QC Examiner

I’ve been blogging a lot lately about immigration, but it appears I’m not the only one with this issue on my mind. In his Saturday radio address George Bush announced that he intends to put immigration on the front burner again.

While both GWB and the Democrat Congress have indicated they want a “comprehensive” immigration policy, I’m of the opinion that the well is so poisoned that nothing useful will get done.

But to hell with the corrupt and venal politicians in DC, I have my own Modest Proposal. Since GOP/GWB economic policies have taken “It’s The Economy, Stupid” off the table as a campaign issue for Democrats, Dems are now whining about “income inequality”. Well, duh! Part of the “inequality” is due to our immigration policy (or non-policy) which allows untold numbers of poor south-of-the border people to flood into this country. Rich Mexicans and South Americans are not coming here, they are just foisting off their poor so they don’t have to deal with them. Sweet! So I now present my “Share the Wealth (sic)” immigration policy where we send an equal number of legal USA poor people to Canada to match the number of illegal poor coming to the USA from the South. Why should we be responsible for all the poor of Latin nations? Let the Canadians help shoulder the burden. It’s only fair, right?

But this brings me to the main point of this post. The USA is not responsible for all the poor of Mexico. Our government policies did not make them poor—-Mexico’s ( and SA’s) policies made them poor.

Our government elected to go to war with Iraq. The 210 Democrats who signed on to war when it was popular, and the evidence was “overwhelming” now say it is “Bush’s War” and are now aligned with the more “popular” anti-war position.  Kinda like those kids you hated in high school who were always sucking up to the popular clique.

These people are disgusting. In a post that mirrors my own thoughts and trajectory of my own war thinking, Callimachus says that “The phony Congress-White House showdown over military funding will turn out predictably, with political leaders claiming victory and anyone else thoroughly disgusted. But it seems clear now that we don’t have the will to continue this war.”

So true.  Cal says he intends to concentrate on getting as many Iraqis out of Iraq as possible before we pull out in order to save those Iraqis who supported liberation from the tender mercies of jihadists who thrill at beheadings, rape and drilling holes in the skulls of all who opposed them.

It is estimated that over 2 million were slaughtered when we pulled out of Viet Nam. But what Vietnam lacked that Iraq possesses is the fact that 60% of the world’s oil reserves are in the region. Are you whining about the cost of gasoline now—–just wait—it really is about oil.

We all need to pressure our Congresspersons and the WH about placing Iraqi immigration as a top priority. No Mexicans will be killed if they stay in Mexico—the same cannot be said of Iraqis who have been pro-freedom/USA.

Those of us in RICO IL have slim pickings. Obama will be AWOL at least until February and even longer is he wins the Dem nomination or is chosen as VP. Maybe if we told Durbin that Al Qaeda is even more nazified than our own military, he might be convinced to help Iraqi refugees.

As for Our Specially Selected Congressman, according to Ed Felker in today’s Dispatch (hurry, the link will be Hare today and gone tomorrow hee!hee!) Hare was “told” to champion specific issues. Who told him this isn’t clear—Rahm Emanuel? Nancy Pelosi? Jack Murtha? John Gianulius? Big Labor? Felker doesn’t say who Hare’s puppetmaster is, but for whatever reason, Hare has chosen “Fragile X Syndrome” to champion. Couldn’t Hare have picked something more obscure—-like maybe those who have died from ingrown toenails. Sheesh! I intend to contact Hare’s office about Iraqi immigration, but frankly I don’t expect to get much from Congressman Fragile X.

Would it be asking too much for the local media to abandon advocacy journalism in order to give us more realistic and honest information about the immigration problem?

In the past the Dispatch has based major stories on information provided by a local immigrant advocacy group. Nothing wrong with advocating for illegals, but the Dispatch never bothered to tell us this was an advocacy group or give the other side a chance to reply.

Then there was the front page two-part story about how a family was torn apart, not because the mother/wife was dishonest about her status, but because of the evil laws now ruling the land. No one at the Dispatch asked the husband why he and their daughter didn’t join his illegal wife in Mexico. Now THAT would have been a good story!

