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comprehensive immigration reform
Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Page 5
See the summary for this topic on the main Comprehensive Immigration Reform page.
Chuck Schumer to discuss outlines of his immigration "reform" plan today - 06/24/09
From this:
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who also chairs the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, will unveil an outline for an immigration reform bill on Wednesday that will likely detail a plan to offer amnesty to the nation's more than 11 million illegal aliens.
...Sen. Schumer plans to announce on Wednesday the principles that will guide the immigration reform bill that he plans to introduce to the Senate later this year. His announcement comes one day before Pres. Barack Obama will host Congressional leaders at the White House to discuss immigration reform.
UPDATE: See Schumer, Senate Democrats discuss their immigration plans, including a national ID card.
Helen Krieble's absurd Red Card "Temporary" Workers "Solution" - 06/23/09
Helen Krieble - president of the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation, an heir to the Loctite fortune, and an associate of Dick Armey - has been pushing her own guest workers plan for a few years.
American Jewish Committee gets half a million from Ford Foundation for immigration "reform" tour - 06/21/09
Back in 2007, the American Jewish Committee teamed up with the Mexican government on a three-day immigration workshop. Whether they've gotten any money out of that government isn't known, but according to this they're going to be getting a $500,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to promote comprehensive immigration reform:
[The grant] will go toward an AJC yearlong initiative that will include a series of roundtable discussions with those involved in the immigration debate in order to seek common ground, the AJC announced in a news release.
The AJC also will offer advocacy skills-building workshops to Latino leaders and organizations in Arizona, Chicago, Houston and New Jersey.
Considering that the AJC has continually tried to silence their opponents (also here and here) and has opposed immigration enforcement, their "roundtable" is probably going to be more like a slice.
Obama at Hispanic Prayer Breakfast: same old immigration speech (+sounds like McCain) - 06/19/09
Earlier today, Barack Obama spoke at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast [1]. Others in attendance included Cecilia Munoz, Ed Rendell, and Janet Napolitano; the event was organized by Rev.
Chuck Schumer wants national ID card as part of immigration "reform"; liberals, libertarians who support illegal activity to blame - 06/18/09
From this:
A "forgery-proof" worker ID card, secured with biometric data such as fingerprints, is an idea favored by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y), the new chairman of the immigration subcommittee. Schumer, who will lead the effort to craft the Senate's comprehensive immigration overhaul legislation, called the card the best way to ensure that all workers were authorized.
"The ID will make it easy for employers to avoid undocumented workers, which will allow for tough sanctions against employers who break the law, which will lead to no jobs being available for illegal immigrants, which will stop illegal immigration," Schumer wrote in his 2007 book, "Positively American."
"Once Americans are convinced that we will permanently staunch the flow of illegal immigration, they will be more willing to accept constructing a path toward earned citizenship for those who are already here."
Rather than repeating myself, see August 18, 2007's Thanks, liberals & libertarians: 71% support "foreigners-only" ID card. If "liberals" and libertarians would support our more-than-reasonable immigration laws, Schumer wouldn't have a leg to stand on. As it is, he might be effective, and all those who continue to support massive illegal activity in the name of "freedom" will have made the U.S. a lot less free. Don't trust those who can't figure out or who won't disclose the downsides of what they promote.
Harry Reid says there are enough Senate votes for immigration "reform"; offers deportation false choice - 06/15/09
Maria Pena of EFE - the Spanish news agency behind a 2006 smear - offers "Senate Leader Says Immigration Reform Possible This Year" [1]:
He added that although (comprehensive immigration reform) does not have the backing of all Democrats, the bill will overcome the obstacles that stymied the failed 2007 reform.
The majority leader said he has "no doubt" he could find as many as a dozen Republicans who support the measure to make up for defections in Democratic ranks.
"We can't deport 11 million undocumented people, we can't do it physically and financially, as some would want," Reid said. "Immigration is the strength of our country, we bring waves of people to our country who excel in education and the workforce, and that's good."
"We should bring them out of the shadows so that when someone goes to buy milk for their child they're not subject to arrest. Let's clean the slate, let's have a new immigration program that protects our northern and southern borders, a program that brings (these) people out of shadows and makes them more productive," the senator said.
He said people with criminal records would be excluded and that undocumented migrants benefiting from the initiative would have to pay fines, learn English and be up to date in their tax payments.
It's important to note that he might just be thinking "politically": he realizes how difficult amnesty would be, he just wants some Republicans to alienate their base at the same time as, after failing to get all the votes he needs, he's able to alienate the Republican Party from Hispanics who support amnesty.
And, for a discussion of how he's being misleading, see the "comprehensive" link above as well as secure the border and deportations false choice.
[1] hispanicbusiness.com/politics/2009/6/11/
John McCain not invited to Obama immigration "reform" confab on June 17; Obama not serious about "reform"? - 06/04/09
Barack Obama had previously scheduled a meeting with Congress on comprehensive immigration reform for Monday. That's now been moved to the 17th. And:
The White House has kept the guest list private, but invitees include, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who may introduce an immigration reform bill by the end of this year, as well as Reps. Xavier Becerra, the vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, and John Conyers, the House Judiciary Committee chairman. Not invited: Sen. John McCain, who introduced an immigration bill with Sen. Edward Kennedy and played a central role in the debate in recent years...
[One senior GOP aide, whose boss had been involved in recent immigration debates] suggested the White House might be using the meeting as a "smokescreen to cover Obama's campaign promise," giving proponents of immigration reform a symbolic victory, but not necessarily making a good-faith push to pass legislation.
"This is a show," the aide continued. "There's neither the time nor the inclination to deal with immigration later this year and going into next year. It's a political football. Why not highlight the perceived divide between Hispanics and Republicans? What better wedge issue than immigration?"
Harry Reid says want immigration "reform" this year; NCLR, MALDEF; business-friendly guest worker plan; promotes unrealistic chain migration - 06/04/09
Earlier today, Harry Reid met with MALDEF and the National Council of La Raza, presumably to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. Before or after, speaking to reporters, he said this:
"As far as I'm concerned, we have three major issues we have to do this year, if at all possible: No. 1 is healthcare; No 2 is energy, global warming; No. 3 is immigration reform... It's going to happen this session, but I want it this year, if at all possible... ...We need (a guest workers plan not just in agriculture but) in the food industry; we need it in the tourism [business]
Aside from a massive guest worker plan, the rest of what the article says he outlined was the standard compehensive immigration reform. Whether they'll have the time to make Reid's wishes come true remains to be seen.
He also spoke at an event celebrating Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month (link), where he also promoted reform and made various misleading statements:
"Finally, we will again pursue comprehensive immigration reform that respects both our nation's laws and the people from all nations who want to live in America, work hard and pay their fair share of taxes. And it is critical that we bring families together by cutting down on the long waits for prospective immigrants trying to join their immediate family members in the United States. I am committed to reforming our system in a way that is tough, fair and practical."
He's not only promoting chain migration, he's doing so in a completely unrealistic fashion. Any form of legalization would either have a very delitirious impact on those "prospective immigrants" or would result in thousands of criminals and even some terrorists being legalized. See the immigration line summary for the details.
"Reform Immigration For America": business, labor, CAP, NCLR, CHIRLA begin new push; summit, townhall meeting; John Quigley - 06/01/09
A new group called "Reform Immigration For America" recently launched in order to push for comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty. They're a coalition of business, labor, and far-left/racial power groups; see their slick site here: reformimmigrationforamerica.org.
Michael Dukakis mindlessly spouts massive immigration talking points (Michael Bendetson) - 05/24/09
Remember Michael Dukakis? You know, former Massachusetts governor? The tank photo you see to the right? Ran for president in 1988? In case no one still remembers, raid a game of Trivial Pursuit, he's probably in there somewhere.
Chuck Schumer: the border is secure enough to pass immigration "reform" - 05/20/09
Per this:
according to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the borders are now safe enough to take a step forward. "We can pass strong, fair, practical and effective immigration reform this year," he said following a hearing on border security Wednesday.
Obviously, the borders aren't secure enough, but it's good that he was kind enough to show how some view border security and immigration enforcement: as simply a way to get comprehensive immigration reform.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: $10 million for lobbying in 1Q 2009, including twelve lobbyists on immigration - 05/15/09
The US Chamber of Commerce spent almost $10 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009 for all issues combined. The Associated Press enumerates the issues here:
The government's $700 billion financial rescue package and Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, were among the high-profile issues the Chamber lobbied on during the first quarter... The group also lobbied on: union organizing, wage discrimination, the children's health insurance program, transportation and port infrastructure, travel restrictions to Cuba, pension security, medical liability reform, greenhouse gas standards, health care and immigration reform... Other issues included attorney-client privilege, cross-border trucking, cargo screening, intellectual property rights enforcement, medical product safety, environmental permitting and visas for temporary workers.
