic proposals on health care, education and pensions. He said the Democratic presidential candidates touting those programs are pushing the country toward more taxes when it needs more investment in private business.
On education, he discussed his plan for school vouchers, saying a lack of choice in education "may be the biggest civil rights issue" of the day. Giuliani said he—not the Democrats—was best suited to handle the millions of Americans who live in poverty.
"We have to have a society that rewards success," Giuliani said. "The only way in which we get people out of poverty is you help them help themselves by giving them the opportunity for a good education and the opportunity for a good job. That's how you deal with poverty—not with government welfare programs."
---------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Personally I think a fair tax is best for the country as a whole. Sure the rich and poor may not like it but guess what! The middle class sure as hell will. The poor are already subsidized to the point that they pay no taxes, so really why would they even care? Ohhhhh... you're rich and you bought a home you couldn't really afford in the first place.. well guess what! NO MORE LIVING OUTSIDE WHAT YOU EARN! Really people? Why on earth should we be trying to bail out homeowners who were stupid enough to purchase something they couldn't afford? I don't buy a mansion to impress my friends, because I CAN'T AFFORD ONE. Would I want one.. sure, but not if I can't pay the bills or feed my family. Welfare needs to have a time-limit. You should NOT be able to be on welfare your ENTIRE life. It's meant to be a hand up to get you to a place where you can support yourself. Not a self entitlement program so you and your multiple babies can stay at home and suck off the workers.
Giuliani Assails 'Fair Tax' Plan
Dec 3 06:00 PM US/Eastern
By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press Writer Write a Comment
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani criticized the "fair tax" plan that has been touted by rival candidate Mike Huckabee on Monday, saying it could hurt home buyers.
The former New York City mayor cited the struggling U.S. housing market as a reason to avoid the plan, which would eliminate all taxes on income and investments in favor of a hefty federal sales tax.
A questioner asked about the plan but did not mention Huckabee. Nor did Giuliani mention his rival in his response.
"I think there are several tax deductions that are vital to our economy," Giuliani said. "This would not be a good time—I don't know if there would ever be a good time to do this—to advocate ending the home mortgage deduction. The home mortgage deduction is considered by many critical to the ability of people to buy a home and keep their home."
He also said deductions for charitable contributions and state and local taxes were important tax breaks that the plan would eliminate. The plan calls for getting rid of the Internal Revenue Service and giving taxpayers a monthly rebate on taxes on purchases up to the poverty line.
"Why waste our time trying to do this if we can't actually accomplish it?" Giuliani said. "I try to put my time into things that we can actually accomplish."
Still, Giuliani said he, too, wants to simplify the tax code so a return could be completed with one piece of paper.
Huckabee is running about even in Iowa with Mitt Romney, according to a Sunday poll in The Des Moines Register. Huckabee is at 29 percent to Romney's 24 percent with a 4.4 percentage point margin of error. Giuliani is at 13 percent.
Giuliani spent much of his time in Greensboro criticizing Democratic proposals on health care, education and pensions. He said the Democratic presidential candidates touting those programs are pushing the country toward more taxes when it needs more investment in private business.
On education, he discussed his plan for school vouchers, saying a lack of choice in education "may be the biggest civil rights issue" of the day. Giuliani said he—not the Democrats—was best suited to handle the millions of Americans who live in poverty.
"We have to have a society that rewards success," Giuliani said. "The only way in which we get people out of poverty is you help them help themselves by giving them the opportunity for a good education and the opportunity for a good job. That's how you deal with poverty—not with government welfare programs."
---------------------
MY COMMENTS:
Personally I think a fair tax is best for the country as a whole. Sure the rich and poor may not like it but guess what! The middle class sure as hell will. The poor are already subsidized to the point that they pay no taxes, so really why would they even care? Ohhhhh... you're rich and you bought a home you couldn't really afford in the first place.. well guess what! NO MORE LIVING OUTSIDE WHAT YOU EARN! Really people? Why on earth should we be trying to bail out homeowners who were stupid enough to purchase something they couldn't afford? I don't buy a mansion to impress my friends, because I CAN'T AFFORD ONE. Would I want one.. sure, but not if I can't pay the bills or feed my family. Welfare needs to have a time-limit. You should NOT be able to be on welfare your ENTIRE life. It's meant to be a hand up to get you to a place where you can support yourself. Not a self entitlement program so you and your multiple babies can stay at home and suck off the workers.
Feds admit smuggler lied in Ramos-Compean case
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59012
Feds admit smuggler lied in Ramos-Compean case
Appeals panel suggests prosecutorial 'overreach' in pursuit of border agents
Posted: December 3, 2007
4:35 p.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean
The U.S. government admitted today in federal court that the prosecution's star witness in the criminal trial of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean – confessed drug dealer Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila – lied under oath.
"He told some lies on the stand," Mark Stelmach, the assistant U.S. attorney representing prosecutor U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said under questioning by a three-judge 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans.
Ramos and Compean are appealing prison sentences of 11- and 12-years respectively for a 2005 incident in which they fired on Aldrete-Davila as he fled back into Mexico after smuggling 750 pounds of marijuana into the U.S. near Fabens, Texas.
"Today the justice system worked the way it is supposed to," Tara Setmayer, communications director for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., told WND immediately following the hearing.
Setmeyer, who attended the hearing, said, "I feel cautiously optimistic the judges will make a ruling quickly."
"Based on the nature of the questions from the judges, it seems as though the government made their own bed and now they have to lie in it," she said.
According to Setmayer, Judge Patrick Errol Higginbotham questioned Stelmach closely about why the prosecution had sought to seal from the jury information about a second smuggling attempt by Aldrete-Davila after Sutton's office gave him immunity and a border pass.
Higginbotham rebuked Stelmach's suggestion that Aldrete-Davila's drug history prior to the Feb. 17, 2005, incident with the border agents was not relevant to the trial. The judge argued the second load was relevant because it showed Aldrete-Davila had a brazen disregard for the law, a key factor in evaluating his testimony for the prosecution.
"It defies common sense in the street world," Higginbotham told Stelmach, "to believe Aldrete-Davila was a poor mule, as he represented at trial, instead of an actual player in the world of the drug cartels."
As WND reported, the defense lawyers in the appellate briefs filed for Ramos and Compean had argued that the likelihood Aldrete-Davila was carrying a firearm was greatly increased if he was a major player for the drug cartels.
Aldrete-Davila was the only witness who testified at trial that he was unarmed. Since he was not apprehended and frisked on the scene, it was his word at trial against the word of Ramos and Compean. The border agents both testified they saw Aldrete-Davila pointing a shiny object they believed was a gun as he ran away.
"Before the hearing today we were skeptical because we know the government is good at lying," Joe Loya, father-in-law of Ramos, told WND in a telephone interview.
"Now we are optimistic justice will prevail," he said. "The government had to admit today the prosecutors let Aldrete-Davila commit perjury at trial."
The judges today questioned the government closely about the appropriateness of prosecuting Ramos and Compean under 18 U.S.C. Section 924(c), a law passed to require an additional 10-year minimum prison sentence, if felons in the act of committing crimes such as rape or burglary carry a weapon.
WND has reported the Ramos and Compean appellant briefs argued the law was never meant to be applied to law enforcement officers in the pursuit of their duties.
Judge E. Grady Jolly commented the "government overreached" in applying 18 U.S.C. Section 924(c) to Ramos and Compean.
Sutton was present today in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals courtroom in New Orleans, but he did not speak or answer questions from the three-judge panel.
In a press statement issued by his office, Sutton claimed the Ramos-Compean case "has always been about the rule of law."
"Some in the media and on the Internet have tried to portray agents Compean and Ramos as heroes, but that narrative is false," Sutton said. "The actions of Compean and Ramos in shooting an unarmed, fleeing suspect, destroying evidence and engaging in a cover-up are serious charges."
Ramos and Compean were prosecuted "to uphold the rule of law," Sutton claimed.
"A jury rejected their factual claims of innocence after a two week trial," he continued. "The case is now before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which will resolve the disputed legal issues in accordance with the rule of law. I look forward to the decision of the Court of Appeals."
The third member of the three-judge panel was Judge Edward Charles Prado.
The three-judge panel is expected to issue a ruling within four to six weeks.
-------------
MY COMMENTS:
EVERYONE KNOWS THESE MEN ARE INNOCENT! What the hell is talkign so long. I'm very disappointed in Presdient Bush for siding with a known drug dealer and not pardoning these men. This is a disgrace!
Feds admit smuggler lied in Ramos-Compean case
Appeals panel suggests prosecutorial 'overreach' in pursuit of border agents
Posted: December 3, 2007
4:35 p.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean
The U.S. government admitted today in federal court that the prosecution's star witness in the criminal trial of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean – confessed drug dealer Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila – lied under oath.
"He told some lies on the stand," Mark Stelmach, the assistant U.S. attorney representing prosecutor U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said under questioning by a three-judge 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans.
Ramos and Compean are appealing prison sentences of 11- and 12-years respectively for a 2005 incident in which they fired on Aldrete-Davila as he fled back into Mexico after smuggling 750 pounds of marijuana into the U.S. near Fabens, Texas.
"Today the justice system worked the way it is supposed to," Tara Setmayer, communications director for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., told WND immediately following the hearing.
Setmeyer, who attended the hearing, said, "I feel cautiously optimistic the judges will make a ruling quickly."
"Based on the nature of the questions from the judges, it seems as though the government made their own bed and now they have to lie in it," she said.
According to Setmayer, Judge Patrick Errol Higginbotham questioned Stelmach closely about why the prosecution had sought to seal from the jury information about a second smuggling attempt by Aldrete-Davila after Sutton's office gave him immunity and a border pass.
Higginbotham rebuked Stelmach's suggestion that Aldrete-Davila's drug history prior to the Feb. 17, 2005, incident with the border agents was not relevant to the trial. The judge argued the second load was relevant because it showed Aldrete-Davila had a brazen disregard for the law, a key factor in evaluating his testimony for the prosecution.
"It defies common sense in the street world," Higginbotham told Stelmach, "to believe Aldrete-Davila was a poor mule, as he represented at trial, instead of an actual player in the world of the drug cartels."
As WND reported, the defense lawyers in the appellate briefs filed for Ramos and Compean had argued that the likelihood Aldrete-Davila was carrying a firearm was greatly increased if he was a major player for the drug cartels.
Aldrete-Davila was the only witness who testified at trial that he was unarmed. Since he was not apprehended and frisked on the scene, it was his word at trial against the word of Ramos and Compean. The border agents both testified they saw Aldrete-Davila pointing a shiny object they believed was a gun as he ran away.
"Before the hearing today we were skeptical because we know the government is good at lying," Joe Loya, father-in-law of Ramos, told WND in a telephone interview.
"Now we are optimistic justice will prevail," he said. "The government had to admit today the prosecutors let Aldrete-Davila commit perjury at trial."
The judges today questioned the government closely about the appropriateness of prosecuting Ramos and Compean under 18 U.S.C. Section 924(c), a law passed to require an additional 10-year minimum prison sentence, if felons in the act of committing crimes such as rape or burglary carry a weapon.
WND has reported the Ramos and Compean appellant briefs argued the law was never meant to be applied to law enforcement officers in the pursuit of their duties.
Judge E. Grady Jolly commented the "government overreached" in applying 18 U.S.C. Section 924(c) to Ramos and Compean.
Sutton was present today in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals courtroom in New Orleans, but he did not speak or answer questions from the three-judge panel.
In a press statement issued by his office, Sutton claimed the Ramos-Compean case "has always been about the rule of law."
"Some in the media and on the Internet have tried to portray agents Compean and Ramos as heroes, but that narrative is false," Sutton said. "The actions of Compean and Ramos in shooting an unarmed, fleeing suspect, destroying evidence and engaging in a cover-up are serious charges."
Ramos and Compean were prosecuted "to uphold the rule of law," Sutton claimed.
"A jury rejected their factual claims of innocence after a two week trial," he continued. "The case is now before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which will resolve the disputed legal issues in accordance with the rule of law. I look forward to the decision of the Court of Appeals."
The third member of the three-judge panel was Judge Edward Charles Prado.
The three-judge panel is expected to issue a ruling within four to six weeks.
-------------
MY COMMENTS:
EVERYONE KNOWS THESE MEN ARE INNOCENT! What the hell is talkign so long. I'm very disappointed in Presdient Bush for siding with a known drug dealer and not pardoning these men. This is a disgrace!
Water shortages are likely to be trigger for wars, says UN chief Ban Ki MoonLeo Lewis in Beppu
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2994650.ece
Water shortages are likely to be trigger for wars, says UN chief Ban Ki MoonLeo Lewis in Beppu
A struggle by nations to secure sources of clean water will be “potent fuel” for war, the first Asia-Pacific Water Summit heard yesterday.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, told delegates from across the region that the planet faced a water crisis that was especially troubling for Asia.
High population growth, rising consumption, pollution and poor water management posed significant threats, he said, adding that climate change was also making “a bad situation worse”.
Mr Ban went on to condemn the lack of heed paid by governments to these warning signs: “Throughout the world, water resources continue to be spoiled, wasted and degraded.
“The consequences for humanity are grave. Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict.”
His remarks come as environmental experts in Great Britain have identified 46 countries — home to 2.7 billion people — where climate change and water-related crises will create a high risk of violent conflict.
A further 56, representing another 1.2 billion people, are at high risk of political instability, claims a report by International Alert, which concludes that it is now “too late to believe the situation can be made safe solely by reducing carbon emissions worldwide and mitigating climate change”.
Janani Vivekananda, one of the authors of the International Alert report said: “Water management will be a huge tinderbox and now is the time for international organisations to come together. There is huge potential not just for conflict but for co-operation.”
Mr Ban's comments were echoed by many of the other speakers at the water summit, who gathered in southwestern Japan to discuss a range of issues, including policies that might prevent the various aspects of an Asian water crisis deepening into armed conflict.
Yasuo Fukuda, the Japanese Prime Minister, vowed yesterday that water and climate change would be at the top of the agenda for the Group of Eight summit in Japan next summer.
The Beppu summit, which began on the same day as UN Climate Change talks in Bali, also coincides with a study directly linking water shortages to violence throughout history.
In a report published in by the United States National Academy of Sciences journal today, David Zhang, of Hong Kong University, has analysed a half millennium's worth of human conflict — more than 8,000 wars — and concluded that climate change and resulting water shortage has been a far greater trigger than imagined previously.
If global warming continues, water shortages could trigger more wars, Dr Zhang told The Times: “We are on alert, because this gives us the indication that resource shortage is the main cause of war. Human beings will definitely have conflicts over this; whether it turns to war depends on the quality of the social buffer available to each nation, but the danger is right there.”
The Asia Development Bank, which was also represented at the Beppu summit, informed delegates that without rational water development and better management, the future social development of Asian developing countries would be seriously jeopardised. The president of the ADB, Haruhiko Kuroda, said that his bank now plans to double investment in Asian water projects to $2 billion per year, given the potential for conflict if water governance remains weak.
--------------
OTHER'S COMMENTS:
About half the water flowing through pipes to New York City leaks out before it reaches the city. Local governments point to the limited water reaching Greater New York City and say we need to limit housing. This drives up home prices beyond the reach of many families. Right now, affordable housing advocates are fighting with environmentalists over how many people can live here. It would make more sense to put that effort towards fixing the pipes.
Joseph, NYC, USA
Water shortages are likely to be trigger for wars, says UN chief Ban Ki MoonLeo Lewis in Beppu
A struggle by nations to secure sources of clean water will be “potent fuel” for war, the first Asia-Pacific Water Summit heard yesterday.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, told delegates from across the region that the planet faced a water crisis that was especially troubling for Asia.
High population growth, rising consumption, pollution and poor water management posed significant threats, he said, adding that climate change was also making “a bad situation worse”.
Mr Ban went on to condemn the lack of heed paid by governments to these warning signs: “Throughout the world, water resources continue to be spoiled, wasted and degraded.
“The consequences for humanity are grave. Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict.”
His remarks come as environmental experts in Great Britain have identified 46 countries — home to 2.7 billion people — where climate change and water-related crises will create a high risk of violent conflict.
A further 56, representing another 1.2 billion people, are at high risk of political instability, claims a report by International Alert, which concludes that it is now “too late to believe the situation can be made safe solely by reducing carbon emissions worldwide and mitigating climate change”.
Janani Vivekananda, one of the authors of the International Alert report said: “Water management will be a huge tinderbox and now is the time for international organisations to come together. There is huge potential not just for conflict but for co-operation.”
Mr Ban's comments were echoed by many of the other speakers at the water summit, who gathered in southwestern Japan to discuss a range of issues, including policies that might prevent the various aspects of an Asian water crisis deepening into armed conflict.
Yasuo Fukuda, the Japanese Prime Minister, vowed yesterday that water and climate change would be at the top of the agenda for the Group of Eight summit in Japan next summer.
The Beppu summit, which began on the same day as UN Climate Change talks in Bali, also coincides with a study directly linking water shortages to violence throughout history.
In a report published in by the United States National Academy of Sciences journal today, David Zhang, of Hong Kong University, has analysed a half millennium's worth of human conflict — more than 8,000 wars — and concluded that climate change and resulting water shortage has been a far greater trigger than imagined previously.
If global warming continues, water shortages could trigger more wars, Dr Zhang told The Times: “We are on alert, because this gives us the indication that resource shortage is the main cause of war. Human beings will definitely have conflicts over this; whether it turns to war depends on the quality of the social buffer available to each nation, but the danger is right there.”
The Asia Development Bank, which was also represented at the Beppu summit, informed delegates that without rational water development and better management, the future social development of Asian developing countries would be seriously jeopardised. The president of the ADB, Haruhiko Kuroda, said that his bank now plans to double investment in Asian water projects to $2 billion per year, given the potential for conflict if water governance remains weak.
--------------
OTHER'S COMMENTS:
About half the water flowing through pipes to New York City leaks out before it reaches the city. Local governments point to the limited water reaching Greater New York City and say we need to limit housing. This drives up home prices beyond the reach of many families. Right now, affordable housing advocates are fighting with environmentalists over how many people can live here. It would make more sense to put that effort towards fixing the pipes.
Joseph, NYC, USA
'Green Hanukkia' campaign sparks ire
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546797524&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Dec 4, 2007 7:36 | Updated Dec 4, 2007 8:57
'Green Hanukkia' campaign sparks ire
By GIL HOFFMAN
In a campaign that has spread like wildfire across the Internet, a group of Israeli environmentalists is encouraging Jews around the world to light at least one less candle this Hanukka to help the environment.
