Summer Update

It's been a busy week. We were in Cleveland, visiting family. Our nephew is in critical care - he developed complications from an operation. It appears that he will recover, but it will be a lengthy process.

Last night, we traveled to Akron to spend some time at a funeral home. A friend from our younger years died rather suddenly.

Later today, we will be on the road again. I may not have much time for other posts this week.

Memorial Day, Celebrated the Right Way

You have to read The Bill T Blog. I found him when he left a comment, and his site is perfect to read this day. He has tributes to the veteran's of this and previous wars.

Memorial Day Weekend

Haven't posted for a few days. My husband and I were busy with end of the year clearing up at school (basically, you have to turn in all paperwork, and get everyone to sign off that you have done so). We also were busy organizing our physics equipment, because we will both be moving to the northern part of the state. We will be teaching at the same school next year.

We spent the last two days traveling from South Carolina to Cleveland. By last night, all I had the energy to do was veg out on the couch, and watch the John Wayne marathon.



I'd normally have a picnic, but the weather isn't cooperating. It's been storming in Cleveland. This morning, I went outside to the van to get something, and was drenched.

This isn't a happy holiday - unlike most holidays, Memorial Day is for the dead. Often, the very young dead. Those who are remembered were generally too young to have accumulated a lifetime of memories. Their lifetime was too short.



As the graphic above indicates, their lives (and their deaths) weren't purposeless. As hard as it is to bear, they died for all Americans.

America's funny. It's not only a place, it's an idea. It's the idea that most humans can amount to something if no artificial obstacles are put in their way. For that reason, the ideal of America is to limit restrictions on personal freedom.

We're not an envious and jealous culture. We're perfectly happy to encourage, even help, other countries set up a government that extends these freedoms to their people. If you haven't seen the Bill Whittle post on that subject, go there now. Really. I mean that. Right now.

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Lindsay Graham

Lindsay Graham, if you follow the news, is in hot water with conservatives because of statements on immigration. I thought I'd post his side of the story, from his Senate web site.

In the spirit of fairness, I also thought I'd add a video of Sen. Graham, talking to an Hispanic group. The video comes courtesy of CommonSenseAmerica.

At Least 1 Senator from SC Has His Head on Straight!

From the Senate web site of Jim Demint:

May 23rd, 2007 - Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) joined Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) in offering an amendment to the Senate immigration bill that would end judicial review in cases where an alien’s visa has been revoked after they enter the United States.

This is a small step, but a vital one.

Currently, visas are approved or denied by consular officers while the applicant waits to enter our country. These decisions are final and cannot be appealed. However, if a visa is approved but later revoked while the alien is within the U.S., for reasons such as fraud or violating the terms of their visa, the decision can be reviewed by U.S. courts. This allows the alien to freely travel for months or years within the U.S. even though they may have entered fraudulently. The Grassley-DeMint amendment would close this loophole.

Of the 9-11 terrorists, 19 of the hijackers obtained 22 visas by lying on their applications and later violated the terms of the visas. The 9-11 Commission recommended we intercept terrorists and constrain their mobility. This amendment would help make that happen.

Let's take a step that will allow us to separate the sheep from the goats, and move quickly when it's in our national interests to do so.

Lieberman Speech

National Review has the full text of Joe Lieberman's speech about the Iraq war. It's a nice example of bipartisan cooperation, and an example of classy behavior. If all Democrats acted like that, the Congress could accomplish a lot.

Fraud Connected to NGO Activity

I found an astounding statistic about Benefit Fraud Assessment (BFA), courtesy of Debbie Schussel. It brings up interesting implications about the role of various religions in NGO activities:

the overall assessment found around 36% fraud of petitions from all religious workers (Methodists, Catholics, Buddhists, etc, etc). Even worse is the breakdown of percentages by religious group (which CIS was told specifically by leadership NOT to address). Islamic religious groups' average fraud reached 77-78%.

This is particularly disturbing since the proposed immigration bill (1348) has provisions for working with NGOs.

Immigration Bill - 1348

This is absolutely fascinating!

SEC. 116. DEATHS AT UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER.

