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She hearts Menino over new stance on Homeland Security arrest program
By adamg on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 8:54pm
Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts explains why she's proud of Tom Menino:
Mayor Menino deserves credit for staying true to Boston's reputation as a city that welcomes newcomers and citizens alike, while focusing on community-based policing as the best way to keep our streets safe. Let's hope that the Mayor continues to be smart on public safety and makes a final decision to scrap S-Comm for good.
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Comments
Why bother being a legal
Why bother being a legal immigrant anymore? Or even a citizen? Illegals get all of the perks without any of the red tape and fees legal immigrants and citizens go through in their interactions with the government. It's a real slap in the face to everyone obeying laws to be told that there are no consequences for breaking them.
I heartily encourage you to
I heartily encourage you to renounce your citizenship, in order to demonstrate your commitment to your principles.
I was a permanent legal
I was a permanent legal resident before becoming a citizen in the 80s.
Then you probably learned something about separation of powers
The Federal Government is in charge of immigration and naturalization. The states and municipalities are not.
Unless you haven't noticed
Unless you haven't noticed the city and state seem to have no problem spending citizens and legal resident's tax monies on social services and welfare for ineligible illegal aliens. When criminal aliens can have access to all the same welfare and social service programs which are supposed to only go to citizens and legal immigrants, there's no point in obeying the law. Eliminating the penalties for being an illegal alien also remove the benefits from being a legal immigrant or citizen. There's no point in following the laws if there's no penalty for breaking them!
Whose Tax Money
Last I checked, undocumented aliens still pay taxes. Nice talking points ya got there - they certified and everything?
I think his point was
that if you are getting social services, welfare, etc, you are probably getting more from the goverment than you are giving. That would go for legal residents though as well.
Not usually the case
Undocumented persons working here do pay taxes and sales taxes.
They rarely get services outside of schools (paid by the property tax that they pay or that their rent pays) because they don't want to get caught.
I don't have the link at hand, but I have seen estimates that undocumented workers end up paying a lot more in taxes - directly or indirectly - than they ever claim in services.
Pay taxes unless they get
Pay taxes unless they get paid under the table. I've seen it happen with citizens here, so surely it's happening with some illegal aliens too.
Income is not the only tax
they still pay sales taxes and property taxes (either their own or through the rent they pay to a landlord).
aliens from someone elses space
you must be one I hope you have all your shots even dogs have to have licences for rabie shots ect. forget about the money. we dont need no stinkin outbreaks of polio measles TB Ect. my brother inlaw had to have his dog check out for health issues. just to get on a plane. Like I said forget about the money. we have small outbreaks of desease that we thought were long gone. and they try to hide them if you dont have no stinkin papers we are suppose to get sick i dont think so. And when you sneeze make sure you cover your mouth.
Yeah!
Right on brother! we dont need no stinkin grammar or logical sentence construction. ect ect ect excuse me i must have caught some stinkin desease from my dog.
Excellent Point..
Excellent Point.
I agree, Menino is saying "I dont care what the federal government does, we're not going to follow their laws". And he extended his middle finger at it.
Yes it may be the case that its the Federal Gov't job to deal with immigration. But HOW CAN THEY? Haven't ya been watching the news.. THE UNITED STATES IS BROKE. We just do not have the funds or the manpower to do so at the federal level. It needs to become a state level thing to enforce too. Plus the cops wouldn't need to do the work, a computer would.
Regardless, this really is just political theatre anyways, because by 2013 this is going to be federal law anyways. Menino is pandering for votes.. (the wrong kind)
I agree with Secure Communities. I think its a great thing, and I don't understand why it wasn't done sooner. I'm sorry, you already broke the law by being here illegally, so why should you get a free ride if you get pulled over for speeding. I wouldn't get the same treatment if i had a warrant out for my arrest, and I'm a citizen! I'd have my azz hauled off to jail in an instant.
It's disgusting that politicians are rolling over for votes.. then again in MA, you don't need to show an ID to vote anyways so who the heck knows if the votes were valid or not. So they are rolling over for the illegal immigrant vote now too. Some of these politicians are scared (the democrats) that they will have their azz beaten in the next election.