The founders of the Green Hanukkia campaign found that every candle that burns completely produces 15 grams of carbon dioxide. If an estimated one million Israeli households light for eight days, they said, it would do significant damage to the atmosphere.
"The campaign calls for Jews around the world to save the last candle and save the planet, so we won't need another miracle," said Liad Ortar, the campaign's cofounder, who runs the Arkada environmental consulting firm and the Ynet Web site's environmental forum. "Global warming is a milestone in human evolution that requires us to rethink how we live our lives, and one of the main paradigms of that is religion and how it fits into the current situation."
Cofounder Tom Wegner, who heads the public relations firm Update Marketing Media, spread the campaign via mass e-mails and through social interaction Web sites like Facebook and Hook.co.il. He said no money had been invested in the campaign, but it had already raised awareness around the world and made people realize that they have to consider the environment this Hanukka.
Wegner said he did not consider the campaign anti-religious. The unlit candle could be the shamash, which is not required for the mitzva, he said. But he said he would encourage people who do not keep mitzvot not to light a hanukkia at all for environmental and educational reasons.
"We have many environmental traditions in Judaism like Tu Bishvat and Succot, but there are also traditions like Lag Ba'omer and Hanukka that made sense when they were instituted but are more problematic now in the days of global warming," Wegner said.
"There are many people who just light candles for the tradition and for their children," he said. "To tell a child on the eighth day that we are not lighting the last candle as a sacrifice for the environment is an act that is not only educational but also will prevent the release of a huge amount of carbon dioxide that would hurt the environment."
Shas MK Nissim Ze'ev said he was not convinced by the environmentalists' argument. He warned that the campaign would take away from the light of Torah that each and every candle symbolizes.
"The environmentalists should think about how much pollution is caused by one solitary diesel truck on the road," Ze'ev said. "They should be fighting the trucks instead of Judaism. This is so trivial, so anti-Jewish and so anti-religious that even the worst anti-Semites couldn't think of it. Just like the Helenists, they are trying to extinguish the flames of the Jewish soul."
United Torah Judaism MK Avraham Ravitz called the environmentalists "crazy people who are playing with the minds of innocent Jewish people." He said the campaign would only convince people who do not light candles anyway.
"They should encourage people to light one less cigarette instead," Ravitz said.
Rabbi Benny Lau of Jerusalem's Ramban Congregation, who is himself an environmental activist, praised the good intentions of the people behind the campaign. But he said the environmentalists should be trying to reach out to observant Jews instead of running campaigns that turn them away.
"People in the green movement who have an agenda have unfortunately made it anti-religious," Lau said. "This makes religious people think incorrectly that anything environmentalist is against them. The damage ends up being a thousand times the benefit. Tikkun olam [fixing the world] must be done by adding more light and not by adding more darkness."
Dec 4, 2007 7:36 | Updated Dec 4, 2007 8:57
'Green Hanukkia' campaign sparks ire
By GIL HOFFMAN
In a campaign that has spread like wildfire across the Internet, a group of Israeli environmentalists is encouraging Jews around the world to light at least one less candle this Hanukka to help the environment.
The founders of the Green Hanukkia campaign found that every candle that burns completely produces 15 grams of carbon dioxide. If an estimated one million Israeli households light for eight days, they said, it would do significant damage to the atmosphere.
"The campaign calls for Jews around the world to save the last candle and save the planet, so we won't need another miracle," said Liad Ortar, the campaign's cofounder, who runs the Arkada environmental consulting firm and the Ynet Web site's environmental forum. "Global warming is a milestone in human evolution that requires us to rethink how we live our lives, and one of the main paradigms of that is religion and how it fits into the current situation."
Cofounder Tom Wegner, who heads the public relations firm Update Marketing Media, spread the campaign via mass e-mails and through social interaction Web sites like Facebook and Hook.co.il. He said no money had been invested in the campaign, but it had already raised awareness around the world and made people realize that they have to consider the environment this Hanukka.
Wegner said he did not consider the campaign anti-religious. The unlit candle could be the shamash, which is not required for the mitzva, he said. But he said he would encourage people who do not keep mitzvot not to light a hanukkia at all for environmental and educational reasons.
"We have many environmental traditions in Judaism like Tu Bishvat and Succot, but there are also traditions like Lag Ba'omer and Hanukka that made sense when they were instituted but are more problematic now in the days of global warming," Wegner said.
"There are many people who just light candles for the tradition and for their children," he said. "To tell a child on the eighth day that we are not lighting the last candle as a sacrifice for the environment is an act that is not only educational but also will prevent the release of a huge amount of carbon dioxide that would hurt the environment."
Shas MK Nissim Ze'ev said he was not convinced by the environmentalists' argument. He warned that the campaign would take away from the light of Torah that each and every candle symbolizes.
"The environmentalists should think about how much pollution is caused by one solitary diesel truck on the road," Ze'ev said. "They should be fighting the trucks instead of Judaism. This is so trivial, so anti-Jewish and so anti-religious that even the worst anti-Semites couldn't think of it. Just like the Helenists, they are trying to extinguish the flames of the Jewish soul."
United Torah Judaism MK Avraham Ravitz called the environmentalists "crazy people who are playing with the minds of innocent Jewish people." He said the campaign would only convince people who do not light candles anyway.
"They should encourage people to light one less cigarette instead," Ravitz said.
Rabbi Benny Lau of Jerusalem's Ramban Congregation, who is himself an environmental activist, praised the good intentions of the people behind the campaign. But he said the environmentalists should be trying to reach out to observant Jews instead of running campaigns that turn them away.
"People in the green movement who have an agenda have unfortunately made it anti-religious," Lau said. "This makes religious people think incorrectly that anything environmentalist is against them. The damage ends up being a thousand times the benefit. Tikkun olam [fixing the world] must be done by adding more light and not by adding more darkness."
Historic vote on global warming
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bay_environment/blog/2007/12/historic_vote_on_global_warmin.html
Historic vote on global warming
A U.S. Senate committee is scheduled for an historic vote on a global warming bill this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday. Environmental groups are planning a flurry of press conferences tomorrow (12/4/2007) to try to influence the vote.
Meanwhile, in Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley's advisory Commission on Climate Change is scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss possible steps to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emmissions. The 22-member goup, headed by state Environmental Secretary Shari T. Wilson, is looking to recommend that the state adopt laws to cut greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020, and then move aggressively to slash the pollutants by 90 percent by 2050, according to a draft report. To achieve these goals, the state should tighten its energy efficiency standards, strengthen building codes, require more clean energy generation, among other steps.
"As a coastal state with extensive low-lying land on the Eastern Shore and around the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland is exceeded only by Louisiana, Florida and Delaware in the percentage of its land vulnerable to accelerated sea level rise," the draft report warns.
On the Federal level, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday is expected to debate amendments to a bill proposed by Sens. Lieberman of Connecticut and Warner of Virginia that would create a "cap and trade" system designed to cut total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. These systems require industries to pay fees when they emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouses gases above a set limit, with the money going to reward cleaner businesses.
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland is a co-sponsor of the bill. A group of Maryland environmental groups recently wrote a letter to Cardin (see below) urging him to strengthen the bill. They praise the proposal as a good first step, but they want to end the bill's free giveaway of pollution credits to power companies and amend the legislation to create a more aggressive target of an 80 percent cut by 2050.
"This is the first time ever a Senate commitee is voting on a globval warming bill, and that's historic," said Brad Heavner, director of Environment Maryland. "There is some reasonable expectation that this will get to the floor, but the big question is will it get stronger or weaker?....We think it needs to be stronger."
As this blog reported last month, Europe tried a pollution credit trading system to curb carbon dioxide emissions after it passed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and power companies worked the system to make billions in profits. Electricity customers paid higher bills, thinking they were contributing to a cooler planet. But their money just went into the pockets of the electric companies, which didn't end up actually cutting down on their carbon dioxide emissions.
On the other side of the political spectrum from these environmental groups, most Republicans on the committee are unlikely to vote in favor of the bill's current requirements, according to the online journal Grist.
"Right now, there's little reason to expect that any Republican on the committee other than John Warner (R-Va.) himself will vote for it. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) spoke critically of it at the first subcommittee hearing last week, and Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) took to the podium of the National Press Club two days later to pillory the bill.
Voinovich said: 'I have significant reservations about the bill. I have recently heard the concerns of a variety of constituents, including both industry and labor representatives, who are especially concerned that the bill presents an overly aggressive first phase of emissions reductions that will hit well before we can reasonably expect commercially available technologies to deal with the problem.'
Without the support of more Republicans, it's unclear if the measure will make it out of the full Senate -- not to mention survive a veto by President Bush, if he chose to use that power.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit Pew Center on Global Climate Change is releasing a report tomorrow on the impact of global warming on the Chesapeake Bay. Environment Maryland tomorrow morning is releasing a report on changes in local rainfall expected because of climate change.
-------------------------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
The problem is far greater than the Senate casting an historic vote on a global warming bill this week. Over the next 20-years the world will begin to see the growing emergence of major indicators that humankind will very likely become extinct in this very century. Panic will definitely set in. That is the consensus of the World Innovation Foundation that represents the independent voice of the world’s scientific community incorporating over 3,500 of the finest scientific, engineering and technological minds on the planet.
Governments and large global corporations just do not understand the immense ramifications for them and humankind. Indeed, they appear to think that they will be immune to the forces of nature and the sheer unparalleled devastation that is on the horizon for humankind, but where this thinking will be totally misplaced as always. You see, there will be no hiding place even if you are the richest person on earth or the largest corporate. This is the terrible truth of what is on the horizon for humankind. In this respect there is an accelerating state of building up on all fronts that will literally destroy many parts of human existence from nuclear disasters, food crop failures bringing high famine and deaths throughout the world, acute water depletion from which we depend upon for life, the financial collapse of much of the banking system and with it wealth as we know it, oil disruption brought about by a series of events from terrorism to irrational wars, a disintegration of total energy supply to the overdue pandemic that will come as night follows day. The only hope that we have at our disposal for any meaningful response to this growing and terrifying future ordeal that humankind will face is to build the immense global ORE-STEM complex with its more than 1,000 satellite research incubator centres through the world. This mechanism thought out by some of humankind’s foremost minds in the 20th century of harnessing global solutions through total human collaboration is our only answer. The problem is though that we are literally running out of time itself to implement this only solution to preserve human life on this planet, as it will take 25 years to implement. Therefore by 2032 when humankind realises this, it will be too late. Therefore the reasoning that the human experience is now predestined not to survive further than this present century. Presently what one can call the world’s most important maxim.
Dr David Hill
World Innovation Foundation
Bern, Switzerland
Posted by: david hill | December 3, 2007 2:00 PM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
I personally do not believe that human beings are responsible for global warming at all. I also do not believe that we are contributing to it. However, I do believe that we should utilize our technology to reduce the creation of pollution to be good stewards of the planet. History and Science show that temperature and weather have been cyclic through out civilization. The people who insist on perpetuating this myth of man-made global warming have an agenda. Wake up people.
Posted by: Eric | December 4, 2007 8:09 AM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
Human being extinct this very century? Oh boy. Lay off the hemp.
Posted by: Katie | December 4, 2007 9:50 AM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
sounds like someone has been drinking too much of the Church of Global Warming's Kool Aid.
Posted by: Church of Global Warming | December 4, 2007 10:23 AM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
Al Gore’s Fantasy
By Joe Cascarelli, Westcliffe CO
Now that Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth has been officially embraced by Hollywood and the Nobel Prize committee, the debate on “global warming” is finally over. The only question that still remains unanswered for me is, “How did such a large portion of the American public become so gullible?” One of my theories is that Americans have become intellectually lazy. Another theory is that schools may not be spending enough time on the sciences. A passing grade in high school physics should be enough background knowledge for any thinking person to shoot dozens of holes in former VP Gore’s fantasies as presented in his “documentary.”
I wonder how Mr. Gore would explain this data. Colorado’s record high temperature was 118 F, set on July 11, 1888. Yes, that’s 1888 not 1988. I wonder how the New York Times missed that opportunity to predict the melting of polar ice caps. Maybe they planned to write that story, but the famous blizzard of ’88 earlier that year was a bigger crisis particularly in New York City where several hundred New Yorkers froze to death. Nearly three decades later on June 27, 1915, Alaska set its current record high at 100 F, recorded at the US Weather Service’s station at Fort Yukon.
Now, the summer of 1936 was one for the record books. The states of Maryland (109 F), Indiana (116 F), Kansas (121 F), Louisiana (114 F), Minnesota (114 F), Nebraska (118 F), New Jersey (110 F), North Dakota (121 F), Pennsylvania (111 F), South Dakota (120 F), West Virginia (112 F) and Wisconsin (114 F) all set record high temperatures in July/August that year. It is funny how Al missed 1936 in his film. How could a divinity school drop-out, non-practicing lawyer and life long politician miss this opportunity to show that man caused “global warming” started decades ago? He is no doubt an expert in the field of climatology. Does anyone in America know what his academic and experiential credentials are? Maybe 1936 is a bad year to use to make a point because in February of that year the Dakotas, North and South, also set their current state record lows of minus 60 F and minus 58 F respectively.
Here is why I don’t believe Al. If a self-proclaimed climate expert doesn’t have a theory about the Medieval Warm Epoch (400 years of record high temperatures in the northern hemisphere, 900-1300 AD) or if they don’t know that water vapor is earth’s most abundant green house gas or if they can’t explain sun spots, I have no faith in their ability to predict the climate 100 years from now. Weather and over time the climate just doesn’t seem to want to cooperate with Al Gore and his unquestioning followers. Unpredictable climate will be around for another 2 or 3 billion years. Fortunately for humanity, Al and his fantasies will not.
I can only hope that the portion of the American public that fails to question the arguments for “man caused global warming” before economy destroying public policy decisions are made will wake up and pay attention. This will require some reading, analysis and critical thinking. They must get a grasp on reality before the 2008 elections.
Historic vote on global warming
A U.S. Senate committee is scheduled for an historic vote on a global warming bill this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday. Environmental groups are planning a flurry of press conferences tomorrow (12/4/2007) to try to influence the vote.
Meanwhile, in Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley's advisory Commission on Climate Change is scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss possible steps to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emmissions. The 22-member goup, headed by state Environmental Secretary Shari T. Wilson, is looking to recommend that the state adopt laws to cut greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020, and then move aggressively to slash the pollutants by 90 percent by 2050, according to a draft report. To achieve these goals, the state should tighten its energy efficiency standards, strengthen building codes, require more clean energy generation, among other steps.
"As a coastal state with extensive low-lying land on the Eastern Shore and around the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland is exceeded only by Louisiana, Florida and Delaware in the percentage of its land vulnerable to accelerated sea level rise," the draft report warns.
On the Federal level, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday is expected to debate amendments to a bill proposed by Sens. Lieberman of Connecticut and Warner of Virginia that would create a "cap and trade" system designed to cut total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. These systems require industries to pay fees when they emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouses gases above a set limit, with the money going to reward cleaner businesses.
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland is a co-sponsor of the bill. A group of Maryland environmental groups recently wrote a letter to Cardin (see below) urging him to strengthen the bill. They praise the proposal as a good first step, but they want to end the bill's free giveaway of pollution credits to power companies and amend the legislation to create a more aggressive target of an 80 percent cut by 2050.
"This is the first time ever a Senate commitee is voting on a globval warming bill, and that's historic," said Brad Heavner, director of Environment Maryland. "There is some reasonable expectation that this will get to the floor, but the big question is will it get stronger or weaker?....We think it needs to be stronger."
As this blog reported last month, Europe tried a pollution credit trading system to curb carbon dioxide emissions after it passed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and power companies worked the system to make billions in profits. Electricity customers paid higher bills, thinking they were contributing to a cooler planet. But their money just went into the pockets of the electric companies, which didn't end up actually cutting down on their carbon dioxide emissions.
On the other side of the political spectrum from these environmental groups, most Republicans on the committee are unlikely to vote in favor of the bill's current requirements, according to the online journal Grist.
"Right now, there's little reason to expect that any Republican on the committee other than John Warner (R-Va.) himself will vote for it. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) spoke critically of it at the first subcommittee hearing last week, and Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) took to the podium of the National Press Club two days later to pillory the bill.
Voinovich said: 'I have significant reservations about the bill. I have recently heard the concerns of a variety of constituents, including both industry and labor representatives, who are especially concerned that the bill presents an overly aggressive first phase of emissions reductions that will hit well before we can reasonably expect commercially available technologies to deal with the problem.'
Without the support of more Republicans, it's unclear if the measure will make it out of the full Senate -- not to mention survive a veto by President Bush, if he chose to use that power.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit Pew Center on Global Climate Change is releasing a report tomorrow on the impact of global warming on the Chesapeake Bay. Environment Maryland tomorrow morning is releasing a report on changes in local rainfall expected because of climate change.
-------------------------------------------
OTHERS COMMENTS:
The problem is far greater than the Senate casting an historic vote on a global warming bill this week. Over the next 20-years the world will begin to see the growing emergence of major indicators that humankind will very likely become extinct in this very century. Panic will definitely set in. That is the consensus of the World Innovation Foundation that represents the independent voice of the world’s scientific community incorporating over 3,500 of the finest scientific, engineering and technological minds on the planet.
Governments and large global corporations just do not understand the immense ramifications for them and humankind. Indeed, they appear to think that they will be immune to the forces of nature and the sheer unparalleled devastation that is on the horizon for humankind, but where this thinking will be totally misplaced as always. You see, there will be no hiding place even if you are the richest person on earth or the largest corporate. This is the terrible truth of what is on the horizon for humankind. In this respect there is an accelerating state of building up on all fronts that will literally destroy many parts of human existence from nuclear disasters, food crop failures bringing high famine and deaths throughout the world, acute water depletion from which we depend upon for life, the financial collapse of much of the banking system and with it wealth as we know it, oil disruption brought about by a series of events from terrorism to irrational wars, a disintegration of total energy supply to the overdue pandemic that will come as night follows day. The only hope that we have at our disposal for any meaningful response to this growing and terrifying future ordeal that humankind will face is to build the immense global ORE-STEM complex with its more than 1,000 satellite research incubator centres through the world. This mechanism thought out by some of humankind’s foremost minds in the 20th century of harnessing global solutions through total human collaboration is our only answer. The problem is though that we are literally running out of time itself to implement this only solution to preserve human life on this planet, as it will take 25 years to implement. Therefore by 2032 when humankind realises this, it will be too late. Therefore the reasoning that the human experience is now predestined not to survive further than this present century. Presently what one can call the world’s most important maxim.
Dr David Hill
World Innovation Foundation
Bern, Switzerland
Posted by: david hill | December 3, 2007 2:00 PM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
I personally do not believe that human beings are responsible for global warming at all. I also do not believe that we are contributing to it. However, I do believe that we should utilize our technology to reduce the creation of pollution to be good stewards of the planet. History and Science show that temperature and weather have been cyclic through out civilization. The people who insist on perpetuating this myth of man-made global warming have an agenda. Wake up people.
Posted by: Eric | December 4, 2007 8:09 AM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
Human being extinct this very century? Oh boy. Lay off the hemp.
Posted by: Katie | December 4, 2007 9:50 AM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
sounds like someone has been drinking too much of the Church of Global Warming's Kool Aid.
Posted by: Church of Global Warming | December 4, 2007 10:23 AM
ANOTHER COMMENT:
Al Gore’s Fantasy
By Joe Cascarelli, Westcliffe CO
Now that Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth has been officially embraced by Hollywood and the Nobel Prize committee, the debate on “global warming” is finally over. The only question that still remains unanswered for me is, “How did such a large portion of the American public become so gullible?” One of my theories is that Americans have become intellectually lazy. Another theory is that schools may not be spending enough time on the sciences. A passing grade in high school physics should be enough background knowledge for any thinking person to shoot dozens of holes in former VP Gore’s fantasies as presented in his “documentary.”
I wonder how Mr. Gore would explain this data. Colorado’s record high temperature was 118 F, set on July 11, 1888. Yes, that’s 1888 not 1988. I wonder how the New York Times missed that opportunity to predict the melting of polar ice caps. Maybe they planned to write that story, but the famous blizzard of ’88 earlier that year was a bigger crisis particularly in New York City where several hundred New Yorkers froze to death. Nearly three decades later on June 27, 1915, Alaska set its current record high at 100 F, recorded at the US Weather Service’s station at Fort Yukon.
Now, the summer of 1936 was one for the record books. The states of Maryland (109 F), Indiana (116 F), Kansas (121 F), Louisiana (114 F), Minnesota (114 F), Nebraska (118 F), New Jersey (110 F), North Dakota (121 F), Pennsylvania (111 F), South Dakota (120 F), West Virginia (112 F) and Wisconsin (114 F) all set record high temperatures in July/August that year. It is funny how Al missed 1936 in his film. How could a divinity school drop-out, non-practicing lawyer and life long politician miss this opportunity to show that man caused “global warming” started decades ago? He is no doubt an expert in the field of climatology. Does anyone in America know what his academic and experiential credentials are? Maybe 1936 is a bad year to use to make a point because in February of that year the Dakotas, North and South, also set their current state record lows of minus 60 F and minus 58 F respectively.
Here is why I don’t believe Al. If a self-proclaimed climate expert doesn’t have a theory about the Medieval Warm Epoch (400 years of record high temperatures in the northern hemisphere, 900-1300 AD) or if they don’t know that water vapor is earth’s most abundant green house gas or if they can’t explain sun spots, I have no faith in their ability to predict the climate 100 years from now. Weather and over time the climate just doesn’t seem to want to cooperate with Al Gore and his unquestioning followers. Unpredictable climate will be around for another 2 or 3 billion years. Fortunately for humanity, Al and his fantasies will not.
I can only hope that the portion of the American public that fails to question the arguments for “man caused global warming” before economy destroying public policy decisions are made will wake up and pay attention. This will require some reading, analysis and critical thinking. They must get a grasp on reality before the 2008 elections.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Another win for border agent who struck illegal
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59018
Another win for border agent who struck illegal
Reinstatement, back pay after sentence 'took away' 7 years of David Sipe's life
Posted: December 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Border Patrol Agent David Sipe scored another victory in his effort to prevent the U.S. Border Patrol from blocking his reinstatement with back pay to 2001.
A top-level panel of three U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board administrative law judges, including Chairman Neil A. G. McPhie, rejected a government petition Friday to review the panel's June decision in favor of Sipe.
As WND reported in June, Anna Love, an administrative judge with the Dallas Region of the Merit Systems Protection Board, ordered Sipe reinstated to his former Border Patrol position, with full back salary paid to April 21, 2001, the date the Border Patrol removed Sipe from his position and suspended his pay.
The decision Friday gave the Border Patrol 60 days to pay Sipe his back pay, interest, and benefits due.
Sipe was convicted in 2001 of criminal felony charges for striking illegal alien coyote Jose Guevara on the back of his head after Guevara struggled and resisted arrest.
Jack Lamar Wolfe, Sipe's attorney in McAllen, Texas, told WND, "Sipe had seven years of his life taken away from him. He went bankrupt, lost his wife and his home, and has been a convicted felon for a long period of that time."
"Sipe is a patriot, Wolfe explained to WND. "David wants back his job as a Border Patrol agent."
Wolfe noted Sipe became an Army Ranger after graduating high school. He then got an associate's degree before being hired by the Border Patrol.
"David believes the Border Patrol does important work," Wolfe said "and he wants to return to his work with the Border Patrol as soon as possible.
"David has always served his country," Wolfe told WND, "and he wants to continue to serve his country."
Sipe was prosecuted for abusing the civil rights of a human smuggler, or coyote, in an incident in which the government defended the coyote's civil rights.
In April 2003, the federal district court agreed with Sipe's appeal and granted him a new trial based on assertions that federal prosecutors made misrepresentations and failed to disclose exculpatory evidence.
As in the case of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, the coyote in Sipe's case was caught in an additional incident of smuggling illegal aliens across the border before the trial began.
Still, the government put Guevara on the stand and allowed him to testify against Sipe, while successfully petitioning the judge to withhold from the jury evidence of Guevara's subsequent offenses.
In October 2005, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judge overruled the government's appeal and affirmed the trial judge's decision to grant the new trial.
On Jan. 26 this year, at his retrial, Sipe was acquitted after a jury reached a verdict in less than one hour.
At the new trial, Wolfe was allowed to tell the jury the witness' criminal background. He was also permitted to introduce a co-worker's testimony favorable to Sipe.
Wolfe also presented the jury at the retrial with photographs of the coyote re-enacting for prosecutors the arrest incident in which Guevara claimed Sipe had hit him with unnecessary force.
Another difference was that Wolfe was allowed at the retrial to present evidence about the benefits and reimbursements the prosecutors had extended to Guevara and the other illegal alien witnesses who gave testimony at Sipe's first trial.
In Sipe's case, the government made a "sweetheart" deal with Guevara, giving him travel expenses, witness fees, free telephone use and a border crossing permit. Guevara also received a Social Security card and a driver's license, all in return for his testimony against Sipe.
As reported by television and radio talk show host Glen Beck, Guevara ended up with an $80,000 government settlement and he reportedly used the proceeds to buy a ranch in Mexico.
The Border Patrol has 60 days to appeal the Nov. 30 order of the Merit Systems Protection Board to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
---------------
MY COMMENTS:
This is what happens when the government no longer protects its citizens and instead attacks them on behalf of another country. This is a shame and I hope this man gets more than an apology and reinstatement. He should sue the government for malicious prosecution.
Another win for border agent who struck illegal
Reinstatement, back pay after sentence 'took away' 7 years of David Sipe's life
Posted: December 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Border Patrol Agent David Sipe scored another victory in his effort to prevent the U.S. Border Patrol from blocking his reinstatement with back pay to 2001.
A top-level panel of three U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board administrative law judges, including Chairman Neil A. G. McPhie, rejected a government petition Friday to review the panel's June decision in favor of Sipe.
As WND reported in June, Anna Love, an administrative judge with the Dallas Region of the Merit Systems Protection Board, ordered Sipe reinstated to his former Border Patrol position, with full back salary paid to April 21, 2001, the date the Border Patrol removed Sipe from his position and suspended his pay.
The decision Friday gave the Border Patrol 60 days to pay Sipe his back pay, interest, and benefits due.
Sipe was convicted in 2001 of criminal felony charges for striking illegal alien coyote Jose Guevara on the back of his head after Guevara struggled and resisted arrest.
Jack Lamar Wolfe, Sipe's attorney in McAllen, Texas, told WND, "Sipe had seven years of his life taken away from him. He went bankrupt, lost his wife and his home, and has been a convicted felon for a long period of that time."
"Sipe is a patriot, Wolfe explained to WND. "David wants back his job as a Border Patrol agent."
Wolfe noted Sipe became an Army Ranger after graduating high school. He then got an associate's degree before being hired by the Border Patrol.
"David believes the Border Patrol does important work," Wolfe said "and he wants to return to his work with the Border Patrol as soon as possible.
"David has always served his country," Wolfe told WND, "and he wants to continue to serve his country."
Sipe was prosecuted for abusing the civil rights of a human smuggler, or coyote, in an incident in which the government defended the coyote's civil rights.
In April 2003, the federal district court agreed with Sipe's appeal and granted him a new trial based on assertions that federal prosecutors made misrepresentations and failed to disclose exculpatory evidence.
As in the case of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, the coyote in Sipe's case was caught in an additional incident of smuggling illegal aliens across the border before the trial began.
Still, the government put Guevara on the stand and allowed him to testify against Sipe, while successfully petitioning the judge to withhold from the jury evidence of Guevara's subsequent offenses.
In October 2005, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judge overruled the government's appeal and affirmed the trial judge's decision to grant the new trial.
On Jan. 26 this year, at his retrial, Sipe was acquitted after a jury reached a verdict in less than one hour.
At the new trial, Wolfe was allowed to tell the jury the witness' criminal background. He was also permitted to introduce a co-worker's testimony favorable to Sipe.
Wolfe also presented the jury at the retrial with photographs of the coyote re-enacting for prosecutors the arrest incident in which Guevara claimed Sipe had hit him with unnecessary force.
Another difference was that Wolfe was allowed at the retrial to present evidence about the benefits and reimbursements the prosecutors had extended to Guevara and the other illegal alien witnesses who gave testimony at Sipe's first trial.
In Sipe's case, the government made a "sweetheart" deal with Guevara, giving him travel expenses, witness fees, free telephone use and a border crossing permit. Guevara also received a Social Security card and a driver's license, all in return for his testimony against Sipe.
As reported by television and radio talk show host Glen Beck, Guevara ended up with an $80,000 government settlement and he reportedly used the proceeds to buy a ranch in Mexico.
The Border Patrol has 60 days to appeal the Nov. 30 order of the Merit Systems Protection Board to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
---------------
MY COMMENTS:
This is what happens when the government no longer protects its citizens and instead attacks them on behalf of another country. This is a shame and I hope this man gets more than an apology and reinstatement. He should sue the government for malicious prosecution.
CAIR backs film praising convicted terror supporter
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59015
CAIR backs film praising convicted terror supporter
Group urges Muslims to buy tickets to al-Arian premiere
Posted: December 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is co-sponsoring the premiere of a documentary film that canonizes convicted terrorist supporter Sami al-Arian.
Tomorrow, CAIR will host the screening of "USA vs. Al-Arian" at the AMC/Loews Uptown 1 Theater in Washington, D.C., according to an action alert the Muslim group posted on its website urging Muslims to buy tickets to the premiere.
In a scene from the film 'USA vs Al-Arian,' Dr. Sami Al-Arian arrives for a jail interview (Courtesy Washington Report on Middle East Affairs).
The screening, co-sponsored by the Muslim American Society, an Islamist group tied to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, will be followed by a "panel discussion" involving al-Arian's lawyer, his son, Abdullah al-Arian, and a constitutional lawyer from Georgetown University, whose Islamic studies program is funded by the Saudi royal family.
Last year, al-Arian was sentenced to 57 months in prison followed by deportation. In a plea deal, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of "conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to, or for the benefit of, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad," a federally designated terror group.
Al-Arian, an Egyptian citizen of Palestinian descent, had hoped for early deportation, but prosecutors and the federal judge in the case argue he has not cooperated in related terror cases.
He remains in federal prison in Virginia on a contempt citation after he refused to testify in front of a Virginia grand jury investigating a network of Islamic businesses and charities known as the Safa group.
Critics say the film portrays al-Arian in a sympathetic light by suggesting the U.S. government used the "draconian" Patriot Act to railroad an innocent Muslim professor.
The film's website juxtaposes photos of al-Arian in handcuffs with one of him and his wife posing with President Bush and Laura Bush during the 2000 campaign. It calls al-Arian "one of America's most prominent political prisoners."
"What we have is a man found innocent who is still harassed by the justice system," said Norwegian filmmaker Line Halvorsen, the film's director. "He's a man of principle. He fights for what he believes in and he's not afraid to speak his mind."
Critics say the film whitewashes the federal terror case, failing to mention that al-Arian pleaded guilty to providing material support to an officially designated terrorist group. The home page instead says he pleaded guilty to one count of supporting "immigrants" associated with an "illegal organization."
It also fails to reveal how, in a speech at a Cleveland mosque, al-Arian once thundered: "Let's damn America, let's damn Israel, let's damn their allies until death."
Court exhibits also show letters written by al-Arian praising Palestinian suicide bombers.
Publicly, al-Arian has maintained he doesn't support any kind of violence.
"I am a very moderate Muslim person," he said. "I also condemn violence in all its forms."
The film's website decries what it calls the "harsh" treatment of the confessed terrorist supporter.
"Currently Al-Arian is held under severe conditions in a prison about 1,000 miles away from his family, making it extremely hard for them to keep in touch with him," it said. "Al-Arian recently went through a 60-day hunger strike to protest the government's treatment."
CAIR backs film praising convicted terror supporter
Group urges Muslims to buy tickets to al-Arian premiere
Posted: December 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is co-sponsoring the premiere of a documentary film that canonizes convicted terrorist supporter Sami al-Arian.
Tomorrow, CAIR will host the screening of "USA vs. Al-Arian" at the AMC/Loews Uptown 1 Theater in Washington, D.C., according to an action alert the Muslim group posted on its website urging Muslims to buy tickets to the premiere.
In a scene from the film 'USA vs Al-Arian,' Dr. Sami Al-Arian arrives for a jail interview (Courtesy Washington Report on Middle East Affairs).
The screening, co-sponsored by the Muslim American Society, an Islamist group tied to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, will be followed by a "panel discussion" involving al-Arian's lawyer, his son, Abdullah al-Arian, and a constitutional lawyer from Georgetown University, whose Islamic studies program is funded by the Saudi royal family.
Last year, al-Arian was sentenced to 57 months in prison followed by deportation. In a plea deal, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of "conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to, or for the benefit of, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad," a federally designated terror group.
Al-Arian, an Egyptian citizen of Palestinian descent, had hoped for early deportation, but prosecutors and the federal judge in the case argue he has not cooperated in related terror cases.
He remains in federal prison in Virginia on a contempt citation after he refused to testify in front of a Virginia grand jury investigating a network of Islamic businesses and charities known as the Safa group.
Critics say the film portrays al-Arian in a sympathetic light by suggesting the U.S. government used the "draconian" Patriot Act to railroad an innocent Muslim professor.
The film's website juxtaposes photos of al-Arian in handcuffs with one of him and his wife posing with President Bush and Laura Bush during the 2000 campaign. It calls al-Arian "one of America's most prominent political prisoners."
"What we have is a man found innocent who is still harassed by the justice system," said Norwegian filmmaker Line Halvorsen, the film's director. "He's a man of principle. He fights for what he believes in and he's not afraid to speak his mind."
Critics say the film whitewashes the federal terror case, failing to mention that al-Arian pleaded guilty to providing material support to an officially designated terrorist group. The home page instead says he pleaded guilty to one count of supporting "immigrants" associated with an "illegal organization."
It also fails to reveal how, in a speech at a Cleveland mosque, al-Arian once thundered: "Let's damn America, let's damn Israel, let's damn their allies until death."
Court exhibits also show letters written by al-Arian praising Palestinian suicide bombers.
Publicly, al-Arian has maintained he doesn't support any kind of violence.
"I am a very moderate Muslim person," he said. "I also condemn violence in all its forms."
The film's website decries what it calls the "harsh" treatment of the confessed terrorist supporter.
"Currently Al-Arian is held under severe conditions in a prison about 1,000 miles away from his family, making it extremely hard for them to keep in touch with him," it said. "Al-Arian recently went through a 60-day hunger strike to protest the government's treatment."
CAIR called 'turnstile' for terrorist suspects
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59026
CAIR called 'turnstile' for terrorist suspects
'Proven record of senior officials being indicted, imprisoned, deported from U.S.'
Posted: December 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
As the Council on American-Islamic Relations lobbies Congress to help strike its name from a list of co-conspirators in a federal terror case, WND has learned the Muslim group's ties to terrorism and extremism are far more extensive than first believed.
Although CAIR is a nonprofit organization, it does not disclose complete directories of its staff or advisory boards, and even refuses to make its federal tax filings readily available to the public.
But a review of federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that Washington-based CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.
"Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters," said one FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials.
As previously reported, three CAIR officials have been linked to terrorism. But WND has learned that at least 11 other CAIR officials have been caught up in terror investigations, bringing the total to 14.
Congressional leaders say they are warning lawmakers and other Washington officials to disassociate from the group due to its growing terror ties.
"Groups like CAIR have a proven record of senior officials being indicted and either imprisoned or deported from the United States," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., co-founder of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus.
CAIR itself recently was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to funnel $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In the Holy Land Foundation case, federal prosecutors also listed CAIR as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement that gave rise to Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The government will retry the Holy Land case, which ended in a hung jury.
"There was a lot of evidence presented at the recent Holy Land Foundation trial which exposed CAIR and others as front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States," Myrick said.
Still, CAIR is lobbying House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other sympathetic members of Congress to pressure the Justice Department to expunge its name from the case, arguing the negative publicity has hurt membership and fundraising.
The federal judge during the trial refused a written request by the group to strike its name from the list of co-conspirators. The petition is still pending before the court.
CAIR denies supporting terrorism and continues to claim to be a "moderate" voice for Muslims in America. The group says its critics are the extremists, including radio personality Michael Savage, whom the group is now attacking with a boycott campaign. So far it has convinced Wal-Mart, OfficeMax, AT&T, JCPenney and other companies to stop advertising on Savage's popular show.
