Pence: Common Sense on Immigration

Mike Pence (R-IN) is a "comer" in Congress; he was a serious candidate for Boehnert's position as Majority Leader (yah, look what they got in Boehnert--a self-appointed Tin God.)

At any rate, Pence has an excellent proposal for immigration reform.

I see the solution as a four-step process. Securing our border is the first step. The second step is to make the decision, once and for all, to deny amnesty to people whose first act in the United States was a violation of the law. The third step is to put in place a guest worker program, without amnesty, that will efficiently provide American employers with willing guest workers who come to America legally. The final step is tough employer sanctions that ensure a full partnership between American business and the American government in the enforcement of our laws on immigration and guest workers.

On border security:

Instead of terrorists having the ability to sneak through a porous border, they will find a secure border hardened to prevent their illegal entry.

On "legitimate" border-crossers:

However, as I have been thinking about securing our border, a thought kept coming back to me. So many of the people crossing the border are not crossing for nefarious or devious reasons. The great majority of illegal border crossers do so in order to find work or to be with family members working in America. ...there must be a legal means for the great majority of people seeking temporary work to come to America.

His solution will be controversial--but it makes a lot of sense:

Therefore, the solution is to setup a system that will encourage illegal aliens to self-deport and come back legally as guest workers. This may sound outside of the box, and it is. It may sound far-fetched and unrealistic, but it isn’t. It is based on sound, proven conservative principles. It places reliance on American enterprise and puts government back into its traditional role of protecting its citizens. Let me explain to you how it will work.

Private worker placement agencies that we could call “Ellis Island Centers” will be licensed by the federal government to match willing guest workers with jobs in America that employers cannot fill with American workers. U.S. employers will engage the private agencies and request guest workers. In a matter of days, the private agencies will match guest workers with jobs, perform a health screening, fingerprint them and provide the appropriate information to the FBI and Homeland Security so that a background check can be performed, and provide the guest worker with a visa granted by the State Department. The visa will be issued only outside of the United States.

This is something that Manpower could do, without breaking a sweat.

...after three years of this program, we should be in a vastly different situation from where we are now. The great majority of illegal aliens will have self-deported and come back into a confirmed job. The number of those who don’t should be a manageable number for law enforcement to pursue and employers to terminate.

There also will be a limit on the amount of time a guest worker can spend in America. Guest workers will be allowed to renew their W Visas, but only for a period of up to six years. At that point, the guest should decide whether to return home or enter the separate process of seeking citizenship. We cannot have people coming to America as permanent guest workers.

Language problem? Nope.

In order to receive their first renewal, guest workers will be required to study English and pass an English proficiency class.

Problems with your employer? Nope. Quit and find a better one:

The bill will require employers to treat guest workers fairly and to follow employment laws. Employment taxes will be paid. Workers will be allowed to change jobs within a certain time period without having to leave the country. No worker will be trapped in a job with an abusive employer.

After creation and installation of a worker ID system,

With a guest worker program in place, there is no reason why an employer ever should hire or continue to employ an illegal alien. Employers who choose to operate outside of the system, however, must face tough fines in order to be made to comply. That is what the enforcement system and the new fine structure will do.

Why will THIS proposal work?

Employer enforcement is the key. Once in place, jobs for illegal aliens will dry up. Why hire an illegal alien when you can hire a legal guest worker and eliminate the possibility of a big fine? Why stay in the country illegally when you can quickly return home and come back as a legal guest worker?

Jim Sensenbrenner might want to take a hard look at this proposal. It utilizes a lot of his language but adds 'private industry' to the mix instead of another several thousand Gummint INS worker bees.

Party In Government (PIG) Crawls Forth

We've mentioned that Hastert, Boehnert, and Frist are out in left field with their "separation of powers" argument following a raid on Cong. Jefferson's office, which was executed pursuant to a JUDICIALLY-BLESSED search warrant. Jefferson, a slimebag, is not the issue here.

Seems that NYT/Knight Ridder discovered something:

Jefferson's case...seemed an unlikely mechanism for bringing the two parties together in an election year. But it appears to have done just that, leading Democrats and Republicans to find common ground in defense of institutional prerogatives.

Yah. They've discovered the Party In Government (AKA Party OF Government.)

Screw all you jerks out there in flyover country! WE ARE IN CONGRESS!!

Wisconsin Bishops Get It Right

Both Abp. Dolan and Bp. Morlino sent BagManJim a letter telling him that his embryonic-stem-cell research promotions are gravely immoral.

In a letter released Wednesday, Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Madison Bishop Robert Morlino asked the Democratic governor to reverse his support for embryonic stem cell research, which Doyle has said could boost the state's economy and lead to cures for Parkinson's disease and other maladies.

Doyle's arguments for the research "further diminishes human embryos to mere commodities," they wrote.

Doyle can't be bothered with such stuff when MONEY is on the line:

In a letter to the Catholic leaders Wednesday, Doyle said he had to "respectfully disagree" with their criticism because embryonic stem cell research "holds the potential to save countless lives and bring thousands of jobs to our state."

The bishops wrote that embryonic stem cell research is immoral because it destroys what they consider to be life, but added that they were particularly troubled that Doyle has tied his support for the research to economic development.

"Especially troubling to us is the tendency . . . to focus on the economic development value of embryonic stem cell research," they wrote. "Generally, support for research that involves destroying embryos is justified by the potential it holds to treat and cure illnesses, an understandable, but morally flawed justification. However, to justify such research on economic grounds takes the conversation in a disconcerting direction - a direction that further diminishes human embryos to mere commodities."

(There are ZERO documented "lives saved" by embryonic stemcells.)

Doyle said couples who can't conceive on their own and must turn to fertility clinics sometimes opt to donate unused fertilized embryos. Those embryos would have been destroyed, but now can be used to further stem cell research, he wrote.

Yup. See, what we do is simply clean up Frankenstein's mess. Whassamatta THAT?

The governor also said UW-Madison scientist James Thomson, one of the top researchers in the nation, and others have discovered that adult stem cells are no substitute for embryonic cells, which have a "far greater potential to save lives."

Duuuhhhhh. Thomson has a significant interest here; he's not dealing from 'clean hands.'

Kudos to the Bishops.

Elton John, Pathologist

Yah.

Spake thus this glittering dimbulb:

British pop music star Elton John has attacked the Catholic Church and its position on condom use as a reason for the demise of 60 of his friends to the sexually-transmitted disease, AIDS. Speaking at a business awards ceremony, he said, "We don't have a medical vaccine but we have a social vaccine and it's called education."

Well, Sir Elton, here's a bit of education for you:

...[C]ondoms may be a leading reason for the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Even leading health experts at the United Nations have acknowledged that condoms have an estimated 10% failure rate.
Edward C. Green, a senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health explained in 2003 that the one in ten failure rate of condoms protection from AIDS is "not good enough for a fatal disease."

What actually works?

Uganda's AIDS campaign, which stressed abstinence first and being faithful second and condoms only if one was crazy enough to forego the first two, has been seen as the only successful program in reversing the AIDS tide in Africa.

Appearing before the African subcommittee of the U.S. Senate on May 19, 2003, Green stated: "Infection rates [in Uganda] have declined from 21% to 6 % since 1991. Many of us in the AIDS and public health communities didn't believe that abstinence and faithfulness were realistic goals. It now seems we were wrong."

Surprise, surprise!

Perhaps Cdl. Martini, Friend of Rembert Weakland, should read the UN reports, too.

Just Don't Say What You Think!!

The University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities has a cachet similar to that of St. Norbert's; it's a smaller school, its graduates are generally successful, and it operates as a "Catholic" school.

