In America, Memorial Day is just ahead or Decoration Day, if youre a real old-timer, a day for decorating the graves of the Civil War dead. The songs many of those soldiers marched to are still known today The Yellow Rose Of Texas, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, Dixie. But this one belongs in a category all its own:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored...
Henry Steele Commager called it the one great song to come out of the Civil War, the one great song ever written in America.
Whether or not thats true, most of us understand it has a depth and a power beyond most formal national songs. . . .
RTWT
Posted by: Mike ||
05/21/2007 16:30 ||
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#1
I have a book of spoooooky stuff called Stranger Than Science, by Frank Edwards, who was also host of an eponymous radio show, back before I was born. Edwards was apparently the Art Bell of his day. Many of these little items were known even then to be purest hogwash, but Edwards was a stirring writer, and I still enjoy reading them. In the daytime. With the lights on.
Anyhow, this is what Edwards has to say about "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", in a chapter titled, "The Song That Wrote Itself".
Shortly before midnight [J.W. Howe] found herself sitting at the writing desk in the corner of the room. She wrote rapidly, which was unusual for her. Heretofore she had always found rhyming difficult, but on this cold gray dawn her pen flew across the paper, scratching out the lines that were to make her name live in history. It was so dark in the room that she could scarcely see the paper, but she did not bother to light the candle on the desk. She wrote as one inspired. If this was her mission in life, she was fulfilling it magnificently.
Long after daylight, when she awakened, she found that she had written a poem of five verses on a sheet of stationery paper from the Sanitary Commission...She recalled vaguely sitting at the desk, but remembered nothing of what she had written. Yet there it was, so well written that she felt compelled to change only four words in the entire work. It was entitled "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", but she could recall [writing] neither the verses nor the title.
Edwards claims that Howe said the song "wrote itself". She probably meant that she had an unusual bout of inspiration, but Edwards spookifies it into divine intervention.
#2
It is said that John Phillip Sousa wrote "Stars and Stripes Forever" in much the same way. He was on a steamship with the Marine Corps Band and the tune just flooded into and through him.
#3
I especially like the seldom-heard 3rd verse, virtually banned today for its non-PC militancy and the relative obscurity of the term "contemners."
I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.
A Vallejo woman reportedly suffered minor injuries Friday when her car was rear-ended by an SUV driven by a state senator talking on a cell phone while driving through Solano County.
State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, was driving her new state-issued 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV at 10:40 a.m. on eastbound Highway 12 at Beck Avenue when she rear-ended Ellen Butawan, 31, of Vallejo, California Highway Patrol Officer Marvin Williford said.
Butawan's 2005 Honda sedan was slowing behind a 2003 GMC Savana van that had stopped at a red light, Williford said. The impact forced Butawan's car into the rear of the van, driven by Bob Jordan, 57, of Turlock.
Butawan complained of pain after the three-vehicle smashup and went to NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield after the crash as a precautionary measure, Williford said. Migden, 58, accepted blame Friday for the accident.
The collision remains under investigation, but it appears Migden took the wrong exit, inadvertently going on the eastbound I-80 connector onto eastbound Highway 12, Williford said. She was looking for a way to get back onto the freeway when she crashed into Butawan's vehicle, he said.
Migden's sobriety was verified by officers using a hand-held
breath-testing unit, even though there was nothing to indicate she had been drinking, Williford said. "It was just a precaution." Her SUV, which she recently swapped for her taxpayer-funded 2005 Cadillac STS, sustained a dented front grill that kept the hood from closing properly. It was towed to the Fairfield CHP office, where officers used a coat hanger and duct-tape to secure it, before Migden drove it away to a meeting in Marin County.
Migden last year voted for a new law that takes effect in July 2008 that will impose a minimum fine of $20 for anyone caught using a cell phone while driving without a headset, ear bud or other technology that frees both hands.
#1
Migden has been mentally challenged for quite some time. Since California has a law on the books prohibiting cell phone use while driving, how is she going to get out of this? Maybe she can share a jail cell with Paris H.
Hybrids get no better than regular SUV mileage on the highway, ya know, and they cost more, and might even have a bigger "carbon footprint", but they make some folks feel so much better....
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2007 6:11 Comments ||
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#5
Why does she have a state-issued vehicle? Standard for Cal?
New technology harnessing wave energy could be the "holy grail" for providing electricity and drinking water to Australia's major cities, Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane said Thursday.