In response, Savage last week filed a lawsuit against CAIR, accusing the organization of being a "political vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's clients."
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for CAIR, told WND the group would not comment on Savage's action until the document had been reviewed.
CAIR, which runs 33 offices and chapters nationwide, also recently helped defeat an anti-terror plan by Los Angeles police to map the local Muslim community for extremist neighborhoods. Now it's pressuring GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to back down from his position against appointing a Muslim to his Cabinet.
Critics counter that CAIR has no legitimate voice to make such complaints, because the group is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals.
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director's home was raided last year by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
FAAIR claims to be a consulting firm raising awareness of Sunni grievances in Iraq, but investigators suspect it's a front supporting the Sunni-led insurgency.
Muthanna al-Hanooti, wearing traditional headgarb
Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided last September. In 2004, LIFE's Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers.
Al-Hanooti is related to Shiek Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He currently leads prayers at a Washington-area mosque that aided some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI alleges al-Hanooti, an ethnic-Palestinian who also emigrated from Iraq, raised money for Hamas. In fact, "Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas," according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held last decade at a Philadelphia hotel.
Prosecutors recently added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, although he's praised Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs" who are "alive in the eyes of Allah."
Earlier this year, his younger brother, Hamid al-Hanooti, was found dead in Iraq after reportedly being held by local security forces as a suspected terrorist.
Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.
Laura Jaghlit
Last decade, Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, "Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media."
Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit's group.
In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing case.
Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida's top fund-raisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Nihad Awad
Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.
During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli's name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation.
Awad's and Dahduli's phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
Omar Ahmad
Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad too was placed at the Philly meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee" in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.
(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR's website mentions their IAP past.)
Nabil Sadoun: A current CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Mohamed Nimer
Mohamed Nimer: CAIR's current research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S.
(Tellingly, CAIR neglects to mention Nimer's and Sadoun's roles in UASR in their bios.)
Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that "the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas." In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.
Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fund-raiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by Treasury for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.
Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR's board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and defended him during his trial.
Randall "Ismail" Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters, and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush, was among those who trained with Royer's Northern Virginia cell.
Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counterterror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.
Ghassan Elashi
Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR's founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria, and is serving 80 months in prison. He's also charged with providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Marzook.
Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience.
"This country is facing a terrible fate and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned," Yusuf warned. "It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands."
CAIR, which receives financial backing from Saudi and Emirati royalty, denies charges that it has a secret agenda to Islamize America. But a Muslim Brotherhood document declassified in the Holy Land case reveals that CAIR's parent was among Muslim organizations enlisted in a secret plot to destroy the American system from within and eventually take over the country.
Written early last decade in Arabic, the manifesto lays bare the subversive role of CAIR's forerunner, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other Muslim groups in America to carry out a "grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by the hands of the believers, so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
CAIR's founder Ahmad, while claiming to be a moderate and patriotic American, last decade told a group of Muslims in Northern California that they are in America to help assert Islam's rule over the country.
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," a local reporter quoted him as saying, adding, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."
Ahmad insists he was misquoted. However, an FBI wiretap transcript quotes Ahmad agreeing with terrorist suspects gathered last decade at the secret Philly meeting to "camouflage" their true intentions.
He compared it to the head fake in basketball. "This is like one who plays basketball: He makes a player believe that he is doing this, while he does something else," Ahmad said. "I agree with you. Like they say, politics is a completion of war."
What's more, Hooper, CAIR's communications director, also has expressed his wish to overturn the U.S. system of government in favor of an "Islamic" state.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper said in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."
Though conceding he made the remark, Hooper argues that he's never advocated violence. He says he and Muslims like him should work instead through the media and use "education" to help turn America into an Islamic state.
CAIR called 'turnstile' for terrorist suspects
'Proven record of senior officials being indicted, imprisoned, deported from U.S.'
Posted: December 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
As the Council on American-Islamic Relations lobbies Congress to help strike its name from a list of co-conspirators in a federal terror case, WND has learned the Muslim group's ties to terrorism and extremism are far more extensive than first believed.
Although CAIR is a nonprofit organization, it does not disclose complete directories of its staff or advisory boards, and even refuses to make its federal tax filings readily available to the public.
But a review of federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that Washington-based CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.
"Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters," said one FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials.
As previously reported, three CAIR officials have been linked to terrorism. But WND has learned that at least 11 other CAIR officials have been caught up in terror investigations, bringing the total to 14.
Congressional leaders say they are warning lawmakers and other Washington officials to disassociate from the group due to its growing terror ties.
"Groups like CAIR have a proven record of senior officials being indicted and either imprisoned or deported from the United States," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., co-founder of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus.
CAIR itself recently was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to funnel $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In the Holy Land Foundation case, federal prosecutors also listed CAIR as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement that gave rise to Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The government will retry the Holy Land case, which ended in a hung jury.
"There was a lot of evidence presented at the recent Holy Land Foundation trial which exposed CAIR and others as front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States," Myrick said.
Still, CAIR is lobbying House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other sympathetic members of Congress to pressure the Justice Department to expunge its name from the case, arguing the negative publicity has hurt membership and fundraising.
The federal judge during the trial refused a written request by the group to strike its name from the list of co-conspirators. The petition is still pending before the court.
CAIR denies supporting terrorism and continues to claim to be a "moderate" voice for Muslims in America. The group says its critics are the extremists, including radio personality Michael Savage, whom the group is now attacking with a boycott campaign. So far it has convinced Wal-Mart, OfficeMax, AT&T, JCPenney and other companies to stop advertising on Savage's popular show.
In response, Savage last week filed a lawsuit against CAIR, accusing the organization of being a "political vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's clients."
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for CAIR, told WND the group would not comment on Savage's action until the document had been reviewed.
CAIR, which runs 33 offices and chapters nationwide, also recently helped defeat an anti-terror plan by Los Angeles police to map the local Muslim community for extremist neighborhoods. Now it's pressuring GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to back down from his position against appointing a Muslim to his Cabinet.
Critics counter that CAIR has no legitimate voice to make such complaints, because the group is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals.
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director's home was raided last year by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
FAAIR claims to be a consulting firm raising awareness of Sunni grievances in Iraq, but investigators suspect it's a front supporting the Sunni-led insurgency.
Muthanna al-Hanooti, wearing traditional headgarb
Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided last September. In 2004, LIFE's Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers.
Al-Hanooti is related to Shiek Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He currently leads prayers at a Washington-area mosque that aided some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI alleges al-Hanooti, an ethnic-Palestinian who also emigrated from Iraq, raised money for Hamas. In fact, "Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas," according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held last decade at a Philadelphia hotel.
Prosecutors recently added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, although he's praised Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs" who are "alive in the eyes of Allah."
Earlier this year, his younger brother, Hamid al-Hanooti, was found dead in Iraq after reportedly being held by local security forces as a suspected terrorist.
Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.
Laura Jaghlit
Last decade, Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, "Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media."
Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit's group.
In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing case.
Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida's top fund-raisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Nihad Awad
Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.
During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli's name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation.
Awad's and Dahduli's phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
Omar Ahmad
Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad too was placed at the Philly meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee" in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.
(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR's website mentions their IAP past.)
Nabil Sadoun: A current CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Mohamed Nimer
Mohamed Nimer: CAIR's current research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S.
(Tellingly, CAIR neglects to mention Nimer's and Sadoun's roles in UASR in their bios.)
Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that "the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas." In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.
Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fund-raiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by Treasury for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.
Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR's board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and defended him during his trial.
Randall "Ismail" Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters, and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush, was among those who trained with Royer's Northern Virginia cell.
Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counterterror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.
Ghassan Elashi
Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR's founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria, and is serving 80 months in prison. He's also charged with providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Marzook.
Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience.
"This country is facing a terrible fate and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned," Yusuf warned. "It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands."
CAIR, which receives financial backing from Saudi and Emirati royalty, denies charges that it has a secret agenda to Islamize America. But a Muslim Brotherhood document declassified in the Holy Land case reveals that CAIR's parent was among Muslim organizations enlisted in a secret plot to destroy the American system from within and eventually take over the country.
Written early last decade in Arabic, the manifesto lays bare the subversive role of CAIR's forerunner, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other Muslim groups in America to carry out a "grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by the hands of the believers, so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
CAIR's founder Ahmad, while claiming to be a moderate and patriotic American, last decade told a group of Muslims in Northern California that they are in America to help assert Islam's rule over the country.
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," a local reporter quoted him as saying, adding, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."
Ahmad insists he was misquoted. However, an FBI wiretap transcript quotes Ahmad agreeing with terrorist suspects gathered last decade at the secret Philly meeting to "camouflage" their true intentions.
He compared it to the head fake in basketball. "This is like one who plays basketball: He makes a player believe that he is doing this, while he does something else," Ahmad said. "I agree with you. Like they say, politics is a completion of war."
What's more, Hooper, CAIR's communications director, also has expressed his wish to overturn the U.S. system of government in favor of an "Islamic" state.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper said in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."
Though conceding he made the remark, Hooper argues that he's never advocated violence. He says he and Muslims like him should work instead through the media and use "education" to help turn America into an Islamic state.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Revised SCHIP still has loophole for illegals
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071203/NATION/112030026/1002/NATION
Revised SCHIP still has loophole for illegals
By Stephen Dinan
December 3, 2007
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer last week urged the president to sign the revised State Children's Health Insurance Program bill, which passed "with broad bipartisan support." (Astrid Riecken/The Washington Times)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The revised children's health insurance bill that Congress is about to send to President Bush still has loopholes that both illegal aliens and ineligible legal immigrants could exploit to join the program, a new Heritage Foundation analysis shows.
Under the bill, those applying for the State Children's Health Insurance Program would not have to prove citizenship. Instead, they only would have to provide a valid Social Security number — something most legal immigrants and many illegal aliens already have, said Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, whose analysis is being released today.
"If you're illegal, you're going to have to come with a valid but bogus Social Security number. If you're a legal permanent resident, you have a Social Security number, it's just a piece of cake for you to walk in," Mr. Rector said.
He said the SCHIP bill that Congress passed would undo the 1996 welfare policy that restricted most public benefits to legal immigrants who have been in the country for at least five years. The new bill doesn't change that requirement, but only requires states to ask for a Social Security number, which Mr. Rector said means ineligible immigrants could sign up.
"You couldn't be clearer in their saying, 'We really don't care about that five-year time period,' " he said.
Illegal aliens who have stolen a valid Social Security number could also join, he said.
Democratic leaders in Congress said Friday that they will send the SCHIP bill to Mr. Bush and force him to make good on his threat to veto it.
"This legislation, of course, passed the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support, and we urge the president to sign it into law," said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat. "We are sending this legislation to the president now because of concerns about a pocket veto if we wait."
Revised SCHIP still has loophole for illegals
By Stephen Dinan
December 3, 2007
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer last week urged the president to sign the revised State Children's Health Insurance Program bill, which passed "with broad bipartisan support." (Astrid Riecken/The Washington Times)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The revised children's health insurance bill that Congress is about to send to President Bush still has loopholes that both illegal aliens and ineligible legal immigrants could exploit to join the program, a new Heritage Foundation analysis shows.
Under the bill, those applying for the State Children's Health Insurance Program would not have to prove citizenship. Instead, they only would have to provide a valid Social Security number — something most legal immigrants and many illegal aliens already have, said Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, whose analysis is being released today.
"If you're illegal, you're going to have to come with a valid but bogus Social Security number. If you're a legal permanent resident, you have a Social Security number, it's just a piece of cake for you to walk in," Mr. Rector said.
He said the SCHIP bill that Congress passed would undo the 1996 welfare policy that restricted most public benefits to legal immigrants who have been in the country for at least five years. The new bill doesn't change that requirement, but only requires states to ask for a Social Security number, which Mr. Rector said means ineligible immigrants could sign up.
"You couldn't be clearer in their saying, 'We really don't care about that five-year time period,' " he said.
Illegal aliens who have stolen a valid Social Security number could also join, he said.
Democratic leaders in Congress said Friday that they will send the SCHIP bill to Mr. Bush and force him to make good on his threat to veto it.
"This legislation, of course, passed the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support, and we urge the president to sign it into law," said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat. "We are sending this legislation to the president now because of concerns about a pocket veto if we wait."
L.O.S.T. at sea
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58995
L.O.S.T. at sea
Posted: December 3, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Michael Rawlins
Presently, the Law of the Sea Treaty, derided by critics as "The LOST," is like an encrusted artifact on the ocean floor just waiting to be excavated. Since 1982, it has periodically resurfaced for cloaked Senate committee debate only to re-submerge in the heat of analysis. The salvagers –in this case the U.N. – have the treaty in their sounding crosshairs and merely await U.S. Senate confirmation before officially implementing their oceanic redistribution of wealth from the richer nations, i.e. the U.S., to the smaller ones.
Want proof of this socialist agenda? Just look at Article 82, Section 4, which states that the International Seabed Authority "shall distribute them (payments) to States … on the basis of equitable sharing criteria, taking into account the interests and needs of developing States, particularly the least developed … among them."
One needs only to go so far as the treaty's preamble to see that it could be used as a Marxist primer, with the words "an important contribution to the maintenance of peace, justice and progress for all peoples of the world." In fact, the 202 pages are filled with socialist code phrases, including "just and equitable economic order," "for the benefit of mankind as a whole" and "the common heritage of mankind."
As a career professional mariner, I recognize the need for free and orderly sea passage. I understand the U.S. military's support of the treaty on the grounds of seeking a legal framework to allow clear transit on, above and below straits. However, the military's tunnel-vision support is based strictly on the "right of innocent passage doctrine" and ignores numerous flaws to their own detriment.
Article 19 outlaws the practice or exercise of any kind of weapons in state territorial waters. What if a naval or commercial ship is boarded by pirates or terrorists in these waters? How can they defend themselves without first having to petition the International Seabed Authority, or ISA? For example, the Bab al-Mandab at the base of the Red Sea and the Malacca Straits in Southeast Asia are current hotspots of piracy. In 2003 alone, there were 445 reported incidents of ship attacks worldwide. Article 20 requires all unmanned vessels – even submarines used for mine detection- to transit territorial waters on the surface.
One tradition the U.N. is attempting to trample upon is the sovereignty of salvagers to bring up valuable artifacts from sunken treasures. Historically, wrecks on the international ocean floor have fallen under the doctrine of "finders, keepers." Private treasure hunters have been outstanding stewards of historical objects and if it weren't for them, they never would have seen the light of day. Now, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the U.N.'s watchdog body, anything more than 100 years old may only be recovered if it can be displayed in a public museum for perpetuity. With a cost of up to $50,000 per day for recovery operations, what is the incentive to find these glorious objects?
Marine scientists should be aware that, should the treaty come to pass, when working in international waters they would be de-facto employees of the U.N. In Article 144, the transfer of technology clause, the ISA has the authority to seize scientific research data and give it to other states under the power of eminent domain.
Article 150, the development of resources clause, allows the U.N. to play Uncle Hugo Chavez to oil and gas drilling companies by charging them a user fee and taxing their profits. The ISA has untrammeled power to socialize the seabed by deciding who it wants to extract resources. This is the equivalent of an international no-bid contract program. Iraq oil-for-food program, anyone? Do the accusations of Haliburton favoritism ring a bell?
Supporters claim it creates a global standard to protect living resources for future generations. However, under the conservation provisions, if nations do not harvest their entire allowable fish stocks within territorial waters, the surplus could be given to other nations, a policy that could result in forced overfishing and depletion of fish stocks.
On Oct. 31, 2007, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17 to 4 to send the treaty to the full Senate for ratification. Though President Bush is pushing for its approval by year's end, it is not clear when that vote will take place; Spring of '08 appears likely. If it does pass, just know that a small, land-locked nation like Luxemburg and American adversary like Cuba will have as much power over the international seafloor as the U.S. – literally.
L.O.S.T. at sea
Posted: December 3, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Michael Rawlins
Presently, the Law of the Sea Treaty, derided by critics as "The LOST," is like an encrusted artifact on the ocean floor just waiting to be excavated. Since 1982, it has periodically resurfaced for cloaked Senate committee debate only to re-submerge in the heat of analysis. The salvagers –in this case the U.N. – have the treaty in their sounding crosshairs and merely await U.S. Senate confirmation before officially implementing their oceanic redistribution of wealth from the richer nations, i.e. the U.S., to the smaller ones.
Want proof of this socialist agenda? Just look at Article 82, Section 4, which states that the International Seabed Authority "shall distribute them (payments) to States … on the basis of equitable sharing criteria, taking into account the interests and needs of developing States, particularly the least developed … among them."
One needs only to go so far as the treaty's preamble to see that it could be used as a Marxist primer, with the words "an important contribution to the maintenance of peace, justice and progress for all peoples of the world." In fact, the 202 pages are filled with socialist code phrases, including "just and equitable economic order," "for the benefit of mankind as a whole" and "the common heritage of mankind."
As a career professional mariner, I recognize the need for free and orderly sea passage. I understand the U.S. military's support of the treaty on the grounds of seeking a legal framework to allow clear transit on, above and below straits. However, the military's tunnel-vision support is based strictly on the "right of innocent passage doctrine" and ignores numerous flaws to their own detriment.
Article 19 outlaws the practice or exercise of any kind of weapons in state territorial waters. What if a naval or commercial ship is boarded by pirates or terrorists in these waters? How can they defend themselves without first having to petition the International Seabed Authority, or ISA? For example, the Bab al-Mandab at the base of the Red Sea and the Malacca Straits in Southeast Asia are current hotspots of piracy. In 2003 alone, there were 445 reported incidents of ship attacks worldwide. Article 20 requires all unmanned vessels – even submarines used for mine detection- to transit territorial waters on the surface.
One tradition the U.N. is attempting to trample upon is the sovereignty of salvagers to bring up valuable artifacts from sunken treasures. Historically, wrecks on the international ocean floor have fallen under the doctrine of "finders, keepers." Private treasure hunters have been outstanding stewards of historical objects and if it weren't for them, they never would have seen the light of day. Now, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the U.N.'s watchdog body, anything more than 100 years old may only be recovered if it can be displayed in a public museum for perpetuity. With a cost of up to $50,000 per day for recovery operations, what is the incentive to find these glorious objects?
Marine scientists should be aware that, should the treaty come to pass, when working in international waters they would be de-facto employees of the U.N. In Article 144, the transfer of technology clause, the ISA has the authority to seize scientific research data and give it to other states under the power of eminent domain.