Its also disgusting that you don't need to show immigration status to get Food Stamps, MassHealth, or just about any other social service.
And we wonder why our state and country are nearly bankrupt and why the federal gov't is looking to cut tons of social services. Maybe if we didn't give them away to people who don't belong here, we wouldn't be in such a pickle today. Just saying...
You're a moron
just saying...
No intention of turning UHub into the comment board at boston.com, so let's just say we don't agree on much of any of this topic. But one thing to note that isn't controversial is that S-Comm is not a law, nor does it become one in 2013. It is a Federal enforcement program. The President can implement it or shitcan it as and when he sees fit. Congress is not involved. There's nothing magical about 2013 either. That's just the date they pulled out of their ass to say when they're going to "make it mandatory."
No you're the moron
Then why is the news reporting this. WBZ just said so last night.
and why is it in this ICE document?
http://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/secure_communities/...
Sources
Just sayin'...WBZ also said the fireworks over the Charles were coming up behind Fenway Park...
Were you watching a news program or an entertainment program when they called the S-Comm *plan* a new *law*? I hear this is a crucial determinant on CBS as to whether they are lying to you or not.
It wasn't just CBS, I heard
It wasn't just CBS, I heard it on WCVB also. Plus boston.com and other online sources such as USA Today and CNN. I'm happy to post links.
and folks for the record. WBZ TV has NOTHING to do with the CBS Fireworks Program.
I have friends who work at WBZ and they state that when the national program is on, the master control gets handed over to the CBS Network. WBZ's own camera operators don't even shoot the fireworks, CBS has their own team of camera folks and directors that come in just to handle this. WBZ has little to do with it. WBZ should NOT be held at fault for something the Network does. It is beyond their control.
--
But as far as this debate, I knew my comments would start a firey debate. But I am TIRED of the politically correct, illegal immigrant loving folks forcing ME to believe something that I just don't believe in.
I'm tired of watching this country get sucked down the drain due to illegal immigrants. Its INSULTING to ALL my LEGAL immigrants friends who come here, pay the attorneys BIG bucks to come here, and then work their ass off to become productive citizens.
Only to have the illegal immigrants hop a fence, and come here and suck off the rest of society.
Please folks, I invite ANYONE to come with me for a walk in Chelsea sometime.
Come to Market Basket on the first of the month and see all the Latinos whip out their EBT Cards and WIC checks. I find it hard to believe that most of them are LEGAL and collecting food stamps. But there's no way to find out since citizenship is not required to collect food stamps.
Come with me when I go get my Mass Health renewed (Yep, I'm POOR) and I walk into the office and there's not a single word of ENGLISH spoken there, yet they all have iPhones and their kids are wearing clothes from the Gap. Tell me there's not a problem here.
Yeah maybe I am an "angry white guy" but I have right to be. I have pumped over 500,000 dollars into the tax system in the 17 year or so years I have been working, and *I* get grilled when I try to get some social services back.
You should have heard the telephone conversation I had with "Maria" in the Food Stamp office. Because I'm a white guy in his 30s they really didn't wanna give them to me, but because I qualify 100%, "Maria" had no choice than to do so. I am sure if my last name was one of a Latin flavor, I am SURE there would be no questions asked.
Go ahead, call me a 'racist'. But why would a "racist" have many MANY Latino and African American friends? Why would a "racist" have a history of dating black men? Why would a 'racist' live in Chelsea and Revere if they didn't like Latinos so much? Doesnt sound like much a racist to me.
I apologize to everyone here who finds my posts offensive, but I cannot... WILL NOT.. be silent anymore. I have just as much of a right to air my opinion as you do.
I'm tired of illegal immigrant criminals getting away MURDER and not being deported because everyone wants to be "nice" to them.
I'm tired of watching my state and country go BANKRUPT in social services because people who aren't suppose to be here anyways. I'm tired of paying for someone else's mistake.
