SPRING TRAINING T-MINUS 12 DAYS AND COUNTING!

 

 

I am just so glad that Rudy Giuliani has finally made it official!

 

Well, I was planning a commentary on what I experienced today while visiting my friend’s 6th grade class, but was sidetracked by the story of a Palestinian family finally getting immigration status. It was quite interesting, because they were profiled as illegals trying to duck the system, but that wasn’t the case at all.  Then, I started doing a little research and discovered what is probably one of the next big scandals in this country, the conditions of the immigration detainee centers.  Trust me, if just a portion of what I have found is true, then it is absolutely disgusting and should not be allowed to continue.  I have discovered, contrary to all ‘official conservative’ protestations to the contrary, children are being held in redecorated jail cells, forced to wear prison uniforms, and until a protest could be made were receiving 1 hour of indoor exercise and 1 hour of schooling a day.  Also, contrary to popular opinion, there is no grade appropriate education and high school children were forced to spend their school day doing kindergarten material because no high school material was available

 

Their crime?  They were brought, with their parents, to this country.  Some have expired visas, others are ‘illegal’.  Contrary to all logical practices of modern western civilization, these children are being punished for the sins of their parents.  I’m sorry, but we do not punish children for their parents ‘sins’.  This goes against all morality. 

 

I am so sick and tired of “Well they are illegal and broke the law so ship ‘em back” as an argument I could scream.  They broke the law.  Big fat hairy deal.  Everyone breaks the law every time they run a red light, stop sigh, speed, or drive after having even one glass of wine or a beer.  That’s just an excuse to vent hard line compassionless xenophobia. 

 

When someone comes along who has NEVER EVER EVER broken a law, I’ll listen to him or her.  In the meantime, I think you’d better put down the stone.  Christ taught that the person without sin can cast the first stone.  He was the only perfect person. 

“…A Gallup poll taken Jan. 25-28 shows Giuliani is better liked by Republicans than McCain -74 to 21 percent and more trusted to handle a crisis (68-20). Some 60 percent say Giuliani "better understands the problems of the average person," against 33 percent who pick McCain. By 58-34, America's Mayor is seen as the stronger leader…”

THE GREAT CAT SOAP OPERA

I still can’t catch the blasted birth father cat.  Little Hoss is climbing!  I was afraid he was  not going to be able to do so, but he is.  I’ve also discovered the ‘seal legs’ are a fairly common birth defect. Miss Piggy is just that – a piggy.  She must weigh an entire pound.  Mommy Cat deals with them, but is ready to push them out into the world.  If it weren’t for Rums, they could come out and play upstairs.  GeorgieW is still in the batcave.  I’m now quite worried about her.

 

STUFF

You gotta read this one.  It is the laugh of the day, from a friend.

The Search for a lost Di Vinci.

Major dino egg discovery! 

Outside the Beltway is having a traffic jam.

Meteor breakup or shower?

Doug Giles has an important column about the complete lack of humor in the right.  Boy is Giles right.  Case in point, read the irate comments.  Ultra right conservatives need to lighten up and quit taking themselves so seriously.  They are becoming annoying.

 

IMMIGRATION  

I just don’t understand the lack of humanity and decency among people.  Once upon a time people like Ibrahim were welcomed into this country with open arms.  Today they are nothing but trash, to be cast aside because while appealing for permanent status their visas went out, and in a typical ICE move, they were put in a detention camp here in Texas – the entire family.   First, ICE is an agency completely out of control.  The cops must have a warrant to invade a person’s home.  ICE does not.  You are illegal until you PROVE you are not.  It doesn’t matter if you have  your marriage certificate, genealogical records, or a birth certificate (I know people this has happened too) you are still considered Illegal if you do not meet the right racial profile. In other words, children held in these prisons are not allowed to be outside more than one hour a day for recreation.  Pregnant women are treated worse than if they were in a regular jail and children kept inside the prison bars are allowed OHE – count it ONE hour of education a day.   And this is the United States of America.    And, when pregnant women are allowed medical treatment they must wear hand and leg restraints. 

 

I am so glad this is considered ‘humaine’ I would like to know what would classify as brutal and horribly unfair.  In other words, now, ICE can strip legal immigrants of their status at a moment’s notice. 

Interview with the family.

The. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility  is allegedly a state of the art ‘family friendly dentntion center’ where people can learn arts and crafts.  But – there are allegations that this is not true.  

“..As I understand it, children in the detention center are only receiving, at most, four hours of instruction each day, and not long ago they were receiving less than one hour. For purposes of Texas law, the children in the detention center are residents of the Taylor Independent School District, and must be provided by the District with seven hours of instruction for 180 days each year….” 

 

Even kids in juvenile lock-up who are convicted of murder are allowed school and hot water. 