But do NOT remind its graduating class of Catholic teachings!!

A spring term that began with controversy at the University of St. Thomas ended the same way Saturday when a student used part of his commencement address to admonish people he considered "selfish," including women who use birth control.

The remarks by Ben Kessler, a well-known student recently honored by peers and faculty as Tommie of the Year, led to catcalls and boos during commencement at the Catholic university in St. Paul. Others booed those who were booing. Some students walked out on their own graduation ceremony.

The President, whose middle names may well be Pontius Pilate leaps in...

The university's president, the Rev. Dennis Dease, also expressed regret "that graduates and their families and guests were offended by Mr. Kessler's remarks." Dease said he told Kessler it was inappropriate for him to use commencement to express his opinions.

Kessler was a defensive tackle on the St. Thomas football team and had a 4.0 grade-point average. He majored in philosophy and business, was an undergraduate seminarian at the university and plans to become a Roman Catholic priest.

Perhaps Abp. Dolan should give him a ring.

Future of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee?

With the California settlement looming (rumors are around $10MM), we now look at the action taken by the Diocese of Spokane:

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has retained Keen Realty, LLC to market for sale two vacant parcels of land and a 28,968+/- sq. ft. Historic Catholic Pastoral Center, all located in Spokane, Washington.

Available for sale is a 92+/- acre vacant parcel of land located just northwest of Interstate 90 and Medical Lake Road, Freeway Exit # 272, in the West Plains area of Spokane, WA. The site is approximately 2 miles southwest of the Terminal at Spokane International Airport and about 7 miles from The City Center of Downtown Spokane. The subject property is fairly level, at grade and has excellent visibility with paved public access at several points.

Additionally, a 3.0+/- acre parcel of land is also available for sale in Spokane. This smaller site is located in a residential area and is adjacent to Painted Hills Golf Course.

Also available for sale is a 28,968+/- sq. ft., three-story Historic Catholic Pastoral Center. This general office building is located on West Riverside Avenue, was built in 1910, 1924 and 1989 and is zoned Central Business District-1 in Downtown Spokane.

Well, who needed all that land/buildings, anyway?

Fannie Mae: Culture of Greed and Deception

Fannie Mae (FNMA) is the largest single investor in home mortgages and enjoys a quasi-Governmental status which make its securities (stock and bonds) attractive; people tend to believe that 'the Gummint will NOT let FNMA fail.'

That, alone, means one should VERY carefully evaluate its securites and stock for purchase...

But there's more. The ex-Pres/CEO of FNMA, an appointee of Bill Clinton, has some 'splainin to do:

Federal regulators issued a blistering report about mortgage giant Fannie Mae on Tuesday, alleging accounting manipulation aimed at lining executives' pockets and lying to investors about smooth growth in profits and earnings.

...OFHEO and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $400 million civil penalty against Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. buyer and guarantor of home mortgages, in a settlement over the alleged accounting manipulation. Of that amount, the $350 million assessed by the SEC — one of its biggest penalties ever in an accounting fraud case — will go to compensate Fannie Mae investors damaged by the alleged violations.

The company also agreed to limit the growth of its multibillion-dollar mortgage holdings, capping them at $727 billion, and to make top-to-bottom changes in its corporate culture, accounting procedures and ways of managing risk.

The part in red is suggestive, to say the least.

Twenty-nine current and former executives and employees — including former chairman and chief executive Franklin Raines and former chief financial officer Timothy Howard — will be reviewed for possible disciplinary action or termination.

S'pose the Feds might yank the pensions from these cretins? Naaaaaahhhh...

In December 2004, the SEC ordered the company to restate its earnings back to 2001 — a correction expected to reach an estimated $11 billion. The Justice Department has been pursuing a criminal investigation.

The report "shows that Fannie Mae's faults were not limited to violating accounting and corporate governance standards, but included excessive risk-taking and poor risk management as well," Randal Quarles, Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, said in a statement. "OFHEO's findings are a clear warning about the very real risk the improperly managed investment portfolios of (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) pose to the greater financial system."

The accounting manipulation tied to executives' bonuses occurred from 1998 to 2004, according to the report, a much longer period than was previously known. It "made a significant contribution" to Raines' compensation, which totaled more than $90 million from 1998 to 2003, the report says, including some $52 million directly tied to the company hitting earnings targets

Uhhnnn...Mr. Raines...we want $52MM back. Now. Before you land in Club Fed.

If You Think NSA Phone Data is Scary...

Then check THIS out:

The infra-red cameras are capable of reading license plates at triple digit speeds AND across up to four lanes of traffic AND at angles which I would not have believed capable, at up to 1,500 different license plates per minute per eight hour shift. Automatically.

At first glance, this new technology seems quite the boon for law enforcement. It's basically a program to read license plates and compare them to a list (stolen vehicles, vehicles involved in felonies, etc.), and if there's a match, to alert the officer.

...one of the first extras added seems to have been the ubiquitous GPS receiver.

Ah, I see the light dawning.

The feature is called 'Geo-fencing'. In a nutshell, 'Geo-fencing' is simply inputting a GPS location cross-indexed with a list of license plates that shouldn't be anywhere near the location. For instance, the GPS coordinates of a school, cross-indexed with the license plates of your local sex offenders. Or the GPS coordinates of a house, indexed with the license plates belonging to Protective Order suspects.Doesn't sound too bad, until you realize that the co-ordinats and the index can be whatever the local agency deems necessary.

Here's where it gets really interesting:

Once in [the] database, anyone who has access can search the database by license plate number, location, time of day, or other variable or combination of variables.

[With e]nough patrol cars retrofitted with one of these systems and -- deliberately or not -- the government will have a record of where each and every car in the area is at least once per shift.The potential for abuse is awe-inspiring.

(This from an LEO with 18+ years' experience on the force, by the way.)

For criminal investigations, this stuff is likely a godsend. On the other hand, one bad guy, and you have serious problems:

Don't like guns? Run one of your patrol cars through gunshop parking lots, and see where else those plates have been. It's for the children, right?

Same applies to, say, Republican or Democratic functions--or whatever ELSE some local or State (or national) figure-with-power doesn't like.

As with NSA phone-records--it's not necessarily the data--it's the moral quality of the individuals keeping or using the data that counts. Obviously, as technology advances, the stakes get higher...

Hastert & Boehnert: Sit Down and SHUT UP!

Evidently the Moron-Content Meter in the House and Senate continues to rise--the screeching from Hastert, Boehnert, and Frist continues over a legal, judicially-approved raid on the office of a Congressman who was videotaped taking a bribe.

Most likely that particular Congressman, a Democrat, will be out of Congress (but still occupying Federally-paid space) in the next year or so.

However, Hastert and Boehnert continue to harp, snort, and wail.

Message to you boys: STFU. Nobody, but nobody, elected you to permanent immunity from investigation.

Real Men Kneel on Stone

From a blog of a Catholic priest serving in Iraq:

It has benches along three sides, a field altar in the center, and a tabernacle on the fourth wall, mounted on a wooden platform. Nothing fancy, but it is more than most places have, so I am more than satisfied.

The floor is stone tile. One day I commented during my homily that maybe we should get foam rolls from Supply to kneel on.

After Mass my collection of one enlisted sailor, two Navy officers (doctors both), one enlisted Marine, and four Marine officers had a quick huddle. As one of the officers was bringing in some of the gear from the Mass back to the sacristry/confessional/storage area (we make the best use of our spaces over here), he remarked that the group had decided that the pads were not needed.

When I asked why not, he replied: “Real men kneel on stone.”

There are TWO operative words here: kneel and stone.

AFL-CIO and Immigration

As demonstrated in an earlier post, a number of unions are leaving, or have already left, the AFL-CIO Federation to concentrate on organizing drives.

And those organizing drives are concentrating on the lower-end of the wage scale (with a few exceptions,) making one of the targets the immigrants, legal or otherwise, who occupy that niche in the economy.

Now comes news of another defection from the AFL-CIO:

The Laborers' Union, which represents 700,000 workers in the construction industry, has decided to leave the AFL-CIO, officials said.

The Laborers were already part of the Change to Win coalition, breakaway unions that have left the giant federation of more than 50 unions in an effort to forge a new direction for organized labor. But the Laborers had remained in the federation.

"We are leaving so that we can place our full efforts and focus on growth in order to help millions of construction workers improve their lives," said Richard Greer, a spokesman for the Laborers. The Laborers informed the AFL-CIO Monday that they are leaving as of June 1.

The Laborers, the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers, UNITE HERE, United Farm Workers and the Carpenters are part of the Change to Win coalition.

Frankly, labor membership numbers have been spiraling downward (outside of Government unions) for the last 25 years and although the union movement has a lot of cash available at the present, one does not need clairvoyance to foresee an empty treasury.

If/when the unions run out of money, they will be unable to make political contributions--and that will be the end.

So, to pump membership numbers, the Change To Win coalition is working two angles: first, to water down the Immigration bill as far as possible in all areas which count; and secondly, to capture as many of the immigrants into membership as possible.

"Temporary" Does NOT Mean "Temporary"

The Senate Immigration bill is so full of....ah.....holes and weasel-words that it's like shooting fish in a barrel, but here's another dead trout:

Last Thursday, Sens. Kyl and Cornyn offered an amendment to the immigration bill that would give real meaning to the word “temporary” in the President’s repeated statements about a “temporary worker program.” This amendment, sensibly enough, would “stipulate that the 200,000 low-skilled immigrants allowed to enter the country under a new temporary-worker visa would have to leave when the visa expired.” The Senators, under the impression that “temporary” means something, announced White House support for this provision.

Not so fast!!

When word reached the backers of the compromise, they were furious, according to a senior Republican Senate aide involved in the events. Immigrant groups such as the National Council of La Raza [the Race] and the National Immigration Forum had said they would withdraw their support for the Senate bill if the amendment passed.

Immigration enthusiasts Sens. Martinez, Hagel and Graham prevailed upon the White House to drop its support, and Hagel went to the floor of the Senate to announce this victory

Victory, eh? Over whom?

Once again, GWB bows to LaRaza. Please allow us to continue in 'full-cynic' mode. The only time these jerks are NOT lying is when they are dead drunk (silent) or fully asleep (silent.)

HT: RedState

Predator on the Prowl

If you live in the western area of Brookfield (City OR Town), or in eastern Pewaukee, or northern Waukesha, keep your eyes open for a royal blue Cherokee/Explorer-type vehicle occupied by a 30-ish male.

He likes to stop on the street and talk to young children.

Yes, a police report has been filed.

We're CONGRESSMEN!!! You Can't Raid US!!!

See, when you're in Congress, none of the rules apply:

An unusual FBI raid of a Democratic congressman's office over the weekend prompted complaints yesterday from leaders in both parties, who said the tactic was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government.

Rep. William J. Jefferson (La.), who is at the center of a 14-month investigation for allegedly accepting bribes for promoting business ventures in Africa, also held a news conference in which he denied any wrongdoing and denounced the raid on his office as an "outrageous intrusion." Jefferson, who has not been charged, vowed to seek reelection in November.

Jefferson's reaction is the normal one--after all, he was the target of the raid.

But it's THESE reactions which make you wonder:

The Saturday raid... posed a new political dilemma for the leaders of both parties, who felt compelled to protest his treatment while condemning any wrongdoing by the lawmaker.

Republican leaders, who previously sought to focus attention on the Jefferson case as a counterpoint to their party's own ethical scandals, said they are disturbed by the raid. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said that he is "very concerned" about the incident and that Senate and House counsels will review it.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) expressed alarm at the raid. "The actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case," he said in a lengthy statement released last night.

"Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our Republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this Separation of Powers line, in order to successfully prosecute corruption by Members of Congress,"

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement that "members of Congress must obey the law and cooperate fully with any criminal investigation" but that "Justice Department investigations must be conducted in accordance with Constitutional protections and historical precedent."

Senator Frist and Speaker Hastert (both useless turkeys, by the way) ought to be slapped. What they're doing is NOT asserting "congressional privilege," they are getting dangerously close to justifying obstruction of justice.

When you think of the intrusions the Congressional Crowd has imposed upon ordinary citizens (remember "airport screenings"??) ....it takes a LOT of chutzpah to make these asinine comments.

HT: AnkleBitingPundits

ID Theft--26.5 MILLION Veterans

Are you a vet? Discharged since 1975?

Yah--your data's been compromised. Some VetsAdmin jackass took it home, and somebody took it away from his home.

This should be interesting, eh?

Cdl Arinze to Bps Lipscomb, Trautman

In brief, what Cdl Arinze said was:

SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and DO YOUR JOB!!

I love it when the Rome gang speaks in plain English!

The attention of your Bishops’ Conference was also recalled to the fact that Liturgiam authenticam was issued at the directive of the Holy Father at the time, Pope John Paul II, to guide new translations as well as the revision of all translations done in the last forty years, to bring them into greater fidelity to the original-language official liturgical texts.

For this reason it is not acceptable to maintain that people have become accustomed to a certain translation for the past thirty or forty years, and therefore that it is pastorally advisable to make no changes. Where there are good and strong reasons for a change, as has been determined by this Dicastery in regard to the entire translation of the Missale Romanum as well as other important texts, then the revised text should make the needed changes.

The attitudes of Bishops and Priests will certainly influence the acceptance of the texts by the lay faithful as well.

The whining in the background comes from Bp Trautman and some of his pals. Yes, it's whining, and it is both obnoxious AND noxious.

HT: Amy

Yah--I Missed the Anniversary

One year of this passed on May 14th.

All four of you readers missed it.

So did I.

Reminds me: I should probably look up the spouse's birthday and our anniversary dates soon...

In Case You Don't Get It, BagManJimbo Doyle

Jim Doyle, friend of illegal aliens, trial lawyers, tribes, and criminals, tells Wisconsin women that their ONLY choice is the one on the left

ShrillShirley, Demento Queen of the Supremes (WI), tells Wisconsin women that their only choice is the one on the left (unless they really, really, really think they are in danger and ask "Shirley, May I??" before the assault.)

Real men and women think the proper choice is the one on the right.

Slavemasters Break the Law--No Problem!!

Yah, the Senate Bill also provides amnesty for the Slavemaster class--employers of illegals.

Among those who will be cleared of past crimes under the Senate's proposed immigration-reform bill would be the businesses that have employed the estimated 10 million illegal aliens eligible for citizenship and that provided the very "magnet" that drew them here in the first place.

Buried in the more than 600 pages of legislation is a section titled "Employer Protections," which states: "Employers of aliens applying for adjustment of status under this section shall not be subject to civil and criminal tax liability relating directly to the employment of such alien."

Podhoretz and Arlen Specter both object:

"The legislation we are considering today is not amnesty," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said last week. "That is a pejorative term, really a smear term used to denigrate the efforts at comprehensive immigration reform. This is not amnesty because amnesty means a pardon of those who have broken the law."

(Podhoretz, a NeoCon, objects to the use of the term 'slavemasters.' )

Naturally, the Democrats rose to the opportunity:

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, vehemently opposes "this effort to waive the rules for lawbreakers and to legalize the unlawful actions of undocumented workers and the businesses that illegally employ them."