I'm tired of jobs being taken away from people... namely MYSELF. I can't GET a entry level job anymore because I don't speak Spanish or some such non sense. (I just got rejection letters today from Target, T-Mobile, and Stop & Shop)
Again I am sorry, but I am TIRED of the Politically Correct crowd trying to force their opinions down my throat, when the fact of the matter is, I just don't agree. If you REALLY feel that way, then I suggest you take your check book and start finding some illegal immigrants to start writing checks too, because the gravy train for them is coming to an end.
I know I am not alone in my feeling. Many people believe this but at risk of offending someone else, they chose not to air their opinions. I am not one of these people, maybe if we spoke up and stopped worrying about offending people, we wouldn't have these problems because action would be taken.
And folks for the record, I'm a REGISTERED DEMOCRAT! (I am leaving my party though...)
Don't worry
No one is forcing you to believe in anything. You can live in your little paranoid dreamworld all you want. Latinos with WIC vouchers - hell, in your little made up world, you can deport them all back to where they came from: Puerto Rico!
You can even avoid doing the simplest google searches to turn up evidence that each of your sacred talking points are partly or completly fictitious.
Dream on dude - thanks for sharing the insanity. Very entertaining.
Oh, and get back on the pile, mmmm-kay?
My, my...
Grow up.
wow.
In 17 years you paid $500,000 in taxes but are poor. Assuming for sake of argument a 30% tax rate that means about $1.6 million over 17 years or $98K a year. (Probably not very good back of the envelope calculations, but I'm no CPA. Anyone want to correct that calculation?)
At any rate if you've "pumped over $500,000 into the tax system" in under 20 years and yet consider yourself poor and are applying for food assistance, I'd say something did indeed go wrong for you. You have a right to be upset.
I'm just unclear on what immigrants beating you out for retail jobs has to do with it.
To the last 3 posters
To the last 3 posters responding to cybah. While he only was able to point his post in anecdotal terms of watching Latinos with WIC vochers or other government assistance programs, it sounds plausible. If there is no check with immigration status, only asks where the person lives, then it is quite possible and hard to imagine why wouldn't they take advantage of such programs.
Calling him "an idiot," living in a "paranoid dreamworld," and shaming him to "grow up." John-W's calculation that his 500,000 is likely off is reasonable, but it's pretty common for people to just round to some even number. I doubt he knows how much he paid over the past 17 years, but he knows he been paying them and seems like he feels that he been getting grilled. Still, that alone doesn't negate his claims except some undermining on how much money he has made or how much he really paid in taxes over the past 17 years.
This does sound very unbalanced in favor of cybah, but I prefer reading some kind of well-reasoned argument ideally backed by data. If not possible, by some kind of experience that is rebutting points and putting up one's own points. When a person writes a post that does sounds like he backed his claims with experiences , and is responded with snark, insults, and derision, that only makes me sympathetic to cybah not convinced that what he saw is mistaken or misinterpreted.
Sorry you don't get it
But it's not like ANYTHING cybah said has never been said before by plenty of racists or bigots. It's the same crap misanthropic assholes always have to say about their fellow human beings for one reason or another. It's even more humorous that he now pulls from the same dole...but hates all of the others in his similar situation. I'm going to guess his attitude more than his inability to speak Spanish is what keeps him from getting even a simple retail job. Maybe if he took his self-entitlement and shoved it he might get somewhere. His self-victimization is trite and over-played...as if every illegal immigrant somehow has a better life than him. They live every day trying to keep their head down knowing that they could be deported to even *worse* living conditions than their current squalor here in the U.S. But, no, I bet whatever WIC/EBT money makes them kings among kings laughing at his misfortunes.
Yes, there may be illegal immigrants using welfare, healthcare, and food assistance...just like there are millions of Americans doing the same. As an example, I'd like to think that the $30 million or so that we paid out in emergency healthcare (about $10M state, $20M federal) for about 50,000 illegal immigrants last year in our ERs saved a few lives. That makes it money worth spending in my mind.
However, here are some facts. Illegals can't get food stamps or cash assistance. Their kids can, but only enough to cover the kids (or would cybah rather their kids starve to death and pay for their healthcare instead?). They can get housing subsidies (or would cybah rather they live in shantytowns?). They can't legally get unemployment because they need to prove they worked legally in their last job and that they can work legally in the next one.