(a) Collection of Statistics.--The Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection shall collect statistics relating to deaths occurring at the border between the United States and Mexico, including--
(1) the causes of the deaths; and
(2) the total number of deaths.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection shall submit to the Secretary a report that--
(1) analyzes trends with respect to the statistics collected under subsection (a) during the preceding year; and
(2) recommends actions to reduce the deaths described in subsection (a).

Well, nobody is in favor of letting people die, but this sounds suspiciously like the actions taken by do-gooders right now. They want to keep people from dying in the desert, so they leave water and food for them. Such actions led to more people crossing the border, and in comfort.

Section 126, on Document Integrity, seems to place its faith on the technological methods. I hate to bring it up, but there is NO method that can't be beaten. Human checking, verifying, and reliance on that "human 6th sense" have proven to be more effective in the long run.

Biometrics Explained

In the process of deciphering the proposed immigration bill, I found this fascinating site about Biometrics. It's more complicated than it sounds, and not the easy solution that it would seem. I suspect Congress (not a particularly tech-savvy group) just doesn't get it.

Not unlike their understanding of the way this bill strikes Americans.

What is Biometrics? At its most simple, it's fingerprints and photos. The EU has problems with the management of fingerprint data - they're concerned about privacy issues.

Let's not even get into photos - dependence on them is what's behind the fuss over veiled women. If you allow some to opt out, you've eliminated 1/2 of your verification scheme.

SEVERABILITY

No, it has nothing in common with the Texas Chainsaw Massacres. It refers to a provision of the immigration bill.

If any provision of this Act, any amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid for any reason, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions of such to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected by such holding.

It sounds as though the Courts may have to kill the bill, section by section, piece by piece.

Sounds like one of those cheesy horror movies, doesn't it?

Another one of those provisions that make me say "Huh?"

Northern Border.--In each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012, in addition to the border patrol agents assigned along the northern border of the United States during the previous fiscal year, the Secretary shall assign a number of border patrol agents equal to not less than 20 percent of the net increase in border patrol agents during each such fiscal year.

Yeah, because those darned Canucks have been rampaging over the border, raising heck and causing such a drain on the local government services.

It's time for a chorus of "Blame Canada".

Submission to Congress.--Not later than 6 months after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress
the plan required by this section.

I can't say I like the idea of oversight by Congress of the specifics of a strategic plan - there's a lot of blabbermouths in the Congress.

There's more

Consultation.--In developing the National Strategy for Border
Security, the Secretary shall consult with representatives of--
(1) State, local, and tribal authorities with responsibility for locations along the international land and maritime borders of the United States; and
(2) appropriate private sector entities, nongovernmental organizations, and affected communities that have expertise in areas related to border security.

Are we going to have to run our plans past the NGOs? Who, precisely, are the affected NGOs? Amnesty International? The ACLU? Sanctuary-loving churches?

Another section raises goosebumps on me:

technical and biometric standards based on best practices and consistent with international standards for the issuance, authentication, validation, and repudiation of travel documents, including--
(i) passports;
(ii) visas; and
(iii) permanent resident cards;

There's Ruth Bader Ginsburg's favorite injection into American Law - the International Community.

Let me be candid - I don't give a rat's backside what the international community does about their countries - totally open borders, strict control over entrance and exits, or somewhere in between.

This is America. We set the standard. Not any other country on Earth.

So take your matriculas and store them - where ever you please. We want visas and passports. Or stay home.

Who Do They Think They're Kidding?

Bear Creek Ledger warns of future consequences of NOT stopping this immigration bill. He includes a link to Michelle Malkin, who reminds us:

There have been seven illegal alien amnesties passed into law since 1986:

·The 1986 Immigration and Reform Control Act blanket amnesty for an estimated 2.7 million illegal aliens

·1994: The "Section 245(i)" temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens

·1997: Extension of the Section 245(i) amnesty

·1997: The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act for nearly one million illegal aliens from Central America

·1998: The Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti

·2000: Extension of amnesty for some 400,000 illegal aliens who claimed eligibility under the 1986 act
·2000: The Legal Immigration Family Equity Act, which included a restoration of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty for 900,000 illegal aliens]

Guess what? None –not one—of those amnesties was associated with a decline in illegal immigration. On the contrary, the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. has triple and since President Reagan signed the first amnesty in 1986. The total effect of the amnesties was even larger because relatives later joined amnesty recipients, and this number was multiplied by an unknown number of children born to amnesty recipients who then acquired automatic US citizenship.