...without the least sense of irony, it was "Sheets" Byrd!

HT: the Washington Times via Malkin.

WARNING!! Don't Dress This Way on Airplanes

If you travel by air, here's what NOT to wear:

dress shoes, dress socks, and sport coats

That's the 'uniform dress' of the Fed Air Marshals.

Since they will be killed/disabled FIRST by the perps, imitation is a form of suicide.

HT: Captain's Quarters

Diebold Vote Machines--NOT Ready for Prime Time

The BadgerBlogger reads interesting stuff!

There is a backdoor in the [Diebold] software that allows someone with access to the machines to completely alter the way the the votes are read and tabulated.

As it turns out, this isn’t simply a mistake in the programming, it is a built in feature.

Diebold "built-in" the feature for ease of maintenance and upgrades, assuming that nobody with authority over the machines (poll workers, municipal voting supervisors, etc.,) knows or understands DOS.

Faulty assumption.

Tom Jefferson Loves These Kids

We all know "TJ"'s maxim "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing."

Heh.

The senior class at a southern Kentucky high school gave their response Friday night to a federal judge's order banning prayer at commencement.

About 200 seniors stood during the principal's opening remarks and began reciting the Lord's Prayer, prompting a standing ovation from a standing-room only crowd at the Russell County High School gymnasium.

The thunderous applause drowned out the last part of the prayer.

The Federal jackass judge could not be reached for comment.

English? Kinda, Sorta--According to GWB

We all know why GWB really doesn't want to get into the topic of the English language.

But it goes beyond the "Late Show" monologues.

This one was started when the Attorney General said that the President does not support English as the "national language." WRONG!!

"The president has never supported making English the national language," Gonzales said after meeting with state and local officials in Texas to discuss cooperation on enforcement of immigration laws.

He said Bush has instead long supported a concept called "English-Plus," believing that it was good to be proficient in more than one language.

Later on Friday, the White House weighed in to clarify Gonzales' remarks, saying the president does not believe in English as an "official" language.

"The attorney general got caught in a linguistic snare. He took 'national' language to mean what we describe as 'official' language.

"We have no problem in identifying English, our common linguistic currency as a national language; we also view it more expansively as the "common and unifying language," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

But whatever you call it, it is NOT THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE US.

By the way, the use of the indefinite article "a" (bold/highlighted above) is very interesting. As written, that sentence means that English is simply one of a NUMBER of 'national languages.'

We have other 'national languages?' Or we have a Press Office which doesn't understand the current "national language," which is most certainly NOT an "official language," gehr ste'he, paisan?

Mashugah....

You Got Troubles, Bubbles?

The LawDog has trouble (!!) getting a NICS-check clearance to purchase a weapon.

And he has some thoughts regarding the politicians responsible:

Two-bit, four-flushing, dirt-stupid, mono-synaptic, twinkle-toed, nostril-digging, booger-chewing, gauch-eyed, disease-ridden, vermin-infested, inbred, lily-livered, sheep-shagging, arse-picking, trough-swilling, blood-sucking, butt-kissing, parasitic catamites!

I'd pimp-slap every gun-grabbing legiscritter on Capitol Hill, but I don't want to splatter cow manure over half of Virginia.

Every fecking time I see Schumer, or Kennedy or Feinstein, or any of the rest of them, I am flat awe-struck that somebody, somewhere, not only managed to stack dung that high, but also managed to get it to speak.

I'd name them as their mother's shame, but considering that some random invertebrate probably vomited them forth onto a handy rock like a handful of small, greasy, hairballs from hell, I sincerely doubt that the concept of 'mother' has ever tickled that one paltry neuron weeping all alone in the vast, bitter darkness betwixt their ear flaps

Actually, limiting the list to Schumer, Kennedy, and Feinstein is...unfair.

Landscaping--Big Buck Jobs!

My friends in the landscaping business may have a reaction to this:

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times ran a piece of open-borders propaganda masquerading as journalism, which featured a Riverside, Calif., landscaper named Cyndi Smallwood who claims she can't find workers to dig ditches even at $34 an hour.

The claim seems preposterous, but the Times assures us that Smallwood has no ideological ax to grind. She is "ambivalent on immigration reform," the Times reports. Just an ordinary landscaper, you know.

But it turns out there's a tiny bit more to the story that the LA Times isn't telling you. Reader Christopher L. wrote this morning to point out that a simple Google search shows that Cyndi Smallwood is president of the Orange County chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association, and is a member of the association's "Immigration Task Force." The activist group opposes the "Punitive Immigration Reform Bill Proposed by Rep. Sensenbrenner."

But when you get to the end of the blog, you find that $34./hour is REQUIRED under California law for "living wage" purposes--and that Ms. Smallwood did not actually advertise these jobs (there are 2;) she just tried to fill them by word-of-mouth.

However, after the brouhaha resulting from her LATimes and radio appearances, she had well over 30 applications--we say "well over" because most of the callers on a call-in show ALSO wanted the jobs, but nobody counted them.

...the fact remains that in the judgment of California politicians, $75K/year is a "living wage."

Welcome, NRA!!

In a most eloquent column, Pat McIlheran says a great deal about the NRA's foundational philosophy and the wackos who can't stand to utter the letters "N R A".

Among the raspberries being blown at what amounts to a bunch of ordinary people who like hunting is the one from Josh Horwitz, head of something called the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. It used to be have a more direct name, The National Coalition to Ban Handguns, so you have a decent idea of where they fall on respecting the Second Amendment.

His argument is that by suggesting that people use guns to, say, shoot back at criminals sticking up their shops or invading their homes, the NRA favors the abrogation of the right to a fair trial.

[You can't make this up...]

Horwitz says it goes further, that the NRA is destructive to democracy by its insistence that, in the end, the point of the Second Amendment is that an armed citizenry is a check on tyranny.
“Government is the source of some of our very important rights,” he says. “I thought government was the embodiment of the people.”

Sorry, no. Governments are useful things, ...[b]ut they are merely instruments to secure rights that come from elsewhere — as the Founders put it, “their Creator”[.]

Horwitz’s contention that any notion of self-defense against civil tyranny is to be found in democratic institutions alone seems a little pale.

His bigger point, that in democracy we presume that the will of the people is paramount and that, therefore, the losers have no business regarding any of democracy’s results as tyrannical seems disconnected from our history as a nation founded on rebellion and constituted with the assumption there are many things the will of the people can’t do. Like ban free speech, even if they vote to do so.

“Your remedy is in the political system,” he says, but in the NRA’s most apocalyptic moments, it is merely saying the Second Amendment amounts to a silent reminder that even the political system has to remain within bounds.

An eloquent and civil response to someone who deserves far less, eh?

Thanks, Pat.

Dump Doyle

Nothing like alliteration for punch!

Bumperstickers and lapel stickers with that pithy message were all over the place at the Midwest Express Center yesterday.

Mark Green's campaign sent a fellow with a sandwich board, who walked around on the corner of 4th/Wisconsin with the message: "Welcome, Governor Doyle" in a biting sarcastic reference to BagManJimbo's "stuff it" message to the NRA.

When asked, the man stated that he had not seen either the Governor NOR the Mayor of Milwaukee near the Center.

BagMan, of course, had his own spin:

"If I have to listen to experts on public safety who are against carrying concealed weapons or the NRA rhetoric, I'll put my trust in law enforcement," Doyle said. "If I have a choice of listening to Ted Nugent or the police officers of Wisconsin, I'm going to listen to police officers of Wisconsin."

Doyle argues that the safety of state residents is not improved by carrying "loaded guns in their pockets."

Right, Jim. The consistent experience of 48 other States--that the passage of concealed-carry laws preceded a DROP in crime--why, that's hardly as important as the testimony of the Chief of Police of the UW-System.

Tell it to the folks on the Lower East Side of Milwaukee, where there's a recent rash of armed robberies, reported on TMJ4 last night at 10:00 PM.

But after next November's election, Jim, you'll be telling it to your mirror.

DUMP DOYLE!!

Doyle Dumps His Man?

The Milwaukee JSOnline reports:

Lenard Wells, the chairman of the state's Parole Commission, confirmed Friday that he has resigned from the panel.

Wells, reached by telephone late Friday, said he is resigning for personal reasons. He said the resignation is effective Monday and declined to comment further.

My, THAT was quick.

Wells, ... has been the subject of recent criticism for approving the parole of two men convicted in the 1975 slaying of off-duty Milwaukee Police Officer Dennis Lee Obradovich.

One suspects that "Re-Election Mode" is in play in the Office of the Governor of this State.

More Work for Sensenbrenner

In our US Senate, here's the question:

Should ILLEGAL immigrants, once made legal by the McCain legislation, be entitled to receive the Social Security benefits they have paid into the system while ILLEGALLY using FRAUDULENT Social Security numbers STOLEN from actual, legal citizens of the United States of America[?]

The answer, 50-49: Yup.

Answer to Stingl's Question

Dear Jim,

Here's your question:

What were you thinking?!

Here's the answer:

Thinking? Huh?

Courthouse Security

Objection, Your Sheriff-ness!!

Leaders of the Waukesha County Bar Association oppose the security plan because county officials refuse to allow lawyers to enter the courthouse complex without being screened and scrutinized.

Actually, lawyers are the ONLY ones to be screened.

Ordinary people are harmless.

Never the Same Again

From a friend: The Top 10 Cowboy Movie Lines Which will NEVER Be the Same Again (after Brokeback Mountain)

10: I'm gonna pump you full of lead

9: Gimme a stiff one, barkeep!

8: Don't fret; I've been in tight spots before.

7: Howdy, pardner

6: You stay here while I sneak around from behind!

5: Two words: Saddle Sore!

4: HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!! Now, move your hand, REAL slow-like!!

3: Let mount up!

2: Nice spread you got here!!

1: Ride 'em, Cowboy!!

Honorable mention: from the non-cowboy movie starring the no-name cowboy:

Do you feel lucky, punk? Do you?

Hmmmm...Signs are Not So Hot

From today's Dismal Scientist:

The Conference Board Leading Indicators for April rang in below consensus expectations, falling 0.1%. The results for March and February were revised higher, leaving a larger hurdle for growth in April. Three of the ten components that make up the leading index made positive contributions in the latest month.

Combine that with the PPI (Producer Price Index) showing a 7/10ths% gain last month (8.4% annual inflation rate) and the gold price, and you have an interesting USD valuation problem.

Hmmmmm.....

Feingold (D-AlQuaeda) Speaks Gibberish to Specter

Not that Feinie's gibberish-driveling is new, or anything...

Our Senator, of course, is grandstanding for the Homosex"Marriage" bunch, and Feinie flounced out of a hearing (Senate Judiciary) when Specter and he simply could not agree on important stuff:

Among Feingold's objections was Specter's decision to hold the vote in the President's Room, where access by the general public is restricted, instead of in the panel's usual home in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Specter later said he would have been willing to hold the session in the usual room had he thought doing so would change votes.

...and the decor is so....so...declasse...

Specter opposes the Amendment, by the way.

Define "Amnesty"

Pace Charlie Sykes, who really wants to defend the President...

Sensenbrenner insists that the President's plan is "amnesty." Sykes and the White House spinner disagree.

But it IS amnesty, and here's why.

Someone entered your house illegally, (which happens to be the perfect analogy.)

Sensenbrenner says they have to LEAVE THE HOUSE before we say "You are forgiven."

BUSH, on the other hand, does not require them to LEAVE THE HOUSE. He says "pay a fine, pay taxes, but do it all while you're still in the house," and we'll let you stay.

Stay? THAT'S AMNESTY, Charlie!!

On the OTHER hand:

Since amnesty is conditional (that is, it's like a contract--each party agrees to certain provisions before amnesty is granted)...

It's also NOT AMNESTY!! because (presumably) the illegals will fulfill the provisions demanded by Our President.

See!! Now everybody's happy.

On Scott Jensen

In the years I have resided in this locale, I've had two State Representatives: Ken Merkel and Scott Jensen. Both were good (by and large) at representing the interests of the district. Ken's now in retirement, but I see him regularly.

Scott's in retirement, too, of a different sort.

Briefly, Scott was screwed. Yes, there are plenty of "appeal" items in the trial, and it's entirely possible that the decision will be overturned. That won't do much good for Scott, who will be in State prison.

Frankly, the Western District US Attorney ought to be looking at prosecutorial misconduct charges against Brian Blanchard, who deliberately and consciously overlooked ADMISSIONS of wrongdoing by multiple Legislators and staffers while nailing Scott to a tree. That would be a good start.

The best analysis of the situation was provided by the Shark:

The Jensen verdict and sentence should, however should trouble civil libertarians for at least three reasons.

The first is that what Jensen did was not clearly defined as a crime before he did it. Generally, when we seek to impose criminal liability on someone, we want them to have a sufficiently malevolent heart or, to use the fancy law term, mens rea. We want them to have done more than guessed wrong or failed to pay attention.

They don't necessarily have to know that their conduct was criminal, but, as a general matter, we want to be able to say that they should have known.

...the point is that as many Supreme Court justices as not thought that the application of the criminal statute to him was unconstitutionally vague and violated principles of due process and fair notice.

THAT is the very definition of prosecutorial misconduct (at least in the real world.) It's similar to the "here and there, now and then, YOU'LL never know" application of RICO to Joe Scheidler.

It's prosecution based on "Whatever the Hell I FEEL like charging you with today!" and it stinks. Those who rail against "driving while black" ticketing ought to be right behind Scott on this one.

One hopes that the Appellate Court finds this as odious as it is, and reverses/remands.

And that Scott is released, if not pardoned, immediately.

Shirley Abrahamson's Caused A New Group

Since Shirley is both writing AND adjudging law, she's 2/3rds of the way to becoming Castro. Just in case she gets closer, here's a logo for those who are the patriotic opposition:



HT: RedState

McCain--NOT!

John McCain, one of the worst Studies in Vanity currently occupying the Senate, figured out that in order to achieve his ambition (the Presidency) he may just have to act 'conservative' for a few months.

But that doesn't fool people like John Lott:

Let’s consider just one of these issues: McCain’s claimed pro-gun record. This was true a decade ago, but since then, on issues such as regulating gun shows, banning less expensive guns and so-called assault weapons, and requiring gunlocks, McCain has supported central portions of the gun-control agenda. Indeed, in a couple cases, McCain authored the proposed legislation himself.

The legislation is taken directly from the ShrillShirley Manual of Kafka Government Policy:

McCain’s gun show regulations, instead of simply requiring background checks on sales at gun shows, would make it extremely difficult for gun shows even to function. A special license would be required to operate gun shows. Licenses could be denied without the federal government even having to give a reason, and no time limits would be placed on how long the government had to make its decisions.

While gun-control groups have tried for years to register the names of gun owners, McCain’s legislation helps accomplish this by effectively requiring the registration of all people who attend a gun show. Gun show operators would even face criminal penalties and imprisonment if any unregistered attendees were to trade a gun after the show if the gun were discussed in any way during the show. The only option to operators would thus be to register everyone.

...McCain has helped protect guns owners, such as supporting legislation to protect gun makers from reckless lawsuits, but for McCain to argue this week that he is reliably pro-gun relies on conservatives having very short memories.