Interesting use of religious iconography. I wonder if they have received the blessing of The Goracle or the Vestpocket Virgins...
The technology, developed with the help of more than 770 million dollars (636 million US) in seed funding from the government, works through fields of submerged buoys tethered to seabed pumps. The buoys move in harmony with the motion of the passing waves, pumping pressurised seawater to shore to run turbines and pass through a desalination plant. "The constancy of the waves even when the surface is dead calm means that you can build a base load renewable energy power station and that is really the holy grail for us, if you can produce renewable energy 24/7," Macfarlane told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Perth-based Carnegie Corporation which developed the technology advised the Australian stock exchange Thursday of its "proposal for a world-first base-load renewable energy power station and zero emission desalination plant."
After successful trials, the CETO system was on track to begin full scale deployment off southern capital cities in 2009, said Carnegie managing director, Michael Ottaviano. Australia was uniquely positioned to take advantage of the technology for both its power and water needs, he said. All of Australia's southern mainland cities' current water needs could be satisfied by CETO units covering an area of 155 hectares (about 70 football fields) of sea floor at around 75 percent of the price of current desalination projects, the statement said.
In addition, the "Wave Farms" would generate around 300 megawatts of zero-emission power, enough for about 300,000 households. "If the project gets the go ahead this year, then we will be able to start construction in 2009, with full capacity achieved in 2012," Ottaviano said.
#1
Compare to KOMMERSANT > Russian Ministry denies reports of strange [Terror?] blasts at three-plus NUKE POWER PLANTS in Southern Federal District. Locals worried. Officios claim blasts MAY had been due to local emergency response exercises.
#2
I normally trash these alternative energy projects as symbolic money and resource wasters, but wave power might be different. There is nothing new about the idea. It's been around for 30 or 40 years, but never proved until recently.
Like wind and solar, it's not an on demand energy source so you need substantial excess capacity. Hence, the link to desalination which would use the surplus electricity. Perth already has one desalination plant and is building a second.
#3
Don't these fools understand there is no such thing as carbon neutral energy production? We need to "cull the herd", reduce energy consumption by 99% and return to pre-modern modes of production and transport.
If only there was a Dark Ages ideology we could make an alliance with to take power from global capitalism...
#5
This sounds like one of those schemes like harnessing the tidal flow some years ago -- when they actually studied the effects of such harnessing, they found the change in the ecology was worse than the power plants they were supposed to replace.
#6
"To the north there lies a cave-- the cave of Caerbannog-- wherein, carved in mystic runes upon the very living rock, the last words of Olfin Bedwere of Rheged...make plain the last resting place of the most Holy Grail."
Posted by: Mike ||
05/21/2007 12:32 Comments ||
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A Pakistani national convicted of drug trafficking was executed here on Sunday, officials said. Khan Anwar Islam, the first person hanged in Kuwait this year, was arrested in 2002 at Kuwait airport for trying to smuggle 813 grams of heroin in his stomach. Kuwait has executed a total of 72 people, three of them women, since it introduced the death penalty some four decades ago. Most of the condemned have been convicted murderers or drug traffickers.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Risky career path now even riskier. Khan will not be making a second trip.
Fire today ravaged the Cutty Sark, causing extensive damage to the world's last remaining tea clipper and one of Britain's most important maritime treasures.
Residents in Greenwich, south-east London, where the 19th century ship has been in dry dock since the 1950s, described hearing an explosion at around 4.45am.
Firefighters arrived to find a "substantial" blaze had engulfed the timber and iron hulled ship, which has been undergoing a £25m renovation.
Police said they were examining whether arson was the cause of the fire and appealed for witnesses.
Despite the apparent damage, experts overseeing the broad restoration project on the 138-year-old ship said an initial inspection indicated a section of its structure remained intact and it could perhaps be restored.
"Initial indications are that this is not an insurmountable problem," Ian Bell, the technical manager of the Cutty Sark Trust, told reporters after being allowed to inspect the vessel.
He said parts were "completely unaffected" and his biggest fears were for the condition of the iron braces that held the ship together.
"There is some localised distortion, but not major distortion [of the metal]," he said. "It is not as bad as it could have been."
More than half of the ship's structure, including the three 100-ft (33-metre) masts and 250 teak planks, had already been removed as part of the restoration work. Much of the damage was to a temporary wooden roof installed to provide cover for the 65 carpenters, shipwrights, fabricators and other conservationists currently working on the project.
