Bush wants immigration bill in fall
President Bush yesterday told House Republicans that he wants them to pass an immigration bill this fall, but members said he may not get a bill he likes.
Mr. Bush, speaking to a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, said immigration reform is part of his agenda, and his deadline gives a boost to those looking for a guest-worker program.“It’s great,” said Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, who is sponsoring an immigration overhaul that would give those already here illegally a multistep, 11-year path to citizenship. His bill also would allow in 400,000 guest workers per year and also put them on a multistep path to citizenship. Read the story here.
Allegations fly in California Minuteman Project
An aide to state Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Carlsbad, has filed a police report saying he was kicked in the shin by a UC Riverside professor and protester more than a week ago while visiting the border in support of the California Minuteman Project.
The alleged confrontation is one of several reports of trouble in Campo, the tiny southeast San Diego County border town where a group of about 30 anti-illegal-immigration activists calling themselves the California Minuteman Project has set up camp to watch the U.S.-Mexico border and report illegal crossers to the Border Patrol.
A group of about a dozen protesters who want the Minutemen to pack it up and go home have also been camping in the town, with larger groups forming for weekend rallies. Read the story here. Today at 4pm Sen. Bill Morrow will be on the show to discuss just how his aide was kicked.
Valley HOV funding OK’d
Moving to ease nightmare traffic for San Fernando Valley commuters, Congress struck a deal late Thursday to give Los Angeles $130 million for a car-pool lane on the northbound 405 Freeway as part of a massive $286.5 billion national transportation bill.
The House was expected to vote first on the 1,000-page package, but last-minute disputes had lawmakers waiting in their offices late Thursday.
While far less than the $400 million they’d requested, Southern California transportation leaders said it will jump-start high-occupancy-vehicle lane work on a 10-mile stretch of the San Diego Freeway between the Valley and Westside that carries more than 300,000 commuters daily.
“It’s a great victory,” said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, who engineered an intense, behind-the-scenes lobbying effort to fund the $500 million HOV-lane project. Read the story here.
MUST LOVE DOGS
I have to admit, I do peek at a few reviews of movies before I set out each week to see one. I mention that now as a way of saying that one I read might be the only reason I don’t give this movie a “0” on the scale. Let me explain – this movie is terrible, but one reviewer interpreted it as a spoof. It is a movie about a divorced forty year old woman looking to meet her next “soul mate” – that’s simple enough. But it is so ridiculous, there are times that the reviewer words were rolling around in my head – it’s a comedy that mocks the woman “desperately seeking her man” theme.
(more…)
Thursday, July 28th, 2005
U.S. Muslims issue anti-terrorism ‘fatwa’
Top U.S. Muslim scholars issued a “fatwa,” or religious edict, against terrorism on Thursday and called on Muslims to help authorities fight the scourge of militant violence.
The fatwa was part of efforts by U.S. Muslims to counter perceived links between Islam and terrorism and avert any negative backlash after this month’s bombings by suspected Islamic extremists in London and Egypt.
“Having our religious scholars side by side with our community leaders leaves no room for anybody to suggest that Islam and Muslims condone or support any forms or acts of terrorism,” said Esam Omeish, president of the Muslim American Society, one of the groups which announced the fatwa. Read the story here. Read the fatwa here. Today at 3pm a representative form CAIR will be on the show to tell us why they issued the fatwa.
Home size limits OK’d
Ordinance aimed at ‘McMansions’
The City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to an “anti-mansionization” ordinance for the Sunland-Tujunga area of the San Fernando Valley, the first time it has specifically addressed restricting home size in Los Angeles.
The ordinance, scheduled for a final vote next Tuesday, would limit homes built on lots of 8,000 square feet or less to 2,400 square feet, or 40 percent of the lot size, whichever is greater.
That means many of the 4,000-square-foot lots in the neighborhoods just below the Angeles National Forest would be limited to more traditional bungalows and ranch-style homes, rather than the 3,000- to 4,000-square-foot structures that have been sprouting up. Read the story here.
New L.A. Mayor Pushing Public Transit
Getting drivers to take the train or bus has never been easy in this car-crazed city of endless freeways, where gridlock is so awful that rush-hour speeds average less than 30 mph.
The new mayor wants to change Los Angeles’ car culture, though his push for mass transit comes in the same month of the London subway and bus bombings.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is starting small, asking Los Angeles residents to give up driving just one or two days a week. The theory is that getting a few more cars off the road would go a long way toward easing gridlock and air pollution that are the worst in the nation. Read the story here.
Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
Issa, Border Patrol at odds
Closing the Temecula and San Clemente checkpoints would improve the Border Patrol’s chances of catching undocumented immigrants and seizing illegal drugs, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said Monday.
But Border Patrol officials said the interior checkpoints take criminals and illegal drugs off local streets while deterring smugglers from using major highways.
A 91-page report was released Friday by the U.S. General Accounting Office, an investigative branch of Congress that was asked to determine the effectiveness of the Inland checkpoints. Read the story here.