How much they spent on each issue doesn't appear to be available, but the reports they filed with the government are at this page. They don't appear to have spent anything on the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, but they had no less than twelve lobbyists listed as handling immigration including their president Tom Donohue and executive VP Bruce Josten. In addition to just general lobbying for comprehensive immigration reform, they also list the following bills from the 110th Congress that haven't yet been re-introduced in the 111th as well as various rules. Looking into their positions on the more obscure ones is left as an exercise:
Angela Kelley/CAP, Gary Langer/ABC News admit: immigration "reform" is amnesty - 05/12/09
One of the games that illegal immigration supporters like to play is to pretend that comprehensive immigration reform isn't amnesty; they use a variety of misleading euphemisms, such as "earned legalization" and so on. But, sometimes the mask slips, as it did with Angela Kelley of the Center for American Progress. Referring to the recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, she says (americanprogress.org/issues/2009/05/immigration_friends.html):
In fact, in the poll a majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, moderates, and conservatives supported an Amnesty Program. "Seven in 10 liberals and 68 percent of Democrats support an amnesty program. But so do majorities of Republicans and independents (59 percent in both cases), moderates (63 percent) and conservatives (56 percent) alike."
The quote she includes is from Gary Langer of ABC News (link). While he does admit that "reform" is amnesty, he also lies about the poll:
On immigration, while support for a path to citizenship is up, interest in greater border control remains high and strong. Seventy-four percent say the United States is not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants out of the country; 59 percent feel "strongly" about it.
In fact, as detailed at the discussion of the poll, it doesn't mention a "path to citizenship" at all; legalization doesn't necessarily imply that all those legalized would be able to become citizens.
Washington Post /ABC News poll shows 61% favor illegal alien legalization; didn't ask about citizenship - 05/12/09
Last month, the Washington Post and ABC News conducted a telephone poll that included this question (link):
Would you support or oppose a program giving ILLEGAL immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here LEGALLY if they pay a fine and meet other requirements?
61% supported that vs. 35% against, up from 49/46, 51/44, and 52/44 in the second half of 2007. The uptick in support is slightly worrisome, as is the fact that this poll can be spun as supportive of comprehensive immigration reform when it doesn't include a main component of most CIR plans: a "path to citizenship" where former illegal aliens would eventually become citizens. The poll question is mostly useless and could also be read as supportive of a massive guest workers plan. And, as with other questions along these lines it fails to inform respondents of all the downsides of such schemes; many or most people are ignorant of those downsides because the mainstream media has done a terrific job at misleading people on this topic.
Tamar Jacoby pins immigration "reform" hopes on Obama-induced "reformist mood", bad policy, racialization - 05/07/09
America's favorite immigration "expert", Tamar Jacoby, takes to the pages of the Los Angeles Times with "The immigration debate, again" (link). It contains the usual smears ("there's a danger that populist resentments will curdle into xenophobia", Lou Dobbs and Tom Tancredo are "anti-immigrant" with "inflamed, angry followers") together with things like this:
Neither the economic downturn nor enhanced enforcement has driven 12 million illegal immigrants to leave the country. Enforcement is still far from effective, either on the border or in the workplace.
That "enhanced enforcement" has been just for show; George W Bush had no intention of reducing the numbers of illegal aliens in the U.S. She's not being completely misleading about the "enhanced" part due to the second sentence, but she doesn't reveal to her readers her thoughts on whether truly increased enforcement - together with reduced non-emergency benefits - would reduce the numbers. Obviously, she knows that it would, and that's why she doesn't mention it.
Obama immigration budget: does a McCain: border security, then amnesty; fulfills promise to Mexican government; worried about *southbound* flows - 05/06/09
Remember how when John McCain used the cheap, misleading tactic of talking about how he wanted to "secure the border first" and then use that to push for amnesty, and Obama supporters lied and said he didn't support comprehensive immigration reform anymore? Well, now Barack Obama wants to secure the border first and then use that to push for amnesty. Somehow it's different this time.
From "Obama budget puts security first at the border/He'll ask Congress to help curb the flow of arms to Mexico before seeking any immigration reform" (by Anna Gorman and Peter Nicholas of the Los Angeles Times; link):
President Obama will ask Congress for $27 billion for border and transportation security in the next budget year, fulfilling a promise to the Mexican government to battle the southbound flow of illegal weapons and setting the stage for immigration reform by first addressing enforcement, administration officials said Tuesday.
While some of what he proposes might do something about the northbound flow, and there's no statement from Obama being as upfront as the LAT is, that's a good reminder of who and what are really important to the elites.
Rather than emphasizing fence construction, the budget concentrates on fighting drug smuggling, increasing funding for the Transportation Security Administration as well as:
...[doubling DHS] funding to nearly $47 million to combat southbound firearms and currency smuggling, and adds more than 100 Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers... Among the immigration enforcement priorities, the budget increases funding by 30% to nearly $200 million to enable the Department of Homeland Security to hire 80 new people to identify criminal immigrants in the jails and prisons for deportation... Obama also wants to spend $112 million, a 12% increase, to make E-Verify, an employment verification program, more reliable and to get more employers to use it.
The rest of the article consists of Gorman and Nicholas blueskying for the administration:
In devoting more money to security and enforcement, Obama may be creating some political space needed to revamp the immigration system. The president risks alienating many conservatives if he doesn't emphasize strong border and immigration enforcement before taking action on a reform package that would create a path to legalization for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants... "If the American people don't feel like you can secure the borders," Obama said during a prime-time news conference last week, "then it's hard to strike a deal that would get people out of the shadows and on a pathway to citizenship who are already here, because the attitude of the average American is going to be, 'Well, you're just going to have hundreds of thousands of more coming in each year.' " ...The emphasis on border security isn't a surprising first step by the administration, said Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank. ..."It's a no-brainer that he is going to want to spend a lot of resources and build muscle at the border," she said... [But, the] second chapter better be looking to Congress and being in the driver's seat, both publicly and behind closed doors, driving a legislative package successfully."
Simon Rosenberg /NDN: seven good reasons *not* to pass immigration "reform" - 05/01/09
Simon Rosenberg of the New Democratic Network offers "Making the Case: 7 Reasons Why Congress Should Pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform this Year" (huffingtonpost.com/simon-rosenberg/making-the-case-why-congr_b_193621.html). As one might expect from the source, all seven are actually reasons *not* to pass "reform".
His first reason is that we need "reform" in order to remove the "trap door" that allows employers to pay illegal aliens below the minimum wage:
it needs to be understood that these undocumenteds are already here and working. If you are undocumented, you are not eligible for welfare. If you are not working, you go home. Thus, in order to remove this "trap door," we need to either kick five percent of existing American workforce out of the country -- a moral and economic impossibility -- or legalize them. There is no third way on this one. They stay and become citizens or we chase them away.
1. Even if they aren't eligible for welfare, they can still get it either illegally or legally through their U.S. citizen children.
2. Many unemployed illegal aliens are remaining in the U.S., such as by being intermittent day laborers.
3. We don't need to "kick" that 5% out of the country at once. We could take steps to encourage them to leave over time if our political leaders would let us. Given the job situation and the fact that citizens can obtain a host of benefits, illegal aliens leaving and freeing up a job for a citizen would be a net economic gain. "Chasing them away" over time is not a drastic step, and it's the only realistic public policy.
He also says, "[l]egalization does not create a flood of new immigrants", which is obviously absurd. Then:
Shepard Fairey creates posters for immigration "reform", to halt raids - 04/30/09
Shepard Fairey - creator of the iconic Obama posters - has thrown his full intellectual heft behind a new set of posters in support of comprehensive immigration reform.
"National Council for a New America": new GOP, same old amnesty? (Jeb, McCain, Romney) - 04/29/09
On Thursday, a group of putatively moderate Republicans will announce a new effort called "National Council for a New America". While they claim that they're non-partisan, it's clearly a GOP effort. And, the list of those involved that CNN has obtained (link) includes several supporters of comprehensive immigration reform.