Article 150, the development of resources clause, allows the U.N. to play Uncle Hugo Chavez to oil and gas drilling companies by charging them a user fee and taxing their profits. The ISA has untrammeled power to socialize the seabed by deciding who it wants to extract resources. This is the equivalent of an international no-bid contract program. Iraq oil-for-food program, anyone? Do the accusations of Haliburton favoritism ring a bell?
Supporters claim it creates a global standard to protect living resources for future generations. However, under the conservation provisions, if nations do not harvest their entire allowable fish stocks within territorial waters, the surplus could be given to other nations, a policy that could result in forced overfishing and depletion of fish stocks.
On Oct. 31, 2007, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17 to 4 to send the treaty to the full Senate for ratification. Though President Bush is pushing for its approval by year's end, it is not clear when that vote will take place; Spring of '08 appears likely. If it does pass, just know that a small, land-locked nation like Luxemburg and American adversary like Cuba will have as much power over the international seafloor as the U.S. – literally.
Huckabee Hedges on Aid for Illegals
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3943214&page=1
Huckabee Hedges on Aid for Illegals
New Iowa Leader Criticized by for Indecision on Federal Student Aid
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is under fire for not taking a clear position on federal financial aid for illegal immigrants
BY TEDDY DAVIS
December 2, 2007
Share Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who backed in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, hedged Sunday on whether illegal immigrants who have gone to school in the United States should become eligible for federal student aid such as Pell grants and subsidized federal student loans.
"I'm not sure that I would support that," Huckabee told ABC News, "it was a different program in Arkansas."
Huckabee's failure to take a clear position on federal student aid while appearing on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" drew swift rebukes from two Republican rivals.
"Gov. Romney does not support providing federal taxpayer-funded student aid intended for legal residents going to illegal immigrants," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told ABC News. "Mike Huckabee's position [in Arkansas] that taxpayer dollars meant for students who are legal residents should also be made available to illegal immigrants puts him squarely at odds with the American taxpayer."
Echoing a line that Romney used against Huckabee in last week's CNN/YouTube debate, Madden added, "Mike Huckabee needs to understand that it's not his money. It's the taxpayers' money."
Huckabee's indecision on federal student aid was also criticized by the campaign of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.
"Children who are born in this country are U.S. citizens and entitled to the privileges of citizenship," said Thompson spokeswoman Karen Hanretty. "Those in our country illegally are not. It's that simple."
Huckabee appeared on "This Week" on the same day that a highly respected poll showed him as the new Republican leader in Iowa.
Huckabee leads the GOP field with 29 percent support, according to a Des Moines Register poll released Sunday. Romney has 24 percent, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has 13 percent, and Thompson has 9 percent. The Iowa Republican Caucuses take place on Jan. 3.
In-state tuition for illegal immigrants was never enacted in Arkansas. But Huckabee's rivals believe that his momentum in Iowa can be stopped once his views on public benefits for the children of illegal immigrants become more widely known.
Asked on "This Week" about his Arkansas record, the former Baptist minister said, "You don't punish a child because a parent committed a crime, or committed a sin, you just don't do it."
Huckabee did not rule out that his principle might extend to the federal level.
He suggested, however, that he might view state and federal benefit questions differently.
"It's the difference between being punished and being rewarded," said Huckabee. ". . . the point in Arkansas was, we had kids who had been in our schools, by law. And to simply shut them out of any additional educational advancement, to me, seemed not only in their worst interests, but ours, as well as the state's."
-----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
VOTE FOR ROMNEY, TANCREDO or HECK EVEN RON PAUL!!!! THESE ARE THE ONLY CANDIDATE I WILL EVEN CONSIDER VOTING FOR!
"You don't punish a child because a parent committed a crime, or committed a sin, you just don't do it."
HEY HUCKABEE!!! No you don't punish a child, but you don't reward them either. You don't say... take the child of a illegal alien and say... "Oh you poor dear you're not an American, but you've been so good in school even though you're breaking the law by being in a public institution where you've already been riding the gravy train since your parents don't pay taxes.. Here you go! Here's a MORE free moeny. Little Johnny sitting next to you is an American so he can just get a job and work his butt off to get himself though school. Now off you go to sponge off society some more. WHAT AN ASS!
Huckabee Hedges on Aid for Illegals
New Iowa Leader Criticized by for Indecision on Federal Student Aid
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is under fire for not taking a clear position on federal financial aid for illegal immigrants
BY TEDDY DAVIS
December 2, 2007
Share Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who backed in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, hedged Sunday on whether illegal immigrants who have gone to school in the United States should become eligible for federal student aid such as Pell grants and subsidized federal student loans.
"I'm not sure that I would support that," Huckabee told ABC News, "it was a different program in Arkansas."
Huckabee's failure to take a clear position on federal student aid while appearing on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" drew swift rebukes from two Republican rivals.
"Gov. Romney does not support providing federal taxpayer-funded student aid intended for legal residents going to illegal immigrants," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told ABC News. "Mike Huckabee's position [in Arkansas] that taxpayer dollars meant for students who are legal residents should also be made available to illegal immigrants puts him squarely at odds with the American taxpayer."
Echoing a line that Romney used against Huckabee in last week's CNN/YouTube debate, Madden added, "Mike Huckabee needs to understand that it's not his money. It's the taxpayers' money."
Huckabee's indecision on federal student aid was also criticized by the campaign of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.
"Children who are born in this country are U.S. citizens and entitled to the privileges of citizenship," said Thompson spokeswoman Karen Hanretty. "Those in our country illegally are not. It's that simple."
Huckabee appeared on "This Week" on the same day that a highly respected poll showed him as the new Republican leader in Iowa.
Huckabee leads the GOP field with 29 percent support, according to a Des Moines Register poll released Sunday. Romney has 24 percent, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has 13 percent, and Thompson has 9 percent. The Iowa Republican Caucuses take place on Jan. 3.
In-state tuition for illegal immigrants was never enacted in Arkansas. But Huckabee's rivals believe that his momentum in Iowa can be stopped once his views on public benefits for the children of illegal immigrants become more widely known.
Asked on "This Week" about his Arkansas record, the former Baptist minister said, "You don't punish a child because a parent committed a crime, or committed a sin, you just don't do it."
Huckabee did not rule out that his principle might extend to the federal level.
He suggested, however, that he might view state and federal benefit questions differently.
"It's the difference between being punished and being rewarded," said Huckabee. ". . . the point in Arkansas was, we had kids who had been in our schools, by law. And to simply shut them out of any additional educational advancement, to me, seemed not only in their worst interests, but ours, as well as the state's."
-----------------------
MY COMMENTS:
VOTE FOR ROMNEY, TANCREDO or HECK EVEN RON PAUL!!!! THESE ARE THE ONLY CANDIDATE I WILL EVEN CONSIDER VOTING FOR!
"You don't punish a child because a parent committed a crime, or committed a sin, you just don't do it."
HEY HUCKABEE!!! No you don't punish a child, but you don't reward them either. You don't say... take the child of a illegal alien and say... "Oh you poor dear you're not an American, but you've been so good in school even though you're breaking the law by being in a public institution where you've already been riding the gravy train since your parents don't pay taxes.. Here you go! Here's a MORE free moeny. Little Johnny sitting next to you is an American so he can just get a job and work his butt off to get himself though school. Now off you go to sponge off society some more. WHAT AN ASS!
Huckabee: 'a different kind of Jesus juice'
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-huckabee2dec02%2C0%2C1590866.story?coll=la-home-center
Huckabee: 'a different kind of Jesus juice'
By Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 2, 2007
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. -- In 2005, a Republican state senator named Jim Holt introduced a bill to deny public benefits to Arkansas' soaring population of illegal immigrants. Holt, a Southern Baptist minister, figured it was a rock-solid conservative idea -- a matter, he said, "of right and wrong."
Arkansas' governor at the time was also a professed conservative, and also a Southern Baptist minister. But Mike Huckabee had only scorn for his fellow Republican's proposal.
Huckabee called the bill "race-baiting" and "demagoguery," and argued that the denial of health services could harm innocent children. The bill, Huckabee said, did not conform with his take on Christian values.
"I drink a different kind of Jesus juice," Huckabee said.
Today, Huckabee is seeking the Republican nomination for president, and voters nationwide are getting to know a different kind of candidate: He is the Southern preacher who favors droll wit over brimstone sermonizing, a rock 'n' roll bass player who believes in creationism, with an Oprah-ready story about a 110-pound weight loss that probably saved his life.
Here in Arkansas, where Huckabee ruled as governor for 10 1/2 years, voters grew accustomed to a different brand of Republican -- a governor with an idiosyncratic agenda that was sometimes difficult to categorize, but always driven, Huckabee insists, by his Southern Baptist faith. That faith influenced major policy decisions that could be deemed moderate, if not liberal, including a significant environmental initiative and a vastly expanded healthcare plan for low-income children.
Though Huckabee took strong stands against abortion and same-sex marriage, his record on taxes -- a key pillar of Republican orthodoxy -- was distinctly heterodox. He supported tax hikes on cigarettes, gasoline, groceries, sales and income. A video circulating on YouTube -- and played, in part, on the CNN-YouTube Republican debate Wednesday -- shows Huckabee addressing the Arkansas Legislature in 2003 and suggesting that he would be open to raising a broad range of taxes.
Initiatives like the children's health plan tapped a deep vein of populism, helping Huckabee win two gubernatorial elections. But his record on taxes and immigration alienated some Arkansas Republicans, who are watching with trepidation as Huckabee's prospects soar in the GOP primary race for president.
The most recent Des Moines Register poll, published today, showed Huckabee overtaking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (Huckabee's 29%-to-24% lead in the Register's poll is within the margin of error, but it's a huge advance from his tie for sixth place in the same poll in the spring.) Other surveys showed him gaining ground against former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in Florida.
Holt, the former state senator, has a warning for conservatives around the country who think they have found their candidate.
"I think if they knew [his record] it would totally de-energize them," he said. " . . . His policies are just wrong."
In a phone interview, Huckabee, 52, asserted that he left Arkansas a stronger state when term limits forced him out of office in January -- with improved highways, more accountable schools, low unemployment, and an $800-million budget surplus. He also stood by his conservative credentials.
"I'd put mine against anybody's on that Republican stage," he said.
His achievements were won in the face of an often-vigorous Democratic opposition that controlled the Legislature throughout his governorship. At times it seemed he was "getting it from both sides," said Ann Clemmer, a Republican and Huckabee supporter who teaches political science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "I think he did a lot just on his own -- really on his own counsel. And in that regard I think you have to say he was a leader."
Huckabee hails from President Clinton's hometown of Hope, and his political career has played out in Clinton's shadow. In 1993, voters narrowly elected Huckabee to replace Democratic Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who succeeded to the governorship when Clinton was elected president. Huckabee became governor three years later, when Tucker resigned after being found guilty of two felonies as part of the Whitewater investigation involving the business dealings of Bill and Hillary Clinton and others.
To observers like Rex Nelson, a former political editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee represented a welcome change.
"I think everybody wanted some calm, some stability," said Nelson, who signed on as Huckabee's press secretary in 1996 and served for nine years.
Arkansans eventually turned their attention away from Whitewater and the Clintons, and toward the teetotaling preacher who had once led Baptist congregations in Pine Bluff and Texarkana. Then, as now, Huckabee put his religious convictions front and center. Early on, he developed a mode of governing that seemed to be both expedient and from the heart.
Political consultant Dick Morris, who also worked for Bill Clinton, advised Huckabee in his first race for lieutenant governor. He told Huckabee that to succeed in Arkansas, he should avoid acting like a "country club" Republican who only represented the rich.
Morris also recalled saying to Huckabee: "I assume you're against parole for violent criminals, because you're a conservative." Huckabee told Morris that he would hold open the possibility of parole because he believed, in some cases, in the power of forgiveness, Morris said.
To Morris, such attitudes make Huckabee a new kind of religious candidate -- one who is "a New Testament conservative, in addition to an Old Testament one."
"He puts all of the Bible into play," Morris said. "It's not just 'thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not,' but it's the positive aspects of his religion, too -- which is 'love thy neighbor,' and 'when I was naked you clothed me,' and a sense of helping poor people."
Shortly after he became governor, Huckabee expressed his support for the release of a convicted rapist -- who, once freed, sexually assaulted another woman and killed her. Wayne Dumond had been sentenced to life plus 20 years in 1984 for raping a 17-year-old cheerleader. Tucker, Huckabee's predecessor, reduced Dumond's sentence in 1992, making him eligible for parole.
In 1996, according to the Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee questioned Dumond's guilt and said he might commute his sentence to time served. He also met with the parole board in a closed session. Some board members have said Huckabee pressured them into releasing Dumond; others said he did not.
Dumond was released from prison in October 1999. He chose his next victim 11 months later.
Huckabee's Democratic opponent, Jimmie Lou Fisher, seized on the issue in the 2002 governor's race, and Dumond's first victim campaigned on Fisher's behalf. Huckabee's campaign ran ads blaming his predecessor for commuting the sentence. Fisher was considered a weak candidate; Huckabee was reelected with 53% of the vote.
In other instances, Huckabee's political instincts seemed sharper. Soon after taking office, he began to lobby strongly for a one-eighth-cent sales tax to fund state parks and conservation efforts. The measure required the approval of voters, and Huckabee, an avid outdoorsman, advertised the effort by touring the Arkansas River on his bass boat -- a public relations gambit that garnered significant positive press for both the governor and the measure, which voters approved in 1996.
The tax has generated more than $400 million. Arkansas created a 4,800-acre prairie conservation center, built four nature centers and upgraded its parks.
But Huckabee also referred to environmentalists as "environmental wackos." Glen Hooks, regional representative for the state Sierra Club chapter and a former head of the state Democratic Party, said that Huckabee's environmental record was weak overall.
As a presidential candidate, however, Huckabee talks about being "a good steward to the Earth" and argues that Christians have a duty to fight global warming.
"If he's coming around now, I'm encouraged," Hooks said.
Huckabee also latched on early to the idea of expanding government health insurance to cover children of working-class people who earned too much to qualify for Medicaid. The Arkansas plan, called ARKids First, was a forerunner to the federal government's State Children's Health Insurance Program. Huckabee introduced it to the Legislature in January 1997. It received bipartisan support, and Huckabee became its biggest advocate. He signed the bill into law with a crayon, surrounded by children. He then made TV ads encouraging families to sign up.
Rhonda Sanders of the nonprofit group Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families said the results had been dramatic. According to a report by the University of Minnesota, the percentage of uninsured children in Arkansas dropped from 22% in 1997 to 9% in 2004 -- the largest percentage-point drop of any state in the nation.
As Huckabee's stock rises in the Republican primaries, conservatives are looking closely at his record on taxes. The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group, has been running ads against Huckabee, harshly criticizing his record and portraying him as "Tax-Hike Mike."'
Huckabee has responded by calling the group the "Club for Greed." He says that in addition to supporting tax increases as governor, he also called for a $90.6-million cut in income taxes -- and other smaller, more narrowly targeted tax cuts. He defends his record as that of a pragmatic governor trying to meet the needs of a poor, underdeveloped state.
More recently, Huckabee has veered back toward the party line: He signed a no-tax-hike pledge that had been presented to the candidates by Americans for Tax Reform, another conservative group. Grover Norquist, its president, said Huckabee's pledge would carry more weight if he disavowed his past decisions to raise taxes.
"I am pleased he has made a commitment not to raise taxes in the future," said Norquist. "I would feel better if he spoke of his previous record as a mistake. Instead he defends it."
During his years in office, the media scrutinized numerous mini-scandals, including an allegation that he used public funds for private purposes, and failed to properly report gifts and income. Huckabee was cited five times for violating ethics rules by the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
Toward the beginning of Huckabee's governorship, the Arkansas Times, an alternative weekly, reported that his family had used a fund meant for upkeep of the governor's mansion for expenses like out-of-town trips and dry-cleaning.
As he was preparing to leave office, local media reported that bridal registries had been established at two stores for the governor and his wife, even though they had been married for more than 30 years. State ethics laws prohibited Huckabee from receiving gifts of more than $100 as a reward for doing his job. But there was an exception for wedding presents. The Huckabees had registered for nearly $7,000 in housewares as they prepared to move to a private residence.
Arkansas Times Executive Editor Max Brantley -- a longtime nemesis of Huckabee's -- said Huckabee's ethics violations and other gaffes probably stemmed from his preacher's background, in which "love offerings," or gifts to the pastor, were encouraged.
Huckabee said he was unfairly targeted by liberals who tried to turn the slightest mistake into a scandal. He noted that one of his ethics infractions was failing to report as a gift a blanket a woman gave him to keep warm at the 2002 Cotton Bowl.
Arkansas voters will have a chance to make up their mind about Huckabee's record yet again -- and judge that record against his rhetoric as a presidential candidate. Despite vetoing Holt's anti-immigration bill in 2005, Huckabee today is running as a staunch foe of illegal immigration. "No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals," his website states.
Lane Pope, 42, a conservative rancher from rural Howard County, didn't complain about Huckabee's stance on immigration. Instead, he griped about the higher taxes he paid under Huckabee that cut into margins on the farm.
Still, Pope plans to vote for Huckabee for president, offering the two judgments that the candidate would probably be most pleased to hear these days: "He seemed to be a good guy," Pope said, adding that overall, "he ran the state in a conservative-type way."
richard.fausset@latimes.com
Times staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this report.
-------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
HUCKABEE IS NO BETTER THAN HILLARY! They probably both come from the same gene-pool and can't tell the truth from a lie no matter how hard it smacks them in the face. I WILL NOT VOT FOR THIS MAN OR ANY OTHER SO-CALLED REPUBLICAN WHO WANTS TO GIVE ILLEGALS MY MONEY!
Huckabee: 'a different kind of Jesus juice'
By Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 2, 2007
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. -- In 2005, a Republican state senator named Jim Holt introduced a bill to deny public benefits to Arkansas' soaring population of illegal immigrants. Holt, a Southern Baptist minister, figured it was a rock-solid conservative idea -- a matter, he said, "of right and wrong."
Arkansas' governor at the time was also a professed conservative, and also a Southern Baptist minister. But Mike Huckabee had only scorn for his fellow Republican's proposal.
Huckabee called the bill "race-baiting" and "demagoguery," and argued that the denial of health services could harm innocent children. The bill, Huckabee said, did not conform with his take on Christian values.
