None of the Mexicans hoping to reach the United States could pay the $3,000 the smugglers demanded to hide them in a car and drive them across the border, a trip that just weeks ago cost $2,000.
The sharp increase in smugglers' fees is due to the arrival of National Guard troops at the border and plans by Washington for even greater border security, all of which will make the sometimes deadly trip into the United States even more difficult and dangerous.
The higher fees have persuaded some to cancel plans to sneak into the United States, while others have decided to go it alone.
Mexican and U.S. authorities are already seeing a drop in illegal migration, although it isn't clear if that will last.
For the Democratic candidate who has the idea of making Wal-Mart the issue, ding! No Sale!!
results from a recent RT Strategies poll indicate such a campaign strategy would be counterproductive. By a 3-to-1 margin, 62% disapprove and only 21% approve of "Democratic candidates making Wal-Mart an issue in November's elections," in the RT Strategies poll conducted June 1-5 with a representative sample of 1,209 adults nationwide. !
By staying out of the stores themselves, anti- Wal-Mart Democrats might have missed the fact that:
· 84% of Americans shopped at Wal-Mart in the past year, probably because 81% say it is a good place to shop, according to a December 2005 Pew Research Center poll; · It is not uncommon for thousands to apply when a few hundred new jobs open up at a Wal-Mart, provoking comparisons that Wal-Mart's hiring team can be more selective than Harvard undergraduate admissions or the high-IQ organization MENSA in choosing which candidates to hire. · For the average family of a Wal-Mart employee, the company represents opportunity: The vast majority of Wal-Mart store managers rose to that post from hourly jobs on the floor. · For the average family of shoppers, the savings at Wal-Mart are over $2,000 per year.
But in recent months, as the company has become a target for Democratic activists, she has largely steered clear of any mention of Wal-Mart. And late last year, Clinton's re-election campaign returned a $5,000 contribution from Wal-Mart, citing "serious differences with current company practices."
Thomas Riehle's recent article failed to properly disclose a business relationship between his polling firm, RT Strategies, and the pro-Wal-Mart group, Working Families for Wal-Mart. The data cited in Riehle's article on Wal-Mart is derived from questions Working Families for Wal-Mart paid to have added to RT Strategies' monthly omnibus poll
A doctor and a consumer group have sued KFC in an effort to stop the chicken chain from cooking with high-fat partially hydrogenated oil. Dr. Arthur Hoyte, a retired physician from Rockville, Md., and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, want a judge to order Kentucky Fried Chicken to use other types of cooking oils or make sure customers know about trans fat content immediately before they make a purchase
Hoyte said he is suing to force KFC to change its cooking practices "for my son and others' kids, so they may have a healthier, happier, trans-fat-free future."
Election officials attributed the problem, revealed in an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette examination of the new statewide list, to people who registered to vote upon moving to a new county while their old registration remained active.
Since the system became operational and began using data from those agencies, the counties have removed the names of 3, 835 dead voters and 1, 299 convicted felons who have not completed their sentences and remain ineligible to cast ballots, according to the secretary of state’s office.
The accounts given are actually consistent - on the broader story - with reports from Iraqi civilians (houses were entered, non-combatants were killed). But the Devil's in the details, as they say, and in this case (as with most such cases) that's where divergence occurs
Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali, who lived in Phoenix with Hani Hanjour, who piloted American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, went to New Zealand and was...taking flight training.
The minister referred the Weekend Herald to excerpts from the US Government's 9-11 Commission Report on the attacks regarding "Rayed Abdullah". The report says Abdullah lived and trained in Phoenix with Hani Hanjour, the Saudi Arabian believed to have piloted Flight 77 into the Pentagon. Abdullah was a leader at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Phoenix where, the FBI says, he "reportedly gave extremist speeches at the mosque".
He has been expelled from the country and is back in Saudi Arabia, which of course, as everyone knows, is our Friend and Ally and will not allow him to get into any mischief.
Thursday night was a beautiful night for a concert. Ultrasude was absolutely great! Casey enjoyed all the people. He play quite a bit with the children sitting behind us.
I have never been happier to see some one dead. I feel like dancing and singing in the streets with the Iraqis. I hope his death enables the Iraqis to step up the reconciliation between its fractured ethnic and sectarian groups.
