The Gilchristification of OC
Monday’s student walkout shows the past ain’t dead. It isn’t even passed
. . .But Jim Gilchrist knows better. Last fall, at an anti-immigrant rally in Ontario sponsored by KFI-AM 640’s The John and Ken Show, Gilchrist climbed the stage to endorse John Campbell’s run for the 48th Congressional District seat vacated by Christopher Cox. Campbell seemed a slam-dunk in the race: he’s a wealthy car dealer whose candidacy was backed by the county’s Republican Central Committee. Then Gilchrist upstaged Campbell. Before a roaring live audience and tens of thousands of Southern California radio listeners, the Aliso Viejo resident said he would seek the same seat. He tied illegal immigration into virtually every social ill: “the floundering public schools, bankrupt hospitals, an ever-increasing tax burden, traffic gridlock, runaway housing prices and much more.” Gilchrist went on to run as a candidate for the American Independent Party, consistently pounding Campbell for what he claimed was his spinelessness on illegal immigration. . .
Radio spreads word, in two languages
Registration Required. Ugh.
. . . Southern California radio talk-show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou have devoted innumerable hours to immigration issues and routinely call on their listeners to get active.
The pair, who have an afternoon-drive-time show on KFI-AM, collected signatures for a ballot initiative to deny driver licenses and other benefits to illegal immigrants. The measure failed to qualify for the ballot, but prompted a lot of debate on the subject.
They also tried to oust Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, in 2004. They claimed he was soft on illegal immigration. Dreier, who represents a portion of San Bernardino County, was re-elected—albeit by his closest margin ever. He has since signed on as a co-sponsor of HR 4437. . .
Latino suburb welcomes illegals
BBC News
. . . If the police are confused, many Californians are angry.
On the John and Ken show on local Los Angeles radio station KFI 640 Maywood’s mayor was angrily accused of turning his city into a magnet for illegal immigrants. . .
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Local teens brave the rain to protest immigration legislation
WEST WHITTIER - A steady downpour Tuesday did not dampen walkouts by hundreds of local high school students, who took to the streets for a third day of protests over pending anti-immigration legislation.
Far fewer students in Whittier and Pico Rivera opted to walk out of classes Tuesday than did on Monday. However, police said one California High School student was arrested on suspicion of vandalism after officers spotted him writing on a street sign.
Otherwise, local authorities said, the walkouts, which began at around 8 a.m., ended peacefully at Montebello High School, where many of the students were bused back to Whittier High School at about 1:30 p.m. . .
Reiner resigns as First 5 chairmanUnder fire over a $23 million advertising campaign that benefited his universal pre-school initiative, actor-director Rob Reiner has resigned as chairman of the California Children and Families Commission, telling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a letter that “we cannot let personal political attacks get in the way of doing the very best we can for California’s children.”
Schwarzenegger, in accepting Reiner’s resignation after saying last week that he was not planning to replace him, said Wednesday that “Rob Reiner has always put California’s kids first and I thank him for the great work he has done over the last seven years. Because of Rob’s efforts, California has become a national leader in providing early childhood health and education services for our youngest children and their families. . .
Governor backs guest-worker plan
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger waded into the debate over immigration reform Tuesday, saying the nation needs to respect its immigrants but warned of “anarchy’’ should citizenship be granted to those who enter the country illegally.
As he has in the past, the Republican governor, who immigrated from Austria 38 years ago, laid blame on the federal government for not having strong border enforcement and for spending years bickering over reforms.
“I believe very strongly that the federal government has to get their act together,’’ the governor said Tuesday in response to a question at a San Francisco economic forum. . .
Reporters in Iraq under fire there, and from critics
As they begin a fourth year covering the war in Iraq, journalists there face increasing threats to their safety and increasing criticism of their work.
It started as arguably the best-covered war in history: Hundreds of reporters traveled with the military as it invaded Iraq, and then hundreds more moved freely around the country as troops secured Baghdad. Today, it has become for some journalists the least-covered war. . .
Bill Roggio who blogs at The Fourth Rail will be on today at 4
http://billroggio.com
Tom Cruise, Blasted In New Anti-Scientology Ad 
You know, you got to hand it to Tom Cruise. It’s nearly unfathomable that an actor who was so in demand could make himself such a public pariah in such a short amount of time. Tom now finds himself on the receiving end of a very unflattering advertisement.
tPC fave Jeannette Walls of the Scoop has the details: ‘Cruise and Scientology have been in the news lately because of an allegedly censored “South Park” parody of the religion—and now Scientology and the “Top Gun” star are being blamed for a woman’s death. . .