Today, the Moline Dispatch has a top of the front page story about how “fear” of deportation has caused an “immigrants rights” march to be cancelled. Do tell. People here illegally DEMANDING rights that legal citizens enjoy just doesn’t sit right with some people. Who’d a thunk it?

Well, OK. We get from the Dispatch that people who willfully choose to break the law and come here illegally are “victims”, but what’s the rest of the story? The Dispatch doesn’t want to tell us because it doesn’t fit the narrative of illegals as victims.

Could we please have a little diversity in reporting this issue? What happens to the labor market when there is a glut of cheap labor? What happens to the lives of people whose IDs are stolen to benefit illegals? What about local businesses that use illegal labor? I know of at least two (rumored) businesses. Why won’t the Dispatch give us a more complete picture of the immigration problem, rather than just go into advocacy mode?

Someone in the comments section of qconline  provides a link where people can report businesses that hire illegals. If you know it, do it.

I understand why business and industry want more low wage workers—–but why do the Democrats? Doesn’t this hurt their core special interest groups of unions and African-Americans?

The more extreme left-wing position is to give illegals everything they could want or desire, free of charge courtesy of the taxpayer, hoping to secure illegals as a reliable Democrat voting block, just as they did African-Americans. Politically, this is understandable, but why haven’t the unions and blacks put pressure on the Democrats to curb immigration? Too lazy? Too stupid? Parrots marching in lockstep?

This seems like a no-brainer—the law of supply and demand. If there is a shortage of labor, wages go up. On what planet does a glut of cheap labor help unions or the underemployed? Trust me on this—-all those jobs they say Americans won’t do would be done in a heartbeat if cheap laborers weren’t here to do it—for cheap!

China is leading the way and showing us the shape of things to come in male/female relationships. According to Reuters the Chinese are looking for investors to finance the world’s first ever “women’s town”, where men get punished for disobedience.
The Chinese are promoting this as a tourist attraction (?). The motto of the new town would be “women never make mistakes, and men can never refuse women’s requests.” When tour groups enter the town, female tourists would play the dominant role when shopping or choosing a place to stay, and a disobedient man would be punished by “kneeling on an uneven board” or washing dishes in a restaurant.
I look for chapters of NOW and the Rosie O’Donnell Fan Club to be among the first who sign up for these tours, slated to begin sometime after ‘08.

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The Wall Street Journal (subscription only) reports on the recent Harris Poll that places George Bush’s approval rating at 28%. But don’t expect big media to report that Harry Reid’s rating (22%) is lower than Dick Cheney’s (25%). Don’t expect any MSM comment on how Nancy Pelosi’s approval ratings have fallen to 30%—wouldn’t be prudent.

But the interesting thing about this poll (for those who believe in entrail-reading) is that for the first time ever since this polling series began, ALL political figures and institutions received negative performance ratings.

While term limits for Congress would be a good start, it seems more people should be getting on board of my suggestion that the federal government should be disbanded.

At least that’s how I read the entrails. (hee!hee!)
For those interested in the polling minutia, go here.

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The New York Times reports about a new hearing the abomination known as McCain-Feingold is getting by SCOTUS.

Rational people everywhere hope and pray that the Roberts court will drive a stake in the heart of this monster once and for all.

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What is it about Democrat candidates for POTUS and extremist left-wing blogs? First there was Edwards and his ill-advised decision to bring the bigoted, anti-Christian pottymouth Amanda Marcotte on board to his campaign. Now Mrs. Clinton is “guest blogging” at the all-female, hate-spewing, politically vicious Fire Dog Lake about equal pay for women.

Those with a memory longer than yesterday, will recall that it was FDL that published a photoshop of Joe Lieberman in blackface and called him “rape gurney Joe” during Ned Lamont’s pathetic quest for CT Senator. FDL employs the same brutal sexual humor that Imus did——didn’t Hillary learn anything from the “nappy-headed ho” incident?

Here’s a Washington Post discussion of Hillary’s unfortunate blog choice.

Moths to the flame.