Initial inspections suggested the ship's distinctive bow and stern appeared to have survived the worst of the blaze. The figurehead, Nanny, was also safe in a temporary exhibition centre neighbouring the clipper.
Police said they were treating the ship fire as suspicious - a routine procedure - and CCTV images were being examined. A night security guard had been interviewed by detectives, and officers were trying to trace a silver car seen near the scene.
At a press conference this afternoon, the Met's Superintendent Mark Mitchell said a joint investigation by the London Fire Brigade and the Forensic Science Service was under way. Dogs from the police arson investigation unit were taken on to the site this afternoon.
Chris Livett, chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, said the ship was "the heart of Greenwich" and it would be "unbelievable" to think anyone would want to destroy it.
He was unable to put a figure on how much the blaze would cost but Richard Doughty, the chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, said the delay would cost £10,000 a day.
The Cutty Sark was "the Ferrari of her day because she was the epitome of speed under sail" inspiring countless yachtsmen and -women, he said.
"This is a ship that helped to make the wealth of London. She travelled the world, she belongs to the world. She is the first ship anywhere that was conserved for the nation."
"One thing is certain: we will now redouble our efforts to save the world 's most famous clipper ship. It has been rescued twice before, in 1922 and 1953; this will be third time lucky."
Asked whether he thought the fire was suspicious, Mr Doughty replied: "I find it hard to believe that anything we've done could have set the ship alight. There isn't anything electrical at the heart of where the fire started. I can't think of anything there apart from wood and metal."
The culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, said she was "horrified" to learn of the fire and hoped the ship could be restored.
"The Cutty Sark is an icon of our heritage and a world-famous landmark known by millions," said Ms Jowell, who is expected visit the scene later today. "I very much hope the Cutty Sark can be restored, so it can take its place once again as one of London's - and the world's - great sights."
Maureen Taylor, whose home adjoins the Cutty Sark site, said she was woken by a "loud bang".
"As soon as I looked out of the window I saw flames, and they were high already," she said, adding that she then got her 11-year-old daughter and the family's dogs outside and across the road. "There was ash everywhere in the sky," she said.
The battle to bring the blaze under control was delayed for 45 minutes after fire crews found gas cylinders near the ship and were forced to evacuate nearby residents and make sure no other cylinders were onboard.
While some water was directed on to the fire during this period, it was only a "defensive" response, with the "aggressive" firefighting delayed until the area was deemed safe, Ian Allchin, a London Fire Brigade spokesman, said.
By 6.20am the fire was under control but had left the ship a smoking, blackened wreck, framed by the exposed spars of a temporary roof erected above it during the restoration project.
The Cutty Sark has been closed to the public since November 2006 for a £25m renovation and was due to reopen in 2009. The ship needed substantial repairs because sea salt had speeded up the corrosion of its iron framework.
Nick Raynsford, MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, who visited the Cutty Sark last week, said the fire was a "terrible blow".
"This is the most famous ship in the world and it draws millions of visitors. People from all over the world will be devastated by this news."
The Cutty Sark left London on its first voyage on February 16 1870, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to Shanghai three months later. But the ship made only eight voyages to China in the tea trade.
The opening of the Suez canal, just after the Cutty Sark was built, quickly made tea clippers redundant as steamers benefited from a shorter sea route. The ship was the world's only surviving example of an "extreme clipper", regarded as the ultimate development of a merchant sail vessel.
Most of the original hull had survived since the ship was built. One of London's top tourist sites, the Cutty Sark has attracted 15 million visitors since it opened in 1957.
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/21/2007 19:17 ||
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#2
I fell in love with that ship when I read a biography of the builder (whose name is on the tip of my tongue) McKay! That's it. Daniel or David. I built the 3ft Revell model when I was about nine or ten (which my younger brother promptly rolled over with his new Walker Bulldog Tank model).
In '95 I saw her for the first time in person and she was just as beautiful as her pictures showed her to be.
Her motto should be an inspiration to us all:
"Where there's a Will is a way"
I am sure they will restore her as there is plenty of will.
Kinda like our country you know?
Posted by: DanNY ||
05/21/2007 22:02 Comments ||
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The Little Mermaid statue in Denmark's capital was found draped in a Muslim dress and head scarf Sunday morning. Police removed the clothing after a telephone caller reported it, spokesman Jorgen Thomsen said.