Washington's tolerance of what he called "too much unchecked U.N.-bashing and stereotyping."
He lamented that the good works of the U.N. are largely lost because "much of the public discourse that reaches the U.S heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News."
Hey Mr. Mallock Brown! It's called the "Freedom of Speech". The United States has a Constitution that protects our right to criticize our government and to speak and publish the truth. I know those of you in the U.N. keep forgetting about things like that.
I'd like to hear about those "good works" the U.N. does, but its hard when you keep tripping over:
1. The U.N. child sex scandals
2. The oil-for-food scandal in Iraq
3. The cronyism of Annan, his son and aides
4. The ridiculous practice of naming tyrannical dictators to the Human Rights Committee
5. The anti-Semitism of U.N. resolutions
6. That stupid wealth redistribution scheme called Kyoto
7. The willful disregard of American laws by "U.N. Ambassadors" and their staff
I agree with John Bolton:
Bolton said Malloch Brown's "condescending, patronizing tone about the American people" was the worst part about the speech.
In the study, Arkansas is one of 33 states to get a D or an F, earning a numerical score that ranks the Natural State 36 th out of 48 states
"Rather than asking students to look at the birth of Christ or the fall of the Soviet Union, for example, students are encouraged to evaluate major turning points in history," the study said about the standards. "Rather than mentioning the struggle for a balance of power in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, students are encouraged to "probe the interdependencies of nations." This approach does nothing to ensure that students learn world history," the study said
Demonstrate awareness of interdependencies of nations and cultural pluralism within your community and an attitude relating to the importance of helping students become responsible citizens in the community of nations and in their multicultural environment.
Canada had hoped that being perceived as a friend to Islam, they'd be left alone and not face a terrorist attack. Well, Canada has learned that trying to ignore or placate evil doesn't immune you from it. Canada is a fine example of how trying to be "nice" and making sure one doesn't do or say anything to offend Islam just isn't going to work. 
I've been extremely busy this week, so blogging has been light. Sunday, NARTI celebrated National Cancer Survivors' Day. They had a one-mile walk, a luncheon, guest speaker, and drawings.
It was great to see so many who have survived cancer. It struck me that most were in great health. Cancer wasn't debilitating to any of these people. We were having fun and enjoying life.
This is Don Pryor, the World's Worst Waiter. He provided the entertainment during lunch and was the "guest speaker". He was really funny! I had a nice time in spite of not winning any prizes. I did get a great T-shirt!
I asked Walt about all these transitions— from immigrant to American, from soldier to baker, from rolling out into combat, to tucking the kids in and reading bedtime stories.
Here's how I think Holt won the GOP end. This devout Christian father of nine, a plain-spoken state senator, believes as the majority of conservative Arkansans do when it comes to constitutional precedence, taxation, immigration and needless law-making, to cite only a few issues. While some detractors with their own agendas enjoy painting Holt as a raving fundamentalist-Christian, extremist, reactionary, contentious zealot, the majority who voted obviously see through such character assassination.
How many mainstream Arkansans do you suppose are opposed to a candidate who is a devout Christian ? Are conservative mainstreamers here against following our nation's constitutional principles ? Do most citizens, liberal or conservative, enjoy paying exorbitant taxes without voting on them ? Do the majority believe that our sovereign country should not strictly enforce immigration laws ?
Apparently, his faith didn't much bother the 33,000 or so conservatives who voted for Holt statewide
The worst I can think to say about this man is boy, does he love to talk.
We're talking about a primary here, not controlled by the vascillating sheeple in the middle but by activists like you and me. I don't see most Dems getting too excited about interrupting their day to go out and vote in a primary for Jo-mentum. I do, however see a lot of excited grass roots Dems ready to volunteer or contribute to someone who makes sense and is not the kind of opportunist tool of the Bush administration that Joe Lieberman certainly is.
If there is a movement for Joe (I've predicted before) it will come from Republicans injecting themselves into this race, somehow. He is their new Zell Miller, the Democratic MVP! As for me and the people I know, we'll be checking our voting status, changing from unafilliated (if necessary) and voting for Ned Lamont (by absentee preferably). Jimdish25
The lure of do-it-yourself chemistry has always been the most potent recruiting tool science has to offer. Many kids attracted by the promise of filling the garage with clouds of ammonium sulfide " the proverbial stink bomb " went on to brilliant careers in mathematics, biology, programming, and medicine.