So, I'm guessing the vast waves of "Latinos" that cybah is getting crushed by are in large part legal and downtrodden Americans. Of course, it's easier to just baste the whole Latino population as "illegals" and get ginned up over all the services they're getting...I mean it's not like 9-10% of America is currently out of work (and somehow I doubt that's all white middle Americans).
So, you'll have to excuse me when I get tired of bringing up facts to have them ignored. "Grow up" just seems so much more appropriate when it's clear the same old rant needs the same old response and will get met with the same old dismissal of reality and without any critical thought whatsoever.
Kaz Scores Again!
We should get a picture of you standing in front of Faneuil Hall or the Old State House, with your scooter. We'll erase the tall buildings and photoshop in some fireworks.
No, I cannot excuse you of
No, I cannot excuse you of you being tired and resorting to calling people racists and bigots as you said in your first sentence. You probably won't care if I excuse you or not, but I don't get convinced by they kind of retort. When I read his posts, like I said earlier, it still sound like a guy who made his observations and made his conclusions. He didn't backed it by any kind of original research or authoritative data, but that what he believe he saw.
Yes, your links to adds weight that he is incorrect that all of them/large number of them are running around with all kinds of benefits. It's not a prefect rebuttal that fully dismisses everything he claims and be without possible holes itself, but it pokes some holes. Still, I can't view you are in the right by using words like racist, bigot, misanthropic, and more subtle attacks on his character. I hate ad hominems and believes it stifles the search for truth. Nothing stifle discussions and create tangents better than attacks on people's characters. Otherwise, it lacks critical thought.
Oh yes
Ad hominem attacks are horrible things. It's far better to spout baseless accusations about entire races of people based on what you saw down at the welfare office. Obviously this one person's experiences gives them the factual basis to write off millions of people as moochers on the state. It also allows him to present his beliefs as facts and to deny facts when presented to him because he's tired of having them stuffed down his throat and they interfere with his unfounded beliefs that make him feel better about his life.
If we're talking about getting to truth then please let's not make excuses for people who are presenting ignorant and bigotted views based not on facts but solely their beliefs.
confused
And....you think Cybah presented one of those? The derisive response that was received might be a little mean to someone who, it sounds like, is down on their luck, but their rant was nothing to be sympathized with, unless you're saddened that bigotry gets a bum rap in Boston generally and on UHub specifically. There are plenty of conversations on boston.com and the herald on-line that provide plenty of space for those types of myopic world views. The nice part about UHub is that there is usually a reliance on actual facts and not just talking points. And even the people I rarely ever agree with here will frequently post things that are insightful, fact-based and I agree with. Hell, even if I don't agree with them they often present arguments that I find myself not having facts to counter and realize that I'm going just on beliefs. It's a good check on my own assumptions and "non reality-based" thinking.
It's safe to say that the immigration of people to this country without passing through the legal process is something people disagree about and feel passionately about. I can understand someone taking an overly legalistic view of it and just crossing their arms and saying "illegal is illegal" -- I don't agree with them but I understand it. Someone making completely baseless claims about "Latinos" and then saying they're not racist because they have black friends and even dated a few, that's bullshit. And happily on UHub it gets called out.
I did said in the above post
I did said in the above post that he responded, "only was able to point his post in anecdotal terms of watching Latinos." I recognize that he didn't done extensive research and only base his claims on his experiences from his viewpoint. He didn't backed that he people he observed are illegals or not nor even if they are, that they are a representative sample of Latinos, but I think it is merit critical thought of how true his observation. Just calling it bigoted isn't critical thought. Critical thought is trying to verify that the people he saw are illegal or not and how representative the Latinos of the population become the question. Putting his observation to the test.
Of course, that is a lot of burden of proof, I'm not expecting anyone to go run out and figure that out. I can reasonably expect for someone to look for a link, but not go and test his observations. But that also mean saying he live in a "paranoid dreamworld" or telling him to "grow up" doesn't disprove anything he said. You gave the best of the 3, by actually taking something he said and pointing out a flaw, breaking his claim that he actually paid 500,000 over the past 17 years (unless he's actually well off).
My stars and garters!
I've seen the light! Not only did WBZ report it but ICE said so too!