4/30/09: Chuck Schumer holding immigration "reform" hearing (Alan Greenspan, Joel Hunter, Doris Meissner) - 04/28/09
On April 30, Chuck Schumer and the Senate Judiciary Committee/Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship will be holding a hearing called "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?" (judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3793) It would be a tough debate about the issue if not for the fact that all five witnesses are on the same basic side:
Tim Gaynor /Reuters tries, fails to find economic benefits of amnesty; MPI: little effect - 04/27/09
Tim Gaynor of Reuters offers "Could legalizing immigrants improve U.S. economy?" (link) Just because the only booster he could find to say that granting amnesty to illegal aliens would have a major financial benefit was Scott Smith, mayor of Mesa, Arizona doesn't mean that there aren't others out there; we know there are. However, whenever even Marc Rosenblum of the Migration Policy Institute says the following perhaps massive immigration activists might want to give up:
"A lot of this conversation about economics has to do with the political optics... Immigrants are still a small proportion of the U.S. economy, and it's not going to make or break the U.S. economic recovery or the recession, whether or not we do legalization."
The article ends with this bit of deja vu:
"There are lots of people now who are living as renters who would love to be homeowners if they had a path," [Joan Dodd, a Phoenix real estate agent] said. "As long as they could qualify and had a job history, I think it would be helpful in many of our areas of town that are so depressed."
McCain won't support union-driven immigration "reform" push; other uncertainties - 04/19/09
Change to Win and the AFL CIO recently joined forces to promote comprehensive immigration reform. Now. per this, John McCain says:
"The current plan being developed by the administration and organized labor calls for immigration reform that does not adequately address either securing the border or a legal temporary worker program and is a plan I cannot support... We need to act on the pressing issue of border security now, and then seek comprehensive immigration legislation that includes a temporary worker program... Any legislation that does not address these two key components is not real reform."
Various union officials are quoted as strongly behind the plan, but the article also quotes an unnamed Democratic congressional aide:
"There will be some back and forth, to say the least, on the commission idea."
That commission would set future immigration levels; obviously, the Democratic Party's leaders want as many future voters as possible.
Change to Win, AFL-CIO join to push immigration "reform"; ditching big business; labor commission - 04/14/09
Julia Preston and Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times offer 'Immigration Accord by Labor Boosts Obama Effort" (link).
Immigration Policy Center absurd study claims immigration "reform" would help economy - 04/14/09
The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) - part of the American Immigration Lawyers Association-linked American Immigration Law Foundation - has released a new, canard-rich study called "What Immigration Reform Could Mean for the U.S. Economy" (immigrationpolicy.org/index.php?content=fc011309):
John McCain using support for Obama's amnesty to raise re-election funds (John Cornyn, Jason LeVecke) - 04/13/09
In response to last week's NYT story saying that Obama was going to push amnesty, John McCain's Senate re-election finance committee co-chair Jason LeVecke sent out an email to supporters in Houston asking for money so that McCain could help Obama push amnesty (link):
April, 2009: Mitt Romney now wants immigration "reform" - 04/05/09
Last year, it was difficult to tell where Mitt Romney stood on immigration matters because he crafted his various statements in an ambiguous fashion and - of course - neither MSM journalists nor citizen journalists tried to find out exactly what he supported. Now, he's let us know where he stands (for now at least). From this:
Romney believes that one way to attract more minorities to the GOP is to pass immigration reform before the next election, saying the issue becomes demagogued by both parties on the campaign trail.
"We have a natural affinity with Hispanic-American voters, Asian-American voters," he said.
Passing "reform" before the election would be a great way to absolutely guarantee a Republican defeat. Even if the GOP completely screwed over their base and pushed "reform" as hard as they could, the Democrats would still get most of the credit. No matter how hard the GOP panders, the Dems will always be able to out-pander them. And, the "reform" would give even more power to those Dem-linked groups that will push for even more immigration in order to obtain even more power. The only thing that the GOP could hope for would be a backlash, but the leadership of the GOP has shown time and again that they simply don't have the brainpower to take advantage of anything like that.
George Gascon DC trip paid for by "a group of nonprofit organizations that are seeking immigration reform" - 04/04/09
"Who paid your way to get here today?" Poe asked. Gascon replied by repeating the question.Some of the top contenders who could have paid Gascon's way would include the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Council of La Raza, and MALDEF. However, there are plenty of local illegal immigration-supporting groups, including business groups such as those mentioned here.
"You heard me," Poe said. "Who paid your way?"
"A group of nonprofit organizations that are seeking immigration reform," Gascon answered.
"Would you agree with the statement that we dance with the one who brung us?" Poe said, suggesting that Gascon was essentially paid for his testimony.
The police chief bristled at Poe's comment, reciting his military service and long law enforcement career.
"I don't dance with anyone," Gascon replied.
If anyone's in that area, see if you can file a records request so we can find out who it was.
NALEO, LULAC, SEIU, Univision: ending raids for census not enough, immigration "reform" needed - 04/01/09
Following up on her report of yesterday, Hope Yen of the Associated Press informs us that a group of illegal immigration-supporting Hispanic groups - including one with a direct albeit minor link to the Mexican government (NALEO) and one whose treasurer is an extremist (LULAC) - want their race-based power and they want it now (link):
Saying traditional census outreach will not be enough, Hispanic groups on Wednesday urged the Obama administration to follow through now on its pledge to pass immigration reform or risk an undercount of millions of people.
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Univision Inc., the League of United Latin American Citizens and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) announced a grassroots campaign that would supplement Census Bureau efforts to reach the traditionally hard to count Hispanic community. An estimated 1 million Hispanics, or about 3 percent of the U.S. population, were missed in 2000.
"Make no mistake about it: The census cannot succeed if Latinos are not fully counted," said Arturo Vargas, executive director of NALEO, noting that Hispanics make up half of the nation's percentage growth. "We are the future of the United States."
Soros-funded Democratic immigration push might ditch business interests - 03/28/09
According to Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times, unspecified immigration groups will be making a push for comprehensive immigration reform this fall that would see the Democrats try to get it on their own without bringing business interests into their big, crooked tent: link (See also last month's "Hilda Solis to prefer labor enforcement to immigration enforcement?")
Under their scheme, there'd be a massive amnesty, following by:
an independent commission that would assess labor and industry data to decide how many foreign workers should be allowed into the country. The system, designed by Ray Marshall, a Labor secretary under President Carter, would replace a maze of special temporary worker visas that are granted each year to high-tech specialists, agriculture workers and other foreigners brought into the U.S. by foreign and domestic firms.
That would probably alienate business groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, but the thinking is that it would bring the AFL CIO on board.
To bolster their cause, advocates are planning an $18-million media and grass-roots campaign for the fall. The funding is coming primarily from liberal foundations, including one founded by billionaire activist George Soros.
Since there are several of those it's difficult to know which it could be.
Mexican consul: "We're not demanding amnesty but immigration reform." (travel boycott) - 03/21/09
A group of illegal immigration opponents including the California Coalition for Immigration Reform are passing out fliers encouraging tourists to visit the U.S. southwest instead of Mexico (link). More on the boycott below, but first:
[Orange County, CA] Mexican Consul Carlos Rodríguez y Quezada disputes the fliers' claims that Mexico urges amnesty, is violent and is a bad neighbor.
"We've always been good friends and good neighbors," he said. "We're not demanding amnesty but immigration reform."
1. Mexico isn't in the position to start "demanding" things, especially something that the vast majority of Americans would oppose if they were aware of all the issues involved.
2. Comprehensive immigration reform is just a euphemism for amnesty, and it would be seen as an amnesty by those Mexicans who are still living in that country, many of whom would come here in an attempt to take part in that or a future "reform".
3. From the U.S. perspective, Mexico hasn't been such a good neighbor. Most Mexicans would probably say the U.S. hasn't been such a good neighbor either. Perhaps we should keep both of those in mind going ahead.
As for the boycott, those quoted in the article are probably correct in that it probably won't be that effective. On the one hand, people should be encouraged to spend more time spending their vacation money in the U.S. And, it would certainly serve Mexico well to get less money from the U.S. On the other hand, we probably don't want one of Mexico's major sources of (legitimate) income to collapse, since it would cause more people to leave there illegally.
Mel Martinez to be "irritant" to get immigration "reform"; Gebe Martinez has no concern for U.S. workers - 03/18/09
Gebe Martinez of the Politico informs us (link) that Sen. Mel Martinez (no relation) is initiating an unfocused push to get comprehensive immigration reform:
Condi Rice promotes immigration "reform", bad policy (why?) - 03/16/09
Juliana Barbassa of the Associated Press informs us that Condoleezza Rice spoke at Stanford University on Friday and said the following (link):
Nancy Pelosi: immigration enforcement separating families is "un-American" (Luis Gutierrez, Kelly Zito) - 03/08/09
Because Zito doesn't provide full quotes and because she doesn't even once use the word "illegal" or even "undocumented", it's not clear just how stupid the remarks from Nancy Pelosi were:
"Our future is about our children," Pelosi told a crowd of mostly Latino families at St. Anthony's Church.The easy way to show how Pelosi is wrong is to point out to her that the parents put themselves in the situation with their eyes open. They broke our laws and put their children at risk. Pelosi should ask those parents what they were thinking instead of blaming our laws. And, someone could point out to her that the "taking" is easily cured by the whole family returning to their country where at least the parents are citizens. And, someone could point out that it's horrific public policy to encourage mixed-status families, which her policy would do. Someone could present to her the example of a parent who's sent to jail making knock-off jeans. Is enforcing our laws against making knock-offs "un-American" as well?