And "short memories" is NOT a problem with LEGAL gun owners.

State Budget Deficit Reduction

We did not notice any budget provision which took advantage of this:

It is just that the Deficit Reduction Act of last year allowed states to cut back coverage there. [Contraception coverage] It is no longer guaranteed.

Of course, Hildebeeste is shrieking about this, already.

So where's Senator Reynolds? Lazich? Kanavas?

Shirley Won't Be Here

...but I will..

The 135th annual meeting of the National Rifle Association is expected to attract 60,000 gun advocates to downtown Milwaukee this weekend in celebration and defense of the 2nd Amendment, organizers say.

"The convention is a celebration of the American freedom we have to own firearms," LaPierre said. "It will be an uplifting event on firearms, hunting, recreation shooting, collecting, self-defense, crime protection and defending our 2nd Amendment rights to own and bear arms.

Well, that "self-defense" and "rights" stuff--that doesn't comport with ShrillShirley Abrahamson's view of the world, regardless of the language...but never mind.

LaPierre said the NRA is growing, in part, because of increasing interest by women in guns for personal protection. The convention will address that issue in a Saturday seminar featuring NRA President Sandy Froman.

"Women are the fastest-growing segment of firearms ownership," LaPierre said. "A lot has to do with personal protection and a lot is from recreational use."

The Saturday seminar will explore women's rights to carry arms, he said, especially those who are alone at work or who leave work late at night.

Obviously, LaPierre and Froman live in the real world. "Late at night?" Not if they're carrying several thousand dollars cash for a bank deposit, Sandy. Under THOSE circumstances, they are forced to enter the Alternative Universe occupied by ShrillShirley.

One which is very dangerous, if you actually behave the way Shirley mandates.

The White House Statement Doesn't Add Up

Thank God for Jim Sensenbrenner--maybe.

He makes it clear that the White House is playing games with the immigration issue. Well, we kinda thought that. On the other hand, 'playing games' is not the sort of thing that Our President wants on his official biography, is it?

"He basically turned his back on provisions of the House bill, a lot of which we were requested to put in the bill by the White House," Sensenbrenner said.

One provision he cited makes it a criminal offense to be in the country illegally. That followed a request from the Justice Department.

The House bill makes unlawful presence a felony, though Sensenbrenner and House leaders have agreed to reduce it to a criminal misdemeanor. It is currently a civil violation.

"The president seems to be running away from that now," Sensenbrenner said of the stiffened penalties in the House legislation.

But here's the part which does not add up:

"Under the president's plan, you have to pay stiff fines, follow the law, stay employed, learn English, and after achieving all those things, you still go to the back of the line. That's not amnesty."

"The back of the line?" Does that mean a 14-year wait for citizenship, as is the case with most Mexicans who actually go through the formal process?

So does the White House propose that these folks will be here in the US during all those years? Or living here part-time? What about "anchor babies?"

Sensenbrenner was similarly adamant in his disdain for the term earned citizenship, and in his view, what Bush is discussing "is an amnesty because it allows people who have broken the law to stay in the country."

Under the Senate plan, many of those people will end up achieving legal status much sooner than they would have by waiting for legal permission to enter, Sensenbrenner said.

One suspects that the REAL debate is here:

Sensenbrenner said he thinks a compromise could include provisions for temporary workers, if "that does not include an amnesty," and only if it includes "vigorous" enforcement of sanctions against employers for hiring illegal immigrants.

...which is anathema to a lot of large-contribution types.

GWB "Out of Touch?"

Peggy Noonan raises the possibility:

The disinterest in the White House and among congressional Republicans in establishing authority on America's borders is so amazing--the people want it, the age of terror demands it--that great histories will be written about it. Thinking about this has left me contemplating a question that admittedly seems farfetched: Is it possible our flinty president is so committed to protecting the Republican Party from losing, forever, the Hispanic vote, that he's decided to take a blurred and unsatisfying stand on immigration, and sacrifice all personal popularity, in order to keep the party of the future electorally competitive with a growing ethnic group?

This would, I admit, be rather unlike an American political professional. And it speaks of a long-term thinking that has not been the hallmark of this administration. But at least it would render explicable the president's moves.

The other possibility is that the administration's slow and ambivalent action is the result of being lost in some geopolitical-globalist abstract-athon that has left them puffed with the rightness of their superior knowledge, sure in their membership in a higher brotherhood, and looking down on the low concerns of normal Americans living in America.

I continue to believe the administration's problem is not that the base lately doesn't like it, but that the White House has decided it actually doesn't like the base. That's a worse problem. It's hard to fire a base. Hard to get a new one.

If you haven't noticed, Sykes has supported the President's "plan", sorta. Listening to Charlie talk about it is interesting, because he doesn't really project the conviction; the Force is not with him, as it were, in his discussions of the "plan."

Is that related to Noonan's observation? Perhaps.

It should be clear that I think Our President is infected with the DC Disease described above in the red-lettered 'graph sections.

USAToday--Today's Lies

Now both Verizon AND BellSouth have denied that they provided data for the NSA.

Oh, well. You can always believe the DaVinci Codes.

When did Dan Rather become ExecEditor of USAToday?

HT: FreedomEden

Levin on GlobaloneyGeorge's Modest Proposal

Levin is not a happy camper, either--no surprise.

Interesting excerpt:

It is inaccurate to say that Ronald Reagan supported amnesty, and nothing more. Reagan insisted on enforcement, and the 1986 Simpson-Mazzolli bill has very strict provisions, including heavy penalties against law-breaking companies. Neither this administration nor past administrations have seen fit to enforce the law. [That would be..GlobaloneyGeorge I and X42...]

That’s our experience over the last 20 years. So, of course, we conservatives are extremely skeptical of another round of amnesty without enforcement. And that’s what the president is offering. Even worse, that’s what the Hagel-Martinez bill proposes, plus 100 million new aliens to boot. And the Democrats find this too restrictive, which is the only saving grace for Republicans—if any.

Yah. The Corporate/Labor/Government sync-think on the Senate proposal is rather, ah, discouraging if you have to pay the bills, or if your children have to pay the bills.

WISupremes Can't Read English

The Wisconsin Constitution's 25th Amendment reads as follows:


The people have the right to keep and bear arms
for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any
other lawful purpose.

Except, of course, in ShirleyLand, (formerly known as the State of Wisconsin.)

In a decision released today, the ShirleyCourt decided that carrying a concealed weapon in your car when you are carrying large amounts of cash in the middle of the night is not "a right" for "security."

And the Tooth Fairy awards quarters, yah.


...under both Hamdan and Cole an individual generally has no heightened interest in his or her right to bear arms for security while in a vehicle. This
principle follows from Hamdan's repeated focus on the heightened interest in that right in the individual's home or privately owned business.

Tell THAT to the victims of car-jackings, Shirley. Here's why the ShirleyCourt said that:


...carrying a concealed weapon allows individuals to more easily act violently on impulse.

Sure. Having a weapon means that you're likely to shoot the SOB. I don't know why Shirley didn't invoke "the children" here. Regardless, the assertion is insulting and demeaning--but we'll have to get used to that with the ShirleyCourt.

These objectives are highly salient when an individual carries a concealed weapon in a motor vehicle. Of particular concern is the potential danger to law enforcement officers if an individual is carrying a concealed weapon during the course of a traffic stop. Given the frequency of contacts between law enforcement and motorists, individuals carrying concealed
weapons in motor vehicles present a greater overall risk to law
enforcement than do individuals carrying concealed weapons in their homes or privately-owned businesses.