The statue sculpted in tribute to author Hans Christian Andersen draws about 1 million visitors a year and is targeted occasionally by vandals. On Tuesday, the statue's face, left arm and lap were found doused with red paint. In 2004, someone put a burqa, the head-to-toe Islamic robe, on the statue, along with a sign questioning Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
Four years ago, when Jehangir Raina, a UK-based Indian businessman, decided to start an information-technology company in Indian Kashmir instead of in hot spots like Bangalore and Gurgaon, business analysts frowned at the risky plan. But Jehangir Raina saw in this conflict zone what only a few others did: business potential.
"Initially, our clients were reluctant to do business with a company not based in a metro, but in a conflict zone in the Himalayas," the Indian businessman told ISN Security Watch. "Once they saw potential in us, their reluctance disappeared."
Over the years, I-Locus, Raina's market-research IT company, has managed to woo more than 200 international clients, including Microsoft and Wipro.
Raina has come to believe that more than the threat itself, the perception of threat dissuades the outside world from looking at Kashmir as an investment option. His business success story seems awe-inspiring in a region that has been a crucible of terror and fear for 17 long years. Nearly 40,000 people have died since the insurgency began in Kashmir in the early 1990s.
However, Kashmir 's economy, growing at nearly 5 percent - although sluggishly compared to India 's national average growth of 9.2 percent - defies the myth that conflict must stymie economic potential.
Surprisingly, Kashmir negates all perceptions of a troubled region. Unlike most conflict zones, there are no bombed out houses here, no empty shops, and few people living in abject poverty. What is conspicuous, in fact, is a booming real estate market and a populace that has formidable spending power under the circumstances.
That was enough reason for HDFC, a private bank, to open a branch in Srinagar, the state's summer capital, two years ago. Like I-Locus, many prudent financial analysts in the country blanched at HDFC's ambitious move. No private financial institution was then willing to risk investing in a conflict zone often roiled by bomb attacks.
"Many businessmen are scared of coming to this dangerous place," Adil Nisar, a senior manager at HDFC, told ISN Security Watch during an interview at his plush office in central Srinagar. "We dared."
That daring is today earning the bank rich dividends. After a short period it has accumulated over 8,000 accounts and has fetched business worth nearly INR 2,500 million (approximately US$61 million).
This year, the bank plans to start five more branches in the state, two of which will be in Baramullah and Pulwama, both districts often in the news for militant activities. The move, although potentially dangerous, demonstrates instinctive business acumen. HDFC hopes to cash in on a rich orchard-owning clientele that has long felt the void of a full-service bank.
Extreme poverty is rare in Kashmir. According to government statistics, in the rural and urban areas, only 3.97 percent and 1.98 percent of Kashmiris, respectively live below the poverty line. In the rest of India, those figures are 27.09 percent and 23.02 percent.
Thanks to land reforms in the early 1950s by Sheikh Abdullah, Kashmir 's first prime minister, a majority of Kashmiris are land owners, something that has contributed to the personal wealth of a large population here.
Ironically, the conflict, too, has enriched Kashmir in some ways. Over the last 17 years, the state has built a large conflict-economy with the central Indian government in New Delhi granting it special treatment. Since 1990, when the insurgency exacerbated security problems, 100 percent of Kashmir's budget has been financed by New Delhi, of which only 20 percent is repayable. Generally, the central government funds only 20 percent of the cost of federal state development, requiring the states to raise the rest.
Also, even though tourism, Kashmir's main revenue earner, declined during the years of militancy, the huge expansion of the Indian armed forces in the region since the insurgency began made up for some of the losses, say local businessmen. Over 600,000 Indian military personnel, all potential buyers for local products, are currently based in Kashmir.
Shifting fortunes
But now that the violence is ebbing, Kashmir's fortunes may shift, Daniel Markey, senior South Asia Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, says in an email.
"Now, we may be seeing the beginnings of a post conflict economy in Kashmir," he says. "Reducing violence means that the cash of the conflict economy can now safely be invested in the state to build lasting businesses."
Kashmir's political class seems eager to slough off its image of a conflict-zone. Setting an ambitious target of 8 percent growth in the next few years, Tariq Hameed Karra, Kashmir's finance and planning minister, says the region's economy is at a "take-off stage."