Traffic a gridlock on life
Too little road, too many cars hampers Angelenos
Harry Figueroa was aching for the chance to see last week’s Yankees-Angels game, but the prospect of a rush-hour drive from his job at JPL in Pasadena to the stadium in Anaheim dashed any hope of passing a summer night at the ballpark.
Earlier in the week, the recent East Coast transplant had tried to make it to a soccer game in Carson, but arrived long after the opening whistle.
“I left at 4:30. I got there at 8,” said Figueroa, an electrical engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory who lives in Woodland Hills. “It just makes me think I’m not going to a game on a weekday.
“Between 3 and 7, there’s nothing I can do. I’m never going to get anywhere.” Read the story here.
Immigration battle begins
SENATE: Competing bills would legitimize illegal-migrant workers to varying degrees.
The problem is clear: There are at least 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States—a figure that swells by about 450,000 a year.
And the demand by employers for even more workers suggests that the flow won’t abate anytime soon.
The solution is far from clear-cut, as was laid bare Tuesday in a Capitol Hill hearing room crowded with activists from across the immigration policy divide.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which intends to tackle an immigration overhaul this year, convened to hear the merits of rival plans that propose a mix of increased border enforcement along with a guest-worker program. Read the story here.
Glendora man suspected of lewd conduct
A child molester who terrorized children for nearly three decades was arrested Monday on suspicion of committing a lewd act on a child, officials said.
Michael Stewart Mullicane, 47, a former Little League coach who is on federal probation for distributing child pornography via the Internet, was arrested at his parents’ home on Hacienda Avenue.
Details of the investigation are being withheld, but police said the victim who is under 14 is not from the city.
“It appears that despite our best efforts … our worst fears have been realized,’ Capt. Rob Castro said in a statement. “It appears he has victimized another child.’ Read the story here.
Tuesday, July 26th, 2005
$41 Billion Cost Projected To Remove Illegal Entrants
A new study by a liberal Washington think tank puts the cost of forcibly removing most of the nation’s estimated 10 million illegal immigrants at $41 billion a year, a sum that exceeds the annual budget of the Department of Homeland Security.
The study, “Deporting the Undocumented: A Cost Assessment,” scheduled for release today by the Center for American Progress, is billed by its authors as the first-ever estimate of costs associated with arresting, detaining, prosecuting and removing immigrants who have entered the United States illegally or overstayed their visas. The total cost would be $206 billion to $230 billion over five years, depending on how many of the immigrants leave voluntarily, according to the study.
“There are some people who suggest that mass deportation is an option,” said Rajeev K. Goyle, a co-author of the study. “To understand deportation policy response, we had to have a number.”. . .
Read the report yourself here.
Traffic a gridlock on life
Too little road, too many cars hampers Angelenos
Harry Figueroa was aching for the chance to see last week’s Yankees-Angels game, but the prospect of a rush-hour drive from his job at JPL in Pasadena to the stadium in Anaheim dashed any hope of passing a summer night at the ballpark.
Earlier in the week, the recent East Coast transplant had tried to make it to a soccer game in Carson, but arrived long after the opening whistle.
“I left at 4:30. I got there at 8,” said Figueroa, an electrical engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory who lives in Woodland Hills. “It just makes me think I’m not going to a game on a weekday.
“Between 3 and 7, there’s nothing I can do. I’m never going to get anywhere.” . . .
Mahony Ordered to Release Church Records
Court affirms ruling that documents dealing with abuse by priests must be disclosed.
A state appellate court ordered Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on Monday to comply with grand jury subpoenas seeking the internal church records of two former Roman Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children.
It was the second time in a year that a court has told Mahony to turn over the records.
A three-judge panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles rejected the archdiocese’s argument that it was constitutionally protected from having to disclose documents from priest personnel files. . .
Governor embarks on image change
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to try the political version of one of those makeovers popular on afternoon TV talk shows – where the guest is transformed from unsightly to attractive.
Convinced that the public sees the former film star as someone more fixated on name-calling and political head-butting than he is on actual, day-to-day governing, Schwarzenegger and his advisers say they have decided it’s time for a radical change of course.
So for at least the next six weeks, instead of shopping center rallies and clever insults hurled at Democrats and labor unions, Schwarzenegger will hold a series of public events aimed at showing he’s making progress on a number of issues. . .
Suspicious passengers divert LAX-to-U.K. flight
A flight from Los Angeles to London was diverted to Boston early Tuesday because three Pakistani passengers were acting suspiciously, but nothing amiss was found and the three were released after questioning, authorities said.
United Airlines Flight 934 landed in Boston shortly before 3 a.m., Logan Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella said.
The three Pakistani men were taken into custody and questioned after other passengers complained that they were moving about the cabin, FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said. . .
Monday, July 25th, 2005
Governor losing Hispanic support
Minority members cite poor outreach and remarks against illegal migrants as poll ratings drop.
Few had better reason to celebrate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2003 election victory than Republican Manny Padilla.
Not only did the North Tustin resident get someone from his own party in the state’s highest office, but Padilla’s job as Orange County GOP Hispanic outreach chief got easier. California Hispanics traditionally avoid Republicans in the polls, but Schwarzenegger parlayed his popularity in the Hispanic community and got about one-third of its votes – a relatively high number.