 

So I have a question:  Just because a source is liberal, does that disqualify it?  Does liberal/conservative disqualify a person from being human, having compassion and knowing right from wrong.  When is upholding the letter of the law wrong?  I love the way our good conservatives (I am conservative, but not like this) say that illegals should be deported because they broke the law and we must, at all costs, uphold the letter of the law.  What if we still allowed slavery?  Are they going to uphold the letter of the law.  There have been many times in the history of this nation when  upholding the letter of the law was not MORALLY correct.  There is a difference. 

 

I’m sorry, but I agree with this.  It may come from a ‘liberal’ source but it morally correct.

“…For children to be held longer than three days, receive but one hour of instruction and only a half hour of recreational play, to be made to feel like criminals by wearing jail jumpsuits and name tags and not have any contact with anyone outside of the facility is a serious violation of the public trust we have in our government, and how we value children in this country. …”

 

What is an ICE “Detention” center like?

“…On or about December 8, 2006 I was moved to the Garvin County Jail, run by the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office, 201 West Grand, Room A4, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma 73075. At the Garvin County Jail, I was put into a hall containing four cells. Each cell is 8 feet by eight feed in area, and has four beds in it. I still am confined there.

In the cell where I am confined, there is a toilet in the middle of the cell, and no privacy. The toilet constantly floods, and the stink is horrible. The hall is locked all the time. There are 25 prisoners in the four cells with 16 beds. It is extremely cold in the cell, but the guards ignore our complaints. Each prisoner is given one extremely light blanket. There are no pillows.

Each prisoner is given one black and white jail uniform and nothing else to wear. It is old and ragged, does not fit, and does not keep out the cold. When the laundry is done, the prisoners must stay naked in the cold cell. It takes at least four hours for the jail uniform to be returned, and sometimes the prisoners must wait naked all night.

There also are mattresses on the floor for five other prisoners. The hall is locked all the time, and the prisoners, including myself, are not taken out for exercise. There is one shower in the hall for all 25 prisoners. There is no privacy. The water from the shower runs onto the floor where people are sleeping.

The light in the prison is too dark to read by. The prisoners are locked into the crowded hall for 24 hours a day, and never allowed to leave it. There is no provision for exercise and too little room in the hall for it.

There is no nurse and people who need medication are denied it if they did not bring it with them from their homes when they were arrested. There are three other prisoners who require blood pressure medicine. I am diabetic and I have to take medication twice every day, but I have only enough for two or three more days.

There is another diabetic, here, too. The guards bring us evening medication late, after supper, although it should be taken with food. The food served here is dangerous to diabetics, because it is sweet. I asked them to leave the sugar out of my oatmeal, but they refused. I take medication in the morning and because I cannot take it with food my blood sugar is very low.

If somebody is ill no nurse or doctor sees them. There now are three prisoners with fever, but the jailers give them only Tylenol. There is no library, and we prisoners are not allowed to have the property we brought from Haskell. Some of the prisoners need to look up their lawyers’ telephone numbers in papers they brought but the jailers will not allow them to see them, although they have complained many times.

 

There is only one telephone, and all calls have to be collect. There is a commissary cart only every two weeks, so the prisoners cannot even buy wholesome food at their own expense. There is no representative of the federal government here. All the 25 people where I am detained are being held for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some of the immigration detainees also are held with the criminal population.

It was my intention to sign this affidavit but on or about December 15, the guards savagely beat three of the immigration prisoners here. They refused to give me any food and are withholding my diabetes medicine. I am afraid that if this affidavit arrives for my signature, they will retaliate against me. Therefore I asked my lawyer not to send it to me. I provided my lawyer with the information in this affidavit, however. VERIFICATION

I swear that the above Affidavit of Adel Suleiman is a true statement of the information he told me by telephone call from the Garvin County Jail, and the information he previously provide me in the course of preparing for actions in the Texas courts against Majed Abdeljaber and before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the courts of the United States.  Sworn to and signed before me this December 18, 2006 by John Wheat Gibson, to which witness my hand and seal of office….” 

 

The most recent inspector general’s report considers these camps deplorable. 

 

“…An inspector general's report last month on a sampling of five U.S. immigration detention facilities found inhumane and unsafe conditions, including inadequate health care, the presence of vermin, limited access to clean underwear and undercooked poultry. Although ICE standards require that immigrants have access to phones and pro bono law offices, investigators found phones missing, not working or connected to non-working numbers….”

 

My whole contention is that if just one of the litany of complaints is true, it is deplorable.   The WPost confirms several of the complaints.   This being said, then it is disgusting, and something needs to be done.  This is the United States of America.  Just because a person is on the verge of being deported, do they deserve less acceptable treatment than someone who is, say a child molester?

 

ISLAM, IRAN, TERROR

Now the terror front has shifted to the West, I wonder if the PC liberal crowd will think it is a treat?  Read Jules Crittenden’s terrifying column. 

Counter Terror Blog on Fatah and Hamas heading to Mecca

Key Al Qaeda arrest in Spain.