In the meantime, more than 30 states have passed laws to restrict sales of chemicals and lab equipment associated with meth production, which has resulted in a decline in domestic meth labs, but makes things daunting for an amateur chemist shopping for supplies. It is illegal in Texas, for example, to buy such basic labware as Erlenmeyer flasks or three-necked beakers without first registering with the state's Department of Public Safety to declare that they will not be used to make drugs. Among the chemicals the Portland, Oregon, police department lists online as "commonly associated with meth labs" are such scientifically useful compounds as liquid iodine, isopropyl alcohol, sulfuric acid, and hydrogen peroxide, along with chemistry glassware and pH strips.
The chemophobia that's put a damper on home science has also invaded America's classrooms, where hands-on labs are being replaced by liability-proof teacher demonstrations with the explicit message Don't try this at home. A guide for teachers of grades 7 through 12 issued by the American Chemical Society in 2001 makes the prospect of an hour in the lab seem fraught with peril: "Every chemical, without exception, is hazardous. Did you know that oxygen is poisonous if inhaled at a concentration a bit greater than its natural concentration in the air? "More than half of the suggested experiments in a multimedia package for schools called "You Be the Chemist," created in 2004 by the Chemical Educational Foundation, are to be performed by the teacher alone, leaving students to blow up balloons (with safety goggles in place) or answer questions like "How many pretzels can you eat in a minute?"
"You have to capture kids' imaginations very young or you lose them forever," says Steve Spangler, a former protégé of Mr. Wizard who is now a science correspondent for the NBC affiliate in Denver. "But that's hard when you have teachers required to check out vinegar and baking soda from the front office because something bad might happen in class. Slowly but surely the teaching tools are being taken away, so schools end up saying, "Let's get a college professor to do this demonstration, and kids can watch the streaming video."
"Taking chemicals and lab equipment away from kids who love science is like taking crayons and paints away from a kid who may grow up to be an artist." Bob Lazar
"As it turns out, the vast majority of the greenhouse gases associated with manufacturing leather comes from cows in the field," Mr. Swartz said. "Yes, methane."
Memorial Day Service at the Fayetteville National Cemetery. Honoring those who sacrificed for us because we love freedom. Giving thanks to those who bore the greatest cost for that freedom.
The difference is that President Reagan called this what it was: amnesty. Indeed, look up the term "amnesty" in Black's Law Dictionary, and you'll find it says, "the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act provided amnesty for undocumented aliens already in the country."
In exchange for allowing aliens to stay, he(Reagan) decided, border security and enforcement of immigration laws would be greatly strengthened — in particular, through sanctions against employers who hired illegal immigrants. If jobs were the attraction for illegal immigrants, then cutting off that option was crucial.
Note that this path to citizenship was not automatic. Indeed, the legislation stipulated several conditions: immigrants had to pay application fees, learn to speak English, understand American civics, pass a medical exam and register for military selective service. Those with convictions for a felony or three misdemeanors were ineligible. Sound familiar?
There is a practical problem as well: the 1986 act did not solve our illegal immigration problem. From the start, there was widespread document fraud by applicants. Unsurprisingly, the number of people applying for amnesty far exceeded projections. And there proved to be a failure of political will in enforcing new laws against employers
President Bush and Congress would do better to start with securing the border and strengthening enforcement of existing immigration laws.
The fair and sound policy is to give those who are here illegally the opportunity to correct their status by returning to their country of origin and getting in line with everyone else. This, along with serious enforcement and control of the illegal inflow at the border — a combination of incentives and disincentives — will significantly reduce over time our population of illegal immigrants.
Despite talk of an energy crisis and the need for independence from foreign oil, Congress seems to be in no mood to open more of the country's coastal waters to energy development.
The House late Thursday rejected an attempt to end the quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling that has been in effect for 85 percent of the country's coastal waters from Alaska to New England despite arguments that new supplies are needed to lower energy costs
The highest concentration of illegals is in agriculture, where they are 24 percent of the people employed. That means three-quarters of the people are not illegal aliens. But when will the glib phrase-mongers stop telling us that the illegals are simply taking "jobs that Americans won't do"?
Another insult to our intelligence is that amnesty is not amnesty if you call it something else. The fact that illegals will have to fulfill certain requirements to become American citizens is supposed to mean that this is not amnesty.