This is a flat-out lie. In the entire history of CCW permits, across the entire USA, there has been only ONE incident wherein a CCW holder pulled a gun on an officer during a traffic-stop. It so happens that the CCW holder in that case was--you guessed it--an ex-cop.

ShirleyCourt decided that since the tavern-owner in the above case did not demonstrate that his location was dangerous, nor that he really, really believed he needed the weapon for purposes of self-defense, and since the tavern-owner did not keep the weapon IN his place of business, he couldn't possibly have any real serious concerns about carrying $X,000.00 in cash around in the middle of the night.

Right. What he really needed was to beg, "Teacher, May I" according to ShirleyLogic.

The ShirleyCourt, in utter disregard for reality, found that 'there is no reason to distinguish between one's home, business, or car,' but simultaneously held that a Wisconsin citizen does NOT:

have a colorable claim of a constitutional privilege to carry a concealed weapon in his or her vehicle for security.

Lemmesee, heah, Gomer. You can have a weapon in your house, which 'cannot be distinguished from your car,' but you CANNOT have a weapon in your car. Uh-huh.

In ShirleyLand, "hav[ing] the right to bear arms...for security.." does NOT apply to situations in which someone may actually need security, unless you will be in "imminent danger" and can prove it (in advance) of actually BEING "in imminent danger." This is nutso-Kafka.

In ShirleyLand, you may have a weapon for personal protection only if the Carjacker Alliance sends out advance notice of their planned activities at Mayfair.

To his credit, Justice Crooks (joined by Roggensack and Wilcox) dissents:


Yet, in light of our constitutional amendment which grants Wisconsin citizens the right to bear arms "for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose," a statutory prohibition on carrying concealed weapons at all times, under all circumstances, the sole exception being for peace officers, is not a reasonable exercise of the state's police powers.

(Proving that Justice Crooks CAN read English.)

And then Crooks raises a familiar refrain (see Sykes citation in this blog):


This court cannot create exceptions to Wis. Stat. § 941.23 to cure that statute's constitutional defects. That is the job of the Wisconsin Legislature.2 It is well-established in Wisconsin law that "'[w]here the language used in a statute is plain, the court cannot read words into it that are not found . . . even to save its constitutionality, because this would be
legislation and not construction.'

ShirleyCourt oversteps its bounds regularly, because Shirley wants to RULE!--not merely adjudge.


The majority, instead of striking down the statute, attempts, yet again, to do the job of the legislature and to judicially rewrite Wis. Stat. § 941.23.

Yup.

Well, the Court has ruled. Now let them enforce their ruling.

Feingold and Kohl: Screw Border Security

Another Big Surprise from Feingold (D-AlQuaeda) and Herbie, (Nobody's Senator):

And on a vote of 55-40 that crossed party lines, the Senate rejected an appeal from Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) to require the border to be secured before other immigration law changes could take place.

Thirty-six Democrats, including Feingold and Kohl; 18 Republicans; and the Senate's lone independent voted against the amendment.

In other "no surprises here" developments:

...Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) praised the president for a "commendable job" in his Monday speech

"I don't underestimate the difficulty in the House and Senate coming to an agreement on this issue," said House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). "But I do think it is possible." (Boehner is a moderate Republican. His statement is meant to tell Jim Sensenbrenner to Go To Hell.)

And here's the New Dictionary Definition of "Amnesty"

Under the bill, illegal immigrants who've been in the U.S. at least five years could move toward legal status by working for six years, paying back taxes, passing background checks, learning English and paying $2,000 fines.

Aurora? High Costs? You're KIDDING!!

Actually, no we are not kidding:

The study, done by the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School, is the first to provide information on specific hospitals, including data on the number of days chronically ill patients are likely to spend in an intensive care unit and the number of physician visits they will have in the last two years.

For example, at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center, the area's largest hospital, a chronically ill patient on average will have 40% more physician visits and spend 40% more days in the hospital during the last two years of his or her life than the state average.

The study found that the additional services, such as more days in the hospital or physician visits, did not result in better quality care.

...but DID add to Aurora's income stream.

Body Armor--Second Generation

In Florida:

Key, 44, and her husband, Donald, 44, of Riverview, were headed home after his band's gig at Jimmy B's Beach Bar on St. Pete Beach.

They were stopped at a red light at Boyette Road and U.S. 301 in Riverview. Mrs. Key was sitting in the front passenger seat. She asked her husband about a lyric book she was putting together.

Suddenly, they heard what sounded like an explosion. Mrs. Key figured something had happened to the van's engine. Then she saw a bullet hole in the windshield. She started to speak, but there were shards of glass on her lips.

She felt a searing pain in her shoulder.

She touched her shoulder and figured out she wasn't badly hurt. It seemed her seat belt and the thick straps on her bra deflected the bullet, deputies say. She found the .38-caliber bullet's copper jacket on her leg.

Who needs Kevlar when you have Playtex?

Unions AND Corporations Driving Immigration Push

Yeah, it's the SEIU/Teamsters/UFCW (Change to Win Federation), along with the usual corporate suspects (ag, meat-processing, food prep) which are setting the agenda.

But why the unions? For ever and ever, the unions have opposed immigration of any sort (and yes, Matilda, they also opposed allowing blacks as members) because they knew that immigrants would undercut union-scale wage agreements.

Here's a short history of the events.

It was solidarity time inside the great hall along Chicago’s Navy Pier last July. The AFL-CIO was holding its 50th-anniversary convention. And support for mass immigration was a top priority. At various points in the proceedings, federation leaders such as President John Sweeney, and marquee guest speakers such as Jesse Jackson and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.), peppered their speeches with appeals to Congress to grant legal amnesty to millions of “undocumented workers.”

During that convention, the Change to Win federation split from the AFL-CIO.

The rancorous split led many commentators to conclude that the federations are hopelessly divided over policy issues, including immigration. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The driving force behind Change to Win is SEIU President Andrew Stern, who believes in labor and business “standing shoulder to shoulder” on immigration, fighting for more of it. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Stern’s former boss and mentor at SEIU, is also an immigration enthusiast, though he expresses his enthusiasm in language couched in classic leftism.

Following the 1952 Immigration Act and its amendments of 1965:

Illegal immigration was increasing in tandem with legal immigration. ...Labor leaders at first opposed any compromise that included an amnesty. But in the end,... resistance by the unions to the idea wore down. They settled on what had become a growing consensus. They would accept amnesty, so long as employers in the future would be subject to sanctions for hiring illegal immigrants. In the fall of 1986, the amnesty-for-sanctions tradeoff became law in the form of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA).

The unions were suckered by the "sanctions" promise.

...employer sanctions, even in the early years only fitfully enforced, became laughable as time passed. In 1992 the federal government had levied 1,063 fines on employers for hiring illegal aliens. By 2002 that number had plummeted to 13—a 99% drop.

(A fact which Mark Belling approves wholeheartedly. Did anyone ever tell him that he is utterly mad?)

Meantime, John Sweeney becomes President of the AFL-CIO; he rose through the SEIU ranks, ironically enough.

Once in office, Sweeney quickly set about transforming the AFL-CIO into a vocal advocate for mass immigration. In 1996, the federation worked with ethnic and business activists to strip from pending immigration-reform legislation key provisions such as mandatory Social Security number verification and strict limits on refugee admissions. In February 2000, the AFL-CIO Executive Council announced its opposition to IRCA employer sanctions and support for amnesty for unauthorized workers.

Which was de facto the situation until GWB's speech. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Bush's call to require REAL authorization for immigrant workers ever emerges from Congress,

Now GWB and some Republican "leaders" see Mexican immigrants as the next Great Leap Forward in Republican Party membership.

They smoke dope.