Republicans suddenly found a new level of receptiveness among Hispanics. But that support is evaporating, and Padilla is among the critics. Read the story here.
Immigration Rising on Bush’s To-Do List
Worried that the tone of the immigration debate is pushing Latinos away from the Republican Party, the White House is working with political strategists to create a broad coalition of business groups and immigrant advocates to back a plan President Bush could promote in Congress and to minority voters in the 2006 elections.
The strategists say Bush is planning to make immigration a top priority as soon as this fall, once the focus on a Supreme Court vacancy has passed. The push is being planned to coincide with next year’s campaigns for the House and Senate, in which Latino voters could be crucial in several states. It is part of a broader White House strategy to forge a long-lasting majority by drawing more minority voters.
Aiming for an air of bipartisanship, the White House-backed coalition, to be called Americans for Border and Economic Security, will be led by former U.S. Reps. Cal Dooley (D-Hanford) and Dick Armey (R-Texas). The chief organizer is one of the capital’s most important White House allies: former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, who has hosted preliminary meetings at his Washington lobbying firm just blocks from the White House and has been advising the RNC on minority outreach. Read the story here.
CA Minutemen Update, July 24th
There was a good turnout of reinforcements at the Campo CA Minutemen border watch this weekend. The usual suspects showed up to protest our peaceful gathering. All the usual hate was spewed at the 60 -80 minutemen to no avail. There were a few media members from Spanish language stations, so the angry mob pretended to be more civil with their leader reading a solemn prayer and a recitation of the 3500 illegal aliens who have died trying to cross our border illegally.
After a few moments, he blamed that and every other death in the Western hemisphere on the minutemen. They targeted Jim Chase, getting right up in his face, screaming and taunting him after they breeched our line. Finally the sheriffs took charge & tried to marshall the protesters back into the border road, but to no avail. Jim Gilchrist arrived, and the mob came to life threatening to kill him, calling him names, but Jim never responded. That first episode ended a few minutes later with a spontaneous outbreak of “God Bless America” while American flags were waived.
One protester, a grandmother, came over and shook my hand and said she wanted to be “Amigos”. I could tell that she was sincere and shook her hand in a gesture of good will. Read the story here.
Homegrown Risk Worries U.S. Muslims
In the wake of London bombings that point to homegrown terrorists, American Muslim leaders are increasing their efforts to determine why some Muslim youths are drawn to violence and how to divert them from radical influences.
Muslim leaders here worry about a backlash if domestic terrorism is spread by U.S. Muslims. It was easier to distance themselves from the violence, they said, when the terrorists who flew jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, turned out to have come from foreign lands.
“This is different. It turns out that these are children of parents who left their home countries to live in the West for a better life for themselves and their children,” said Nazim Karim, a member of the board of the Academy for Judaic, Christian and Islamic Studies at UCLA. “The public [in Great Britain] now believes that these terrorists are among them right now.” Read the story here.
Friday, July 22nd, 2005
Talk-show hosts meet Muslims
KFI’s John & Ken hold panel with Islamic leaders on faith and terrorism.
Fan- proclaimed “talk-radio heroes” John & Ken gave the microphone to Muslims on Thursday as they took their afternoon show to the Orange County Islamic Foundation.
For four hours, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, both known for being quick, confrontational and sometimes sarcastic, questioned local Muslim leaders on such subjects as whether Islam forces women to cover their hair to why U.S. Muslims don’t speak out more against terrorism.
By the end of the show on KFI/640 AM, the two had made it clear they felt they had heard a sincere expression of opposition to terrorism from Orange County’s Islamic community. Read the story here.
Civilian border patrol plan fades
Homeland Security officials back away from Bonner’s comments
The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday it has no plans to enlist citizens volunteers to patrol U.S. borders on the day after its top border enforcement official said he was exploring how to involve civilians in his agency’s work.
That refutation sought to calm reaction to a controversial idea that seemed to catch Homeland Security higher ups by surprise.
On Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner told The Associated Press that his agency was considering the training of volunteers to create “something akin to a Border Patrol auxiliary.’
A Homeland Security spokesman issued a statement Thursday backing off Bonner’s suggestion. Read the story here.
Attacks on UK will continue, radical cleric says
Militant Islamists will continue to attack Britain until the government pulls its troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the country’s most outspoken Islamic clerics said on Friday.
Speaking 15 days after bombers killed over 50 people in London and a day after a series of failed attacks on the city’s transport network, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed said the British capital should expect more violence.
“What happened yesterday confirmed that as long as the cause and the root problem is still there … we will see the same effect we saw on July 7,” Bakri said.
“If the cause is still there the effect will happen again and again,” he said, adding he had no information about future attacks or contacts with people planning to carry out attacks. Read the story here.
ARE THESE THE BOMBERS?
Police have issued CCTV pictures of four men they urgently want to speak to in connection with the attempted bombing in London this week.
The pictures were taken at Tube stations and on a bus where small explosions occured on Thursday.
Assistant Police Commissioner Andy Hayman said the men should not be approached by the public, and that anyone with any information should phone 999 immediately. Read the story here.