Guys, if you're going to FIX the situation, FIX the situation! You know, that Daddy Knows Best stuff might have worked in the past, when you could slip legislation past the citizens without their knowledge.

Not so today - thanks to the Internet and bloggers, the MSM has some serious competition. We can search and analyze bills for ourselves, rather than just accepting summary information.

In that spirit, I include the full text of the bill. Check it out for yourself.

How Americans REALLY Think

Two of the provisions of a Bill of Rights for the Modern Man (and Woman):

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

There's more there. Go check it out.

Immigration - The Gathering Storm

People all over the 'net are FURIOUS about the proposed immigration bill. How furious? Judge for yourself:

• Further Adventures of Indigo Red recalls the temper of the Declaration of Independence.

  Although the term amnesty has been carefully avoided, the fact is that the proposed legislation would legalize millions of illegal aliens who have thumbed their noses at U.S. borders and immigration laws for their own selfish purposes.
  
  The proposed amnesty would reward these criminals, while millions of others across the globe are penalized for obeying the law.
  
  President Bush and prominent members of the U.S. Congress are promising that the new legislation will improve border security and reduce illegal immigration. One senator from Pennsylvania even went so far as to suggest that the bill would restore "rule of law" to immigration.
  
  With all due respect to the gentleman, simply legalizing illegal behavior hardly qualifies as a credible way to restore rule of law.
  
  Ladies and gentlemen, the latest proposal indicates that either you are not listening or we are not shouting loud enough.
  
  Just to make sure that our views are clearly understood, please be advised that we the people are FED UP with the attempt to undermine American sovereignty, homeland security, and culture.

• Bear Creek Ledger has some of the details of the proposed legislation, courtesy of FAIR.

  Immediately grants probationary benefits (including work authorization, protection from removal, and a social security number) based only on an application and a 24-hour wait on a background check. Probationary benefits are not affected by the “trigger” in Title I of the bill.

  As BCL points out,

  I also am curious how a background check is to be done on an illegal alien who often times have multiple spellings of their names and fraudulent identities.

  Yeah, I was wondering about that, too.
  
  
• CommonSenseAmerica
  sees some language in the bill that might lead to unintended consequences - union with Canada and Mexico. Seem far-fetched? Check this out:

  Tucked away on Page 28 under the above heading in Sec. 113 is this:
  
  (3) VISA POLICY COORDINATION AND IMMIGRATION SECURITY. — The progress made by Canada, Mexico, and the United States to enhance the security of North America by cooperating on visa policy and identifying best practices regarding immigration security, including the progress made –
  
  (C) in exploring methods for Canada, Mexico, and the United States to waive visa requirements for nationals and citizens of the same foreign countries;

There's more there - and there's also a link to the full text (so far - they're still making changes).

I'll post more later - I have grading to do, and also want to see who makes it to the next round of Dancing with the Stars.

Action on the Immigration Bill

I've been reading reaction on the proposed immigration bill, and it is causing some furious comment. The real question is:

What can we realistically do to affect the outcome?

Right Wing News has some ideas, and also nails down the Republican presidential candidates' positions (who may have more influence with their peers than most)

PS #2: I have checked the websites of the candidates to see if they have released statements on the bill. To the best of my knowledge, here's the current breakdown on the Senate Amnesty Bill (if you have confirmation of where any of the "unknown" candidates have come down, please let me know in the comments section)

Opposed

Duncan Hunter
Mitt Romney
Fred Thompson
Tom Tancredo
Newt Gingrich

Support

John McCain

Unknown

Sam Brownback
John Cox
Rudy Giuliani
Ron Paul (I would think he's opposed, but can't verify)
James Gilmore
Tommy Thompson
Mike Huckabee

In addition to posting, let's try some letter-writing, phoning, and faxing (email is the LEAST influential - it takes the least effort, and costs nothing - the other options have more impact). Target each of the above for some contact.