"I drink a different kind of Jesus juice," Huckabee said.
Today, Huckabee is seeking the Republican nomination for president, and voters nationwide are getting to know a different kind of candidate: He is the Southern preacher who favors droll wit over brimstone sermonizing, a rock 'n' roll bass player who believes in creationism, with an Oprah-ready story about a 110-pound weight loss that probably saved his life.
Here in Arkansas, where Huckabee ruled as governor for 10 1/2 years, voters grew accustomed to a different brand of Republican -- a governor with an idiosyncratic agenda that was sometimes difficult to categorize, but always driven, Huckabee insists, by his Southern Baptist faith. That faith influenced major policy decisions that could be deemed moderate, if not liberal, including a significant environmental initiative and a vastly expanded healthcare plan for low-income children.
Though Huckabee took strong stands against abortion and same-sex marriage, his record on taxes -- a key pillar of Republican orthodoxy -- was distinctly heterodox. He supported tax hikes on cigarettes, gasoline, groceries, sales and income. A video circulating on YouTube -- and played, in part, on the CNN-YouTube Republican debate Wednesday -- shows Huckabee addressing the Arkansas Legislature in 2003 and suggesting that he would be open to raising a broad range of taxes.
Initiatives like the children's health plan tapped a deep vein of populism, helping Huckabee win two gubernatorial elections. But his record on taxes and immigration alienated some Arkansas Republicans, who are watching with trepidation as Huckabee's prospects soar in the GOP primary race for president.
The most recent Des Moines Register poll, published today, showed Huckabee overtaking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (Huckabee's 29%-to-24% lead in the Register's poll is within the margin of error, but it's a huge advance from his tie for sixth place in the same poll in the spring.) Other surveys showed him gaining ground against former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in Florida.
Holt, the former state senator, has a warning for conservatives around the country who think they have found their candidate.
"I think if they knew [his record] it would totally de-energize them," he said. " . . . His policies are just wrong."
In a phone interview, Huckabee, 52, asserted that he left Arkansas a stronger state when term limits forced him out of office in January -- with improved highways, more accountable schools, low unemployment, and an $800-million budget surplus. He also stood by his conservative credentials.
"I'd put mine against anybody's on that Republican stage," he said.
His achievements were won in the face of an often-vigorous Democratic opposition that controlled the Legislature throughout his governorship. At times it seemed he was "getting it from both sides," said Ann Clemmer, a Republican and Huckabee supporter who teaches political science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "I think he did a lot just on his own -- really on his own counsel. And in that regard I think you have to say he was a leader."
Huckabee hails from President Clinton's hometown of Hope, and his political career has played out in Clinton's shadow. In 1993, voters narrowly elected Huckabee to replace Democratic Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who succeeded to the governorship when Clinton was elected president. Huckabee became governor three years later, when Tucker resigned after being found guilty of two felonies as part of the Whitewater investigation involving the business dealings of Bill and Hillary Clinton and others.
To observers like Rex Nelson, a former political editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee represented a welcome change.
"I think everybody wanted some calm, some stability," said Nelson, who signed on as Huckabee's press secretary in 1996 and served for nine years.
Arkansans eventually turned their attention away from Whitewater and the Clintons, and toward the teetotaling preacher who had once led Baptist congregations in Pine Bluff and Texarkana. Then, as now, Huckabee put his religious convictions front and center. Early on, he developed a mode of governing that seemed to be both expedient and from the heart.
Political consultant Dick Morris, who also worked for Bill Clinton, advised Huckabee in his first race for lieutenant governor. He told Huckabee that to succeed in Arkansas, he should avoid acting like a "country club" Republican who only represented the rich.
Morris also recalled saying to Huckabee: "I assume you're against parole for violent criminals, because you're a conservative." Huckabee told Morris that he would hold open the possibility of parole because he believed, in some cases, in the power of forgiveness, Morris said.
To Morris, such attitudes make Huckabee a new kind of religious candidate -- one who is "a New Testament conservative, in addition to an Old Testament one."
"He puts all of the Bible into play," Morris said. "It's not just 'thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not,' but it's the positive aspects of his religion, too -- which is 'love thy neighbor,' and 'when I was naked you clothed me,' and a sense of helping poor people."
Shortly after he became governor, Huckabee expressed his support for the release of a convicted rapist -- who, once freed, sexually assaulted another woman and killed her. Wayne Dumond had been sentenced to life plus 20 years in 1984 for raping a 17-year-old cheerleader. Tucker, Huckabee's predecessor, reduced Dumond's sentence in 1992, making him eligible for parole.
In 1996, according to the Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee questioned Dumond's guilt and said he might commute his sentence to time served. He also met with the parole board in a closed session. Some board members have said Huckabee pressured them into releasing Dumond; others said he did not.
Dumond was released from prison in October 1999. He chose his next victim 11 months later.
Huckabee's Democratic opponent, Jimmie Lou Fisher, seized on the issue in the 2002 governor's race, and Dumond's first victim campaigned on Fisher's behalf. Huckabee's campaign ran ads blaming his predecessor for commuting the sentence. Fisher was considered a weak candidate; Huckabee was reelected with 53% of the vote.
In other instances, Huckabee's political instincts seemed sharper. Soon after taking office, he began to lobby strongly for a one-eighth-cent sales tax to fund state parks and conservation efforts. The measure required the approval of voters, and Huckabee, an avid outdoorsman, advertised the effort by touring the Arkansas River on his bass boat -- a public relations gambit that garnered significant positive press for both the governor and the measure, which voters approved in 1996.
The tax has generated more than $400 million. Arkansas created a 4,800-acre prairie conservation center, built four nature centers and upgraded its parks.
But Huckabee also referred to environmentalists as "environmental wackos." Glen Hooks, regional representative for the state Sierra Club chapter and a former head of the state Democratic Party, said that Huckabee's environmental record was weak overall.
As a presidential candidate, however, Huckabee talks about being "a good steward to the Earth" and argues that Christians have a duty to fight global warming.
"If he's coming around now, I'm encouraged," Hooks said.
Huckabee also latched on early to the idea of expanding government health insurance to cover children of working-class people who earned too much to qualify for Medicaid. The Arkansas plan, called ARKids First, was a forerunner to the federal government's State Children's Health Insurance Program. Huckabee introduced it to the Legislature in January 1997. It received bipartisan support, and Huckabee became its biggest advocate. He signed the bill into law with a crayon, surrounded by children. He then made TV ads encouraging families to sign up.
Rhonda Sanders of the nonprofit group Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families said the results had been dramatic. According to a report by the University of Minnesota, the percentage of uninsured children in Arkansas dropped from 22% in 1997 to 9% in 2004 -- the largest percentage-point drop of any state in the nation.
As Huckabee's stock rises in the Republican primaries, conservatives are looking closely at his record on taxes. The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group, has been running ads against Huckabee, harshly criticizing his record and portraying him as "Tax-Hike Mike."'
Huckabee has responded by calling the group the "Club for Greed." He says that in addition to supporting tax increases as governor, he also called for a $90.6-million cut in income taxes -- and other smaller, more narrowly targeted tax cuts. He defends his record as that of a pragmatic governor trying to meet the needs of a poor, underdeveloped state.
More recently, Huckabee has veered back toward the party line: He signed a no-tax-hike pledge that had been presented to the candidates by Americans for Tax Reform, another conservative group. Grover Norquist, its president, said Huckabee's pledge would carry more weight if he disavowed his past decisions to raise taxes.
"I am pleased he has made a commitment not to raise taxes in the future," said Norquist. "I would feel better if he spoke of his previous record as a mistake. Instead he defends it."
During his years in office, the media scrutinized numerous mini-scandals, including an allegation that he used public funds for private purposes, and failed to properly report gifts and income. Huckabee was cited five times for violating ethics rules by the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
Toward the beginning of Huckabee's governorship, the Arkansas Times, an alternative weekly, reported that his family had used a fund meant for upkeep of the governor's mansion for expenses like out-of-town trips and dry-cleaning.
As he was preparing to leave office, local media reported that bridal registries had been established at two stores for the governor and his wife, even though they had been married for more than 30 years. State ethics laws prohibited Huckabee from receiving gifts of more than $100 as a reward for doing his job. But there was an exception for wedding presents. The Huckabees had registered for nearly $7,000 in housewares as they prepared to move to a private residence.
Arkansas Times Executive Editor Max Brantley -- a longtime nemesis of Huckabee's -- said Huckabee's ethics violations and other gaffes probably stemmed from his preacher's background, in which "love offerings," or gifts to the pastor, were encouraged.
Huckabee said he was unfairly targeted by liberals who tried to turn the slightest mistake into a scandal. He noted that one of his ethics infractions was failing to report as a gift a blanket a woman gave him to keep warm at the 2002 Cotton Bowl.
Arkansas voters will have a chance to make up their mind about Huckabee's record yet again -- and judge that record against his rhetoric as a presidential candidate. Despite vetoing Holt's anti-immigration bill in 2005, Huckabee today is running as a staunch foe of illegal immigration. "No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals," his website states.
Lane Pope, 42, a conservative rancher from rural Howard County, didn't complain about Huckabee's stance on immigration. Instead, he griped about the higher taxes he paid under Huckabee that cut into margins on the farm.
Still, Pope plans to vote for Huckabee for president, offering the two judgments that the candidate would probably be most pleased to hear these days: "He seemed to be a good guy," Pope said, adding that overall, "he ran the state in a conservative-type way."
richard.fausset@latimes.com
Times staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this report.
-------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
HUCKABEE IS NO BETTER THAN HILLARY! They probably both come from the same gene-pool and can't tell the truth from a lie no matter how hard it smacks them in the face. I WILL NOT VOT FOR THIS MAN OR ANY OTHER SO-CALLED REPUBLICAN WHO WANTS TO GIVE ILLEGALS MY MONEY!
Cops test surveillance system at tree lighting
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-livide1202%2C0%2C1124629.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines
Cops test surveillance system at tree lighting
BY MATTHEW CHAYES | matthew.chayes@newsday.com
10:34 PM EST, December 1, 2007
Nassau cops deployed a new surveillance system Saturday night in Uniondale, videotaping the revelers gathered to see the annual lighting of RexCorp Plaza's Christmas tree.
With nearly 20 cameras surrounding the ice rink and beyond, police eyeballed crowds and monitored video feeds from a command truck. Computer files of the video are being stored so police can assess the system, said Nassau Police Insp. Wesley Van Wallendael.
Tree lighting in Uniondale Photos
The surveillance was part of a test arranged by AgileMesh, a Richardson, Texas, company trying to sell tens of thousands of dollars in cameras. Three of the company's cameras were among the 20.
AgileMesh's wireless video system was used in October to let Long Beach police scrutinize partygoers at the Irish Heritage Festival.
Each one of the cameras, which AgileMesh lent the county for Saturday night's test, costs between $6,000 and $10,000, in addition to the $2,000 or so for the device to monitor and control the video feeds.
The county will decide within a few months whether to buy them, Van Wallendael said.
Joseph Stefan, AgileMesh's president and chief executive, said his cameras are used by about a hundred "end-users" around the country -- ranging from police departments to NASA. The system can be deployed and dismantled quickly, and could be used by SWAT teams during a crisis or to watch people at events like last night's tree lighting.
"If somebody walks in with a bomb or a gun, and they intend to do something," Stefan said, "law enforcement folks can notice that person by way of the video surveillance before anything happens: they might be able to prevent the incident."
Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based privacy group that opposes government surveillance, said civil libertarians bristle at the proliferation of police cameras in public spaces.
"Nassau County has no reason to believe that anyone at this Christmas-tree-lighting ceremony is going to commit a crime or do anything that warrants police action," Tien said.
But a decidedly unscientific poll of a half-dozen revelers last night showed strong support for the cameras.
"I'm not doing anything wrong, but someone else could be," said Susan Dolan, 47, of Freeport, as she danced to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."
--------------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
This assumes the people watching the video actually know how to detect suspicious behavior. Maybe a formally trained psychologist could do it, but a high school graduate cop? This is pure smoke and mirrors that will only help after the crime is done. More wasted money.
Cops test surveillance system at tree lighting
BY MATTHEW CHAYES | matthew.chayes@newsday.com
10:34 PM EST, December 1, 2007
Nassau cops deployed a new surveillance system Saturday night in Uniondale, videotaping the revelers gathered to see the annual lighting of RexCorp Plaza's Christmas tree.
With nearly 20 cameras surrounding the ice rink and beyond, police eyeballed crowds and monitored video feeds from a command truck. Computer files of the video are being stored so police can assess the system, said Nassau Police Insp. Wesley Van Wallendael.
Tree lighting in Uniondale Photos
The surveillance was part of a test arranged by AgileMesh, a Richardson, Texas, company trying to sell tens of thousands of dollars in cameras. Three of the company's cameras were among the 20.
AgileMesh's wireless video system was used in October to let Long Beach police scrutinize partygoers at the Irish Heritage Festival.
Each one of the cameras, which AgileMesh lent the county for Saturday night's test, costs between $6,000 and $10,000, in addition to the $2,000 or so for the device to monitor and control the video feeds.
The county will decide within a few months whether to buy them, Van Wallendael said.
Joseph Stefan, AgileMesh's president and chief executive, said his cameras are used by about a hundred "end-users" around the country -- ranging from police departments to NASA. The system can be deployed and dismantled quickly, and could be used by SWAT teams during a crisis or to watch people at events like last night's tree lighting.
"If somebody walks in with a bomb or a gun, and they intend to do something," Stefan said, "law enforcement folks can notice that person by way of the video surveillance before anything happens: they might be able to prevent the incident."
Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based privacy group that opposes government surveillance, said civil libertarians bristle at the proliferation of police cameras in public spaces.
"Nassau County has no reason to believe that anyone at this Christmas-tree-lighting ceremony is going to commit a crime or do anything that warrants police action," Tien said.
But a decidedly unscientific poll of a half-dozen revelers last night showed strong support for the cameras.
"I'm not doing anything wrong, but someone else could be," said Susan Dolan, 47, of Freeport, as she danced to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."
--------------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
This assumes the people watching the video actually know how to detect suspicious behavior. Maybe a formally trained psychologist could do it, but a high school graduate cop? This is pure smoke and mirrors that will only help after the crime is done. More wasted money.
Illegal immigrants arrested at furniture store protest
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AZ_IMMIGRANT_ARRESTS_COOL-?SITE=COLON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 2, 9:55 AM EST
Illegal immigrants arrested at furniture store protest
MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- Eight illegal immigrants were arrested during a protest outside of a Phoenix furniture store that had hired sheriff's deputies to keep day laborers away.
Protesters have been demonstrating for the past six Saturdays at Pruitt's furniture store in east Phoenix against the arrests of illegal immigrants in the area. Maricopa County sheriff's deputies had arrested 24 illegal immigrants in the area after stopping them for traffic violations.
The eight people arrested Saturday on suspicion of violating immigration laws were the first illegal immigrants taken into custody during the actual protests.
"I thought it was time to do something more about it," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "The Pruitt's situation is getting out of hand. They are demonstrating every week and destroying this business. I don't think that's fair."
In late October, Pruitt's hired sheriff's deputies to keep day laborers away from gathering on the property, saying they were hurting business.
On Nov. 3, Daniel Pochoda, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, was arrested on a trespassing charge during one of the protests. Deputies said at the time Pochoda refused to move his car from the property.
---
Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune, http://www.eastvalleytribune.com
Dec 2, 9:55 AM EST
Illegal immigrants arrested at furniture store protest
MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- Eight illegal immigrants were arrested during a protest outside of a Phoenix furniture store that had hired sheriff's deputies to keep day laborers away.
Protesters have been demonstrating for the past six Saturdays at Pruitt's furniture store in east Phoenix against the arrests of illegal immigrants in the area. Maricopa County sheriff's deputies had arrested 24 illegal immigrants in the area after stopping them for traffic violations.
The eight people arrested Saturday on suspicion of violating immigration laws were the first illegal immigrants taken into custody during the actual protests.
"I thought it was time to do something more about it," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "The Pruitt's situation is getting out of hand. They are demonstrating every week and destroying this business. I don't think that's fair."
In late October, Pruitt's hired sheriff's deputies to keep day laborers away from gathering on the property, saying they were hurting business.
On Nov. 3, Daniel Pochoda, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, was arrested on a trespassing charge during one of the protests. Deputies said at the time Pochoda refused to move his car from the property.
---
Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune, http://www.eastvalleytribune.com
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Show seeks to love match migrants and U.S. citizens
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN3031650320071201?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true
Show seeks to love match migrants and U.S. citizens
Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:47pm EST
powered by Sphere
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A Los Angeles company is touting a new reality game show called "Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen" that aims to create televised matrimony between legal citizens and immigrants who have temporary visas.
The show's backers at Morusa Media hope to make a sort of love match between reality TV and a national obsession with immigration. But the producers make no promise that a marriage will occur or lead to U.S. citizenship.
Show creator Adrian Martinez said that Morusa Media has not yet found a network to produce or air the show, but he is currently in talks with one cable TV network and already has signed up contestants for six episodes.
"It's this generation's 'Dating Game,' but with a twist -- it aims to show love knows no borders," Martinez told Reuters.
As in the "Dating Game," which ran on network TV for more than two decades starting in the 1960s, a single U.S. citizen gets to ask contestants various questions. Toward the end of the show, he or she decides which one to select as a potential mate.
So far, most of the contestants are Hispanic immigrants, although at least one is from the Philippines, Martinez said.
In a statement, Morusa said that while it does not guarantee marriage or legal status, it will pay for a wedding party and honeymoon should a marriage result.
"We're just out to play matchmaker," said the show's host, Angelo Gonzales. "There are thousands of U.S. citizens seeking a spouse, and just as many immigrants seeking the same. So we want to make it a win-win situation for all involved."
Reuters/Nielsen
© Reuters2007
All rights reserved
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
This guy has lost his marbles. Win Win situation my ass. What a STUPID IDEA!
Show seeks to love match migrants and U.S. citizens
Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:47pm EST
powered by Sphere
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A Los Angeles company is touting a new reality game show called "Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen" that aims to create televised matrimony between legal citizens and immigrants who have temporary visas.
The show's backers at Morusa Media hope to make a sort of love match between reality TV and a national obsession with immigration. But the producers make no promise that a marriage will occur or lead to U.S. citizenship.