Tuesday, March 28th, 2006
THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS ago, I first arrived in America owning nothing but a dream.
I had few friends, little money and knew even less English. But of this I was certain: Here was a land where I could go as far and as fast as my dreams and my desire would take me. Now, nearly 40 years later, my immigrant dream has come true. And thanks to my journey, I bring a unique perspective to the immigration discussion. I don’t just talk about immigrants — I am an immigrant.
A few days ago, huge crowds assembled in California and proclaimed: “Aqui estamos.” I say to each one of them: Yes, we are here. Now we must ask: Where do we go from here. . .
Students March on Behalf of Immigrants for 5th Day
Thousands of teenagers braved heavy rains this morning to walk out of school and push pro-immigrant demonstrations into a fifth straight day in the Los Angeles area.
Some 7,075 students, mainly from middle schools, had walked out as of 11:15 a.m. A total of 45 schools were impacted.
“That’s less compared to yesterday, a lot fewer than yesterday, but that’s still a pretty large number of kids out of school,” said Susan Cox, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District. . .
Local politicians react to student immigration protests
As thousands of Southern California students walked out of class Monday to protest an immigration bill before the U.S. Senate, area federal legislators had little, if anything, to say about the demonstrations.
Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, was not available for comment Monday.
His press secretary, Jo Maney, said, “Chairman Dreier is actively trying to find a solution to what is obviously a big problem. We want the Senate to act. That way, we could go from there.” She did not comment on the local student protests.
In a statement, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, also did not comment on the student demonstrations. He made his case for co-authoring HR 4377, which would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally and would build 700 miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. . .
Friday, March 24th, 2006
Calif. City to Enforce Immigration Law
COSTA MESA, Calif. – A new city policy that would give police the authority to enforce federal immigration law is hurting local businesses even though it has yet to be implemented, merchants say.
The policy would ally Costa Mesa police with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau, making it the first city in the nation to train its officers in federal immigration enforcement. Border security has historically been the purview of federal agencies.
The City Council approved the policy late last year, but it could take months to go into effect as federal officials decide whether to accept the policing plan for Costa Mesa, a city of about 108,000 residents near the ocean some 90 miles north of the Mexican border. . .
School Walkouts Protest Immigration Proposals
A day before organizers planned to rally against immigration restrictions, hundreds of students walked out of Huntington Park High School in Los Angeles this morning in sympathy.
The atmosphere was festive as students waved Mexican flags, held balloons colored green, white and red, and periodically broke into cheers of “Mexico! Mexico!”
“Without immigrants, this country wouldn’t be anything,” said Anna Benitez, 15, a ninth-grade student who moved to Los Angeles at age 5 with her mother from Mexico. “We’re people. We’re human beings. We’re not criminals. We’re in this country to work. . .March against immigrant bill expected to attract thousands
Billed as the city’s largest ever pro-immigrant rally, tens of thousands of protesters are expected to blanket downtown streets Saturday in opposition to a federal bill calling for a 700-mile U.S.-Mexican border wall and the criminalization of illegal immigrants.
The proposal was introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and is one of a raft of measures that will be considered by Congress in the coming weeks. While the bills have been cheered by some Americans, they have split the Republican Party on the thorny issue of immigration and stirred anger in immigrant communities. . .
Alert tells of Mexican border hit men
EL PASO - Texas sheriffs, meeting to discuss border issues Thursday, got another reminder of just how dangerous the border areas of their state have become.
A federal safety alert issued earlier this week warned that nine illegal immigrants in the Big Bend area of Texas have hired Mexican hit men to assassinate U.S. law-enforcement officers.
News of the threat came in a confidential Homeland Security safety alert, which the Daily Bulletin obtained. The intelligence officer who authored the alert said the information came from a reliable source. . .
A Plan to Spread Homeless Countywide
Los Angeles County officials Thursday proposed establishing five regional homeless centers in an effort to reduce “dumping” by hospitals and police agencies in skid row, while spreading out the burden of providing care for homeless people beyond downtown Los Angeles.
The plan marks a significant shift in government policy on homelessness, which until now has concentrated drug rehabilitation services as well as transient shelter beds on skid row. Critics have long said the policy has made downtown a dumping ground for criminals, drugs addicts, mentally ill people and others without homes. . .
INSIDE MAN
Can this be? Spike Lee making a film about a bank heist? I was incredulous – hey, but at least there’s his good ole buddy Denzel in the starring role. Ah, but just like the plot of this movie, “not so fast”. What looks to be an ordinary, well planned bank robbery is, of course, not, and what looks to be a movie that deviates from Spike’s race issues, is also not.