Also, write to your local newspaper, urging action. Write to the local TV station. Heck, hit the national media outlets, as well. The more, the merrier. Each time you do, give anyone reading it some options (email addresses, phone numbers, etc.) for action.

Don't forget your email list. If I can fairly judge by by contacts, people are VERY angry about illegal aliens invading their country.

New YouTube Assist

Blogger has a new page element (that's how the new Blogger setup works for the techno-ignorant). It gives a bar for YouTube. I checked - it defaults to YouTube.

It allows a search of the database by keyword. I would expect YouTube to benefit hugely from this.

QubeTV should promptly run up some code to make it possible to do the same.

Tancredo - Another Reason to Vote for Him

Via And Rightly So!

The Associated Press asked 14 presidential candidates, (7 Democrats and 7 Republicans - just to be even-handed, I guess), what they would consider to be their desert island necessity.

The answers were about what you might expect - someone else to be with, something to read, small luxuries. Except for ONE CANDIDATE:

boat: Tom Tancredo

Check out what other goodies are at And Rightly So!

New Video Site

Tired of being censored by YouTube for Politically Incorrect postings?

Try QubeTV, the conservative's answer to YouTube.

I've been browsing the site, and found a few gems, including

Great Moments in Democratic Extremism.

The banned Hillary Clinton "Apple" ad, that got a Obama staffer fired.

Which Wins? German Engineering or Muslim Technology?

Not sure where candidates stand on the ISSUES? Here's Tom Tancredo (who, BTW, I favor at this time)

Imagine a World without America, put together by - I'm astonished - the Brits.

Michelle Malkin's "First They Came" video

Compares coverage of John Bolton, with his alleged problems with Anger Management, to media coverage of Bill Clinton.

Major take-down of Obama and his wife's financial dealings.

Keep checking back on QubeTV. I'm guessing that it's going to change politics as we know it.

Isn't it funny - when liberals feel their viewpoint is being crowded out - they use their clout to kick out those they disapprove of - that process we used to call "censorship". When conservatives feel their viewpoint is not being heard - they start up a new service - or network. Which of those choices respects democracy more?

Reader Survey

Please take my blog reader survey!

It won't get you any money. Just my appreciation.

High School Dropout?

Kathy Shaidle at Relapsed Catholic lays out the facts straight.

- Live below sea level? Move. Live in the desert? Likewise. The Appalachans? People still live there? Why?? It's called "the bus..."

- Africa needs zippers, not condoms. You'd think from last night's show that AIDS magically generates in little children's bodies like mythical maggots. No cause and effect in Africa, apparently. Can no one just control their urges for five minutes?

- Millions of Africans die of malaria because an evil dead white lady and her commie friends banned DDT. So bring it back.

- Why are "so many" American children "living in poverty"? Because their unmarried parents dropped out of high school. Whose fault is that?

I have nothing against high school dropouts - my Dad was one. But, he worked at any job that he could get - he considered it a disgrace to collect welfare. Those jobs included punch-press operator (he left that one, quick, before he lost a finger), janitor (before we "fancied up" the word), and other low-level jobs. He did not drink or drug on the job - he felt he owed his employer the best he could give. Eventually, he found a good job at Ohio Bell, a part of the old AT&T.

To be completely honest, he supplemented his pay with illegal poker playing. He'd been gambling (OK, it wasn't much of a gamble - he actively looked for the pigeons) since before his Army service. He cleaned up in the service - he put on his unsophisticated "shucks, I'm just a hillbilly from WV" mask, and waited for the city slickers to find him. He was good; on the average, he made another 50% of the family income that way. Too late for the IRS to get him - he died in 1997.

One unforseen result of my experience with gambling is that I don't - won't buy a lottery ticket, have no interest in Vegas or Atlantic City trips, and don't play cards for money. I will buy a charity raffle ticket once in a while - I think of it as a donation to the cause, not a way of hitting the jackpot.