The government, in a bid to lure investors, has for the last few years been offering industries setting up operations in Kashmir 100 percent excise tax exemption for 10 years from the date of commencement of commercial production. In its annual budget this year, India 's finance minister announced that this tax holiday would continue for five more years, until 2012.
Initiatives in IT are new in a state where almost 90 percent of the population has long eked out a living on agriculture, handicrafts and tourism.
Buoyed by the tax incentives offered by the government, BQE Software Inc. set up office in Kashmir six years ago. Since then, its manpower has gone up from six to 40. A software company based in Torrance, California, and owned by Shafat Qazi, a Kashmiri-American, BQE sources a major part of its software development to its Kashmir office.
Kashmir offered Qazi some advantages. One, the work force came considerably cheaper, nearly at half the rate compared to other Indian cities. Two, setting up business infrastructure was cheap and relatively free of red tape.
In a region that virtually shuts down after the sun sets due to security concerns, observes office manager Ikhlaq Bhat, his staff's office hours have transcended the work culture generally prevalent in this troubled region.
"Now the staff works late hours," Bhat tells ISN Security Watch. "Work continues even if there's a hartal [strike] in the city, or even if a bomb goes off."
A drive down a smooth macadamized road 10 kilometers from Srinagar leads you to Rangreth, a mammoth, high security industrial estate that houses some 189 small and big business and industrial units, including fruit processing, electronics, power generation and IT. Set up in the mid-1990s by the Kashmir government, this was intended to woo businesses.
Amid the whirring of generators in the estate, it is hard not to notice a few units that remain desolate. A few industries, because of security concerns, packed up and left Kashmir for good in the 1990s.
In the last couple of years, some as enterprising as I-Locus and BQE, have begun exploring opportunities here again. Even if there is a terror attack close by, work continues unabated in this cocooned estate. The government is doing its best to spruce up infrastructure to lure businesses. In the vicinity of the estate, the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) has come up which provides broadband connectivity.
However, over the years, the scale of businesses has remained very small compared to the rest of India. In a country bursting with the excitement of an economic boom, as India Inc. has taken a strident leap, Kashmir Inc. is still far behind, local businessmen rue. At US$419, the per capita income of the region is only two-thirds of the national average of US$632.
Unemployment in Kashmir - regarded to be a reason that lures the youth towards militancy - stands at 4.21 percent, according to the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), against a national rate of 3.09 percent. Kashmir, according to government statistics, today has 183,000 unemployed youth in the highly educated category.
Analysts say that Article 370, a piece of legislation that guarantees autonomous status to Kashmir, is also a big obstacle towards the economic development of the State. Article 370 prevents non-Kashmiris from purchasing land or any immovable property in the state, thus dissuading investors from showing interest.
According to government statistics, the militants declared hartals disrupting work for 1,356 days between 1990 and 2003, forcing many private businesses to remain shut on many of those days.
Nissar Ahmad Baba was forced to dissolve his business of electrical spare parts in 1991 after perpetual hartals compelled him to shut shop for more than 100 days of the year.
With a government loan, however, in 1997, he started Alba Power, a small-scale industrial unit manufacturing transformers in Rangreth. In the in the last two years, Alba Power has emerged as a leading manufacturer of transformers across northern India.
But manufacturers like Alba Power are forced to keep the scale of their operations small to minimize risks and have a small, yet assured profit. Despite the potential, heavy- and large-scale industries in the valley have not been set up due to a dearth of investments.
With nearly 600,000 Indian security forces in a state home to some 8.5 million people, Kashmir has the highest soldier-to-civilian ratio in the world. And concerns over the security situation are still keeping investors at bay.
"We need more private investors in Kashmir," says Abid Shah, a supervisor at Alba Power. "This is a state with talented human capital. It still needs to unlock its full potential."
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/21/2007 18:28 ||
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A federal judge Monday blocked enforcement of a voter-endorsed ordinance preventing apartment rentals to most illegal immigrants in this Dallas suburb, opponents of the ban said.
The ordinance was to take effect Tuesday, more than a week after voters approved it. Opponents had filed three requests in federal court for an injunction to stop its enforcement.
The ordinance requires managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them, with some exceptions. Violators face fines of up to $500, and each day would be considered a separate violation.
Only the federal government can determine whether a person is in the United States legally, wrote U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay.
Instead of deferring to federal officials, Farmers Branch has created its own classification to determine which noncitizens may rent an apartment, the judge ruled.