But let's do what the spinmeisters hope we will never do -- stop and think. Amnesty is overlooking ("forgetting," as in amnesia) the violation of the law committed by those who have crossed our borders illegally.
The fact that there are requirements for getting American citizenship is a separate issue entirely.
There is probably no category of law-breakers -- from counterfeiters to burglars or from jay-walkers to murderers -- who can all be found and arrested. But no one suggests that we must therefore make what they have done legal.
Such an argument would suggest that there is nothing in between 100 percent effective law enforcement and zero percent effective law enforcement
The reverse twist on this argument is that suddenly taking 12 million people out of the labor force would disrupt the economy. No one has ever said -- or probably even dreamed -- that we could suddenly find all 12 million illegal immigrants at once and send them all home immediately. This is another straw man argument
Why are people who are so gung ho for punishing employers so utterly silent about needing to punish government officials who openly and deliberately violate federal laws?
Putting unarmed national guardsmen on the border is another cosmetic move, a placebo instead of real medicine. The excuse is that it is not possible to train more than 1,500 border patrol agents a year. Meanwhile, we have trained well over 200,000 Iraqi security forces while guerilla warfare raged around them.
Wal-Mart's initial proposal for a 142,000-square foot store near Hercules' San Pablo Bay waterfront were rejected by the City Council. So the company submitted a scaled-down plan that included a pedestrian plaza, two outdoor eating areas and other small shops, including a pharmacy.
Hercules said no again, and opponents began raising the possibility of eminent domain, a legal tactic where government agencies can take land from its owners for the public good. Cities sometimes use eminent domain to build roads or redevelop properties, but the owners must be paid fair market value for their land.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that such seizures are allowable if the construction raises the tax base and benefits the entire community. Some residents and city officials say the land, which is currently open space, would be better suited for upscale stores that attract affluent shoppers and give the suburb a classy touch.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he believes he knows what's behind the anti-immigration feelings of some Americans.
"If I were to say some of it is driven by just sheer racism, I think I would be telling you the truth," Huckabee said as he shared sandwiches and salad with close to 20 national and regional political reporters.
"I'm not saying everybody who is very, very angry [about immigration ] is a racist. I want to be very clear about that. But I've had conversations with people, and it became evident what they really didn't like is that people didn't look like them, didn't talk like them and didn't celebrate the holidays they do, and they just had a problem with it."
"Mexican President Vicente Fox reached out to President Bush this morning to relay his concerns about consideration of a plan by the United States to deploy National Guard forces to the border region. President Bush made clear that the United States considers Mexico a friend and that what is being considered is not a militarization of the border, but support of Border Patrol capabilities, on a temporary basis, by National Guard personnel," Tamburri said.
"The president reiterated to President Fox his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform," she added. Fox's office also released a statement saying Bush assured the Mexican president that any military support would be administrative and logistical and would come from the National Guard, not the Army.
There was a good crowd attending the Washington County Republican Committee's public forum in Springdale. All the candidates were excellent and they've never sounded better. The Republicans have been lucky to get such great people to run for office.
First to go were the candidates for Lt. Governor; Doug Matayo, Jim Holt and Chuck Banks. I thought that Matayo was strong and steady throughout the debate. A couple of times I thought that some things Holt was saying would jolt him, but he held tight. Holt kept throwing out numbers. When some one starts doing that I think they're trying to be a smarty pants and I get kinda turned off. He was tossing out too many numbers and my eyes sorta glazed over. I have a tendency not to believe any numbers unless I know them to be accurate. Banks was a live one. As the debate progressed he got a little feisty. He really got heated up about illegal immigrants. I liked it. It's good for a candidate to show some passion.
"I needed Factor 8 because I was in pain, but in being given that treatment I was given a death sentence," a protester in Glasgow told BBC.
As a result of the tainted blood product, the man, who did not want to be named, was infected with both HIV and hepatitis C at age 14.
The British network quotes protester Andy Gunn discussing the blood scandal: "They were making a lot of money. In fact, blood was worth more in weight than gold at the time.
"They knew the blood was infected with HIV and hepatitis and the prisoners were themselves dying of these conditions. It was actually illegal to use the blood in America and they secretly sent it up to Canada where it was turned into Factor 8 and punted around the globe."