Show creator Adrian Martinez said that Morusa Media has not yet found a network to produce or air the show, but he is currently in talks with one cable TV network and already has signed up contestants for six episodes.
"It's this generation's 'Dating Game,' but with a twist -- it aims to show love knows no borders," Martinez told Reuters.
As in the "Dating Game," which ran on network TV for more than two decades starting in the 1960s, a single U.S. citizen gets to ask contestants various questions. Toward the end of the show, he or she decides which one to select as a potential mate.
So far, most of the contestants are Hispanic immigrants, although at least one is from the Philippines, Martinez said.
In a statement, Morusa said that while it does not guarantee marriage or legal status, it will pay for a wedding party and honeymoon should a marriage result.
"We're just out to play matchmaker," said the show's host, Angelo Gonzales. "There are thousands of U.S. citizens seeking a spouse, and just as many immigrants seeking the same. So we want to make it a win-win situation for all involved."
Reuters/Nielsen
© Reuters2007
All rights reserved
--------------------------
MY COMMENTS:
This guy has lost his marbles. Win Win situation my ass. What a STUPID IDEA!
France stunned by rioters’ savagery
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2983714.ece
From The Sunday Times
December 2, 2007
France stunned by rioters’ savagery
Matthew Campbell, Villiers-le-Bel
IN retrospect, it was not a good idea to have left his pistol at home. Called to the scene of a traffic accident in the Paris suburbs last Sunday, Jean-François Illy, a regional police chief, came face to face with a mob of immigrant youths armed with baseball bats, iron bars and shotguns.
What happened next has sickened the nation. As Illy tried to reassure the gang that there would be an investigation into the deaths of two teenagers whose motorbike had just collided with a police car, he heard a voice shouting: “Somebody must pay for this. Some pigs must die tonight!”
The 43-year-old commissaire realised it was time to leave, but that was not possible: they set his car ablaze. He stood as the mob closed in on him, parrying the first few baseball bat blows with his arms. An iron bar in the face knocked him down.
“I tried to roll myself into a ball on the ground,” said Illy from his hospital bed. He was breathing with difficulty because several of his ribs had been broken and one had punctured his lung.
His bruised and bloodied face signalled a worrying new level of barbarity in the mainly Muslim banlieues, where organised gangs of rioters used guns against police in a two-day rampage of looting and burning last week.
Not far from where Illy was lying was a policeman who lost his right eye after being hit by pellets from a shotgun. Another policeman displayed a hole the size of a 10p coin in his shoulder where a bullet had passed through his body armour.
Altogether 130 policemen were injured, dozens by shotgun pellets and shells packed with nails that were fired from a homemade bazooka. It prompted talk of urban “guerrilla warfare” being waged on French streets against the forces of law and order.
By the end of the week an extraordinarily heavy police presence in Villiers-le-Bel, where most of the rioting took place, appeared to have halted the violence: on top of public transport strikes and student protests against his reform plans, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, could not afford a repeat of 2005, when a similar incident involving the deaths of two youths provoked the worst French urban unrest in four decades.
Things were so tense in the suburbs, however, that the riots could easily erupt again with the prospect of deaths on either side setting off a much greater explosion and, conceivably, the deployment of the army to keep peace.
“Given the weapons being used, it was lucky that nobody was killed,” said a policeman. Nearby were the charred remains of the local constabulary. The nursery school was burnt down. So was the library.
Rioting two years ago was widely regarded as a protest against poor housing, racial discrimination and unemployment of up to 40% in the grim housing estates surrounding most big French cities.
But “Sarko” dismissed suggestions that nothing had been done to improve the situation, referring to the “Marshall plan” for the banlieues being drawn up by Fadela Amara, his urban development minister.
At the same time he argued that, far from reflecting difficult living conditions, the violence was a result of the “thugocracy” of the suburbs, where drug-trafficking criminals held sway.
“We shouldn’t try to excuse the inexcusable,” said the president in a television address to an anxious nation on Thursday, ridiculing the left’s vision of rioters as “victims of social injustice”. He pledged that those who fired at police would be tracked down, one by one, and tried on charges of attempted murder.
Lawlessness in the suburbs is an awkward issue for Sarkozy because he had promised to deal with it as interior minister, when he introduced “zero tolerance” policing, only to be accused of aggravating the problem by referring to trouble-makers as “thugs” and “scum”. Despite some successes, many of the suburban ghettoes remain a law unto their own and, like parts of New York in the bad old days, policemen do not like to set foot there.
“It felt like they were out to kill us,” said one of the officers in Villiers-le-Bel last week. “We knew that there were weapons in the suburbs, but they have never been turned against us like that. The kids were shooting at us at close range, loading and reloading their weapons. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Sarkozy has ordered a full judicial inquiry into the teenagers’ deaths, even though all the evidence seems to support the police version that the boys were thrown from their unlicensed motorcycle when it accidentally collided with a patrol car. Friends and relatives of the victims dismiss the official account of the incident as fantasy.
As for Illy, he says he is not feeling vengeful but has identified one of his attackers from police photographs. He is certain to be able to pinpoint the rest. “Fortunately,” he said, “I’ve got a very good memory.”
-------------
MY COMMEENTS:
All these radical Muslim youths should be deported. I don't care WHO you are, if you have no repect for the country you are living in, no love of the laws of the land and like to burn libraries to the ground you should BE DEPORTED. This is insane that we continue to tolerate this type of two year old tantrum behavior and give in with every whimper. See what that has brought.. no more whimpers.. now it's gunfire and terror. People of France WAKE UP and take your country back!
From The Sunday Times
December 2, 2007
France stunned by rioters’ savagery
Matthew Campbell, Villiers-le-Bel
IN retrospect, it was not a good idea to have left his pistol at home. Called to the scene of a traffic accident in the Paris suburbs last Sunday, Jean-François Illy, a regional police chief, came face to face with a mob of immigrant youths armed with baseball bats, iron bars and shotguns.
What happened next has sickened the nation. As Illy tried to reassure the gang that there would be an investigation into the deaths of two teenagers whose motorbike had just collided with a police car, he heard a voice shouting: “Somebody must pay for this. Some pigs must die tonight!”
The 43-year-old commissaire realised it was time to leave, but that was not possible: they set his car ablaze. He stood as the mob closed in on him, parrying the first few baseball bat blows with his arms. An iron bar in the face knocked him down.
“I tried to roll myself into a ball on the ground,” said Illy from his hospital bed. He was breathing with difficulty because several of his ribs had been broken and one had punctured his lung.
His bruised and bloodied face signalled a worrying new level of barbarity in the mainly Muslim banlieues, where organised gangs of rioters used guns against police in a two-day rampage of looting and burning last week.
Not far from where Illy was lying was a policeman who lost his right eye after being hit by pellets from a shotgun. Another policeman displayed a hole the size of a 10p coin in his shoulder where a bullet had passed through his body armour.
Altogether 130 policemen were injured, dozens by shotgun pellets and shells packed with nails that were fired from a homemade bazooka. It prompted talk of urban “guerrilla warfare” being waged on French streets against the forces of law and order.
By the end of the week an extraordinarily heavy police presence in Villiers-le-Bel, where most of the rioting took place, appeared to have halted the violence: on top of public transport strikes and student protests against his reform plans, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, could not afford a repeat of 2005, when a similar incident involving the deaths of two youths provoked the worst French urban unrest in four decades.
Things were so tense in the suburbs, however, that the riots could easily erupt again with the prospect of deaths on either side setting off a much greater explosion and, conceivably, the deployment of the army to keep peace.
“Given the weapons being used, it was lucky that nobody was killed,” said a policeman. Nearby were the charred remains of the local constabulary. The nursery school was burnt down. So was the library.
Rioting two years ago was widely regarded as a protest against poor housing, racial discrimination and unemployment of up to 40% in the grim housing estates surrounding most big French cities.
But “Sarko” dismissed suggestions that nothing had been done to improve the situation, referring to the “Marshall plan” for the banlieues being drawn up by Fadela Amara, his urban development minister.
At the same time he argued that, far from reflecting difficult living conditions, the violence was a result of the “thugocracy” of the suburbs, where drug-trafficking criminals held sway.
“We shouldn’t try to excuse the inexcusable,” said the president in a television address to an anxious nation on Thursday, ridiculing the left’s vision of rioters as “victims of social injustice”. He pledged that those who fired at police would be tracked down, one by one, and tried on charges of attempted murder.
Lawlessness in the suburbs is an awkward issue for Sarkozy because he had promised to deal with it as interior minister, when he introduced “zero tolerance” policing, only to be accused of aggravating the problem by referring to trouble-makers as “thugs” and “scum”. Despite some successes, many of the suburban ghettoes remain a law unto their own and, like parts of New York in the bad old days, policemen do not like to set foot there.
“It felt like they were out to kill us,” said one of the officers in Villiers-le-Bel last week. “We knew that there were weapons in the suburbs, but they have never been turned against us like that. The kids were shooting at us at close range, loading and reloading their weapons. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Sarkozy has ordered a full judicial inquiry into the teenagers’ deaths, even though all the evidence seems to support the police version that the boys were thrown from their unlicensed motorcycle when it accidentally collided with a patrol car. Friends and relatives of the victims dismiss the official account of the incident as fantasy.
As for Illy, he says he is not feeling vengeful but has identified one of his attackers from police photographs. He is certain to be able to pinpoint the rest. “Fortunately,” he said, “I’ve got a very good memory.”
-------------
MY COMMEENTS:
All these radical Muslim youths should be deported. I don't care WHO you are, if you have no repect for the country you are living in, no love of the laws of the land and like to burn libraries to the ground you should BE DEPORTED. This is insane that we continue to tolerate this type of two year old tantrum behavior and give in with every whimper. See what that has brought.. no more whimpers.. now it's gunfire and terror. People of France WAKE UP and take your country back!
Inmates studying al-Qaeda manual
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/12/01/1196394682263.html
Inmates studying al-Qaeda manual
December 2, 2007
ISLAMIC extremists are using an al-Qaeda training manual to give them instructions for taking over the state's toughest jails, prison authorities have alleged.
Up to 40 inmates had established an internal organisational structure to maintain morale, resist interrogation and recruit members to Islam.
The prisoners had set up leadership groups in several maximum-security jails, with their activities governed by the code outlined in the al-Qaeda manual for incarcerated followers.
A number of Corrective Services staff have been targeted, some with violent threats by inmate groups. Other staff have been singled out for conversion to Islam.
NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said an undisclosed number of inmates had been transferred to other jails in an attempt to disrupt the leadership groups.
Mr Hatzistergos said he was extremely concerned about the broader attempts to infiltrate the jail system, which were uncovered after sweeping changes to prison regulations allowed 24-hour monitoring of Muslim inmates.
The latest crackdown followed the disclosure this year that a third of the state's most dangerous criminals held in the highest-security jail in Australia, the Super Max facility inside Goulburn jail, were Muslim fundamentalists or converts to Islam.
"The insidious nature of these activities remind us we have to be constantly vigilant to these types of threats for the security of our correctional system," Mr Hatzistergos said.
NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham said international prison authorities had alerted Australian authorities to the existence of the manual three months ago.
Corrective Services staff had since uncovered patterns of behaviour among inmates consistent with instructions in the manual, including hunger strikes, group protests and claims of mistreatment, he said.
"There were hunger strikes and organised complaints about their treatment," he said. "We have detected the leadership in groups across our maximum security jails [and] have moved in to segregate them and split them up.
"There is nothing wrong with conversion to Islam for the right reasons, but we believe there has been conversion taking place for the wrong reasons."
The Security Threat Group Intervention Program, established in 2003 to stop ethnic and other criminal gangs exerting control within NSW jails, is now being used to identify and relocate the ringleaders who are applying the code outlined in the al-Qaeda manual, to counter the growing threat of terrorism.
Terrorist hierarchy
- The al-Qaeda training manual was first obtained by the CIA in 1996.
- It suggests a 10-position leadership structure for members held in prison.
- The structure includes "barracks chief and deputies", "greeters to meet and instruct new arrivals", "welfare attendant to organise equitable distribution of goods from families and aid organisations" and "clergy", presumably to attend to spiritual needs as well as to recruit new adherents to their faith, according to the CIA report.
hgilmore@sunherald.com.au
Inmates studying al-Qaeda manual
December 2, 2007
ISLAMIC extremists are using an al-Qaeda training manual to give them instructions for taking over the state's toughest jails, prison authorities have alleged.
Up to 40 inmates had established an internal organisational structure to maintain morale, resist interrogation and recruit members to Islam.
The prisoners had set up leadership groups in several maximum-security jails, with their activities governed by the code outlined in the al-Qaeda manual for incarcerated followers.
A number of Corrective Services staff have been targeted, some with violent threats by inmate groups. Other staff have been singled out for conversion to Islam.
NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said an undisclosed number of inmates had been transferred to other jails in an attempt to disrupt the leadership groups.
Mr Hatzistergos said he was extremely concerned about the broader attempts to infiltrate the jail system, which were uncovered after sweeping changes to prison regulations allowed 24-hour monitoring of Muslim inmates.
The latest crackdown followed the disclosure this year that a third of the state's most dangerous criminals held in the highest-security jail in Australia, the Super Max facility inside Goulburn jail, were Muslim fundamentalists or converts to Islam.
"The insidious nature of these activities remind us we have to be constantly vigilant to these types of threats for the security of our correctional system," Mr Hatzistergos said.
NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham said international prison authorities had alerted Australian authorities to the existence of the manual three months ago.
Corrective Services staff had since uncovered patterns of behaviour among inmates consistent with instructions in the manual, including hunger strikes, group protests and claims of mistreatment, he said.
"There were hunger strikes and organised complaints about their treatment," he said. "We have detected the leadership in groups across our maximum security jails [and] have moved in to segregate them and split them up.
"There is nothing wrong with conversion to Islam for the right reasons, but we believe there has been conversion taking place for the wrong reasons."
The Security Threat Group Intervention Program, established in 2003 to stop ethnic and other criminal gangs exerting control within NSW jails, is now being used to identify and relocate the ringleaders who are applying the code outlined in the al-Qaeda manual, to counter the growing threat of terrorism.
Terrorist hierarchy
- The al-Qaeda training manual was first obtained by the CIA in 1996.
- It suggests a 10-position leadership structure for members held in prison.
- The structure includes "barracks chief and deputies", "greeters to meet and instruct new arrivals", "welfare attendant to organise equitable distribution of goods from families and aid organisations" and "clergy", presumably to attend to spiritual needs as well as to recruit new adherents to their faith, according to the CIA report.
hgilmore@sunherald.com.au
Savage lawsuit calls CAIR 'vehicle of international terrorism'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/staticarticles/article58970.html
Savage lawsuit calls CAIR 'vehicle of international terrorism'
Accuses group of seeking 'harm to those who speak against violent agenda'
Posted: November 30, 2007
3:40 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Trend-setting radio talk show host Michael Savage has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and has accused the organization of being a "political vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's clients."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, seeks damages equal to the ongoing donations from CAIR supporters "who expect CAIR to act in this manner in exchange for continuing financial support" as well as "actual damages according to proof."
A spokesman for Savage indicated the top-rated talk show host would have no further comment, saying the text of the lawsuit itself would answer questions.
The focal point of the lawsuit is a series of audio clips CAIR has been using in its promotions and fundraising efforts.
Those comments from Savage's show include his criticisms of Islam and Muslims, including:
"I'm not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I'm not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I'm not getting' on my all-fours and braying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like it. You can shove it up your pipe. I don't wanna hear any more about Islam. I don't wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you."
But the lawsuit maintains such comments, taken in context, are Savage's verbal expression of the feelings of many Americans.
"The audience of 'The Savage Nation' expects this type of from-the-heart outrage and when it is directed at a murderer such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ilk, the piece is far more understandable and far more American mainstream. While the strength of the outrage is remarkable and a hallmark of 'The Savage Nation,' the sentiment is shared by a huge number of Americans," the lawsuit said.
"The copyright material properly viewed is a scream of outrage on behalf of the American public against beheadings, hangings of homosexuals, mutilation of women, the torture of rape victims and the thought that CAIR and other groups are trying to import these atrocities into American life," the lawsuit said.
However, it claimed CAIR has misappropriated the copyright material and reconfigured it in order to generate funds for its operations, despite being warned that its use was a copyright infringement.
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for CAIR, told WND the group would not comment on the action until the document had been reviewed.
The lawsuit, filed by celebrity attorney Daniel Horowitz, also named as defendants "Does 1-100."
"'The Savage Nation' is unique among so-called 'Talk Radio' in that it combines serious intellectual analysis with dramatic and emotional soul baring that the show advertises as 'Psychological Nudity'. This performance aspect of the show is critical in that it conveys an emotional power and a fundamental honesty to the programming that is meaningful to the listening audience," the lawsuit said.
"There are segments of the show that are as lyrical and as emotionally powerful as live theater, poetry, rap music or other genres where a performer combines social commentary with powerful performance. In fact the start of show always begins with the admonishment: 'Warning: This show contains adult language, adult content, psychological nudity. Listener discretion is advised," the document continued.
Thus, the lawsuit maintains, when people hear Savage's comments they understand "they are hearing radio that is as cutting, raw, emotional and fundamentally honest as any programming that has ever existed on the airwaves."
Another statement targeted by CAIR, and subject of the lawsuit, was:
"What sane nation that worships the U.S. Constitution, which is the greatest document of freedom ever written, would bring in people who worship a book that tells them the exact opposite? Make no mistake about it, the Quran is not a document of freedom. The Quran is a document of slavery and chattel. It teaches you that you are a slave."
CAIR, however "expropriated" Savage's comments, including those from the Oct. 29, 2007, show and used them "for fund-raising purposes" and "in a manner designed to cause harm to the value of the copyright material in the long and short term," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit further accuses CAIR, "which is self anointed as the representative of the civil rights of Muslim Americans," of being "a political organization that advocates a specific political agenda."
"The CAIR misappropriation [of the talk show excerpts] was done for political purposes unrelated to civil rights … [but instead] to raise funds for CAIR so that it could self perpetuate and continue to the (sic) disseminate of propaganda on behalf of foreign interests that are opposed to the continued existence of the United States of America as a free nation."
The "repackaged" material suggests a hatred for Islam, but in fact, the lawsuit said, "Michael Savage has presented various views and various perspectives. The purpose of his show (among other purposes) is to present uncensored, genuine points of view that force listeners to both think and feel in ways that normal polite discourse may not allow," said the lawsuit.
