Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Just A Typical Day In San Francisco

Hey everybody!

First of all, let me apologize for not keeping this up to date. I've been recovering at my folks' house away from the Bay Area, and have been following happenings at home as little as possible. I'm heading back to the city on Thursday.

So to whet your appetite...

"Tiger Kills San Francisco Zoo Patron, Injures Two Others" from the Chron

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/25/BA0LU4M2T.DTL

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Americans For Better Immigration Releases '08 Presidential Candidates Immigration Stances

Americans For Better Immigration (ABI), the folks who brought you those "immigration report cards," have made a very cool page available where every '08 Presidential Candidate from both parties is rated on immigration issues.

These ratings assess the candidate's promises, specific legal and illegal immigration stances, and their past performance on immigration issues. It's a great place to start, and a page worth visiting often, as it will get updated again as we get closer to the election. I will put a permanent link to it in the sidebar, and, when the time comes for a seperate presidential list, rest assured that the ABI list will be part of it.

http://www.betterimmigration.com/candidates/2006/prez2008.html

Sports! on SanFransanity! - Missouri, ASU latest schools to get screwed by BCS

I fucking hate the BCS. Now you know.

I hated the BCS even before the #5 Cal Bears were screwed out of a Rose Bowl by a bootlicking Texas Longhorn head coach in 2005. And, every year, it gets worse and worse.

Sadly, the system Is not going to change. We folks who believe that college football is about rivalry and tradition are sad anachronisms. College football today is about one thing: money. Lots and lots of money. Too much money is being made by too many people to change the BCS system.

The Betting Fool - the anonymous sports odds-maker in the SF Chronicle who is actually pretty hilarious - has ripped into the BCS this year and come up with his own picks for the Bowl matchups...

Here's the fetid mess we have...

Georgia vs. Hawaii (Sugar Bowl)
Kansas vs. Virginia Tech (Orange Bowl)
Illinois vs. USC (Rose Bowl)
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia (Fiesta Bowl)

...not a single interesting game in the bunch. Betting Fool's matchups are far more interesting...

Georgia vs. USC (Rose Bowl)
Oklahoma vs. Virginia Tech (Orange Bowl)
Arizona State vs. Hawaii (Fiesta Bowl)
Missouri vs. Arkansas (Sugar Bowl)

Now, if I were in charge of polishing this turd, I would have 8 teams make it instead of 10, pick the best two from the four bowl games and have that be the national championship game. That way the fucking bowl games would still mean something. Wouldn't you much rather see Ohio State in the Rose Bowl - y'know, where they belong?!?

But still, in my oh-so-humble opinion, the only way to fix the BCS is to affix a large quantity of TNT to it and blow it back into the dark recesses of the moneygrubbing minds who thought the whole dastardly scheme up.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Mayor Hairoo Signs Illegal Alien ID Act - Following Law Now Officially "Optional"

SF Mayor Gavin Sleazebag has signed into law the Illegal Alien ID Act in San Francisco, causing a twitter amongst that new political faction - the pro-slavery left.

From FAIR's press release...

"On Wednesday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into law an ordinance that would require San Francisco to issue identification cards to the city's nearly 40,000 illegal aliens as well as other residents who do not possess California driver's licenses. The ordinance, which was modeled after a similar plan to provide municipal identification cards to illegal aliens in New Haven, Connecticut, had been approved the previous week by city lawmakers. The San Francisco ordinance will go into effect at the end of August 2008. Upon signing the legislation, the mayor stated, "San Francisco does more than most other cities in the United States for its residents, but you need to prove you are a resident and there's no easier way to do it than having one card. I don't think it's that big of a deal and I think it's inevitable in other cities." (Associated Press, November 29, 2007).

The municipal identification cards, which will cost $15 for adults and $5 for children, will be issued to applicants presenting as little as a local utility bill in his or her name. (Los Angeles Daily News, November 29, 2007). The cards will identify the carrier by name, birth date and photograph, but will not indicate the legal status of the holder or the holder's gender. (CBS News, November 21, 2007). While the ID cards will not allow illegal aliens to drive or work in the city, they will expressly permit their holders to obtain city health services, use public libraries and receive discounts at local museums. In addition, a number of banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Washington Mutual, and US Bank, have all indicated a willingness to accept the cards as proof of identification for banking purposes. Local businesses receiving funds from the city will be required to accept the cards as valid identification and proof of local residence. (San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 2007).

Immigration reform advocates argue that the San Francisco identification card program legitimizes illegal immigration. FAIR spokesman Ira Mehlman told the Los Angeles Times that the provision of identity cards can have dangerous consequences because it impedes the enforcement of federal immigration law. "Nobody says the city of San Francisco has to enforce the laws, but their minimal obligation should be not to impede the enforcement of federal immigration law," said Mehlman. (Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2007).

Even some San Francisco residents take issue with the program. Cinnamon Stillwell, a San Francisco area writer, argues the provision of municipal identification cards is hardly altruistic. Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, she described the illegal alien population as "[a] permanent underclass of laborers [that] would not exist were it not for the unaddressed social and economic problems in their countries of origin, the perpetuation of cheap labor by transnational corporations and small businesses alike, and the inability and in some cases unwillingness of the U.S. government to control the nation's borders or enforce its laws." (San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 2007). Ms. Stillwell said issuing these cards legitimizes and perpetuates the already exploitative situation in which they currently live."

...But hey, it's better than where they came from right? So said the pre-Civil War southern plantation owner, and so say today's pro-slavery left.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

SF's Illegal Alien ID - and a Possible Response

Hey folks,

I have been amassing a fair amount of stuff regarding San Francisco's proposal to give municipal ID cards to illegal aliens. As you may have heard, the Board of Stupidvisors has passed, by a vote of 10-1, a resolution calling for the program to be implemented. The lone dissenter was Sean Elsbernd - who objected to the costs of the program. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has remained firm in his pandering stance towards illegal immigration, has said he will sign the legislation when it reaches his desk.

First off, I would like to issue an appeal.

This handing out of municipal IDs will not happen for at least another 6 months. Judging from what I have read in the papers and online, there seems to be more than enough support to mount a demonstration of some kind. The primary stumbling block, of course, is safety; whoever organizes this will have to work very closely with the SFPD to obtain some guarantees as far as police presence goes. Remember, I am a former lefty - I know these people - and I know that those of you concerned about being assaulted while exercising your first amendment rights are JUSTIFIED in your fear! I shudder to think what would happen to us if we voiced our opinion without police protection.

I'm asking readers for links to other organizations in the Bay Area that would be interested in participating in or even helping to organize such a demonstration.

I can tell you that support for this program, even in San Francisco, is not as broad or as deep as one might think. Even in a poll in the rabidly pro-illegal alien San Francisco Chronicle, the response to the question "Like the idea of municipal ID cards for SF residents?" was 83% NO. No issue generates more comments on the SFGate's web page. And there is virtually no all-out support for the measure; most of those supporting it are people who have surrendered to the idea that California is or will soon be a Mexican protectorate. Installing a spine in such people will not be easy.

For now, though, here's a link to San Francisco ID program: Legitimizing illegal immigration by Cinnamon Stillwell's which ran in the Chronicle last week.