No matter if those families arrived two days ago or centuries ago, Pelosi said "that opportunity, that determination, that hope has made American more American."
She said, "Taking parents from their children ... that's un-American."
What most people don't seem to realize is that Pelosi could have been easily discredited over this issue if someone had been there to ask her questions like that. An illegal immigration-supporting hack like Kelly Zitto isn't going to ask those questions; she's too busy trying to mislead people into thinking that we're dealing with legal immigrants. That leaves it up to us to ask those questions. I've been posting things like that for over two years, so maybe eventually others will take notice and do something.
3/18/09 UPDATE: This story is now getting some attention due to a Fox News story (link). There's a transcript of some of her remarks here; those remarks are on this video.
On this video she says, "The raids must end... the raids must end". She mentions SCHIP, which results in a loud cheer; another loud cheer follows when she discusses fighting to lift the five-year wait to receive benefits. She promotes them repeating their sob stories to the president and in the halls of congress.
On this, Walter Coleman (aka "Slim", protector of Elvira Arellano) wants people to fill out petitions listing their problems to be given to Obama. He, of course, hides his support for illegal activity behind a religious veneer.
Gutierrez takes an ahistorical swipe at WASPs and engages in the immigration tradition fallacy on this video.
Note that back in October 2003, Pelosi traveled to Mexico and accused her own government of conducting "terrorizing" immigration raids.
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Luis Gutierrez' "National Family Unity Tour" to pull heartstrings in support of illegal immigration; ask him a question - 02/25/09
Rep. Luis Gutierrez is conducting a nationwide tour where he and his friends will be visiting churches and conducting townhall meetings from coast to coast to push for comprehensive immigration reform.
Could Obama and Napolitano enact a mini-amnesty... without Congress? - 02/24/09
Immigration lawyers Gary Endelman and Cyrus Mehta offer "The Path Less Taken: Is There An Alternative To Waiting For Comprehensive Immigration Reform?" (link) Evaluating their claims is left for those intimately familiar with immigration law, but here's the editor's summary:
...The article argues that there is ample room in the Immigration and Nationality Act, for the Executive Branch, acting alone and without Congress, to take decisive curative action. The key is to separate permanent residency from the two critical benefits that flow therefrom - legal work authorization and ability to travel. Both of these benefits can be made available, by Executive fiat, to millions of immigrants - both present and future, immediately, without any act of Congress. Once these benefits are in hand, Congress can grant permanent residency and citizenship, when the time is propitious, without being held hostage by the anti-immigrationists. This article explores how the once-unthinkable can be achieved lawfully through the enlightened use of President Obama's and Secretary Napolitano's inherent discretionary authority under the current statutory regime...
Corrupted: Kirsten Gillibrand pledges to push "comprehensive immigration reform"; might oppose 287g - 02/01/09
Remember when I said that new U.S. senator Kirsten Gillibrand might be corrupted? Well, it just happened as earlier today (Sun. 2/1) she met with Latino leaders in New York and has now pledged to push comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty [1].
Juan Hernandez to lobby Obama for immigration amnesty (still with Reform Institute) - 01/25/09
Juan Hernandez - former Mexican cabinet-level official who later worked with the John McCain campaign doing outreach to (U.S.) Hispanics - was interviewed by the Al Dia (owned by the Dallas Morning News) and said he'll be staying in Washington DC to lobby the Barack Obama campaign to pass comprehensive immigration reform, aka an amnesty. Hernandez is still a Senior Fellow of the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Initiative" at the McCain-linked Reform Institute (reforminstitute.org/about/AboutHernandez.aspx), but it's not clear whether he'll be doing his lobbying through them or another group.
From the translation here (original here):
Hernandez... will reside in Washington during the next months trying to lobby for immigration reform during the administration of Barack Obama... "Obama has been very quiet regarding reform. When he is asked which are his priorities, he forgets to say immigration reform. And we are not going to let him forget", he said.
While I'm sure Obama would offer a very sympathetic ear, the question is what specifically Hernandez would bring to the table for Obama; the only thing would be more rightward leaning Hispanics and perhaps that might be enough. Note, of course, that there are dozens of leftwingers who believe in the same thing as Hernandez, such as administration member Cecilia Munoz.
The rest of the interview is just a longer version of his previous remarks; he adds in a bit more this time about the reason that McCain didn't push Hernandez' agenda harder having to do with mid-level staffers:
"McCain wanted [more pandering, more support for CIR]. Rick Davis wanted it. But when you arrived at the medium level of the campaign, the ones that operated the campaign, froze (the message)",
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand immigration stance: tough or just for show? - 01/23/09
Cardinal Mahony, Janet Murguia, Unite Here, Frank Sharry, Ali Noorani pretend immigration "reform" would be good for the economy - 01/08/09
The preeminent moral voice supporting just and comprehensive immigration reform joins the President of one of America's leading pro-immigrant unions, the head of the largest Latino civil rights organization, and national pro-reform leaders to discuss the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform as the 44th President and 111th Congress take office.Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times listened in, and offers this:
"I don't think it's possible to fix the American economy without comprehensive immigration reform," John Wilhelm, president of Unite Here, said during a media call.This is the second time I've noticed that line, and I'm calling it a trend. The previous comments apply in this case. Apparently whoever writes the lines for these people thought it up in response to complaints that "reform" wasn't possible during a recession, and it would be great to know who thought it up originally.
Wilhelm said legislation would improve the economy by placing workers and employers on an even playing field, eliminating exploitation and increasing wages and tax compliance.
Cardinal Mahoney opposed the sustenance of an underclass; he's partially responsible for that due to his support for illegal activity. If he really wanted to avoid that, he'd work to discourage illegal immigration and demand that Mexico fixes their own country rather than sending their people north.
It would be fairly easy to show just how corrupt and illogical the "preeminent moral voice" is if anyone would try to ask him tough questions about this issue. Discrediting Mahoney or others who use a religious justification to support illegal activity would take a great deal of wind out of the sails of the "reform" movement.
UPDATE: From this other recounting of the call:
[Sharry said:] "We are confident and very optimistic that there's likely to be a big window of opportunity between September 2009 and March 2010 [in order to pass 'reform']"...
[Mahony said:] "I think that would be a good time simply because there are no federal elections going on, and beyond that, it is really important for us to get this really done at a time when we do not have huge immigration rhetoric going on around the nation"...
While an economic crisis is not the best time to present a substantial immigration reform package, Sharry said, "legalizing workers will increase wages, increase the tax compliance of the workers and the employers who hire them and it would restore the rule of law."
"Comprensive immigration reform" returns: S.9, the "Stronger Economy, Stronger Borders Act of 2009" - 01/07/09
If you want to cut this bill off at the knees, write to your representatives and let them know your opinion. However, for those who want something that would be dramatically more effective, ask politicians tough questions about this issue on videotape and then upload their responses to video sharing sites. Discrediting one national politician over this issue would send a very loud and clear message to the rest.
Note that allowing illegal aliens to become citizens is left open, perhaps as a bargaining chip:
I am confident that our country and our economy will be far more secure when those who are currently living in the shadows of our society are recognized and provided the means to become lawful residents, if not a path to citizenship.Note also that the remarks oppose immigration enforcement, at the same time as SESBA presumably will include ramped-up enforcement as an inducement to those who support our laws:
Those who oppose a realistic solution to address the estimated millions of people currently living and working in the United States without proper documentation have offered no alternative solution other than harsh penalties and more enforcement.So? That would work, and it would restore the natural order of things where people stay in their own countries until we decide we want to admit them. Apparently Leahy et al are afraid that it would work. But, don't worry: he's thinking of you:
We must protect the rights and opportunities of American workers and, at the same time, ensure that our Nation's farmers and employers have the help they need.OK, the American worker isn't at the top of Leahy's list. Rather, he's more concerned with the riding on the coattails of racial power and helping cheap labor employers have a ready workforce.
The remarks also support "family reunification", aka chain migration rather than our historical policies which encouraged people to make a clean break. They also oppose the "wall" on the southern border.