Labor organizations have come to see America in much the same terms as the allies in MALDEF, the National Council of La Raza and the League of United Latin American Citizens. They believe Hispanic and other Third World immigrants are America’s victims who can be organized into a coalition of “people of color.” In 2001 the AFL-CIO Executive Council, the General Amnesty Coalition and other groups co-sponsored a May Day March for Workers’ Rights and March for Immigrant Rights. The Organizing Committee for Workers Rights held a May Day rally and concert in New York City’s Union Square under the slogan, “Amnesty for all immigrants— present and future.” Later, in October 2003, Sweeney welcomed illegal aliens to a pro-amnesty “freedom ride,” a bus convoy that converged on Liberty State Park in New Jersey.

The illegals, or amnestied legals, whatever--will become Democrats, period.

As to Globaloney George's chatter about "Real ID" of illegals/whatevers?

It's (at best) a ways off:

That’s precisely why President Bush adamantly denies that his guest-worker program constitutes an amnesty. But underneath the lofty rhetoric is the reality that the proposal lacks effective enforcement mechanisms to ensure that those who obtain renewable “temporary” three-year visas will return home. The Government Accountability Office recently admitted in a draft report that the agency overseeing the program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, would not have a fraud-management system in place until 2011. It looks like amnesty under a new name.

Fair warning: the devil is in the details. Those conservatives who think George Bush' speech was actually meaningful are treading on VERY thin ice. And those Republicans who think that the Mexican immigrants will join the Party and walk the neighborhoods are in for a VERY big disappointment.

And ANYONE who thinks that "Smart ID" cards and authorizations, yada yada, will be used to find and prosecute the big-time labor-abusers...

Smoke more dope.

Opie: Fevered Brow

Ron Howard on those who would criticize or suggest "do not go" to see his offering:

On Thursday the Italian press published interviews with Ron Howard, director of "The Da Vinci Code" film. In statements attributed to him, Howard said that "to deny the right to see the film is a fascist act," and also "to tell someone not to go see the film is an act of militancy and militancy generates hatred and violence." ... Opus Dei is mentioned several times in these interviews. The phrases seem to refer to recent statements by Church authorities.

Opie, it's just a stupid flick...

Immigration, Part Two, Updated with Numbers

One more thing.

The Senate's Immigration Bill (S 2611) also contains provisions to significantly increase the H1-B (green card) immigration limits from 65,000/year to 115,000/year, (indexed up 20%/year), PLUS an exemption for "anyone with an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering, or math" from "any foreign university".

ANY "foreign university?"

An automatic 20%/year increase in H1-B limits, every year?

This provision is being pushed hard by (inter alia) Bill Gates and his techno-industry pals, and will have precisely the same effect as the "guest worker" scheme of Globaloney George:

A reduction in wages and salaries paid to native-born US workers.

These provisions are almost never discussed; a fact for which Bill Gates is very grateful.

The H1-B "needs" are based on the usual lies: American workers are stupid, under-educated, fat, and lazy.

Must be true: the Hildebeeste herself told us so.

Globaloney George II

Yah, so he gives a speech--5-point plan, yada yada.

I TOLD you to dust off your "parsing" skills. The speech was a combination of the Clintonian (shift-the-blame/deny-it-all) and Bush I's "pinpoints." Running "24" on time would have been a better programming decision; we know "24" is fiction.

Georgie doesn't seem to get it--or at least, he doesn't seem to really give a damn. "Pathway?" "Long-Term/Rooted?" Does that mean more falsified documentation, George?

He tells us he's authorized more Border Patrol officers--but does NOT tell us that his own Budget proposal reduces the authorization by ninety percent. He tells us that hardships in breaking the law should earn amnesty, which is a peculiar take on the term "justice." Hell, hookers go through hardships--you didn't offer THEM any 'amnesty.' He tells us that we should use technology to patrol the border, sitting in a White House surrounded by physical barriers.

And he seems to think that Other-Than-Mexican illegals are, well, sort of kinda more of a threat (Duuuuuuhhhhhh! Really!)--but doesn't give the faintest impression that there's any urgency required.

OK, George. Nice try.

Stupidest Men in the Country?

Every TV station and some national TV networks have been running these little stings lately, finding predator/perverts by pretending to be Lolita.

John Mercure was first to do it in Milwaukee. Channel 4 ran a lengthy news segment showing the results. NBC picked up the concept and ran their own game, as well.

Despite this, Channel 4 ran the same game again, and sure enough:

Three men were arrested Friday and two Saturday after they had sex chats over the Internet with personnel from WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) posing as juvenile girls and subsequently journeyed to an unoccupied home for sexual rendezvous with the girls, Assistant District Attorney Brad Schimel said.

Charged Monday with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime were: Adam C. Miller, 22, of Germantown; Geoffrey P. Roehrig, 22, of Appleton; Sean M. Young, 31, of Greenfield; David C. Ackley, 47, of Hartland; and Seda Som, 23, of Chicago.

They could also be charged with Utter Stupidity.

Agenda??? WHAT Agenda???

Move along. Nothing to see here:

Parents are angry and school leaders are promising action in response to a "Heterosexual Questionnaire," approved by two teachers, that asked students questions such as: "If you have never slept with someone of your same gender, then how do you know you wouldn't prefer it?"

Here's the graphic. Note that the Port Washington teachers also don't know too much about composing a sentence (see #6).

The teachers who Woelfel said are responsible for the survey - social studies teacher Sarah Olson and communications teacher Julie Grudzinski - could not be reached for comment.

Woelfel estimated that the survey was given to about 400 of the school's 930 students on April 25, the day before the national Day of Silence, an annual event co-sponsored by the New York City-based Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

This is what we call a "reliable group," eh?

Students in the group presenting the survey were trying to convey that "students who have an alternative lifestyle get asked these questions every day, so please be considerate. It was an exercise in compassion and understanding that did not work out real well," Woelfel said.

Yah, you could say that, Mr. Woelfel.

And, by the way, it was not just the "Day of Silence" which was on the "minds" of these teachers. It was the November referendum.

The school district is still trying to decide if "discipline" will be imposed on these two twits. Ummmn--can you say 'You're FIRED!!'?

BagManJim: Call Your Senator

Ol' BagMan Doyle is just a royal pain in the ass. Here he tells the President to go fly a kite:

Answering reporters' questions after a public appearance in Waukesha, the governor called it "very questionable" whether Bush unilaterally can order National Guard troops for such domestic duty.

Normally a governor calls out the National Guard of his or her state, although the federal government sometimes can mobilize Guard troops for international duties, most recently the war in Iraq.

Doyle told reporters that many Wisconsin Guard members have served in Iraq - which he applauded - but he also questioned whether the state can spare more troops for border patrol.
"We've got a great, great National Guard. But they can be extended only so far," he said. "It would be too big a stretch."

On the other hand, Herb Kohl, standing in the very same room as BagManJim, said:

...he believes governors traditionally have supported any president's call for National Guard troops. "They have historically been willing to do that," he said.

On the other hand, BagManJim may send W.A.R.N.G. troops--if Bush makes a campaign contribution.

GKChesterton On Today's Dilemma

It's not really new, you know--the GWB vs. Democrats situation. G K Chesterton already told us all about it:

"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives.

The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes.

The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected.

Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition.

Thus we have two great types—the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins."

HT: The Patriot Post

Bush "Border Protection" Charade?

Malkin tells us that not only will the placement of the National Guard at the border be temporary...

But the troops will be "administrative and support" rather than actual "guard" duty.

Listen very carefully to Our President tonight. Remember all your "parsing" skills you learned when listening to X42 and his Hildebeeste.

Kinda sad to bring that up again, eh?