29 March 2008
Weekend Chat - 03/29 & 30/08
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: What's News .
9 Comments so far...
Roy Bischoff Says:
29 March 2008 at 11:30 am.
(Cameron actually put this up not me. I missed seeing that Joy had put up the weekend chat and had put up a second place for news so I deleted that and moved Cameron’s article to here.)
Except for the racial profiling, maybe you could encourage your police dept. to do this.
Locals crack down on illegal immigration
By MONICA RHOR, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 29, 6:52 AM ET
HOUSTON - Mayra Figueroa — a naturalized U.S. citizen, community organizer and licensed driver — had no reason to fear being arrested, no need to worry about deported.
Then she was pulled over by a Houston police officer, who told her he found it suspicious that a Latina was driving a late-model car. The first thing the officer requested? Figueroa’s Social Security card, as proof of citizenship.
Until now, few local police and sheriff’s departments wanted any part of enforcing federal civil immigration laws. They had their hands full with local crime — and needed witnesses and victims to work with them without fear.
But as local governments feel mounting frustration over illegal immigration, that hands-off attitude is disappearing. More than 100 local law enforcement agencies — including Los Angeles and Orange counties in California and Maricopa County in Arizona, which includes Phoenix — have begun or are waiting for training to help the Department of Homeland Security root out illegal immigrants and hand them over for deportation.
Advocates say the training beefs up the power of the overworked Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency. Detractors say it will discourage millions of immigrants from reporting crime or cooperating with police investigations. They also cite evidence of poor training and overeager cops, like the one who questioned Figueroa.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080329/ap_on_re_us/policing_immigrants
Cameron Says:
29 March 2008 at 11:57 am.
Roy, I thought I was losing my mind for a minute there. That’s pretty funny.
Party fears tight Obama-Clinton finish
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - For all their delight in soaring voter registration and strong poll numbers, some Democrats fear the contest between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton might have a nightmarish end, which could wreck a promising election year.
The chief worry is that Clinton may carry her recent winning streak into Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina and other states, leaving her with unquestioned momentum but fewer pledged delegates than Obama. Party leaders then would face a wrenching choice: Steer the nomination to a fading Obama, even as signs suggested Clinton could be the stronger candidate in November; or go with the surging Clinton and risk infuriating Obama’s supporters, especially blacks, the Democratic Party’s most loyal base.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080329/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_endgame
Pickles Says:
29 March 2008 at 12:04 pm.
I think what Rush is doing is so funny and I don’t mind seeing the dems fracture. They just want us to but they’re getting some of their own medicine.
S.J. Says:
29 March 2008 at 3:29 pm.
Hillary is going to shoot herself in the foot if she drags this thing out. Does she really think she can win?
Sharon Anderson Says:
29 March 2008 at 11:25 pm.
The rise in rice prices might be even more serious than the price of wheat going up because it is a staple for so many millions who are barely subsisting.
Jump in rice price fuels fears of unrest
By Javier Blas in London and Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok
Published: March 27 2008 18:30 | Last updated: March 28 2008 09:06
Rice prices jumped 30 per cent to an all-time high on Thursday, raising fears of fresh outbreaks of social unrest across Asia where the grain is a staple food for more than 2.5bn people.
The increase came after Egypt, a leading exporter, imposed a formal ban on selling rice abroad to keep local prices down, and the Philippines announced plans for a major purchase of the grain in the international market to boost supplies. Global rice stocks are at their lowest since 1976.
Sharon Anderson Says:
30 March 2008 at 10:12 am.
Good morning all. When all seems gloom and doom, it helps to take a break and focus on the goodness of the Lord. “This is the day the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:24) May your day be one of rejoicing.
Cameron Says:
30 March 2008 at 10:43 am.
I guess it is hard to figure out what is going on in the Democratic Party. Hillary won’t pay her bills to small businesses so she can keep campaigning but apparently (to some) she can’t win.
Obama says Clinton should keep running
By DEVLIN BARRETT and BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writers 1 hour, 35 minutes ago
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - Barack Obama refused Saturday to go along with other Democrats who are calling for Hillary Rodham Clinton to step away from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“My attitude is Senator Clinton can run as long as she wants,” Obama said.
Obama told reporters he did not agree with one of his supporters, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, when he said earlier this week that Clinton cannot win the nomination and should therefore drop out. “I hadn’t talked to Pat about it,” Obama said.
At stops throughout the day, Clinton raised the question of whether she should leave the race — eliciting loud jeers from supporters.
“There are some people who say we should just stop these elections. ‘Enough people have already voted, what’s a few million more?’” Clinton said in Louisville, Ky. “I don’t know about you but I’m glad Kentucky is going to be voting and you’ll be choosing because it’s such an important election.” The state holds its primary May 20.
Campaigning in Pennsylvania, her husband, Bill Clinton, said party insiders looking to resolve the contest should step back and allow the process to move forward.
“We just need to relax and let this happen. Nobody’s talking about wrecking the party,” the former president said. “Everywhere I go, all these working people say: ‘Don’t you dare let her drop out. Don’t listen to those people in Washington, they don’t represent us.’”
The campaign on Saturday released a fundraising e-mail, signed by Bill Clinton, asking supporters to challenge talk of his wife departing the race by sending a check to her campaign.
“There’s no better way to tell Hillary that you support her staying in than to make a contribution to her campaign,” he wrote.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080330/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_rdp
Matt Says:
30 March 2008 at 2:45 pm.
This is good news. Let’s hope things settle down so there isn’t another civil war there.
Al-Sadr Pulls Fighters Off Iraq Streets
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD (AP) - Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Sunday that he was pulling his fighters off the streets nationwide and called on the government to stop raids against his followers and free them from prison.
The Iraqi government quickly welcomed al-Sadr’s apparent move to resolve a widening conflict with his movement, sparked Tuesday by operations against his backers in the oil-rich southern city of Basra.
Al-Sadr’s nine-point statement was issued by his headquarters in the holy city of Najaf and broadcast through loudspeakers on Shiite mosques. It said the first point was: “taking gunmen off the streets in Basra and elsewhere.”
He also demanded that the Iraqi government stop “haphazard raids” and release security detainees who haven’t been charged, two issues cited by his movement as reasons for fighting the government.
Saddened Says:
30 March 2008 at 3:33 pm.
Maybe this will show their government is starting to get some power and respect. That would be good and maybe signal a change.
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