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Yesterday, Dennis Kucinich (D-Moonbat) announced that he intends to file impeachment proceedings against Dick Cheney. No other elected Democrat has endorsed this, but when asked why he was impeaching only Cheney instead of the Commander-in-Chief, Denny said he didn’t want to impeach just Bush because then Cheney would be POTUS. Makes sense to me, and I’m guessing that Cheney is saying “bring it on” since Bill Clinton’s impeachment caused his approval ratings to go UP (which is why I’m sure no other Dem is backing this).
Here’s a link to Kucinich’s webpage for the particulars.

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Just when I was getting all warm and fuzzy about how “progressive” Iowa was compared to “Kill Business At Any Cost” Illinois, I saw an editorial yesterday in the Dispatch by a LeClaire resident that was so over-the-top I didn’t blog about it yesterday, thinking it was probably some The Onion plant. But no, the writer was sent into a paroxysm of hysteria over the fact that the proposed Baer gun factory is only four blocks from an elementary school and an apartment complex where children “play and ride their bikes”. Furthermore, in a move that shrieks “I’m a moonbat”,  the writer linked the fact that Baer sells guns to Thailand to the idea that  Baer is promoting PEDOPHILIA and AIDS! Sheesh! It appears that not only does divorce and love make you stupid, guns do as well.

But please, don’t judge all Iowa by their moonbats. Blogger Ambrose Fulton provides intelligent discussion of the issue and says SoLo (south of Locust Street in Davenport) would welcome Baer. I do hope Mr. Baer finds a welcoming home somewhere in the IAQCs. I have lived just a few miles from Mr. Baer’s gun factory for over 15 years and I never even knew it existed—-and there were certainly no gun-shots directed at “children playing and riding their bikes.”

Why is it that the ignorant and demented always get the most press?

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Adding to the list, not only does divorce, love and guns make ya stupid, TOOLS can make you stupid.

In today’s Dispatch (no link—it will be gone tomorrow) Brian Krans reports that Davenport resident David Patterson threw a Davenport woman to the ground and repeatedly kicked and stomped her face and chest with his feet because she lent some of his tools to people who were doing community service around her home. Mr. Patterson had been doing odd jobs around the victim’s home for more than 17 years but he let his “explosive disorder” get the best of him.

Yikes! What’s in the IAQCs water supply?

Here’s some of the important information contained in today’s dead tree North Boonie edition of the Moline Dispatch.

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Last week we learned that divorce makes you stupid and today we discover that looooove makes you (well, some of you) stupid as well.

John Mark Spaulding of Bettendorf pleaded guilty Tuesday (April 24) to a federal charge of keeping a bomb in his home to scare his girlfriend into continuing their relationship. In court, Mr. Spaulding said he suffered from “explosive disorder” (insert inappropriate joke here!) and paranoia.

Poor Mr. Spaulding! Didn’t he know that it’s Love Will Keep Us Together, not Bombs Will Keep Us Together?

I think I can speak for all, if not most ladies, when I say that except for female members of the Weather Underground, bombs do not make a compelling case for staying with a man who has “explosive disorder”.

Trust me on this.

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News that the area’s first Hindu temple is set to open near the area of Milan Beltway and US 67.

I’m not a Hindu, but the fact that a Hindu temple exists in the QCs is incredibly cool.

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From the Doomed To Fail file, comes an article about how bankers are speaking to 1st through 6th graders at area QC schools about how to save money and how “want and need” are not the same thing.

Good luck with that. I figure teaching elementary students to be prudent with money will have about the same salutary effect as teaching abstinence only in high schools.

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Stanley Liggins is angling for a third trial for murdering of Jennifer Lewis. He already has been convicted twice in two different trials in two different venues.

When will it end? I suppose when either Liggins croaks out or he gets an acquittal.

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A story that wasn’t odd for content, but odd in the way it was written was about a local couple who were  getting married at the Botanical Center next month and how they were having professionally done fireworks to make their ceremony unique. Nothing very strange there.

But in the Department of Too Much Information, Jonathan Turner writes that “(the bride-to-be)Ms. Schriver, mother of a 3-year-old boy and 8-year-old daughter, is marrying for the first time, as is (groom-to-be) Mr. Kosarek, 34.

But what was really weird didn’t appear in the dead tree edition, but online, when Mr. Turner continues his story saying the couple will not be going on a honeymoon until this summer when they “will travel with the kids, which aren’t his,” to Disney World.

