WHITE HOUSE TO MAKE PUSH FOR “COMPREHENSIVE” IMMIGRATION REFORM.
Even while publicly engaged with the rancorous and seemingly endless squabbles over fiscal negotiations that have paralyzed Congress, the New York Times reports that the White House has been privately working on a “comprehensive” plan to deal with the nation’s immigration laws. President Obama will offer an official public rollout of his plan during the State of the Union address later this month, bypassing the congressionally endorsed proposal of passing immigration reform in small “chunks” and instead aiming for one large legislative package. Details on the contents of the president’s plan are still vague, including how the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United Stats will be placed on a “path” to citizenship. But other facets of the proposal, such as an intrusive nationwide ID card or work verification system to target immigrants, could trouble Hispanic activists largely responsible for boosting Latino turnout and giving Obama a second term.
(New York Times)
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SIEGE OF LENINGRAD YOU SAY? HOW ABOUT THE SIEGE OF SYRIA?
Felicity Arbuthnot observes the moral outrage at the Nazi-era siege of that Russian city and notes that this operation is not really not so different from sieges carried out in current times by entities the like of NATO against countries like Iraq and Iran and, the siege du jour, that being launched in the name of “regime change” and “humanitarianism” in Syria.
(Global Research)
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WHO PAYS THE BILL WHEN AN OIL COMPANY MAKES A MESS IN ALASKA? GET OUT YOUR CHECKBOOKS, AMERICA!
Shell OIl’s controversial Arctic drilling operation is not only a threat to an environmentally sensitive region, it’s a real boondoggle for the American taxpayers already forced to foot the bill for a significant accident that has occurred even before the company officially starts drilling beneath the ice. The crash and subsequent grounding of a Shell drilling rig off the coast of Alaska on New Year’s Eve precipitated a massive response from state and federal safety agencies and law enforcement, a number totaling over 700 people and a countless number of other resources, all funded by taxpayers. There are no indications that Shell is going to pay the money back now that its rig has been freed, or that the federal government is willing to send the partially-subsidized oil giant a bill. And why was Shell in such a hurry to move its Arctic drilling rig from Alaska to Seattle? To save $6 million dollars in taxes, of course…
(Grist)
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“THE WOMEN ARE NOT HAPPY.”
Lack of gender and racial diversity in President Obama’s cabinet and White House advisory team is becoming a public embarrassment for the president and his staff, highlighted by the early nominees for open positions in his second term administration. John Kerry, John Brennan, Chuck Hagel and Jack Lew are all older white men with close personal and political ties to the president, which along with departures of female minorities like Labor secretary Hilda Solis are making Obama’s cabinet a surprisingly homogeneous group. The outrage from activists is apparently shared by some working within the White House, as Andre Mitchell of NBC News reports that women working in the administration are “not happy” with either their diminished roles or the cabinet choices made by the president.
(Huffington Post)
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“GUN CONTROL” IN SOUTH FLORIDA MEANS YOU CAN ONLY SHOOT PYTHONS, NOT PEOPLE.
To control the growing threat to native species from invasive critters flourishing in the swamps of south Florida, state wildlife officials collected an armed mob” of 800 people and let them loose in the Everglades in search of giant pythons that can grow up to 20 feet long. The snakes, turned loose as exotic pets and now living freely in protected land across the southern tip of the state, have decimated native animals and become a general nuisance for locals and tourists alike, with numbers so large that thousands have already been exterminated with no apparent effect on their population.
(Daytona Beach News-Journal)
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Quote of the day…
Honey, I’ve lived here all my life. This is all I know. I thought we were better off before the Border Patrol invaded us. We were not invaded by the illegals. We were invaded by the Border Patrol.
Annette Walton, operator of diner in South Bisbee AZ, on intrusion of immigration enforcement agents in local life along Arizona/Mexico border.
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