Oh wait. I see. You're just baiting me with outrageously stupid postings! I mean no one could be this mentally deficient and operate a computer. Touchรฉ my good man. Well played.
If someone commits a crime
If someone commits a crime against an illegal immigrant, I want that person in jail. Most criminals don't discriminate based on citizenship status. Deporting victims makes us all less safe as it allows criminals to remain on the street unpunished.
I feel slapped a lot - and it has yet to be because of an alien
I imagine that all of the law-abiding citizens and legal residents of the areas of the city where violence is common feel like they are slapped in the face everyday - and I suspect that it is more commonly becuase of people born in the good ol' U.S. of A than because of illegal aliens.
Hell, I feel like it's a slap in the face every time I see a traffic violation or just normal massholism that does not result in the issuance of a moving violation. Hence, I feel slapped everyday.
My point is that this is yet another issue thrown up to distract people from the fact that we have just not been very successful in confronting the issues responsible for the vast majority of crime.
If the ACLU Supports It...
If the ACLU Supports Mumbles' position on this, there must be something fundamentally or logically wrong with his position.
And there is. Rule of law be damned.
What I love
I love people who will exercise their right to free speech, in order to mock the very people who defend everyone's civil liberties, and doing so without even a pause to consider the cognitive dissonance.
Willfully ignorant is no way to go through life, son.
The ACLU has been doing
The ACLU has been doing plenty to attack peoples' freedom of speech & expression in the public square for a long time. The only interest they have in civil liberties are those which align with their political agenda. Anything counter and the lawsuits start flying over the invented freedom to not be offended.
Name one.
Name one ACLU attack on the freedom of speech.
But...
...there's so much to be said for fat, drunk and stupid.
the ACLU
picks and chooses which rights it wants to defend and and completely ignores abuses of other rights; it's why I'm no longer a member.
Bullcrap
Name one abuse ignored by the ACLU.
basically any 2nd amendment issue
You can call bullcrap till your throat is sore, but the ACLU sees the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th.... amendments as pertaining to the individual; and yet somehow only the 2nd amendment doesn't apply in that fashion.
Basically, you're wrong
ACLU gets FL man his guns back
Houston v. City of New Orleans -- ACLU got LA man his gun back
Racial Discrimination
Boston has an almost fully segregated school system that caters almost exclusively to the majority population. As one example it's almost impossible to be located more than a mile from an elementary school anywhere in the city - unless you are white and live within a half mile of the the Charles River east of Kenmore.
Apparently separate but equal applies in some format in Boston. (it's actually separate but superior - as long as you are one of the wealthiest families in the city that can afford private school - otherwise it's separate but move your sorry butt to the suburbs).
You think the ACLU would ever touch that one?
WTF?
I know you're deluded around this particular issue and won't listen to logic, but families of any race in that area are in the same boat as you are. The city puts public schools where there's a density of children using them, and your area isn't one of those. Plus, as we've pointed out to you many times, there are other areas where people can live as far from an elementary school as you do. You just don't live close enough to a public school that's elite enough and white enough for you, because the city discriminates against rich white people (what).
Maybe they would...
...if you'd named a civil liberties violation.
Last I checked...
...discrimination was a violation of civil liberties.
As I said in a post to SP - with extremely rare exception, it's almost impossible to be more than a mile from an elementary school in the city of Boston unless you are an on-duty TSA agent, a conventioneer, dead, locked in a zoo cage or live in the area along the river. If this happened to be an area populated by poor people of color, the ACLU would be all over it. It happens to be populated mostly by rich white people (quite honestly I think the more operative word is rich - not white).
And yes Swrrly - I am upset about this. I believe in a quality education for EVERYONE - regardless of race, sexuality, financial condition etc. And your argument about the city builds where the needs are is wrong - the three zip codes that make up this area had over 1000 kids under the age of 5 in 2000 (2010 not available by zip) and NO schools. Charlestown, a single zip code with 832 kids under 5 had two schools. How do those numbers work?
This is a complex issue - and goes far beyond simply living within a mile of a school. SP makes a very eloquent case for it in his last post for a number of reasons that I agree with. Mike Ross and at least two of his at-large counterparts make a case for it (although actions or lack thereof speak louder than words). I believe there is a strong case to be made that this would not and should not be tolerated in a poor Hispanic neighborhood and it is equally abhorrent in a rich white neighborhood.
What discrimination?
I was being a bit too coy, I think. You have a civil liberty to go to elementary school and get an education. Are you saying that liberty is being abridged? I believe even if you don't live within a mile of an elementary school, the city will still get you to an elementary school. Nobody's being denied an education (the civil liberty). So, while you might suffer a disproportionate amount of busing compared to the rest of the city, I don't see how that impacts your civil liberties. I don't have an easy way to get to Cambridge by public transportation beyond taking at least 2 buses to get to work from Brighton or spending over 75 minutes (when nothing goes wrong!) on the "rapid transport"...that doesn't mean my civil liberties are being impacted.
Equal provision of quality services
It's so much more than busing - but to your point - it's o.k. for the city to provide walk to schools for virtually every child of color and for that matter almost every kid in the city unless you live in the 3 communities I mention - then you have to get on a bus? Could you imagine the (justified) uproar if the shoe were on the other foot? Thanks for making my point.
But that's just it
It's just not a civil liberties issue. You don't have a civil liberty to walk to school. It's just nonsensical...you're trying to shoehorn a perceived, and potentially legitimate, problem of "fairness" into a "civil liberty" just to fit this conversation.
Hell, have you even contacted the ACLU to see if they'd take up your cause?
No
Figured I'd get pretty much the same reaction I got out here and it would be a waste of my time. Given the writings of the local chapter head gushing over how wonderful Lord Tommy is, I'm even more convinced that they wouldn't touch this with a 10 foot pole. There are rumblings of some change and hopefully we can solve this politically rather than in the courts - both would take a long time but the political solution we choose in my opinion is better than a legal solution crammed down our throats - like the last one that created a lot of these problems.
I think they might have a case.
If a black family who has to put their son on a bus at 6am to go West Roxbury High School, and that black family wants their son to go to Madison Park instead, would they have a case if Boston said no? Or what if the black family lived in West Roxbury, would that kid be able to go to West Roxbury High School?
I think if a black family wanted to push the busing issue, they could have a case in certain situations.
Take East Boston High School for instance. I just learned (on UHUB), that because of the unique geographical circumstance of East Boston, residents of East Boston get to go to East Boston High School. What would happen if some day East Boston became an all white, wealthy neighborhood? Would the rules still allow all East Boston residents to let their kids go to East Boston High school?
First Patrick, then Menino
The Governor broke his promise and opted out of Secure Communities bowing to the advocacy groups rather that protecting the legal citizens that he swore protect, now Mayor Menino follows the Governor and does the very same. Will the Boston crime rate decrease, will more witnesses come forward or will the MS13 continue terrorizing the communities?
Does this mean....
That I can ignore all those annoying driving/parking/zoning laws in Boston? Insurance, drivers licenses, inspection stickers too? They are soooo expensive, and annoyign as well.
Or do I have to be illegal in order to qualify for Mumbles New World Order?
Where you headed?
I should really refrain from responding to people who use infantile phrases like "New World Order", BUT...
What does what you've posted have to do with S-Comm and the point of this article? If a non-citizen breaks those laws, then they get a ticket. If they don't have a license, they get arrested for operating without a license. Their punishment for the crime being committed at the time is no different than yours. I'm not even sure if there's an MGL on the books to deal with undocumented people in MA. If the Feds want to deal with someone's legal status as a citizen, then let them but to force everyone to submit to fingerprints, etc. for a giant Federal cross-referencing database...under the guise of having ICE help deal with deportation? No thanks, Orwell.
If you want to see the "New World Order", then just keep letting the government check out everything about you every time they want to, citizen. Don't move, an officer will be by shortly to help you to your destination.
How many illegals
Driving around unlicensed, and likely uninsured, are likely to show up for a court date after they've been arrested? How do you establish positive identity and gurantee court appearance with someone who is thumbing his or her nose at the most basic laws in the country?
Most of them?
Since their legal status shouldn't come up before the magistrate, it makes sense that most of them would want to show up and pay the fine rather than have a bench warrant issued and potentially lose their job, etc. which is why they were here in the first place.
Also, LOL @ our immigration law being the "most basic" anything.
Oh yeah, they'll be lining up to do the right thing
So the guy is here illegally. He's driving either without a license, or on a fake license. He's uninsured. He can be deported for any of the above.
And he's gonna give his real name, real address, and real contact information to the police. And then show up in court, as requested? To do what, start acting in a legal fashion all of a sudden?
And in your fantasy world, he'll no doubt be represented by Perry Mason.
You could have saved yourself time
..and just typed "Nuh-uh!".
SComm = Security Theater = Control
What people seem to keep missing in all of this is that it isn't really about immigration. It's about Next Generation Identification (NGI) which is all about by-passing forcing everyone to have "zer paperz" on their person at all times, and going straight to having their person BE their papers.
Biometric information in one master database that is checked with every transaction you have. In fact FaceBook facial recognition technologies fits into it. The deal is to be able to get fingerprints, eye-scans, dna samples all of it into a database that can be used to check up on undocumented people (who cares they're all criminals, sponging off my taxes, right?), rehabbed convicts (hey they deserve it), foreign nationals (well, if they're coming here, they gotta play by our rules), people whose political opinions are considered radical (well, we have to watch out for them terrorishts..ts..y'know, post 9-11 world), people who oppose govt policies like continual war (well, ..uh you gotta be patriotic), people whose web surfing habits exhibit certain patterns (uh..this is getting creepy), etc...
At this point in time we may not be in Phillip K. Dick land just yet, but the FBI and Homeland Security want this and have stated so (news article on it, FBI site, Center for Constitutional Right press release with links to FBI/DHS documents received through FOIA request).
Immigrants are just low-hanging fruit for the roll-out of this database.
I know it's unbearably hot
I know it's unbearably hot today, but you really need to wear your tinfoil hat.
Ah, the "conservatives" that hate freedom
..Come out in force.
This is why the so-called "conservatives" are the hypocritical scum of the earth these days. They whine about "freedom" being taken away on one hand, and then do everything in their power to increase the Police State.
Anytime I hear a conservative complain about how "oh noes our freedoms are being taken away" I just remember how much bullshit the fucking republican pigs have put us through. Wiretapping Americans? That's standard procedure now. Thanks Bush. Getting raped at the airport? Thanks Bush. A constant state of alarm where the police invoke the threat of terrorism at every opportunity? Thanks Bush.
Sure the Dems were too pussy to push back, but let's not forget the villains: the fucking republican pigs.
How's that tinfoil hat doing?
How's that tinfoil hat doing?
That tin-foil hat you have
Do they have them in adjustable as well as fitted? And does it interfere with your wireless router?
And the choir breaks out in song
Did they give out some Junior Mints with your yakking points guys?
Not . . .
. . . tin foil at all. The feds have taken extraordinary powers in the past ten years and they simply violate their own laws against wire tapping and electronic surveillance at will. They are out of control and lawless and the facts on this are there for anyone who cares to educate themselves on it.
I support any and all local movements or politicians regardless of party or ideology if they stick it to the Feds. Period. It's at that point.
For the forseeable future . . .
. . . I'm pleased with any local politician who sticks it to the feds in any manner on any issue and I'll vote for him and give him money. More please.
Hey, let's not forget he's
Hey, let's not forget he's still the guy who also led the fiasco of Filene's, grandstanding with the garage near the Greenway, and refused to let the Burins be broadcasted outside the Garden (okay, somewhat vindicated by Vancouver - but I like to think Bostonians can handle themselves better).
The mayor does have some strengths, but I'm still not voting for him if he runs again. Boston deserves new blood who can keep Boston punching above her weight.
My opinion . . .
. . . on Mayor Menino is that he has been a fine mayor. The person running against him next would have to be about something more than just attacking Menino or the same old same old political theater. That person would have to have some sort of positive clear vision of what he wants for the city to get me to vote for him. Running against Mayor Menino with nothing but a bag full of "I'm not Menino" lapel pins isn't going to do it for me.