This article is just so wrong in so many ways. Why were the children even mentioned? And since they were, did we really need a “Who’s The Daddy” moment? And what’s with the parenthetical “which aren’t his” bit that tells everyone that the groom ISN’T the daddy?

All this stuff could have been left out of the article without changing the meaning, facts or information about the couple and their wedding plans.

Why, Jonathan, why?

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There’s talk of a school merger between Orion schools and Sherrard schools.

I’m not from around here, but Mr. Examiner was  raised in rural Orion and attended Orion schools K-12, and he tells me that an Orion/Sherrard merger would be like a Cubs/Cards merger or a Packers/Bears merger.

So it appears that if the two schools actually do merge, any money saved in the merger will have to be spent on additonal security.

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It’s the end of the world as we know it. Headline on page A9: “It’s a first: Toyota revs past GM”.

For 76 years GM has been the world’s top automaker, but last quarter, Toyota sold more cars world-wide than former leader GM.

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Now seems like a good time to shout hosannahs to the Dispatch for:

*Improving the editorials. Now the subject matter concerns more pressing local issues. In the past, way too many editorials were either the “Hooray for Mom, Flag and Apple Pie” variety or the “What Alpaca Futures Mean To Iceland” type.

*The subject matter of the front page “feature pretending to be news” that takes up to half of the page is less lame. Sure, the one today is about the Women’s National Disc Golf Championships that will be held in Milan, but overall the subject matter has been more serious.

And maybe I’m just out of the loop about disc golf.

* Finally, the long over due move of beefing up the Springfield bureau. Scott Reeder is excellent, but the two additional reporters were desperately needed. In my view, our wonderful (s)elected state representatives have been allowed to fly under the radar for too long.

State legislatures have come to the same conclusion I have—-a Democrat controlled Congress is just as feckless as a GOP controlled Congress.

The recently published “Overview of State Legislation Related to Immigration and Immigrants in 2007″ by the National Conference of State Legislatures says that as of April 13, 2007, all 50 states had introduced at least 1169 bills and resolutions concerning immigration and immigrants. This is more than twice the total number introduced in 2006 (570).

The majority of the bills addressed the following:

*149 bills were introduced mostly to restrict benefits and services, requiring proof of citizenship or legal status.

*199 bills concerned employment; some prohibiting employment of illegals with added penalties, and worker-based legislation addressing eligibility for workers’ benefits.

*129 bills addressing co-operation with federal authorites.

The balance of the bills/resolutions concerned human trafficking, legal services, licensing, voting, documentation, driver’s licenses and access to health programs. Five states (MO, NC, OK, SC & TN) have comprehensive legislative proposals under consideration. 

If you have any interest in this subject at all go to the link and read the report—-it’s easy to understand and has several helpful charts. It’s a useful document which charts the direction the country is going concerning this important issue.

The states are taking the lead on this since Congress seems content to name post offices and produce political theatre.

Bravo federalism!

(h/t gr)

With all the anti-gun hysteria across the land in the wake of the atrocity in Virginia, it’s good to see a story about a normal person using a gun for the right reasons.

It seems that 82 year old former Miss America (’44) Venus Ramey, confronted a thief who was  stealing machinery out of a barn on her farm. The thefts had been going on for some time. When confronted by Ms. Ramey, the thief said he would be leaving, but Ms. Ramey wasn’t having any of that.  Ms. Ramey  pulled out her snub nose .38 and proceeded to blow the tires out of the thief’s truck so he couldn’t leave then flagged down a passing motorist to call 911. Three people were arrested in this incident, including one at the scene.

Quoth Ms. Ramey: “If they’d even dared to come close to me, they’d be 6 feet under by now.”

Further, in a statement that many of us can relate to, Ms. Ramey said, “I’m trying to live a quiet,  peaceful life and stay out of trouble, and all it is, is one thing after another.”

Amen, sister.

After watching the aftermath of the sorrowful events at Virginia Tech, I have come to the conclusion that we need a law, not banning guns, but a law banning inane comments by politicians for at least a week after any major event.

Oh sure, some will claim that this violates their free speech rights, but politicians are the people who gave us McCain-Feingold, so they have forfeited their right to complain about violations of free speech.