Denzel takes the role of Detective Kevin Frazier, yes, “Frazier with a z”, by the way. How would I describe this Manhattan cop in one word? “Underachiever” comes to mind. Kevin wants badly to make detective first grade, he’s got a girlfriend after him for marriage, and he seems to be implicated in some kind of dirty cop scandal. But you know what? You won’t care about that very much – it’s just to show he’s got some baggage. (more…)
Thursday, March 23rd, 2006
Flaws in law hurt system, report says
Delays, inconsistencies exist in how restraining orders applied, enforced
SANTA ANA - Nearly one-third of all restraining orders issued in California are not served and hundreds are not entered into a state database because of delays and inconsistencies in the way the law is applied and enforced, according to a newspaper report.
Moreover, none of California’s 58 counties enforce a law that requires those served with restraining orders to surrender their guns, the Orange County Register reported Sunday.
Nearly 5,000 orders issued last month did not even include the mandatory firearms restriction, according to the paper, which published a two-part investigative series on the issue. . .
Clinton vows to block bill criminalizing illegal immigrants
NEW YORK —Invoking Biblical themes, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton joined immigration advocates Wednesday to vow and block legislation seeking to criminalize undocumented immigrants.
Clinton, a potential 2008 presidential candidate and relative latecomer to the immigration debate, made her remarks as the Senate prepares to take up the matter next week.
Clinton renewed her pledge to oppose a bill passed in December by the House that would make unlawful presence in the United States _ currently a civil offense _ a felony. The Senate is set to consider a version of that legislation, as well as several other bills seeking to address the seemingly intractable issue of immigration reform. . .
U.S. Appeals To Afghans On Convert
In an unusual move, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday seeking a “favorable resolution” of the case of an Afghan man on trial for his life for converting to Christianity from Islam.
It is important for the Afghan people to know that freedom of religion is observed in their country, Rice’s spokesman, Sean McCormack, said in reporting Rice’s call to Karzai.
In deference to the country’s sovereignty, Rice evidently did not demand specifically that the trial be halted and the defendant released. . .
Red tags of shame for DUI cases?
Legislator hopes new plates may help to curb road fatalities.
Call it the scarlet letter for drunken drivers.
A California lawmaker wants to force two-time offenders to attach red license plates with the letters DUI, for “driving under the influence,” to their vehicles – a rolling advertisement of their crimes.
Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, said he is proposing the plates, which would remain on offenders’ vehicles for two years, to help tackle a disturbing rise in alcohol-related roadway deaths. . .
Mayor vows he’ll change LAUSD ways
Antonio moving toward goal
More committed than ever to reforming Los Angeles schools after his trip to New York City, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday he is close to introducing legislation that would give him control over the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Pointing to education reforms he saw on his trip and to Academic Performance Index results released on Wednesday showing that local elementary school rankings fell on the state benchmark, Villaraigosa said he has become more convinced than ever of the need for massive change.
“I know it is not popular now. I know there are problems, but this is something we have to do if Los Angeles is to remain a world-class city,” Villaraigosa said at a news conference at Los Angeles International Airport after his arrival from New York. . .
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
Economist Philip Martin of the University of California likes to tell a story about the state’s tomato industry. In the early 1960s, growers relied on seasonal Mexican laborers, brought in under the government’s “bracero” program. The Mexicans picked the tomatoes that were then processed into ketchup and other products. In 1964 Congress killed the program despite growers’ warnings that its abolition would doom their industry. What happened? Well, plant scientists developed oblong tomatoes that could be harvested by machine. Since then, California’s tomato output has risen fivefold.
It’s a story worth remembering, because we’re being warned again that we need huge numbers of “guest workers”—meaning unskilled laborers from Mexico and Central America—to relieve U.S. “labor shortages.” Indeed, the shortages will supposedly worsen as baby boomers retire. President Bush wants an open-ended program. Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) advocate initially admitting 400,000 guest workers annually. The Senate is considering these and other plans. . .
State’s Air Is Among Nation’s Most Toxic
Despite two decades of cleaning up carcinogenic fumes from cars and factories, Californians are breathing some of the most toxic air in the nation, with residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties exposed to a cancer risk about twice the national average.
A nationwide, county-by-county snapshot of the cancer threat posed by air pollution provides a troubling portrait of California, revealing that many potent chemicals still pose an excessive risk.
New York tops the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list, followed closely by California, while rural residents of Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana have the least chance of contracting cancer from breathing the air. . .
