Salt Lake Chamber Blows a Fuse!:

The Salt Lake Chamber has blown a fuse!

Better call an electrician.

A legal-worker electrician, that is.

Why?

Because Representative Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, is proposing to introduce a bill that follows the U.S. Supreme Court's decision giving the green-light to states to require E-Verify and impose appropriate punishments for failure to comply with the law and/or knowingly hire illegal aliens:

According to the Salt Lake Tribune:

"Sandstrom, who expects to have language for the measure within two weeks, said it would mirror Arizona’s law — mandating employers use E-verify and setting up severe penalties if companies knowingly hire undocumented immigrants or fail to use the federal system."

Arizona's bill - good enough for Arizona and now good enough for Utah!

Kudos to Rep. Sandstrom.  Let's hope the governor goes for another of Sandstrom's suggestions: a special session to pass the bill.

But the Chamber, oh man...

Here's what Marty Carpenter of the Salt Lake Chamber had to say about the situation:

"But Marty Carpenter, spokesman for the Salt Lake Chamber, said individual state immigration laws create a patchwork problem and that the solution must come from the federal government.

"Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s good policy. This opens the door for state legislators to try and solve a problem by treating one symptom rather than treating the root cause of the issue," Carpenter said. "Businesses are in the business to create markets, transport and sell goods. Businesses are not in the business to police or enforce immigration policy."'

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's good policy?

Huh?

Well, on the face of it and as a general principle, the idea makes sense and that's why people try to create, alter, and eliminate laws all the time. 

But does it make sense as it relates to illegal immigration?

I suggest that it does not.

Requiring employers to verify the work-status of potential employees is absolutely good policy.  It serves to preserve the integrity of our economic system as a whole. 

Mr. Carpenter's final statement, however, is truly strange:  "Businesses are not in the business to police or enforce immigration policy."

True, businesses do not police or enforce immigration policy.   That is not their function.

But, how about complying with the laws, Mr. Carpenter? 

Are businesses not in the business of conducting their business in accordance with law?

I would certainly hope that they are.

It is the respect for the law that creates stability in our system and provides the foundation for businesses to be successful.  Without that respect, we will tend to become like less successful nations. 

(Quote by Mr. