Free Republic

It’s safe to say the folks who think Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan is a victim of post traumatic stress disorder, not a terrorist with a laundry list of ties to radicalism, won’t be tickled to see “Kalifornistan.” The new film, an unabashed assault on Islamic extremists, comes from conservative filmmaker Jason Apuzzo. The movie fuses film, video, documentary and surveillance footage to follow a terrorist planning to wipe Los Angeles off the map. He’s too extreme even for Al Qaeda, but that might not stop him from carrying out his plans. He somehow finds time to stalk an exotic...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The chickens have come home to roost for Los Angeles city dwellers who keep roosters. The City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance that—with few exceptions—allows only one rooster per property. It was spurred by complaints over noise and hygiene and concerns over illegal cockfighting. Janice Hahn, who authored the bill, says it will give residents of her district some peace and quiet. Neighborhoods from the harbor to the San Fernando Valley are sometimes annoyed by concerts from crowing roosters. Real estate developer Michael Mekeel says tenants of his Panorama City development have had to turn...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is bypassing his chance to lay out a vision for California in his annual State of the State address. In remarks prepared ahead of his speech Thursday, the governor says California is in a state of emergency. He says the financial situation is too grim for him to talk about education, infrastructure, water or health care reform. California faces a $42 billion budget deficit over the next year-and-a-half. So far, Schwarzenegger has been unable to broker a deal with Democrats and Republicans over how to solve it. He's also calling on lawmakers and the governor to go...

Calif. Taxpayers Due Refunds May Get IOUs By Patrick Healy NBCBayArea.com updated 8:46 p.m. ET Dec. 31, 2008 If you expect you'll be getting a refund from California when you file your 2008 state income tax return, be prepared: you may instead receive a "registered warrant." Translation: an IOU. California is rapidly running out of money. Blame it on the state budget deficit that continues to bleed billions of dollars from California's reserves. Facing inadequate credit to make up the difference, California's Controller John Chiang warns that by the end of February, the nation's most populous state may not be...

Reporting from Sacramento and Pasadena -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today expressed hope that the California Supreme Court would overturn Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage. He also predicted that the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who have already married would not be affected by the initiative. "It's unfortunate, obviously, but it's not the end," Schwarzenegger said in an interview on CNN this morning. "I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area."

Escondido city officials refuse to give up. Two years ago, the city passed an ordinance to punish landlords for renting to illegal immigrants. But it rescinded the rental restriction after a legal challenge was filed and bills began to mount. Now Escondido is trying a new approach to what it calls the "public nuisances" of illegal immigration, citing residents for code violations such as garage conversions, graffiti and junk cars. The city is also debating a new ordinance that would restrict overnight street parking without a permit. In addition, it is drafting a policy that would prohibit drivers from picking...

When Ms. Murguia of the National Council of "The Race" announces that "when free speech transforms into hate speech, we've got to draw that line " we don't know whether to laugh or cry, since her own organization's very nomenclature "The National Council of La Raza" is hate speech to the core. No other ethnic organization these days would dare to refer to themselves as "The Race." Despite all the contortions of the group, Raza (as its Latin cognate suggests), reflects the meaning of "race" in Spanish, not "the people" — and that's precisely why we don't hear of something...

I'm Absolut Swedish but NEVER EVER again will I buy Absolut Vodka and I will, at least, TRY to avoid other products of V&S Group (their repertoire is a pretty broad one though and I kinda party from time to time..), a former Swedish company which recently was sold to French Pernod Ricard (for the sum of €5,626 billion). I've also managed to convince my father and some of my friends to join my initiative and I'll continue to campaign! The background is, of course, the already infamous Absolut Vodka ad with the words "In an Absolut World" slapped over...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The distillers of Sweden's Absolut vodka have withdrawn an advertisement run in Mexico that angered many U.S. citizens by idealizing an early 19th century map showing chunks of the United States as Mexican. The billboard ad has the slogan "In an Absolut World" slapped over a pre-1848 map showing California, Arizona and other U.S. states as Mexican territory. Those states were carved out of what had been Mexican lands until that year. Although it was not shown in the United States, U.S. media outlets picked up on the ad, and after a barrage of complaints, Absolut's...

The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers. The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan "In an Absolut World," showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. Mexico still resents losing that territory in the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence. But the ads, which ran only in Mexico and have since ended, were less than ideal for Americans undergoing a border buildup and embroiled in an emotional debate over illegal...

We have received many comments on an ad showing what an ABSOLUT world would look like from a Mexican point of view. We are sorry if we offended anyone. This was not our intention. We will try to explain. Though you may not agree, I hope you understand...... .....The In An Absolut World advertising campaign invites consumers to visualize a world that appeals to them -- one they feel may be more idealized or one that may be a bit "fantastic." As such, the campaign will elicit varying opinions and points of view. We have a variety of executions running...

<p>Advertisement appeared in Quien magazine, in Mexico City, and billboards.</p>

Taking the Reconquista concept all the way to the end, Absolut Vodka launched an ad campaign that appears on billboards and at least one magazine that features a map of the western U.S. and Mexico with nearly the entire west coast appearing as a part of Mexico. This ad appears in Quien Magazine, which is owned by Time Warner and also appears on billboards in Mexico. Quien claims a "total audience" of 513,000 readers in Mexico and the southwestern U.S. The map covers what used to be Mexico's claimed borders before our 1846 war with them from which the U.S....

For those of you who want to let the Absolut Vodka people know how disgusted you are by their appallingly offensive Mexican marketing campaign, here is a list of e-mail addresses for people at Absolut who ought to hear from you: Ketil.Eriksen@absolut.se - Ketil Eriksen, President V&S ABSOLUT Spirits Anna.malmhake@absolut.se - Anna Malmhake, Global Brand Director, V&S ABSOLUT Spirits tim.murphy@absolut.com - Tim Murphy, VP Marketing, Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. jeffrey.moran@absolut.com - Jeffrey Moran, Director of Public Relations and Events, Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. karl-johan.bogefors@absolut.se - Karl-Johan Bogefors, Global PR Manager, V&S ABSOLUT Spirits

A low-level appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger resigned Thursday after the Democratic leader of the state Senate accused him of posting a picture on his blog that amounted to "hate speech." Sam Wakim, a member of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, had posted a picture of a fake California driver's license designed to depict an illegal-immigrant in a sombrero. The posting was made in 2005 during one of many attempts by legislative Democrats to have Schwarzenegger sign a bill to provide driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, called the blog posting...

Latino rights activists want to shield families from federal sweeps. But some council members doubt it would accomplish much. ... On June 22, 175 people were arrested in Orange County on immigration violations during a five-day campaign, the largest single enforcement for immigration fugitives in Orange County... "The arrests make you think that Santa Ana is more vulnerable than other communities and it may be a good idea to make it a sanctuary city where immigrants do not have to be concerned about increased enforcement activity," said Amin David, who heads Los Amigos of Orange County, a civic group... A...

ICE agents arrest 3 By: North COunty Times VISTA ---- Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrested three family members early today who are suspected of selling counterfeit immigration documents, said agency spokeswoman Lauren Mack. Agents went to one home at 6:05 a.m. in the 700 block of North Citrus Avenue, Mack said. The agents arrested a husband and wife, Alfredo Rodriguez-Mendez, 32, and Liberina Adelina Nino-Martinez, 28, both Mexican nationals, who were in the country illegally, she said. The couple's children who range in age from 18 months to 11 years old were U.S. citizens and were left in the...

SAN FRANCISCO City is sued for failing to report noncitizens arrested for drugs Activist contends police are breaking California law Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, May 11, 2007 A San Francisco illegal immigration opponent has sued the city's police chief and police commissioners for failing to comply with a state law that requires officers to tell federal authorities about all suspected noncitizens who are arrested on drug charges. Charles Fonseca, a 70-year-old Portola district resident who came to the United States from Nicaragua at the age of 9 and filed the lawsuit May 4, said he opposes amnesty for...

Mario Corona was lauded as one of Los Angeles' top gang success stories. Newspaper articles told of how Corona spent his youth on the streets as a gangster dubbed "Spider" for a Pacoima gang before going straight and rising in the ranks of gang intervention specialists. He spoke on panels and to students. ....Corona was arrested last week on suspicion of possessing a pound of methamphetamine, and now could face deportation. His arrest has saddened and shocked people who are involved in gang prevention in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere. "I am blown away. I didn't see this coming,"...

At the UC Davis Medical Center on Thursday, Carmen and Julio Ramos came in for a checkup. Their doctor, Sarah Marshall, was there. And so was a medical translator, beaming in via a computer screen from a central translation room a few floors away to help the Ramoses communicate with their English-speaking doctor in Spanish. Under new state regulations that went into effect last week, that kind of language assistance will become more common in medical facilities throughout California. Health maintenance organizations must now ensure that their members receive services in a language that they understand, consumer groups and officials...

The flood of illegal immigrants into California has made things worse than I foresaw. In the Spring 2002 issue of City Journal, I wrote an essay about growing up in the central San Joaquin Valley and witnessing firsthand, especially over the last 20 years, the ill effects of illegal immigration (City Journal’s editors chose the title of the piece: “Do We Want Mexifornia?”). Controversy over my blunt assessment of the disaster of illegal immigration from Mexico led to an expanded memoir, Mexifornia, published the following year by Encounter Press. Mexifornia came out during the ultimately successful campaign to recall California...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's elaborate rollout of his second-term agenda last week contained many moving parts and -- either inadvertently or by design -- underscored one of California's most salient trends: increasing socioeconomic stratification. But in the midst of those celebratory occasions, Schwarzenegger unveiled a sweeping plan to bring health care insurance to the estimated 6.5 million Californians -- the working poor, for the most part -- who lack it, thus focusing attention on a growing underclass. In one study, Mogull found that the state's poverty rate was 14.4 percent in 1959 and dropped to 11.1 percent in 1969, but "there...

After downplaying the scope for years, Los Angeles County officials have started to quietly acknowledge that scams by county employees and recipients of county services may be costing taxpayers nearly $2billion a year. While there are no exact figures, the county Grand Jury last summer estimated welfare recipients are defrauding taxpayers of $500million a year. Prosecutors have estimated fraud in the food stamp, in-home care and health care programs costs more than $200million. "It's as though in all the public assistance programs - be it welfare, food stamps, child care or Section8 housing - someone put a pot of gold...

The bound and gagged bodies of nine people have been found in a shallow grave in violence-plagued Mexico City, where President Felipe Calderon kicked off his crackdown on drug trafficking. An anonymous call sent police to an abandoned warehouse yesterday in Uruapan, 290 kilometres west of Mexico City in Michoacan state. There, officials removed a loose section of flooring and discovered the mass grave, said Magdalena Guzman, a spokeswoman for the state prosecutors' office. State officials yesterday found the bodies of three men and one woman, their feet and hands tied together and their mouths covered with tape. The bodies...

Plan B: the United State of Schwarzenegger MEMO TO: Arnold Schwarzenegger: Though you'll still be hobbling on crutches, Governor, your Inauguration on Friday will surely be a blast. With Donna Summer and Jennifer Holliday belting out songs at your $1.4 million party, and Paul Anka re-creating the lyrics to "My Way" to pay homage, no one can accuse you of backing away from your showbiz roots. So let's get real, Governor -- your political career is just warming up. If your rhetoric can galvanize the California electorate, why stop there? Sure, we all realize the constraints on foreign-born presidents, but...

When I wrote "Mexifornia" more than three years ago, much of the criticism came from the academic and open-borders left. The memoir was considered insensitive in our politically correct age for complaining that it was not wise or moral that millions were here illegally from Mexico. But lately I have heard far more fault-finding with "Mexifornia" from the grassroots middle and right, over both my advocacy for some sort of earned citizenship for most hardworking illegal aliens and my objections, on both practical and ethical grounds, to mass deportations. Why the shift in public opinion? Broad class considerations are now...

Four members of a Latino gang in Highland Park were found guilty Tuesday of unleashing a barrage of assaults and killings to push African Americans out of the predominantly Latino community in northeast Los Angeles. The verdicts in a downtown federal courtroom marked the first time a street gang had been convicted of breaking federal hate crime laws, traditionally employed against white supremacist groups like skinheads and the Ku Klux Klan. "I'm glad the truth is out," said Luisa Prudhomme, whose 21-year-old son, Anthony, was killed when Avenues members allegedly kicked open his door and shot him in the head...

State Senator Gill Cedillo, infamous for his effort to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants has now wants to allow them to get grants provided to UC and CSU students and would make them eligible to receive the Community College Boar d of Governor’s Fee Waiver that would allow them to attend Community College in California for free. Read More...

Many pundits have fretted over the recent tide of unskilled, low-wage immigrants to the United States (particularly from Mexico). They claim that these immigrants depress wages, increase crime, and are undermining the medical system. Furthermore, it is claimed that President Bush's proposed "guest-worker" program is merely an amnesty, and will encourage a further inrush of illegal Mexican workers. Others point to prior waves of immigration, and say that these workers are necessary for continued economic growth, much as waves European labor were required for the great economic boom of the nation's entrance into the 20th century. Which of these is...

There was a thread last night, I even posted to the author that I was going to use it. But I could not locate the thread this morning, so I had to Google the topic instead. See for example this article first. Mildly vulgar language...and an assonance. And also, since today is May 1, a two-for-one bonus... Researcher makes oil from pig sh*t: Peak oil? Why, this ought to figx it. ;-) But that's not the least Forget the Middle East The Mid-West will become the "Big Sh*t". Full Disclosure: If this comes off, will the Arabs complain we are...

Like many teenagers, President Bush dashed off to Cancun for spring break. Protected by a long and impenetrable fence and plenty of security guards, he met privately with the Mexican president and wealthy CEOs from both countries. Bush should have gone to the Arizona border where American citizens really need a fence to protect themselves, their children, their animals and their property from the hundreds of illegal aliens who tramp across their land every night. Bush thus gave the back of his hand to the 88 percent of Republican House Members who voted to secure our borders against the invasion...

Richard Lamm’s Plan to Destroy America Richard Lamm, a Democrat and former governor of Colorada (1975-1987), gave the following speech before a 2004 immigration-overpopulation conference. It is worth quoting, in its entirety: I HAVE A PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA RICHARD D. LAMM I HAVE A SECRET PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA. IF YOU BELIEVE, AS MANY DO, THAT AMERICA IS TOO SMUG, TOO WHITE BREAD, TOO SELF-SATISFIED, TOO RICH, LETS DESTROY AMERICA. IT IS NOT THAT HARD TO DO. HISTORY SHOWS THAT NATIONS ARE MORE FRAGILE THAN THEIR CITIZENS THINK. NO NATION IN HISTORY HAS SURVIVED THE RAVAGES OF TIME. ARNOLD...

Today many groups got out and protested HR 4437. At least that is what I though they were doing. In fact it was a combination of people demanding no consequences against illegal immigrants who broke the law and Palestinians yelling about Israel. Apparently the two were linked. I found it ironic that the protestors denounced walls and stopping the flow of people while blocking most of Sather Gate. They also blocked the signs of those in the crowd who disagreed with them. Members of the Conservative Activist League(CAL) and the Berkeley College Republicans, who were not disrupting the speakers, found...

What Bush fails to see at the border By Ronald F. Maxwell Published April 6, 2006 Dear President Bush, Perhaps you know me from my work. I wrote and directed the movies "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals." Walking Civil War battlefields, soaking up the letters and diaries of that generation, re-creating the world of our ancestors -- all this has given me a deep appreciation for our country. My dad was with the Army Air Corps in North Africa while your dad was in the Pacific. My French mother was liberated in Tunisia and became a lawful immigrant to the...

School officials in Oceanside, Ca. are banning students from bringing signs, flags, and placards that express their position on the illegal immigration debate…including american flags. [On radio show, Rick Roberts said includes clothes with American Flags.]

One of the most striking features of the immigration debate now raging in Washington is that none of the Democratic or Republican proposals seem to hold any appeal for ordinary Americans--which is why this debate is generating so much frustration among voters that no matter which proposal Congress adopts, the issue itself threatens to shatter both parties' bases and dominate the November elections. Simply put, the debate in Washington isn't about "immigration" at all - and that's the problem. To ordinary Americans, the definition of "immigration" is very specific: You come here with absolutely nothing except a burning desire to...

Sunday, April 02, 2006 Lars Larson C onsider the oxymoron. Hundreds of thousands of law-breaking aliens march in America's streets demanding that their right to live and work in the U.S. illegally be respected. Fearful of backlash at the polls from millions of aliens who, in theory, have no right to vote, the U.S. Congress is preparing to reward those who have broken our laws with the most precious treasure on Earth -- the opportunity to become United States citizens. The politically correct call these people immigrants, but what kind of immigrant enters illegally, works illegally, identifies himself illegally and...

"Interview with Victor Davis Hansen ----------------------------------- Ray had the opportunity to interview Victor Davis Hansen on Thursday, March 30th about the immigration issues facing us today." http://www.kmj580.com/pages/13911.php

Walkouts now be reported across South LA......group of 200 students walking toward Jordan HS. 453.800 School Police 453.400 School Police School police are citing students leaving campus

... "The main message should be to get along," said Lorena Tule, a 16-year-old immigrant from Guanajuato, Mexico, who walked out of a Dallas high school Monday to protest the fence proposal. "We definitely need a path to legalization for those who are here," she said. "President Bush needs to be clear about that with President Fox."... "I don't believe somebody should be allowed to come into our country and get ahead of the line, the citizenship line," Mr. Bush said Thursday, with Mr. Fox at his side. "I think a program that will work is somebody working on a...

A mob scene unfolded at Oceanside High School on Mission Avenue Wednesday morning when about 200 students tried to leave campus, only to be blocked by police officers toting pepper-spray pellet guns and wearing riot gear. The scene at the campus subsided as school let out this afternoon and protesting students headed for the Oceanside Bandshell at the beach. Three boys have been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly throwing chunks of concrete at officers during the incident at the school. Tensions arose at the school just before noon, when several hundred students tried to...

CANCUN, Mexico - With Mexican President Vicente Fox at his side, President Bush gave Congress a long-distance push Thursday to open the United States to immigrant workers who have been sneaking across the borders to fill low-paying jobs. "We don't want people sneaking into our country that are going to do jobs that Americans won't do," Bush said at the end of a private meeting with Fox, where the issue was on top of the agenda. "We want them coming in in an orderly way, which will take pressure off both our borders." The meeting between the Mexican and U.S....

Americans waking up this morning are finding their flag poles with Mexican national flags replacing the stars and strips The Stars and Stripes have been replaced by the Mexican flag at Chasewood North, and residents of the condominium community off Central Boulevard are puzzled as to who made the switch. "I woke up Sunday morning and looked up from my patio and then realized that the American flag wasn't on the flagpole," said Sue Miller a Chasewood North board member. "What captured my attention were the colors — at first I thought it was an Italian flag, but one of...

LA School police was monitoring a group of middle schoolers in Westchester that appeared to be marching to LAX. LAXPD and School Police were meeting to determine what to do when the students turned and are now being ESCORTED BY SCHOOL POLICE to Univision Television studios off the 405 in Culver City for TELEVISION INTERVIEWS! Boy, we have some pretty media savvy middle schoolers in this city!

In what can only be described as a colossal surrender, the White House now seeks to relieve us of the burden of deporting the estimated 11 million people who have flouted our laws to gain entry to the United States. We are told that we cannot possibly find every illegal immigrant. No kidding. We also have no hope of finding every speeder and every drug user. Shall we abandon those law enforcement efforts as well? Laws send messages. Millions of people drive at the speed limit because they know they might be caught. Same with millions who might otherwise dabble...

There are hornets in the siding of my home. Every time I smoke them out, they set up shop elsewhere. But today’s tale is about the ones inside. A few get in through the bathroom vent. They wear themselves out against the plate glass window, trying to escape. Eventually, they fall to the floor and die. I realized this week that there is a lot in common between those dying hornets and civilization in the United States. The dying hornets first lose their ability to fly, and then their ability to walk. But driven by ancient memories, they try to...

See for example this thread first. As illegals march for their "rights" In LA; Phoenix; other sites It helps to recall we don't have a wall Instead we've red-carpet invites!

CBS) HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. Some 150 Huntington Park High School students left their classrooms and are marching east along Firestone Boulevard in South Gate to protest an immigration bill due before Congress on Monday. About 9 a.m., students walked out of the school in the 6000 block of Miles Avenue. Friday’s march comes a day before a larger rally planned in L.A. tomorrow, when immigrant-rights groups will gather to protest the legislation of HR 4427. The bill seeks to build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border and make helping illegal immigrants a criminal offense. Opponents of the measure have called...

A driver who was allegedly drunk when he struck and killed a California Highway Patrol officer last weekend pleaded innocent to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, authorities said. Domingo Esqueda, 20, could face up to 16 years in prison if convicted of killing motorcycle officer John Bailey, 36, who was married and had four children. Esqueda was arraigned Tuesday in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Victorville. Authorities say Bailey was driving home to Adelanto Saturday night when he pulled over another motorist for investigation of drunk driving on Interstate 15 near Hesperia. Bailey was talking with the motorist on the...

Farmworkers sue FEMA over lack of aid following hurricanes By Denise Kalette The Associated Press February 16, 2006 MIAMI · A coalition of Florida farmworkers has sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency, alleging the government refused to help undocumented farmworkers displaced by hurricanes with housing because of their immigration status. Many farmworkers who were denied federal help after their homes were destroyed were forced to live in cars and other dangerous situations, while trailers intended for emergency housing went unused, according to a lawsuit filed last week...