Ethanol Makes Gasoline Costlier, Dirtier
In his State of the Union address, President Bush spoke a lot about energy independence and alternative energy sources such as ethanol. According to the president, ethanol is the magical elixir that will solve virtually every economic, environmental, and foreign policy problem on the horizon. In reality, it’s enormously expensive and wasteful.
Untruths and misconceptions about ethanol include:
Ethanol will lead to energy independence. If all the corn produced in America last year were dedicated to ethanol production (14.3 percent of it was), U.S. gasoline consumption would drop by 12 percent. For corn ethanol to completely displace gasoline consumption in this country, we would need to appropriate all U.S. cropland, turn it completely over to corn-ethanol production, and then find 20 percent more land for cultivation on top of that. . .
Light bulb moment in California: Should it ban the common bulb?
How many legislators does it take to change a light bulb?
In California, the answer is a majority — plus Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Decrying the inefficiency of the common light bulb, a Democratic Assemblyman from Los Angeles wants California to become the first state to ban it — by 2012. . .
Jerry Taylor from the Cato Institute will be on the show at 4:00
City begins laying groundwork for new living wage law
The Los Angeles City Council today rescinded a law expanding the “living wage” ordinance to workers at airport-area hotels and reached an agreement with business groups to replace it with legislation whose details were still being negotiated.
The council voted 14-0 to rescind the ordinance. It also voted 12-2 to ask the city attorney to draft legislation reflecting the agreement with the business community.
The council’s action came on the day of a deadline to respond to a referendum, which was submitted by hotel owners and the business community. The council had the choice to rescind the law or place the referendum on the May ballot. . .
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
Border patrol agent acquitted in excessive force case
BROWNSVILLE — A former U.S. Border Patrol agent was acquitted Friday of using excessive force to arrest an illegal immigrant in a retrial of a 2001 case.
A federal jury said David Sipe was not guilty of using excessive force against Jose Guevarra on April 5, 2000. The case was first tried in front of Judge Ricardo Hinojosa in McAllen’s U.S. District Court in 2001. At the time, a jury found Sipe guilty after a five-day trial.
But while preparing for sentencing in the 2001 case, Sipe’s attorney, Jack Lamar Wolfe, found evidence the U.S. Attorney’s Office had withheld information requested before the trial. . .
Sipe’s attorney, Jack Lamar Wolfe will be on the show at 3:00
Restaurant protest divides state high court
SACRAMENTO — The California Supreme Court appeared to be divided Monday over whether courts may bar individuals from repeating defamatory statements instead of simply requiring them to compensate the victim monetarily.
Meeting for arguments in Sacramento, at least three justices on the seven-member court appeared to believe so-called prior restraint orders may at times be justified.
Chief Justice Ronald M. George said some people who defame may not have accessible assets and therefore would have no motivation to stop without a court order. . .
Attorney Michael Bush will be on the show at 4:00
Eruv in Oak Park splits community
OAK PARK - It seemed like a real mitzvah.
Chabad of the Conejo’s 120 families would spend $20,000 on a religious structure that would benefit all local Jews.
Common in Los Angeles and most big American cities, the eruv – a thin monofilament line strung from light pole to light pole to symbolically extend a Jew’s private domain to everything within the loop – would enable Jews to carry keys and push strollers on the Sabbath without violating Halacha, or Jewish law. . .
Eruv committee member Eli Eisenberg will be on the show at 6:00
Shiites Celebrate Major Holiday in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – Iraqi Shiites celebrated Tuesday the culmination of Ashoura, a major religious festival, a day after authorities said they killed the leader of a heavily armed cult of messianic Shiites intent on targeting pilgrims.
The Iraqi army said it killed the leader of the heavily armed cult during a fierce gunbattle aimed at foiling an attack on leading Shiite clerics and pilgrims in the city of Najaf who were celebrating Ashoura, the holiest day of the Shiite calendar.
Senior Iraqi security officers said three gunmen of ``the Soldiers of Heaven’’ cult were captured in Najaf after renting a hotel room in front of the office of Iraq’s most senior Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, with plans to attack it. . .
See more photos here.
Monday, January 29th, 2007
Prisoners resist moving out of state
In one of the more unusual marketing campaigns undertaken by state government, California prison officials are asking inmates to bid adieu to their cellmates and transfer to lockups elsewhere in the country.
As part of the recruitment drive, wardens are screening a film extolling the virtues of out-of-state prisons and reminding convicts of the violent, overcrowded, racially charged conditions they face in California.
“You get 79 channels here — ESPN!” one tattooed California felon, now housed in Tennessee, says in the movie. . .
See the video here.
The Department of Homeland Security’s assertions that two El Paso Border Patrol agents knowingly shot an unarmed suspect appear to be countered by the department’s own documents, the Daily Bulletin has learned.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told the Daily Bulletin on Wednesday that Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner has refused to deliver documents confirming his office’s claims that Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean admitted they “were out to shoot Mexicans,” and knowingly shot Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a drug smuggler, in a border incident nearly two years ago.
McCaul and three other House members met with Skinner on Sept. 26, 2006, to discuss the agents’ case. . .
Sara Carter will be on the show at 5:00
State bill rekindles an age-old debate
SACRAMENTO – A proposal to make California the nation’s first state to ban spanking of children under age 4 already is generating more heat than most children are ever likely to experience on their bottoms.
Sally Lieber, a Mountain View Democrat and the Assembly’s speaker pro tem, said she plans to introduce the no-spanking measure this week, a week later than initially planned.
Word of the impending legislation has stirred a hornet’s nest, rekindling – and taking to the national stage – an age-old debate about how best to discipline children. . .
Thomas Nazario, a University of San Francisco law professor who persuaded Lieber to introduce the measure will come on the show at 4:00
Friday, January 26th, 2007
Ex-Border Patrol Agents Await Word of Bush Pardon While in Prison
Two ex-Border Patrol agents are sitting in prison — at least one in solitary confinement, isolated from a prison community that likely would do him harm — while they hope for a pardon from President Bush, a family member told FOXNews.com.
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean turned themselves in to federal marshals in El Paso, Texas, last week to begin serving their 11 and 12 years, respectively, for the non-fatal shooting in the backside of a Mexican drug runner in February of 2005.
They were supposed to be held in an El Paso jail for a few days before being moved to separate low-security federal prisons. As of Tuesday, they were still not in federal custody. . .
Patty Compean (wife of Jose) will be on the show at 3:00
Politicians Combine Efforts To Speed Aid For Fallen Firefighters
LOS ANGELES —Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Palm Desert, announced on Thursday he will team with another local lawmaker to speed passage of legislation to aid the families of the five firefighters who died in the arson-caused Esperanza wildfire last October.
After pushing through separate, nearly identical bills in the Assembly and state Senate, Benoit and Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, will combine their efforts to pave the way for the disbursement of more than $1 million in donations to the families of the fallen firefighters.
“Now that we know for sure that both chambers are ready and willing to act, Senator Battin and I have agreed that the best way to move forward from here is to combine our efforts behind one bill,” Benoit said. . .
Sen. Jim Battin will be on the show at 4:00
Most guilty of hate crime in Long Beach beating
A judge today found that nine of 10 youths had joined in beating three white women in Long Beach on Halloween night, ending a racially charged trial muddled with conflicting testimony and allegations of witness intimidation.
The youngest defendant, a 12-year-old girl, was, in effect, acquitted of any involvement in what Judge Gibson Lee ruled was a hate crime by some of the teenagers. The ruling was handed down by Lee because juvenile courts do not have juries.
The minors could face sentences ranging from probation to months in a county youth camp when the punishment is decided. . .
Bodybuilding governor feels the unforgiving weight of time
SACRAMENTO — Time is chasing Arnold Schwarzenegger and catching up.
Ordinarily, a politician’s body would not be noteworthy. But California is witnessing a singular moment: the deconstruction of one of the greatest bodies of all time.
At 15, Schwarzenegger began pounding, pressing and transforming himself into a symbol of physical perfection. Now, a few months from his 60th birthday, he has been photographed in a hospital bed, hobbling around on crutches and publicly lamenting his anger at being in constant pain. . .
CATCH AND RELEASE
The people who cast this movie would really like you to accept Jennifer Garner as the “new” Julia Roberts. Honestly – that’s the plan. And it’s all too obvious. First, the look – slim brunette, with a pouty, but pretty face. And those lips – oh, those lips which could launch a thousand ships. I don’t know if it’s collagen, I mean I don’t want to accuse anyone of doing anything cosmetically, after all, Jennifer’s been around for a few years and has pretty much always had those same lips, but all the same… (more…)
Thursday, January 25th, 2007
DHS yet to release evidence on convicted border agents
A Texas congressman demanded that the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s Office turn over documents they promised more than three months ago regarding the case of two convicted El Paso Border Patrol agents or face a subpoena or contempt of Congress if they refuse to do so.
Congressman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, announced Wednesday night that Inspector General Richard Skinner has failed on his promise and refused to deliver documents requested by four Texas congressmen regarding the case of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.
McCaul, who was interviewed by the Daily Bulletin Wednesday night, said that Skinner has refused to provide any evidence thus far to support the DHS claims against the agents. . .
Wrong law used to convict Border agents
What crime is committed when two Border Patrol agents shoot in the buttocks a fleeing drug smuggler who has abandoned a van containing 743 pounds of marijuana?
Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., has on record a letter written to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Oct.11, 2006, charging that Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were charged under a statute that did not apply to the facts of the case. As previously reported by WND, the interview I conducted on Friday, Jan. 17, 2007 with the prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, adds strong support to Rep. Jones’s contention.
Jones notes that Ramos and Compean were convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. Section 924©. This statute was written to increase the penalties when a violent criminal, such as a drug trafficker or a rapist, carries or uses a weapon during the commission of the crime. Law enforcement officers, including Border Patrol agents, are issued weapons by the Border Patrol to carry in the normal pursuit of their duties. . .
Jerome Corsi will be on the show at 5:00
Villaraigosa Denies Sleeping During State Of The Union
LOS ANGELES —A photograph in today’s edition of The Washington Post shows Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appearing to sleep through President Bush’s State of the Union speech, but Villaraigosa said he was awake.
“I spoke with the mayor this morning, and he was emphatic that he was not asleep during the president’s speech,” aide Matt Szabo told City News Service. “The photo just caught the mayor with his eyes closed.”
A delayed flight led to a lack of sleep for Villaraigosa before Bush’s speech, Szabo said. . .
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007
Emotions Boil Over Outside Courtroom
SAN DIEGO —Emotions ran very high at the East County Courthouse where a man is accused of manslaughter in connection to the death of a 22-year-old woman.
Amy Kortlang’s family is upset that the man accused of killing their loved one, Rafael Ramirez Perez, has been allowed to change his attorney the day he was supposed to be sentenced and may soon be allowed to change his guilty plea.
Perez asked for a new attorney last Wednesday and also said he wanted to change his guilty plea to second-degree manslaughter and DUI for Kortlang’s death. She was killed in a head-on crash on state Route 67 in Ramona in October by a car driven by Perez. . .
Melanie Kortlang will be on the show at 4:00
Request To Change Plea Outrages Victim’s Family
SAN DIEGO —An illegal immigrant accused of driving drunk and killing a 22-year-old woman changed his guilty plea while in court on Wednesday.
During what was supposed to be his sentencing, Rafael Ramirez Perez, 22, told the court that his public defender misadvised him and that his family had hired a new attorney. He had pleaded guilty to two counts—to second-degree murder and driving under the influence causing great bodily injury—and, according to prosecutors, faced 21 years to life in prison.
“When I took my plea, I was promised I would be out in 18 years,” Perez told the judge, describing his reasons for firing his attorney, saying he had hired a new attorney and wanted to withdraw his guilty plea. . .
Transient held in MTA mercury spill
Federal and local authorities on Tuesday arrested a 27-year-old man they believe spilled mercury on a downtown L.A. subway platform, ending a weeklong dragnet that raised more questions about the handling of the incident.
Armando Bustamante Miranda was being questioned by FBI agents and Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators, who are trying to determine why the hazardous chemical was dropped in the station on Dec. 22 by a man who then called an MTA operator to say what he had done.
Detectives expressed frustration at the difficulty in finding the suspect, at one point creating more than a dozen potential profiles, including a prankster, a screenwriter working on a script, an actor seeking attention, a student working on a project and even a terrorist. . .
Imprisoned agent’s wife attends speech
The wife of a convicted Border Patrol agent sat in the Capitol on Tuesday evening listening to the speech of the only man who can free her husband – the president.
Monica Ramos, the wife of former Border Agent Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos, of El Paso, Texas, was asked to be the guest of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, during President Bush’s annual speech. Last week, Ignacio Ramos began serving a sentence of 11 years for the nonfatal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler.
Rohrabacher has vehemently defended Ramos and former Border Agent Jose Alonso Compean publicly. Compean was sentenced to 12 years. . .