To Be An American

See if you can spot the similarities. Once you've gone through the quotes from illegal aliens, here's the money quote:

Becoming a U.S. citizen is not just a way to improve your economic lot in life. It’s not an elaborate “guest worker” program to send money to third-world countries like Mexico. It’s believing and promising with all your heart that you will defend and support the Constitution of the greatest nation the world has ever known. If you’re not willing to do that, you can’t call yourself an American.

That's it, folks. That's the essence of what it is to be an American.

Amnesty? Yes, It Is

This is pure gold

through linguistic acrobatics, the traitors pushing this agenda don’t call their proposals amnesty. The proposals are referred to as a “path to citizenship or an earned path to citizenship”, what ever that means.

The bottom line is not only is it amnesty, it’s amnesty on steroids.

If a bank robber were to receive amnesty for robbing a bank, the criminal would be forgiven for that crime. There would be no jail time and no record for committing the crime. However, the bank robber would not be able to keep the money he stole as part of the amnesty granted. If able to keep the fruits of the crime, that would take amnesty to a whole new level. This type of amnesty could not be considered forgiveness but rather rewarding the crime.

Those that advocate for the illegal aliens seek and propose this “Super Amnesty”. Not only do they want forgiveness of the crimes committed by illegal aliens, they want the illegal aliens to be able to keep the fruits of their criminal activity.

They propose illegal aliens get to stay in the country and get fast tracked to the one of the most precious things in the world, American citizenship. At a flick of the amnesty switch, they go from illegal status to legal status, thus losing little if anything for the crimes they committed. Most importantly, they get to keep everything they absconded with through their illegal activity. This is amnesty on steroids.

The logic is clear.

Another element to their amnesty proposals is to allow those here in violation of the law for the longest period of time, preferential treatment over those who recently started to break the law with their presence in the country. In essence, the traitors want to reward the longevity of the illegal alien.

Could it be any easier to understand the stakes involved?

To allow amnesty is to give up on the idea that the law stands above any individual. That's the bedrock idea behind America. In America, it shouldn't matter whether you come from wealthy people, influential families, or belong to a well-connected tribe. You, the individual, stand equal with any person under the law.

Gruesome Discovery

The Guard the Borders Blogbursts seemed to have stopped for a time. In the meantime, I have other resources. The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII) has been providing some fascinating information about the state of our borders. Headless bodies have been turning up.

Generally we think of beheading in places like the Middle East, not in our backyard. This is not Islamic terrorists, it's Mexican drug gangs. This particular man may have been a police officer. Part of this brutality is over 'billion-dollar smuggling routes into the United States.'

You know, I understand the people who support the individuals who cross the borders. Many of them are probably not horrible people. They are ambitious, and just have an economic motive. But whether they intend it or not, their ACTIONS have a disastrous effect on the American economy, and its culture, as well. This country just isn't able to absorb so many people whose language, culture, and values aren't in line with ours.

What do I mean language? It's not the fact that they speak another language - it's that they resist becoming proficient in English. Without that capability, their ability to benefit from their presence in this country, legal or not, will be severely limited. We cannot continue to be receptive to immigrants unless they make an effort to become familiar with the main language of that country. The whole point of their entry into this country is to eventually have their children be able to take part in the American Dream - and they CANNOT do that if they are unable to communicate with the majority of Americans. Guys, this isn't Canada - multilingual ISN'T our tradition.

Culture? Do they understand how OUR culture functions? That, generally, public officials are paid by the government (relatively well), and needn't be bribed to do their job. That it's OK to oppose the government. That citizens have RIGHTS that others should not? That it's NOT OK to favor relatives over more-qualified applicants for jobs? Just to name a few of the accepted norms.

Values? Try reading the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

It's not the general illegal alien that is the focus of the efforts of the anti-illegal coalitions, but the thug who comes in through the porous borders. However, the average Jose also poses a problem - he takes services without paying for them (schools, medical care, etc.), he undercuts the minimum wage laws, and contributes to unemployment of minorities, and, by his association with criminals who provide him with false identification documents, he becomes a part of the illegal underground. He also ROBS legal, hard-working Americans of their identity, and causes them major problems with credit in the future.