Legalectric

There goes Sviggum again on phony “issues” spreading hate and discontent, propping up Pawlenty in the pages of the STrib:

Skip the euphamisms on people here illegally

Could somebody explain to Speaker Sviggum the difference between state and federal jurisdiction, and the fact, FACT, that immigration is national policy, immigration is under federal jurisdiction? His partisan comments are in denial of reality, looking for something to turn immigration into a major issue in Minnesota’s next election. He’s probably trying to bash Hatch for Pawlenty, but when he does it on this basis, Sviggum’s the one who loses credibility:

…or passing the buck to the federal government, as Attorney General Mike Hatch did last week, won’t make them go away.

and

After years of neglect by the federal government, the current immigration system in our country has become chaotic. And when people like Mike Hatch say it’s not a state issue, they ignore the effects this chaos has brought to our local communities.

He must understand it’s under federal jurisdiction, after all, he’s the Speaker of the House making law in the State of Minnesota — so that means he’s misleading, “mispeaking” on purpose — LYING. Cut the euphamisms!

And it gets worse. Sviggum again trots out that $180 million dollar figure (emphasis added) but in qualified language that admits he knows it’s a lie:

The report released last week by the Pawlenty administration shows that Minnesota’s approximately 80,000 illegal immigrants cost state taxpayers $180 million a year. Both numbers need more background in order to understand the impact of illegal immigration on our state.

“Need more background” is putting it mildly, and when you know that you’ve got number problems, don’t use that figure! When you rail about $180 million, and when that number includes $146-158 million in educational expenses, of which 60% is for immigrants born here, IMMIGRANTS HERE LEGALLY, we’re really talking about $58.4-63.2 million for education. That total $180 million dollar figure is instantly at least cut in half! To bandy about that $180 million is a lie, a lie used to create a false hysteria and further divide our divided culture. It’s diversionary, hoping those who aren’t thinking critically will grab those numbers as a reason for their own financial troubles, diverting attention from the Republican economic policies that have drained our state and country, redirecting capital to the already wealthy, strangling the middle class and making life nearly impossible for the poor.

Click here and tell him what you think: email Speaker Sviggum

Steve – if you can’t be honest, go back to farming and bullshit of the organic kind.

Yes, there is a Dog!

‘Intelligent Design’ can’t be taught as science, judge rules

It’s rare to find such a clearly reasoned and stated decision. Drop everything and read it for yourself:
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Court File: 04cv2688

With refreshing directness and citing the “breathtaking inanity of the Board’s decision, ” the court noted that “this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on ID, who in combination drove the Board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy.”

The court held:

We find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board’s real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom, in violation of the Establishment Clause.

Put it in theology and philosophy classes where it belongs. Do schools have religion classes now? At Central, we had a great Comparative Religions class, almost as good as the Comparative Education class! But enough of this — not in science class!

HOW CAN THIS BE??????

Thanks to all the thoughtful folks near and far who have checked in today!
I couldn’t have gotten here without you !

COMMENTING ON THIS PLAN IS CRUCIAL.

Please comment on the Transportation Plan if you haven’t already.

Email them your comments, nothing fancy, just tell them what you think about specifics parts, citing the page, or section or map.

Here’s the link to the Transportation Plan

Send your comments to:

dluebbe@co.rice.mn.us
and
ginami@bolton-menk.com

I’m attaching the DOT’s Comment on the AUAR which is well worth a look,
DOT Comment here –> Download file

If you can’t comment, just send them a note saying “Please take into account the DOT’s Comments on the AUAR in the County’s Transportation Plan.” Attach and THAT will make a difference, because then they can’t ignore it.

Why is the DOT Comment important? Ask Doug Jones! Regarding costs, an issue Leif Knecht said must be included in the AUAR, and THERE’S NOTHING, the DOT says:

The EAW does not include information on the costs of transportation improvements that are projected to occur as a result of this development, although some analysis was provided with the Traffic Impact Analysis. Accounting for the costs and the funding to service this development, particularly for those elements that are not included in Mn/DOT plans, is an essential need. Cost elements as a result of the new development should include:

CSAH 1 realigned to CR 59/ Baseline Road and the 4-lane section extended for a distance east of Baseline Road to accommodate traffic from the CSAH 1 interchange.

I-35/CSAH 1 interchange, to fully account for ramp/loop construction and bridge, to Mn/DOT standards.
Increasing the capacity of I-35 to a six lane facility.

Changes to CSAH roadways and intersections, including the cost of improving CSAH 46 from a rural 2-lane to an urban 4-lane facility with multiple turn lanes and ramp reconstruction.

The DOT’s bottom line on the AUAR??? It’s insufficient, inadequate, and they put it ever so directly:

In summary, Mn/DOT District 6 and Metro have significant concerns with regard to the lack of detail to justify many of the recommendations from this document. Further study is needed to identify level of service needs and proposed operational improvements with each phase of the development, and design options. Access management principles need to be observed with regard to intersection and signal spacing. Finally, the AUAR does not fully account for the cost of proposed improvements to the system as a result of the planned development and how they are to be funded.

DOT Comment on AUAR, Oct. 24, 2005 (emphasis added)

Read it for yourself: Download file It puts the I-35 development beyond the realm of possibilities! And that’s good news.

Make sure that this important information on DOT planning is incorporated into the Rice County Transportation Plan.

Again, send your comments to:

dluebbe@co.rice.mn.us
and
ginami@bolton-menk.com

Thanks!

Taken out any good library books lately? Federal agents knocked on your door lately?

STrib Editorial Tuesday: A president above the law?

Thanks to Barbara Miller for forwarding the article below. On the heels of relevations of Bush’s criminal authorization of surveillance without judicial authorization of even the secret kind… well, it’s not anything I don’t suspect and assume, but when they’ve taken down the Transmission map from the WI-PSC website due to “concerns about terrorism,” and won’t send it to a transmission Intervenor, it’s something I’m concerned about. It’s time this stopped.

Probe Sought on NSA surveillance

How are librarians dealing with this intrusion? Bookstore owners? Check out the ALA’s great site, FBI in your library.

Agents’ visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior

By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung’s tome on Communism called “The Little Red Book.”

Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library’s interlibrary loan program.

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand’s class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents’ home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a “watch list,” and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.

“I tell my students to go to the direct source, and so he asked for the official Peking version of the book,” Professor Pontbriand said. “Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because that’s what triggered the visit, as I understand it.”

Although The Standard-Times knows the name of the student, he is not coming forward because he fears repercussions should his name become public. He has not spoken to The Standard-Times.

The professors had been asked to comment on a report that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to spy on as many as 500 people at any given time since 2002 in this country.

The eavesdropping was apparently done without warrants.

The Little Red Book, is a collection of quotations and speech excerpts from Chinese leader Mao Tse-Tung.

In the 1950s and ’60s, during the Cultural Revolution in China, it was required reading. Although there are abridged versions available, the student asked for a version translated directly from the original book.

The student told Professor Pontbriand and Dr. Williams that the Homeland Security agents told him the book was on a “watch list.” They brought the book with them, but did not leave it with the student, the professors said.

Dr. Williams said in his research, he regularly contacts people in Afghanistan, Chechnya and other Muslim hot spots, and suspects that some of his calls are monitored.

“My instinct is that there is a lot more monitoring than we think,” he said.

Dr. Williams said he had been planning to offer a course on terrorism next semester, but is reconsidering, because it might put his students at risk.

“I shudder to think of all the students I’ve had monitoring al-Qaeda Web sites, what the government must think of that,” he said. “Mao Tse-Tung is completely harmless.”

Contact Aaron Nicodemus at anicodemus@s-t.com