Among the many bizarre bloviations of our wonderful elected officials, we have:

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Dementia) who equated the violence at VT with the “global warming challenge” and the SCOTUS decision regarding a ban on partial-birth abortions. Don’t ask me how Boxer squares the circle that performing partial-birth abortions is anything but killing of innocents, I’m not a liberal. But it is amusing how she has managed to twist the anti-abortion position to support her pro-abortion views.  Amazing.

Sen. Barak Obama (D-Hope), speaking in Wisconsin just hours after the killings went into a frenzy of hyperbole (or abstraction, depending who you talk to) equating the violence at VT with Imus dissing the Rutgers ladies, bad schools, bad neighborhoods, US policy in Darfur, and outsourcing (?) among other “atrocities”. Does he really believe what he is saying? For his sake, I hope not, but since the campaign is young, we’ll have plenty of time to judge.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Moron) was first out of the box to exhibit the virulent symptoms of Bush Derangement Syndrome by claiming that what Cho did was all Bush’s fault.

But the prize for most inane comments by a politician in wake of a national tragedy goes to Sen. Joe Biden (D-Gaffe). Thursday, at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network event in NYC, Biden said that George Bush, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich and the GOP were to blame for not only what happened at VT, but for Iraq (no mention of the 210 Democrats who voted for war), Venezuela (?), Katrina (the GOP must have some powerful mojo if they can control hurricanes), Darfur (yeah, let’s invade Africa!) and Don Imus (apparently Biden has quaffed the Media Matters kool-aid and believes Imus is a “conservative”).

For some odd reason, Biden didn’t bring up the 82 killed (21 children) at the Branch Davidian compound by the FBI on April 19, 1993. I suppose the fact that all branches of the government were then controlled by Democrats explains his amnesia.

Politicians are not the only ones who get stuck on stupid when things like VT happen, in this case, both the media and “caring” professionals in the psych industry came off equally as dangerous and idiotic, but much of the reason is because politicians have made laws that allow them to stay stuck on stupid.

We need to hack this out at the root. I think the time has come for a grassroots movement to enact a law that would gag all politicians for at least a week before they could spew their idiocies.

Just consider it a cooling-off period from hyperbole. Or, more plainly, just give us a freakin’ break from your nonsense in the early days of a national tragedy.
Is that asking too much?

Here’s what I saw today in the dead-tree, North Boonie edition of The Moline Dispatch. Please feel free to decide which half you choose to believe.

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There’s been much conversation and controversy about Davenport bringing in the Guardian Angels to help tamp down the crime problem. One of the best articles about the Angels appeared in River Cities’ Reader, while more negative reviews came from my favorite Imus apologist.

But whatever your view of the Angels, my opinion is that when governments cannot or will not solve the problems government has been charged with solving, the Guardian Angels give power (back) to the people. Case in point happened Saturday in Moline when Angel-In-Training, Timothy Terronez came upon a man beating a woman. Terronez got out of his car, yelled at the man to stop, took a picture with his cellphone, got the guy in an armlock and called the police to make a citizen’s arrest.

The money quote is in the last paragraph of the story when Terronez says: “What I don’t understand is, there were lots of people watching, but people just didn’t want to get involved. I can’t help but think, ‘Why is it only me?”

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If you ever need evidence that divorce can make you stupid, consider Jack Morgan of Eldridge. Mr. Morgan (allegedly)told his friends, some who are police officers, that he was going to assault his estranged wife and disappear with his kids.

Mr. Morgan is currently in the Scott County slammer on $130,000 bond.

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From the AP comes this story and photo about the Miss Universe contestant from Mexico, Rosa Maria Ojeda. Controversy arose from Miss Ojeda’s gown which featured an ammo belt and sketches of hangings connected with Mexico’s Roman Catholic uprising in the 1920s.

Do tell.

But still, while I’m not exactly on board with wearing clothing that depicts hangings, on the other hand, I’m thinking that if more ladies wore ammo belts as a fashion accessory, it might discourage some of the abuse mentioned in the above Guardian Angel story.