Lindsay also wrote that the city appeared to have used federal regulations on housing benefits for noncitizens to define who may rent an apartment in the city.
"The court recognizes that illegal immigration is a major problem in this country, and one who asserts otherwise ignores reality," Lindsay wrote. "The court also fully understands the frustration of cities attempting to address a national problem that the federal government should handle; however, such frustration, no matter how great, cannot serve as a basis to pass an ordinance that conflicts with federal law."
Also Monday, a federal lawsuit was filed in Dallas on behalf of three Latino voters who live in Farmers Branch.
The lawsuit seeks the creation of single-member districts, in which a city council member is elected to represent a specific section. Both large and small cities with diverse racial makeup use the system, said Rolando Rios, the attorney leading the suit.
Activists say that if the method had been in place, at least one Latino candidate would have been elected to the council and could represent the group. All five council members are white men.
Since 1970, Farmers Branch has changed from a small, predominantly white community with a declining population to a city of almost 28,000 people, about 37 percent Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau.
The city had not been served with the lawsuit, said Farmers Branch spokesman Tom Bryson.
#1
For once the Courts seem to actually understand the Constitution. Jurisdiction over immigration is one of the very few powers delegated to the Federal government. When the Federal government creates laws (or refuses to enforce laws) in this area the States and local governments have no legal recourse, as far as I can tell. The ONLY way to fix this mess is to replace your representatives in Washington. Every last one of them, if need be.
(BTW, my e-mail re immigration to Sen. Vitter this morning got a reply, 'canned', but appropriate, much to my surprise. Nada (hey, I'm trying to get with the program) from my other reps.)
#2
Only the federal government can determine whether a person is in the United States legally, wrote U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay.
Except sir, employers are being asked to determine who is legal and who is illegal. It would also seem that all laws not addressed by the Federal government fall to the States.
#3
411, this proves not to be the case. An employer only has to ask EVERYBODY for proof they are eligilbe to work, that is you are a citizen or permanant resident. You cannot challenge a document presented because that might cause discrimination. For example if the SSA tells you a worker's SSN is not correct you can't fire the worker. Legally your're supposed to quartely ask for a correct number.
My biggest nightmare about immigratiom is that we will end up with a system where you wait one or two years before you can be hired while everybody waits to be approved for employment by the INS or whoever gets put in charge of this.Yes the approval is supposed to be "instant", but you don't think anybody is going to be working the week before Memorial Day?
Posted by: bruce ||
05/21/2007 20:54 Comments ||
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#4
A federal judge Monday blocked enforcement of a voter-endorsed ordinance preventing apartment rentals to most illegal immigrants in this Dallas suburb, opponents of the ban said.
Which is how every piece of 'enforcement' in the amnesty bill is going to be gutted. Some fed judge is going to declare what they don't like unconstitutional. The whole government lacks any integrity with the exception of the guys literally putting their lives on the line daily. Lord North couldn't be any more deaf.
#5
Bruce, if the Government really wants to do employee verification, they can do it easily and they already have a working template in place: the instant-check system for firearm purchases.
Just following that alone would knock most illegals out of the hiring box. Add draconian penalties to employers hiring them and illegal immigration would be a thing of the past. That said, what it will probably take is a recession to get such a plan implemented.
Posted by: Mac ||
05/21/2007 23:43 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A Vallejo woman reportedly suffered minor injuries Friday when her car was rear-ended by an SUV driven by a state senator talking on a cell phone while driving through Solano County. 
The technology, developed with the help of more than 770 million dollars (636 million US) in seed funding from the government, works through fields of submerged buoys tethered to seabed pumps. The buoys move in harmony with the motion of the passing waves, pumping pressurised seawater to shore to run turbines and pass through a desalination plant. "The constancy of the waves even when the surface is dead calm means that you can build a base load renewable energy power station and that is really the holy grail for us, if you can produce renewable energy 24/7," Macfarlane told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
A Pakistani national convicted of drug trafficking was executed here on Sunday, officials said. Khan Anwar Islam, the first person hanged in Kuwait this year, was arrested in 2002 at Kuwait airport for trying to smuggle 813 grams of heroin in his stomach. Kuwait has executed a total of 72 people, three of them women, since it introduced the death penalty some four decades ago. Most of the condemned have been convicted murderers or drug traffickers.