"Just as all religions are free to practice in the United States, Michael Savage is free to exercise his beliefs without having someone in the opposition steal his property and convert it for their own use. The violation of the copyright and the desecration of that copyright material is a violation of the freedoms of Michael Savage to express his views," said the action.
"Michael Savage's right to speech is protected by both the First Amendment and in Savage’s view is also biblically required. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7-8). It is essence of freedom that voices can be raised strongly and without fear of illegal retaliation," the claim continued.
"CAIR attempted to silence Michael Savage by stealing his work, misrepresenting it and then seeking to have advertisers drop his show. This is a violation of Michael Savage’s rights to speech and to his religious beliefs," the action said.
The lawsuit noted CAIR was founded in 1994 by Ibrahim Hooper, Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad, "all of whom had close ties to the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was established by senior Hamas operative Mousa Abu Marzook."
And the action noted the FBI has concluded the IAP is "a Hamas front … (that is) controlled by Hamas, it brings Hamas leaders to the U.S., it does propaganda for Hamas."
The action seeks a jury trial, plus "general and special damages" for the actions that were "wanton, willful and malicious."
-----------
MY COMMENTS:
GO MICHAEL GO! We are all behind you. CAIR SHOULD BE KICKED BACK TO THE STONEAGE WHERE IT BELONGS> The number of CAIR members has dropped as many true peaceful Muslims have seen through their sham of deception and veil of lies. FREEDOM OF SPEECH GOD BLESS YOU!
Savage lawsuit calls CAIR 'vehicle of international terrorism'
Accuses group of seeking 'harm to those who speak against violent agenda'
Posted: November 30, 2007
3:40 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Trend-setting radio talk show host Michael Savage has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and has accused the organization of being a "political vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's clients."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, seeks damages equal to the ongoing donations from CAIR supporters "who expect CAIR to act in this manner in exchange for continuing financial support" as well as "actual damages according to proof."
A spokesman for Savage indicated the top-rated talk show host would have no further comment, saying the text of the lawsuit itself would answer questions.
The focal point of the lawsuit is a series of audio clips CAIR has been using in its promotions and fundraising efforts.
Those comments from Savage's show include his criticisms of Islam and Muslims, including:
"I'm not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I'm not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I'm not getting' on my all-fours and braying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like it. You can shove it up your pipe. I don't wanna hear any more about Islam. I don't wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you."
But the lawsuit maintains such comments, taken in context, are Savage's verbal expression of the feelings of many Americans.
"The audience of 'The Savage Nation' expects this type of from-the-heart outrage and when it is directed at a murderer such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ilk, the piece is far more understandable and far more American mainstream. While the strength of the outrage is remarkable and a hallmark of 'The Savage Nation,' the sentiment is shared by a huge number of Americans," the lawsuit said.
"The copyright material properly viewed is a scream of outrage on behalf of the American public against beheadings, hangings of homosexuals, mutilation of women, the torture of rape victims and the thought that CAIR and other groups are trying to import these atrocities into American life," the lawsuit said.
However, it claimed CAIR has misappropriated the copyright material and reconfigured it in order to generate funds for its operations, despite being warned that its use was a copyright infringement.
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for CAIR, told WND the group would not comment on the action until the document had been reviewed.
The lawsuit, filed by celebrity attorney Daniel Horowitz, also named as defendants "Does 1-100."
"'The Savage Nation' is unique among so-called 'Talk Radio' in that it combines serious intellectual analysis with dramatic and emotional soul baring that the show advertises as 'Psychological Nudity'. This performance aspect of the show is critical in that it conveys an emotional power and a fundamental honesty to the programming that is meaningful to the listening audience," the lawsuit said.
"There are segments of the show that are as lyrical and as emotionally powerful as live theater, poetry, rap music or other genres where a performer combines social commentary with powerful performance. In fact the start of show always begins with the admonishment: 'Warning: This show contains adult language, adult content, psychological nudity. Listener discretion is advised," the document continued.
Thus, the lawsuit maintains, when people hear Savage's comments they understand "they are hearing radio that is as cutting, raw, emotional and fundamentally honest as any programming that has ever existed on the airwaves."
Another statement targeted by CAIR, and subject of the lawsuit, was:
"What sane nation that worships the U.S. Constitution, which is the greatest document of freedom ever written, would bring in people who worship a book that tells them the exact opposite? Make no mistake about it, the Quran is not a document of freedom. The Quran is a document of slavery and chattel. It teaches you that you are a slave."
CAIR, however "expropriated" Savage's comments, including those from the Oct. 29, 2007, show and used them "for fund-raising purposes" and "in a manner designed to cause harm to the value of the copyright material in the long and short term," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit further accuses CAIR, "which is self anointed as the representative of the civil rights of Muslim Americans," of being "a political organization that advocates a specific political agenda."
"The CAIR misappropriation [of the talk show excerpts] was done for political purposes unrelated to civil rights … [but instead] to raise funds for CAIR so that it could self perpetuate and continue to the (sic) disseminate of propaganda on behalf of foreign interests that are opposed to the continued existence of the United States of America as a free nation."
The "repackaged" material suggests a hatred for Islam, but in fact, the lawsuit said, "Michael Savage has presented various views and various perspectives. The purpose of his show (among other purposes) is to present uncensored, genuine points of view that force listeners to both think and feel in ways that normal polite discourse may not allow," said the lawsuit.
"Just as all religions are free to practice in the United States, Michael Savage is free to exercise his beliefs without having someone in the opposition steal his property and convert it for their own use. The violation of the copyright and the desecration of that copyright material is a violation of the freedoms of Michael Savage to express his views," said the action.
"Michael Savage's right to speech is protected by both the First Amendment and in Savage’s view is also biblically required. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7-8). It is essence of freedom that voices can be raised strongly and without fear of illegal retaliation," the claim continued.
"CAIR attempted to silence Michael Savage by stealing his work, misrepresenting it and then seeking to have advertisers drop his show. This is a violation of Michael Savage’s rights to speech and to his religious beliefs," the action said.
The lawsuit noted CAIR was founded in 1994 by Ibrahim Hooper, Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad, "all of whom had close ties to the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was established by senior Hamas operative Mousa Abu Marzook."
And the action noted the FBI has concluded the IAP is "a Hamas front … (that is) controlled by Hamas, it brings Hamas leaders to the U.S., it does propaganda for Hamas."
The action seeks a jury trial, plus "general and special damages" for the actions that were "wanton, willful and malicious."
-----------
MY COMMENTS:
GO MICHAEL GO! We are all behind you. CAIR SHOULD BE KICKED BACK TO THE STONEAGE WHERE IT BELONGS> The number of CAIR members has dropped as many true peaceful Muslims have seen through their sham of deception and veil of lies. FREEDOM OF SPEECH GOD BLESS YOU!
Dog Attack on Illegal Immigrant Ignites Immigration Debate In N.J. Town
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/WaterCooler/story?id=3940538
Dog Attack on Illegal Immigrant Ignites Immigration Debate In N.J. Town
Many Protest a Judge's Ruling That the Dog Be Put Down
Congo the dog is at the center of an immigration debate.
(ABCNEWS.com)From GMA Dec. 1, 2007
Share An 85-pound German shepherd has become the unlikely face of the immigration debate in upscale Princeton, N.J., after a judge ordered the dog to be put down for attacking an illegal immigrant last summer.
Thousands of people have flooded the Internet and even petitioned the governor to ask that Congo be spared for his attack on Honduran landscaper Giovanni Rivera, who was injured seriously in June and later awarded $250,000 in insurance money.
And while New Jersey Gov. John Corzine has denied calls for a pardon, some town residents are upset the illegal immigrant was allowed to collect monetary compensation for his injuries.
"Too bad Congo doesn't work on the border patrol," one resident wrote online. "Maybe there would be less illegals entering our country."
Another poster called Rivera "illegal scum."
Rivera has called the attacks racist and political.
"We've created a subculture in this country right now. The illegal alien is like a subhuman and that's a dangerous precedent," said Rivera's attorney William Garces.
Not all Princeton's residents believe the incident should be used to fuel an immigration debate.
"I would hate my hometown and home state to go down in history as the place where suburbanites value their dogs above their lives of those they hire to tend their yards," one resident said.
Even Congo's owners, Guy and Elizabeth James, said their case has nothing to do with immigration. They claim their dog was provoked by Rivera.
"They hit my dogs. They grabbed my wife and that's what this case is about," Guy James said.
Currently Congo is living at home, and the James family has appealed the local judge's ruling to put him down. The case now is with New Jersey's Superior Court.
--------------
MY COMMENTS:
This is a case of a dog protecting his owner. It's what any good dog would do. PERSONALLY, if you are here illegally you shouldn't be a ble to sue (PERIOD) no exceptions. The American legal system is in place for AMERICANS. If you don't like it.. GOOD .. Go back to your own country and get in line to come here LEGALLY. Then you can enjoy all the freedoms and privledges of being a TRUE AMERICAN CITIZEN!
OTHERS ARE SAYING:
Hummm. If the illegal immigrant wasn't here. He wouldn't have been attacked. And, let me spell this out to those that may not understand. ILLEGAL, SHOULD NOT BE HERE, WOULD NOT GET BIT. I say buy that dog a giant juicy steak :)
Posted by:
USA330 9:45 AMMark As Violation
It's a sad state of affairs when a person can be in this country illegally, and still enjoy the support of our legal system. Judges, police, politicians, etc. are afraid to rule against illegal aliens because many consider it political or career suicide. The first word you hear is the "R" word, Racist which no one wants to be labeled. How about some common sense and guts for a change?
Posted by:
jeff2761 8:56 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 127
I pray congo does not get put down. He was only protecting hisself and his owner. What would the Govenor rather do have the owners shoot Rivera? I mean come on this guy was in the wrong and now our insurance compnays are going to raise our costs because of this Illegal..
Posted by:
pigonman07 8:51 AM
This has NOTHING to do with illegal immigrants. The SAME THING would have happened if I, an American citizen, walked onto their property for a job while not paying attention to the owners telling me to wait. There was an unfortunate lack of understanding of English, the landscapers went onto the property and the dogs did their job. No dog should be put down for protecting his home and family if he is, indeed, on the property. And the landscaper should NEVER have sued them. How dare he! He didn't understand them asking him to wait and now the dog pays the price and he gets $250K. First of all, this guy wouldn't have made that kind of cash in 5 years. Frankly, he should walk back over into his country where he will live like a millionaire for the rest of his life on that kind of cash. LEAVE CONGO ALONE!!!!!
Posted by:
autumn66 8:42 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 124
Wow, thanks for that info, i didn't realize they had gone after the wife. If that gardner laid hands on that woman he deserved to be hurt and badly. WHY did he deserve money for that injury? It's the same as any other person attacking you and then you have to pay them?? -- Un real.
Posted by:
skynsea2u 8:40 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 123
This is the basic outline of the story Idiots :Two landscapers/gardeners, illegal immigrants, were working at the family’s house They arrived an hour early They were told by the husband to stay in their truck until he could get out of the shower and get some clothes on and put the dogs away The husband speaks Spanish and spoke to them in Spanish so there is no question they understand what they were told to do They directly disobeyed the husband and walked into the yard where the wife had just pulled into the driveway The two adult German Shepherds and their puppies came running The gardeners panicked ONE GARDENER GRABBED THE WIFE AND WRESTLED HER TO THE GROUND, USING HER AS A PROTECTIVE SHIELD Congo thought his owner was being attacked and went after the gardener The gardener used his rake to beat at the puppies and inflicted some injuries on them The gardener changed his story three times (interesting note on official bias: when the owner said the gardener changed his story five times, the dog warden said “No, he only changed his story 3 times.”) Here’s what I have from New Jersey 101.5 Radio StationIn Princeton, a family dog, Congo, has been declared “vicious” by municipal Judge Russell Annich Jr.. Because of this, he may be ordered put to sleep, this coming Tuesday. His crime? A landscaper came onto the property of the dog’s owner, Guy and Elizabeth James, after being told to wait. Congo and the family’s other dogs started to bark. One of the landscapers’ started hitting the dogs with a metal rake. Elizabeth James started to yell at him to stop. So, the landscaper grabbed Elizabeth, from behind, and pulled her to the ground. Congo, thinking that his owner was being attacked, did what ANY good dog should do. He tried to protect his owner. The landscaper was bitten, and injured, as he should have been. Now, for being a good dog, Congo might be put to sleep. Should Congo be put to death for protecting his family?
Posted by:
suzannewman8 8:34 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 122
Put that yankee's dog on the border....and 12,000 more just like him.
Posted by:
southernfarmer1021 8:30 AMMark As Violation
Dog Attack on Illegal Immigrant Ignites Immigration Debate In N.J. Town
Many Protest a Judge's Ruling That the Dog Be Put Down
Congo the dog is at the center of an immigration debate.
(ABCNEWS.com)From GMA Dec. 1, 2007
Share An 85-pound German shepherd has become the unlikely face of the immigration debate in upscale Princeton, N.J., after a judge ordered the dog to be put down for attacking an illegal immigrant last summer.
Thousands of people have flooded the Internet and even petitioned the governor to ask that Congo be spared for his attack on Honduran landscaper Giovanni Rivera, who was injured seriously in June and later awarded $250,000 in insurance money.
And while New Jersey Gov. John Corzine has denied calls for a pardon, some town residents are upset the illegal immigrant was allowed to collect monetary compensation for his injuries.
"Too bad Congo doesn't work on the border patrol," one resident wrote online. "Maybe there would be less illegals entering our country."
Another poster called Rivera "illegal scum."
Rivera has called the attacks racist and political.
"We've created a subculture in this country right now. The illegal alien is like a subhuman and that's a dangerous precedent," said Rivera's attorney William Garces.
Not all Princeton's residents believe the incident should be used to fuel an immigration debate.
"I would hate my hometown and home state to go down in history as the place where suburbanites value their dogs above their lives of those they hire to tend their yards," one resident said.
Even Congo's owners, Guy and Elizabeth James, said their case has nothing to do with immigration. They claim their dog was provoked by Rivera.
"They hit my dogs. They grabbed my wife and that's what this case is about," Guy James said.
Currently Congo is living at home, and the James family has appealed the local judge's ruling to put him down. The case now is with New Jersey's Superior Court.
--------------
MY COMMENTS:
This is a case of a dog protecting his owner. It's what any good dog would do. PERSONALLY, if you are here illegally you shouldn't be a ble to sue (PERIOD) no exceptions. The American legal system is in place for AMERICANS. If you don't like it.. GOOD .. Go back to your own country and get in line to come here LEGALLY. Then you can enjoy all the freedoms and privledges of being a TRUE AMERICAN CITIZEN!
OTHERS ARE SAYING:
Hummm. If the illegal immigrant wasn't here. He wouldn't have been attacked. And, let me spell this out to those that may not understand. ILLEGAL, SHOULD NOT BE HERE, WOULD NOT GET BIT. I say buy that dog a giant juicy steak :)
Posted by:
USA330 9:45 AMMark As Violation
It's a sad state of affairs when a person can be in this country illegally, and still enjoy the support of our legal system. Judges, police, politicians, etc. are afraid to rule against illegal aliens because many consider it political or career suicide. The first word you hear is the "R" word, Racist which no one wants to be labeled. How about some common sense and guts for a change?
Posted by:
jeff2761 8:56 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 127
I pray congo does not get put down. He was only protecting hisself and his owner. What would the Govenor rather do have the owners shoot Rivera? I mean come on this guy was in the wrong and now our insurance compnays are going to raise our costs because of this Illegal..
Posted by:
pigonman07 8:51 AM
This has NOTHING to do with illegal immigrants. The SAME THING would have happened if I, an American citizen, walked onto their property for a job while not paying attention to the owners telling me to wait. There was an unfortunate lack of understanding of English, the landscapers went onto the property and the dogs did their job. No dog should be put down for protecting his home and family if he is, indeed, on the property. And the landscaper should NEVER have sued them. How dare he! He didn't understand them asking him to wait and now the dog pays the price and he gets $250K. First of all, this guy wouldn't have made that kind of cash in 5 years. Frankly, he should walk back over into his country where he will live like a millionaire for the rest of his life on that kind of cash. LEAVE CONGO ALONE!!!!!
Posted by:
autumn66 8:42 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 124
Wow, thanks for that info, i didn't realize they had gone after the wife. If that gardner laid hands on that woman he deserved to be hurt and badly. WHY did he deserve money for that injury? It's the same as any other person attacking you and then you have to pay them?? -- Un real.
Posted by:
skynsea2u 8:40 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 123
This is the basic outline of the story Idiots :Two landscapers/gardeners, illegal immigrants, were working at the family’s house They arrived an hour early They were told by the husband to stay in their truck until he could get out of the shower and get some clothes on and put the dogs away The husband speaks Spanish and spoke to them in Spanish so there is no question they understand what they were told to do They directly disobeyed the husband and walked into the yard where the wife had just pulled into the driveway The two adult German Shepherds and their puppies came running The gardeners panicked ONE GARDENER GRABBED THE WIFE AND WRESTLED HER TO THE GROUND, USING HER AS A PROTECTIVE SHIELD Congo thought his owner was being attacked and went after the gardener The gardener used his rake to beat at the puppies and inflicted some injuries on them The gardener changed his story three times (interesting note on official bias: when the owner said the gardener changed his story five times, the dog warden said “No, he only changed his story 3 times.”) Here’s what I have from New Jersey 101.5 Radio StationIn Princeton, a family dog, Congo, has been declared “vicious” by municipal Judge Russell Annich Jr.. Because of this, he may be ordered put to sleep, this coming Tuesday. His crime? A landscaper came onto the property of the dog’s owner, Guy and Elizabeth James, after being told to wait. Congo and the family’s other dogs started to bark. One of the landscapers’ started hitting the dogs with a metal rake. Elizabeth James started to yell at him to stop. So, the landscaper grabbed Elizabeth, from behind, and pulled her to the ground. Congo, thinking that his owner was being attacked, did what ANY good dog should do. He tried to protect his owner. The landscaper was bitten, and injured, as he should have been. Now, for being a good dog, Congo might be put to sleep. Should Congo be put to death for protecting his family?
Posted by:
suzannewman8 8:34 AMMark As Violation
Admin Link: 122
Put that yankee's dog on the border....and 12,000 more just like him.
Posted by:
southernfarmer1021 8:30 AMMark As Violation
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SOCIALIST HILLARY STRIKES AGAIN!