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Another AP story concerns our neighbors in Wisconsin. Not surprisingly, the legislature there is proposing that grocery and liquor stores be allowed to hand out beer samples up to 6 oz. to a person of legal drinking age.

Quoth Rep. Scott Newcomer (R-Pabst): “It’s a good bill. It’s a Wisconsin bill. It’s a beer bill.”

Well, amen to that and to anything else that makes grocery shopping more bearable.

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As if you needed it, here’s another reason not to mow the lawn. According to the the EPA, walk-behind and riding mowers and other garden equipment account for up to 10% of summertime smog-forming emissions in some parts of the country.

So remember, if your neighbors give you a hard time because your lawn is not in pristine condition, tell them Al Gore doesn’t want you to mow. That’ll get ‘em to back off!

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From the Don’t Tell Us What We Already Know files, comes this story from McClatchy with the catchy headline: Food Safety Researchers Advise ‘Don’t Eat Poop’. No word as to how many of your tax dollars will be spent on this project, but rest assured that “DON’T EAT POOP” T-shirts are available.

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Finally, my favorite D/A reporter (and writer) Brian Krans has a very good column in the Metro East section of my newspaper. I assume and hope it will appear online and in the main paper. It’s about the killings at Virginia Tech and how we are all so quick to assign blame and frame everything politically. Krans mentions the comments in the qconline forum concerning this and how blame was fixed from everything to GWB, gun-control law to school prayers. Concerning the trash on the qconline forums, Krans said “I felt ashamed to be a human as online commenters and others weren’t acting human. Casting blame is all we know.” But of course, this attitude isn’t just local, it’s national and international. I have not watched coverage of this tragedy since Monday—-I could not stand watching the blame game play out and the wild speculation of the press. This has not been the finest hour for either our politicians or our press.

Two weeks ago, I was ready to take The Anchoress vow of chastity and avoid reading about or blogging or commenting about The Endless Campaign.

But then that Elizabeth Edwards hatin’ on her poor Republican neighbor thing happened, and I knew I could not avoid the powerful temptations that can drive political/news junkies to ruin, and I blogged about it anyway.

Mea culpa.

So now that my little crises of conscience is over, I can share the name of one of my favorite political information dealers. That would be BlogNetNews. This site aggregates blogs from all over Iowa. Here you will be able to read first-hand experiences and accounts from people who attend the myriad political events that national media don’t or can’t.

My fellow Illinoisians, the Iowegians are our friends, our neighbors, our employers, our relatives and lovers—–trust them to give you the political minutia that I know you junkies crave.

Poor Phil Hare. It appears that his new duties as Specially Selected Congressman are causing him to speak out of both sides of his mouth!

The Quincy Herald Whig reports that at an appearance last week at Titan Wheel International, our Specially Selected Congressman said this about Titan Wheel: “These are the types of corporations and companies that we need to be looking at protecting to make sure we don’t lose them, either through bad governmental decisions or trade  policies that don’t make any sense”.

Unfortunately, later in the day, a news release was issued by Hare’s staff in DC which said U.S. “trade policies have lined the pockets of big corporations at the expense of average families.”

I guess Hare was for business before he was against it, or whatever. But does Big Labor fear its $227,050.00 investment in Hare is for naught? Probably not. As you will see in my post below(We’re Not Gonna Take It), Illinois Democrats are hard at work killing small businesses even as Specially Selected Congressman Hare attempts to kill big business.

Gee, I wonder why more and more businesses are locating out of state and out of country?

Who do the Democrats think will finance their socialist schemes (universal healthcare, etc.)?

I’m sure it’s a mystery to Democrats, even if the rest of us can see the handwriting on the wall.

Update: Don’t expect to see the  Quincy Herald Whig style of “The Emperor Has No Clothes” reporting from QC media. The prime directive of QC media is ” Do No Harm To Democrats.”

UPDATE: Hare’s first quarter campaign fundraising report is in and unsurprisingly, nearly 85% of his money came from big labor PACs. Maybe next time Gianulius could specially select a Congressman for us who knew how to bring in business instead of alienate it. Without any business, there will be no unions. With no jobs there will be no taxpayers to support the Bureaucrats Union. I continue to be amazed by the local Democrat political class that thinks by killing business they are helping unions.