AJ Strata  just keeps on with the Litvinenko story.

 

UNHINGED REPUBLICANS

Bill Kristol on why certain GOP Senators are deserting the troops.   The exquisite irony of all of this  is now Bill Kristol is singing Lindsey’s praises.  I seem to remember….

“…Some seven GOP senators are said to be wavering between the Democratic resolution and the McCain Graham-Lieberman alternative supporting Gen. Petraeus and the troops. They are Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, John Sununu of New Hampshire, and George Voinovich of Ohio. Alexander, Coleman, and Sununu are up for reelection in 2008. Some or all of the seven may still choose to stand with the president and the troops, and to give Petraeus a chance. This would leave the Democratic resolution short of the 60 votes needed to end debate. Perhaps the four ignominious ones could even reconsider and sign on with McCain, Graham, and Lieberman (whose resolution of support includes, incidentally, "benchmarks" of performance that the Iraqi government is expected to meet)….”

 

I keep telling you Conservatives are out of control and need a reality test (as well as a sense of humor).  They’re debating whether or not to have a third party candidate – can you say dead on arrival – in ’08 because some of them don’t like Rudy Giuliani or John McCain and want to stick their thumbs in their mouth, grab their baby blankie and take their little red wagon and run crying to the Ghost of Ronald Reagan.  (Say this is good)  And, ah, yes, we go back to the Blessed (genuflect please) Heritage Foundation. 

 

SPACE

RONALD REAGAN WAS RIGHT – and I told you so.  I’ve been telling anyone who would listen since 1982, but does anyone listen to me…nooooo!  The battle for Space has begun.  If those insignificant little mindless, brain dead Dem (and a few Republican) twits in Congress  had listened to Reagan about the SDI we would have orbiting arms platforms and monitoring stations on the moon. 

 

DEMS GONE WILD

Flopping Aces on the Dem's big Flop!

I love it when the Dems fail!

With friends like Soros...

IRAQ

Blog lizards has done quite a job exposing the duplicity of the MSM

PRIMARIES 2008

 McCain leading in SC. Le6t's face it, if he isn't with all the time and money spent, he doesn't have a snowball's chance.   More proof Romney is a flip-flopping (I’m not going to use the word dimwit) hair-spraying…. “…On the divisive issue of illegal aliens, guest workers and amnesty, Mr. Romney said he eventually will take a position on whether citizenship should continue to be given automatically to anyone born on U.S. soil to parents who are not U.S. citizens. He also said that in approving immigration applications, U.S. officials should consider whether "someone has a high school or college degree and can bring skills to make them greater contributors to our society…."  He will eventually take a position…I keep telling you he’s the GOP version of Bill Clinton.  Lord Have Mercy!

 

Remember how, a few weeks ago, when Giuliani had that fund-raiser in NYC and the voices of gloom said he couldn’t raise the money?  Well….he’s hit black gold in Texas.  At least Edwards comment about raising taxes is refreshingly ‘honest’.   Any word if he will raise real estate taxes?   Dick Morris is pointing out the obvious “It’s Now a Rudy Romp”  This could be the beginning of something quite masterful!   Oh goodie, Tancredo has surfaced again.  (Yea, yea, the usual)  Giuliani has filed!  Finally.  And, Giuliani buttons, etc are available here, so far.   Wizbang says Edwards has done it again.  Hotline on Call is abuzz about a Romney-Hutchinson ticket.  Woooo guys, he's not pulling above 6% why on earth would he be talking VP?  And the McCain-Romney murder/suicide continues.  Evidently Bambi Obama stiffed the NH delegation.  Malkin on Edwards.  Caucus Cooler on how Drudge is in the tank for Romney.  I agree with Captain Ed about Nadar! Please, pretty please with whipped cream and sparkles on top!  There's a new Romney flip-flop on mandating abortion funding.

From today’s Opinion Journal’s Political Diary: “…"[Sen. Barack] Obama is dealing with the sentiment expressed recently by black author Debra J. Dickerson that 'Obama isn't black.' This is a distinction rooted in Obama's heritage -- he is the American-born son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas -- as opposed to African-Americans descended from slaves. If Obama allows a perceived racial insult to go unchallenged, the only African-American candidate in the 2008 presidential race risks offending African-American voters who are already ambivalent about his candidacy. If Obama labels every insult racist, he risks offending white voters" -- Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi, on Mr. Obama's dilemma after remarks by fellow Sen. Joe Biden were perceived as a racial slur….”

 

 

From my friend Katherine.

 

He didn't like the casserole

And he didn't like my cake.

He said my biscuits were too hard...

Not like his mother used to make.

I didn't perk the coffee right

He didn't like the stew,

I didn't mend his socks

The way his mother used to do.

I pondered for an answer

I was looking for a clue.

Then I turned around and smacked the sh*t out of him...

Like his mother used to do!