As for this, I'm not sure what exactly it's referring to:
We cannot continue to deny asylum seekers because they have been forced at the point of a gun to provide assistance to those engaged in terrorist acts. We cannot continue to label as terrorist organizations those who have stood by the United States in armed conflict.UPDATE: Brown was added as a co-sponsor.


text:
Body found in Nith
The body of a female has been recovered from the River Nith in Dumfries.
The body of a female has been recovered from the River Nith in Dumfries.
Police have confirmed that the body recovered from the river Nith in Dumfries was that of 42-year-old Hayley Jayne Astley from Heywood Place, Ryedale Road in Dumfries.
Investigations are continuing into the circumstances surrounding the death.
Dumfries and Galloway Police would like to speak to anyone who may have been in contact with Hayley before 10.30 pm on 2nd November.
A charity fundraiser from the Carlisle area has admitted stealing more than £21,500 belonging to Cancer Research UK.
Looking a little less cold into the long weekend with some sunshine. Wind, rain & showers in the mix too. Here's the detail.....
Bungling Martin Bainbridge attempted three armed robberies in Carlisle, brandishing a knife wrapped in a tea towel.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Collingswood, NJUSA
Hometown: Westmont
June 29, 2013
No introduction yet
This was my first Meetup meeting EVER! So. . . my rating so far is the same as my Romance and Money rating.
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|24 Reviews
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When you book through the HomeAway checkout, your booking is backed by our Book with Confidence Guarantee
Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (Few Blocks from Central Park, Prime Madison Avenue) View Map
Gorgeous and luxurious 800 sq ft apartment , beautiful well kept .
This beautiful Apt has been host to International and American guests.
Beautifully Decorated, stylish living. Apartment of an Interior Designer.
Luxury sheets on the California King Bed, cotton towels.
This is a beautiful sunny approx 800 sq ft apartment near famous Madison avenue, 4 block from Central Park. The Apt is 7 floor elevator building . There are large windows which face beautiful quiet street.
You will be in the most beautiful, safest and magical location in Manhattan.
Step down to shop and dine, lots of cabs ,and subway station 3 blocks.
The apartment has wireless internet and free local and long distance calling within USA. 2 flat screen 43' Samsung TV, Full kitchen with dishwasher , Krups cafe maker, pot and pens.
Extremely happy with stay. All questions answered by owner. Easy to find and get around town. Pizza, bagels, bar, convient and grocery store, subway, parking garage all right there. Easy and flexible times given by owner to arrive and depart. The apartment is beautiful. Safe neighborhood. All of the prior descriptions given were accurate. Can't wait to go back. Would highly recommend to anyone.
The location, furnishings, and the hospitality of our host was excellent. We were very comfortable in this quiet,safe neighborhood. The three-avenue walk to the subway and museums was a plus as well. Alla was always available for a question or to help us out. Having used VRBO many times, this is one I highly recommend.
My wife and I lucked out with a perfect Upper East Side apartment for our long weekend getaway. The location, furnishings, ease of communication with owner, whole situation were more than we could have wished for.
We hope to stay here again on our return to NYC. Comfortable apartment, thoughtfully and beautifully furnished, convenient to subway with a 3 avenue block walk. Safe residential elevator building in quiet neighborhood with lots of restaurants. We felt like guests rather than renters!
Stayed in this apartment for 4 nights with my daughter and friends! It was nice to have more space and privacy than a hotel room and all the amenities of home. Very comfortable bed and furnishings. Lots of restaurants nearby, and a reasonable walk to the subway, the Met and Central Park. Parking in the garage on the same block was reasonable. Alla is wonderful and always got back to us quickly when we had questions. I would definitely stay here again!
I underwent knee surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery and we needed an apartment close by for two weeks while I recuperated. Alla's apartment was perfect, very spacious, everything needed was provided, very comfy king size bed (a luxury in NYC). We had restaurants, bagels and more within blocks. We really felt at home and the environment assisted greatly in my recovery. Alla is wonderful, responsive to all questions in a timely manner. Highly recommended!!
Comfortable, quiet and spotlessly clean, this is no cookie cutter rent-a-room, but a thoughtfully and imaginatively designed home. Care was taken choosing furniture and art, and stepping inside instantly lowers your pulse. It was a great place to come back to after a long day to relax and recharge. The living room and bedroom are big. The bed is comfortable. The bath is compact, but has a tub. The kitchen is well-designed and comes stocked with staples. The apartment is surrounded by all the stores and markets you'll need for supplies, and some great restaurants. Alloro, a block away and open late, had super, but unfussy food and great service. Alla was easy to work with before and during the stay. Deposit was returned promptly. If you're looking for a real New York neighborhood experience, this is a great choice.
Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (Few Blocks from Central Park, Prime Madison Avenue) View Map
You will be in the most beautiful, safest and magical location in Manhattan.
Step down to shop and dine, lots of cabs ,and subway station 3 blocks.
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Ideal for Couples. No parties, No smoking
|Rate Period
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3 night minimum stay
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Rates is base for 2 people, additional person is +$50.00
* Approximate monthly rate. Actual rate will depend on the days of the month you stay.


text:
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Opinion Poll
KQV/rib Total Media Listener Poll Do you agree that mandatory conscription for women should not include active combat duty? <More Info>
The House Armed Services Committee approved a measure requiring women to register for the military draft, this after the Defense Department lifted all gender-based restrictions on front-line combat units. An amendment by Republican Congressmen and former Marine Duncan Hunter would prohibit women being drafted into combat duty, disallowing their entry into infantry and special operations positions. Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier supporting Hunter's measure added "If we want equality in this country for women and not be discriminated against, then we should be willing to support a universal conscription".
Yesterday's Poll
Have current federal bribery laws given too much power to prosecutors over public officials?


text:
Written on: 18/11/2013
I first used Simply Moving in 2012, and used this company twice in 2013. The team is fantastic and friendly, and work hard for the customer, from initial enquiry to delivery. The team are professional, informative, reliable and on time. All my items have been delivered without stains or breakages. I am happy to recommend this company.
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text:
After Sandy, assessing the damage
Long Islanders spent Tuesday cleaning up after a storm that tossed boats and cars, battered homes and submerged roadways under several feet of water. Videojournalists: Newsday Staff (Oct. 30, 2012)
Armed robber holds up Merrick cellphone store Isles looking to take advantage of home ice in Game 3 Nassau police select K-9 unit trainees Puppy of the Day: Tito Battle of the Bands features 'Docs that Rock' LI Marathon features marriage proposal, 2-time champ Bicyclist struck by drunken driver in West Islip Underwater classes for veterans Huntington YMCA celebrates Healthy Kids Day Car crashes into North Amityville house Hank gets a puppy! Boat fire in Copaigue


text:
Oxford City
BBC Birmingham News Feeds
- Season starts here - Bears boss Brown
- Cardiff City v Birmingham City
- Aston Villa v Newcastle United
- Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion
- Konta among top field for Aegon Classic
- Worthington 'living with Alzheimer's'
- Concern over fewer beds at new hospital
- Labour loses control of Dudley
- Service for pilot killed by poachers
- Pulis in charge of transfers - Hammond
BBC Bristol News Feed
- Blues' Welsh wing Davies to join Bath
- Queens Park Rangers v Bristol City
- Bath v Leicester (Sat)
- Polling stations close in Bristol
- Rovers end land battle with Sainsbury's
- City thanked for hosting exiled Emperor
- I need three transfer windows - Johnson
- Polling stations open in Bristol
- Cancer campaign man's treatment to begin
- Trescothick ton sees Somerset to safety
Cornwall Council News feed
- Cornwall Council and Nottinghamshire County Council launch new joint highways company
- Statement issued on behalf of the Independent Remuneration Panel
- Invitation to feedback on the proposals for the potential A30 to St Austell Link Road
- Local People invited to find about planning at the Truro and Roseland Community Network Panel meeting
- Cornwall's voluntary and community groups could benefit from Cornwall Council's Community Chest grants
- Roseland man fined and ordered to pay costs for driving unlicensed taxi
- Pencalenick School students 'pass out' at Falmouth Community Fire Station parade
- Jubilee Pool to reopen with a splash!
- Exciting opportunity for young people from Cornwall to meet with cousins from Brittany
- Helston man ordered to pay £1,867 for failing to clear up after his dog
BBC Essex News Feed
- No pay-out for double murderer tip-off
- Win in play-offs, then head to work
- Brown expects more Southend departures
- UKIP take six seats in Thurrock
- Grimsby Town v Braintree Town
- Cook signs new two-year Essex deal
- Security staff 'scaring' residents
- Island death probe £10k reward offered
- Bail extended over bouncy castle death
- Polls open in council and PCC elections
BBC Hampshire News Feed
- Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton
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- Labour holds control in Lincoln
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- Maryam Namazie – Sharia law and free expression – 11th May
- 'Hay Fever' by Noel Coward, performed by Chesham Bois Catholic Players 20-22 May
- Amersham Museum Talks – Spring/Summer 2016
- The Chiltern Camerata – 20th Anniversary Concert – 15th May
- The Chesham Germains Male Voice Choir Annual Charity Concert on Saturday 14th May
- AMCHOR Concert – 14 May – Old Amersham
- Easter Family Fun at Amersham Museum
- The Comedy of Errors. Fast moving Shakespeare comedy staged by Chiltern Shakespeare Company 8-18 June
Join us for a family fun day packed with activities, games and stalls for you to enjoy.
Chesham Stags Mixed Netball Tournament
Enter your team now for our first netball tournament on Saturday 25th May 2016.
Team Selection for Saturday 23rd April 2016
Selection for this weekends fixtures has been announced.
Annual General Meeting 2016
Notice is served for the Club's Annual General Meeting to be held on Monday 9th May at 8:00pm.
Under 16s victorious in Bucks Plate
The Under 16s side left it late to gain a narrow victory in a tight nervous game against Bletchley RFC to win this year's Bucks Under 16 Plate
Team Selection for Saturday 16th April 2016
Selection for this weekends fixture has been announced.
Pre-season Training
Your definitive guide to getting for for next season.
Volunteer at Buryfields 2016
Give your time to earn money for the club.
Play Touch Rugby
Join our summer touch rugby tournament.
Bags for Stags
We are pleased to announce that the Girls Section of the Club has organised a textile collection with Bag2School in order to raise money.
Team Selection for Saturday 9th April 2016
Selection for this weekends fixtures has been announced.
Team Selection for Saturday 2nd April 2016
Selection for this weekends fixtures has been announced.
Super Stags-er-day
Come to to the club this Saturday for a festival of rugby.
Rocky playing for the Grand Slam
Come down to the clubhouse to cheer Rocky to victory.
Young Stags win Bucks Plate Final
Chesham Stags U13 become the youngest side to lift county silverware.
Team Selection for Saturday 12th March 2016
Selection for this weekends fixture has been made.
Deer Friend Prize Draw - February Winner
Find out who won £286 in the monthly Deer Friend prize draw.
Stags are going to Wembley
Join your Deer Friends at the Saracens v Harlequins match.
Team Selection for Saturday 5th March 2016
The selection for this weekends fixtures have been made.
Get thinking for the quiz night on 5th March!
Come and take part in a fun quiz on Saturday 5th March at Ley Hill Memorial Hall run by the Colts. Have some laughs and test out your grey matter!


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ACCESS Joins Readium Foundation, Open Source Consortium For Digital Publishing
ACCESS CO., LTD., a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile, beyond-PC and digital TV markets, today announced it joined the Readium Foundation, a consortium of companies committed to establishing electronic publishing standards which incorporates the Readium Project for EPUB ® 3 applications. Overseen by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), the initial Readium Project had been an open source initiative dedicated to accelerating adoption of EPUB ® 3. A member since the project was launched in February 2012, ACCESS has contributed to EPUB ® 3 development and standards formulation. Moving forward, ACCESS intends to support all efforts toward the commercial application of Readium as an EPUB 3 reference viewer. Readium.org open source initiative today announces its evolution into a formal consortium of member companies fostering a community of open source projects, including a new Readium™ SDK project developing a commercial-grade rendering engine for EPUB ® 3, optimized for native applications.The Readium Foundation maintains licenses of Readium and develop and popularize the Readium SDK viewer platform and Readium Web EPUB viewer operating on browsers and plug-ins. ACCESS has contributed to Readium development by supplying its NetFront TM BookReader EPUB Edition engine, developed in-house, to the Readium Project. As part of the Readium Foundation, ACCESS plans to enhance and redistribute Readium SDK technology. NetFront™ BookReader EPUB Edition, which supports EPUB 3, is capable of faithfully reproducing a wide range of complex content specific to Japanese text, such as vertical text, readings alongside Kanji characters, and Japanese line breaks. By employing the industry-standard rendering engine WebKit, consumers will be able to enjoy next-generation HTML5 rich media content as well. "ACCESS has contributed substantially to the development of Japanese writing expressions and multi-linguistic functions of UI for Readium. I believe ACCESS will continue to play a key role for the Readium Foundation," said Bill McCoy, IDPF Executive Director.
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The debate over the ``fiscal cliff'' continues to take a partisan tone, with just days remaining before the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts kick in.
On the Senate floor Thursday, Democratic leader Harry Reid charged that House Speaker John Boehner ``seems to care more about keeping his speakership than about keeping the nation on sound financial footing.''
In response, a Boehner spokesman said Reid ``should talk less and legislate more if he wants to avert the fiscal cliff.''
Not long after Reid spoke, President Barack Obama's plane landed in suburban Maryland after a flight from Hawaii. The White House says the president made phone calls yesterday to Reid and Boehner, and to the House and Senate minority leaders, to get an update on efforts to avoid the cliff.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell's office says Obama's phone call was the first from a Democrat on the fiscal cliff since Thanksgiving.
The questions hanging over Washington today center on whether Reid will offer a specific piece of legislation, whether McConnell will let it proceed to a vote on the Senate floor -- and, if it were to pass, whether Boehner would then call House members back to Washington to vote on it. Chances of achieving that before the end of the year appear remote.
No deal in sight as deadline for fiscal cliff nears
The debate over the ``fiscal cliff'' continues to take a partisan tone, with just days remaining before the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts kick in.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Dubai, UAE, 24 July, 2012: Abraaj Capital, a leading private equity manager investing in global growth markets, today announced the completion of the acquisition of Aureos Capital ("Aureos"), a private equity fund management group investing in small and mid-cap companies ("SMC") in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
With the consummation of this acquisition, Abraaj Capital now has approximately US$ 7.5 billion in assets under management, a presence in over 30 countries, and over 150 investments managed by a seasoned team of investment professionals with unmatched local expertise.
Announcing the completion of the transaction, Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive, Abraaj Capital said, "The acquisition of Aureos is a pivotal moment for Abraaj as it consolidates our position as the pre-eminent private equity fund manager in global growth markets. As a result, Abraaj is able to provide investors with a unique opportunity to invest in high growth markets through multiple platforms".
"The acquisition is a significant step in executing the vision we set ourselves just over a decade ago of creating a dedicated global growth markets private equity firm. We share a common philosophy with Aureos, combining a track record of strong investor returns with an appreciation of the long-term social and economic benefits that our model of investing in growth markets can deliver", Mr. Naqvi added.
Sev Vettivetpillai, Executive Chairman, Aureos said, "We are delighted to have completed this transaction with Abraaj which sets the strategic path for Aureos' long-term growth and allows us to deliver value to our investors by bringing our portfolio of partner companies into new markets and developing mutually beneficial relationships with the Abraaj portfolio. From the outset, it has been clear that the business models, working cultures, and operational footprint of our two businesses fit together extremely well."
While Aureos and Abraaj's Riyada Enterprise Development (RED) Funds will benefit from the synergies of being part of a common platform, and operate under the single brand 'Aureos', all Aureos and RED Funds will continue according to their existing Fund mandates and investment guidelines.
Tom Speechley, Senior Partner at Abraaj Capital, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Aureos Capital with overall responsibility for the firm's SMC assets under management of c. US$ 1.75 billion. Mr. Vettivetpillai assumes the position of Executive Chairman of Aureos Capital and joins the Executive Committee of Abraaj Capital. The completed transaction has been strongly supported by Aureos' core investors, including CDC, the UK's development finance institution.
The Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in global growth markets, today announced that it has successfully exited its investment in leading Tunisian pharmaceutical company Unité de fabrication de médicaments ('Unimed' or the 'Company'), through an initial public offering ('IPO') on the Tunis Stock Exchange. The Abraaj Group invested in Unimed through one of its Funds in 2011. Unimed represents the first IPO this year on the Tunis Stock Exchange, and the first in the pharmaceutical sector since 2007. more >
The recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations General Assembly has brought the requirement for businessworthy thinking to the fore. At the 2016 Business for Peace Summit on May 2nd, Group Chief Executive of The Abraaj Group and 2013 Oslo Business for Peace Honouree Arif Naqvi, and Chief Executive Officer of Unilever and 2015 Oslo Business for Peace Honouree Paul Polman, along with other business leaders signed a businessworthy pledge to commit towards accelerating the Global Goals: more >
Nadia Kaabi-Linke's 'Flying Carpets' installation, commissioned for 2011 Abraaj Group Art Prize, is to become part of the Guggenheim New York permanent collection. Other featured winners include Kader Attia (Winner, Abraaj Group Art Prize 2010), Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (Winning duo, Abraaj Group Art Prize 2012), Iman Issa (Winner, Abraaj Group Art Prize 2013) and Abbas Akhavan (Winner, Abraaj Group Art Prize 2014). more >
The Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in global growth markets, today announced that it led a US$30 million round of fundraising for Ninja Logistics Pte Ltd ("Ninja Van" or "the "Company"), a technology enabled, last-mile logistics provider with operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The investment, led by Abraaj through one of its Funds, alongside existing investor Monk's Hill Ventures and new investors B Capital Group and YJ Capital, marks Abraaj's 28th investment into Southeast Asia. more >
The Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in global growth markets, today announced that it led a US$150 million round of fundraising for BigBasket, India's foremost online grocery supermarket. The funding, which Abraaj has led through one of its Funds, marks the Group's third investment into the global e-commerce market, following its acquisition of stakes in Turkish online retailer Hepsiburada and Dubai-based mobile application taxi service Careem. more >


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...As a Russian literature major in college, I had to write extensively on some very deep subject matter. I graduated from University of Washington from that program as well as from the linguistics program, with honors. =I have more than five years experience doing so in a writing Lab at North Seattle College. While there, I worked both as an English composition tutor and and ESL tutor.
10 Subjects: including reading, English, writing, ESL/ESOL
Seattle, WA
...All students deserve to have their educational needs met and need opportunities to learn, grow, and be encouraged to strive for excellence. I challenge students to analyze problems, find patterns, and make connections leading to those "aha!" moments where learning becomes a joy again. I special...
18 Subjects: including chemistry, calculus, geometry, algebra 1
Edmonds, WA
...I lived and studied in Guanajuato, Mexico for one year. I lived and worked in Aragon Spain for two years. I am an avid reader and worked for a year as a reading helper for kids from 7-9 years old in Monterey California.
5 Subjects: including Spanish, English, French, ACT Reading
Seattle, WA
...The first is teaching skills necessary to meet standards on English proficiency exams--both oral and listening as well as reading and writing. The second is helping college students with developing research skills and helping them with their research projects. Over the years, I have found that ...
6 Subjects: including reading, ESL/ESOL, grammar, TOEFL
Seattle, WA
...Teaching you to work smarter not harder is my goal, and we may have some fun while we're at it. As for my credentials: I recently finished an intensive 1 year full time certificate program in print and graphic production, which focused on Adobe CS 5.5. The course work included: Print Production...
5 Subjects: including Spanish, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Macintosh
Seattle, WA


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The Fulton County Fair will be held Aug. 22-27 in Salem and will feature several events for horse lovers this year. The fair opens on Monday, Aug. 22, with Round Robin Style Team Roping in the Clayton-Plumlee-Walling Arena. The roping will start at 7:30 p.m. Contestants should call 870-371-0702 or 870-895-2391 by 8 p.m. on Aug. 20 to enter. For more information on the Team Roping contact Sherry Jackson at 870-895-2391.
The annual Fair Horse Show will be held Tuesday night, Aug. 23, in the Everett Show Barn. Events will get underway at 6 p.m. The Fair Horse Show will feature halter classes, showmanship at halter, western pleasure, lead-line class for youth under 5, and trail classes. A new Horse Show Queen, Junior Horse Show Queen and Princess will be named during the horse show. All entries for the horse show and queen's contests are due by Aug. 12. Contestants are reminded that no horses are allowed on the fairgrounds until 4 p.m. and Coggins papers will be checked before they enter the grounds. For information on the horse show contact Judy Ochoa at 870-458-2020.
Also on Tuesday night, Bulls and Barrels will feature senior bulls, amateur bulls, senior barrels, junior barrels, and a calf scramble so there is something for all ages. To enter call Tyler Jackson at 870-371-0702 or 895-2391 by 8 p.m. on Aug. 18.
A new event for the area will be featured on Wednesday night, Aug. 24, at the fair.
The Missouri-Arkansas-Oklahoma Gunslingers Mounted Shooters of America will have a Fulton County Fair Shootout. The Cowboy Mounted Shooters promise spectators a night of blazing guns, fast horses and top cowboys. A Mo-Ark-Ok Gunslingers membership is not required to shoot. For more information contact shoot director Kim ReDo at email@example.com or 479-670-3292 or go to the website at www.moarkgunslingers.org for more information.
Hall Rodeo Company will bring their popular IPRA/ACA Rodeo to Salem on Thursday night, August 25. The rodeo will start at 8:00 p.m. Cline and Ashley Hall are one of the top rodeo producers in the area and will have a fast paced show for rodeo fans. Call Hall at 870-895-4255 for more information.
For a complete schedule of events for the Fulton County Fair, visit the fair website at www.fultoncountyfair.org.
The fair gate admission is $6 for teens and adults, $3 for children age 6-12, and under 6 is free. Fair gate admission will cover all events on the fairgrounds except the midway rides.


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More than $200 million was committed to programs for Africa at a forum for spouses of African leaders held in conjunction with this week's U.S.-Africa Summit Wednesday.
The forum, titled "Investing in Our Future at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit" was hosted by the Office of First Lady Michelle Obama, the George W. Bush Institute, and the State Department and focused on education, health, women and first spouses' ability to contribute to the effort.
The investments announced Wednesday include investments from the Caterpillar Foundation, Walmart, Intel, and the The MasterCard Foundation as well as new initiatives from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon.
According to the White House the commitments total more than $200 million.
"Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will fund training for 135,000 farmers, 80,000 of which who are women in Africa by 2016," Walmart's Maggie Sans announced at the forum, pointing out that assisting women succeed also makes good business sense.
Caterpillar's Michele Sullivan echoed Sans' argument for investing in girls and women.
"We know that we can't alleviate poverty ourselves. So we are very happy to announce our partnership with the State Department for $1 million to open the first ever African center for women's entrepreneurship," Sullivan said, going on to add that the company believes in Africa.
Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Higginbottom also announced that the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) have partnered to launch the Accelerating Children's HIV/AIDS Treatment (ACT) initiative.
"Through ACT we will double the total number of child receiving lifesaving, anti-retroviral therapy in ten priority African countries over the next two years," Higginbottom said. "Together, PEPFAR and CIFF will invest $200 million in ACT, $150 million from PEPFAR and $50 million from CIFF. This investment will enable 300,000 more children living with HIV to receive ART over the net two years."
Tuesday, in his address to the U.S.-Africa Summit, President Obama announced $33 billion in new public and private investments to the continent of Africa.
"So the bottom line is the United States is making a major and long-term investment in Africa's progress," he said. "And taken together, the new commitments I've described today — across our government and by our many partners — total some $33 billion. And that will support development across Africa and jobs here in the United States."
Read some of the investments announced at the spouses forum via the White House:


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New answers tagged custom-game-pieces
I am not a lawyer, but as long as you just create things for personal use, you're probably fine. Even if you make pieces and sell them, it's probably ok. You can already buy meeples and assorted tokens online. Both shops are around for years already, so I guess it's fine.
Top 50 recent answers are included


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If the Tom Waits-like "Lost in the Graveyard" is a yardstick, The Carnivaleros are a quirky outfit. The jazz-tinged, shuffling ditty creeps along with a great feel even as an accordion is used sparingly. The craziness ensues with the Parisian café-meets-trip-hop flavored "Gina Lollobrigida" with children acting as backing vocalists as times. It sounds as if it was meant for Cake to do for its sheer lunacy. But such lunacy works occasionally, and it does here…occasionally. The Carnivaleros lose the plot a bit with "Misery and Hope" which offers a bit of both while "Fools and Angels" brings to mind outro music by G.E. Smith when he was still dishing out filler on Saturday Night Live. To say the band doesn't know which direction to go into is apparent with the ska-meets-polka romp entitled "Bazaar 54/Bus Stop". However they do hit paydirt with the reggae/jazz approach to "Skinned Knees and Fishhooks" and the tango-ish "El Choclo/Over The Rainbow". The biggest disappointment is the closing "Spook Waltz (Gesture Pie)" which heads downhill fast.
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The Sound and the Warmth: An Interview with Cardiknox
// Sound Affects
"New York's Cardiknox are taking more steps in their goal of world domination. With their debut record Portrait out, the band are dreaming big, wanting to transcend the indie pop scene.READ the article


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Major CPU Thread Optimizations in Total War: Warhammer - Detailed LookSaturday, 23 April 2016
We spoke exclusively with the Creative Assembly team about its game engine optimization for the upcoming Total War: Warhammer. Major moves to optimize and refactor the game engine include DirectX 12 integration, better CPU thread management (decoupling the logic and render threads), and GPU-assigned processing to lighten the CPU load.
The interview with Al Bickham, Studio Communications Manager at Creative Assembly, can be found in its entirety below. We hope to soon visit the topic of DirectX 12 support within the Total War: Warhammer engine.
Paragon Rendering Technology: Subsurface Scattering & Hair Lighting FXWednesday, 20 April 2016
Our East Coast Game Conference coverage kicks-off with Epic Games' rendering technology, specifically as it pertains to implementation within upcoming MOBA "Paragon." Epic Games artist Zak Parrish covered topics relating to hair, skin, eyes, and cloth, providing a top-level look at game graphics rendering techniques and pipelines.
The subject was Sparrow, a Braid-like playable archer hero with intensely detailed hair and lighting. Parrish used Sparrow to demonstrate each of his rendering points – but we'll start with sub-surface scattering, which may be a bit of a throwback for readers of our past screen-space subsurface scattering article (more recently in Black Ops III graphics guide).
CryEngine V – Graphics Tech In-Depth (Particle FX, Dx12)Wednesday, 16 March 2016
In our latest graphics technology interview – one of many from GDC 2016 – we spoke with Crytek's Frank Vitz about CryEngine's underlying graphics tech. Included in the discussion is a brief-but-technical overview of DirectX 12 integration (and why it's more than just a wrapper), particle FX, audio tech, and more.
This is following Crytek's announcement on CryEngine V (published here), where we highlighted the company's move to fully integrate DirectX 12 into the new CryEngine. As an accompaniment to this interview, we'd strongly encourage a read-through of our 2000-word document on new graphics technologies shown at GDC 2016.
Deep Dive: How VXAO, Frustum Tracing, & Fluid Combustibles WorkWednesday, 16 March 2016
GDC 2016 marks further advancement in game graphics technology, including a somewhat uniform platform update across the big three major game engines. That'd be CryEngine (now updated to version V), Unreal Engine, and Unity, of course, all synchronously pushing improved game fidelity. We were able to speak with nVidia to get in-depth and hands-on with some of the industry's newest gains in video game graphics, particularly involving voxel-accelerated ambient occlusion, frustum tracing, and volumetric lighting. Anyone who's gained from our graphics optimization guides for Black Ops III, the Witcher, and GTA V should hopefully enjoy new game graphics knowledge from this post.
The major updates come down the pipe through nVidia's GameWorks SDK version 3.1 update, which is being pushed to developers and engines in the immediate future. NVidia's GameWorks team is announcing five new technologies at GDC:
Volumetric Lighting algorithm update
Voxel-Accelerated Ambient Occlusion (VXAO)
High-Fidelity Frustum-Traced Shadows (HFTS)
Flow (combustible fluid, fire, smoke, dynamic grid simulator, and rendering in Dx11/12)
GPU Rigid Body tech
This article introduces the new technologies and explains how, at a low-level, VXAO (voxel-accelerated ambient occlusion), HFTS (high-fidelity frustum-traced shadows), volumetric lighting, Flow (CFD), and rigid bodies work.
Readers interested in this technology may also find AMD's HDR display demo a worthy look.
Before digging in, our thanks to nVidia's Rev Lebaredian for his patient, engineering-level explanation of these technologies.
Fallout 4 Volumetric Lighting Benchmark – AMD & NVidia FPSTuesday, 10 November 2015
NVidia's implementation of volumetric lighting utilizes tessellation for light shafts radiation and illumination of air. This approach allows better lighting when light sources are occluded by objects or when part of a light source is obfuscated, but requires that the GPU perform tessellation crunching to draw the light effects to the screen. NVidia is good at tessellation thanks to their architecture and specific optimizations made, but AMD isn't as good at it – Team Red regularly struggles with nVidia-implemented technologies that drive tessellation for visual fidelity, as seen in the Witcher's hair.
When benchmarking Fallout 4 on our lineup of GPUs, we noticed that the R9 390X was outclassed by the GTX 970 at 1080p with ultra settings. This set off a few red flags that we should investigate further; we did this, tuning each setting individually and ultimately finding that the 970 always led the 390X in our tests – no matter the configuration. Some settings, like shadow distance, can produce massive performance deltas (about 16-17% here), but still conclude with the 970 in the lead. It isn't until resolution is increased to 1440p that the 390X takes charge, somewhat expected given AMD's ability to handle raw pixel count at the higher-end.
Further research was required.
The Witcher 3 Texture Quality Comparison – VRAM Usage & FPS BenchmarksWednesday, 20 May 2015
During the GTA V craze, we posted a texture resolution comparison that showcased the drastic change in game visuals from texture settings. The GTA content also revealed VRAM consumption and the effectively non-existent impact on framerates by the texture setting. The Witcher 3 has a similar "texture quality" setting in its game graphics options, something we briefly mentioned in our Witcher 3 GPU benchmark.
This Witcher 3 ($60) texture quality comparison shows screenshots with settings at Ultra, High, Normal, and Low using a 4K resolution. We also measured the maximum VRAM consumption for each setting in the game, hoping to determine whether VRAM-limited devices could benefit from dropping texture quality. Finally, in-game FPS was measured as a means to determine the "cost" of higher quality textures.
Defining Tessellation and Its Impact on Game Graphics (with Epic Games)Sunday, 10 May 2015
"Tessellation" isn't an entirely new technology – Epic and Crytek have been talking about it for years, alongside nVidia's own pushes – but it's been getting more visibility in modern games. GTA V, for instance, has a special tessellation toggle that can be tweaked for performance. Like most settings found in a graphics menu, the general understanding of tessellation is nebulous at best; it's one of those settings that, perhaps like ambient occlusion or anti-aliasing, has a loose tool-tip of a definition, but doesn't get broken-down with much depth.
As part of our efforts to expand our game graphics settings glossary, we sat down with Epic Games Senior Technical Artist Alan Willard, a 17-year veteran of the company. Willard provided a basic overview of tessellation, how it is used in game graphics, GPU load and performance, and implementation techniques.
Defining PBR (Physically-Based Rendering) Graphics with Crytek DevelopersFriday, 13 March 2015
Physically-based rendering promises photorealistic lighting in 3D environments by offering a mathematical, less production-intensive approach to the rendering of light. The three letter acronym – "PBR" – has circulated lately as industry frontrunners like Chris Roberts (Star Citizen) have touted its presence in triple-A titles. A few game engines come to mind when we think of advanced, hyper-realistic graphics capabilities; one of those engines is the CryEngine, developed and maintained by Crytek and best-known for advancing PC graphics with Crysis.
While at GDC, we had the opportunity to ask a pair of CryEngine developers to explain what PBR is, how it affects gameplay, and if it has any performance or production impact to games. Joining us in the below video is 3D Environment Artist Sina Els and Engine Programmer Scott Peter, providing a top-level definition of physically-based rendering and its uses.
ARM Unveils Impressive Game Lighting Tech 'Forge' at GDC
The only perceivable competitive threat faced by the world's most successful silicon company, Intel, is the one posed by ARM. For an understanding of just how large Intel is, we can use market capitalization as a relative measurement: AMD sits under $3B these days, NVIDIA (for point of reference) is marked at $12.19B, ARM has grown to $25.5B, and Intel's market cap rests near a staggering $161B. AMD is a non-threat, but ARM has continually ensured fierce competition in the mobile and integrated devices markets with its low-TDP, high-performance processors.
ARM wasn't at GDC to talk about its CPUs, though.
Basics: How to Benchmark Your Graphics Card & Determine FPSFriday, 13 February 2015
Part of our daily activities include extensive graphics benchmarking of various video cards and games, often including configuration, OC, and performance tweaks. As part of these benchmarks, we publish tables comparing FPS for the most popular graphics cards, ultimately assisting in determining what the true requirements are for gaming at a high FPS.
Although our test methodology includes extra steps to ensure an isolated, clean operating environment for benchmarking, the basics of testing can be executed on everyday gaming systems. This article explains how to benchmark your graphics card, framerate (FPS), and video games to determine whether your PC can play a game. Note that we've simplified our methodology for implementation outside of a more professional environment.


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'There's a unique place of pique for the Israelis in certain places in the administration' hovering over negotiations, expert tells New York Times.08:55 29.04.16 | 0 comments
we called them scum and demanded that they all be severely dealt with. Not so here, to many these people are Heroes. They don't know these fools but they understand romantic notions of bravery in the face of evil, so the protestors, like the Palestinians are instantaneously elevated in status to that of angelic pure beacons of light and perfection.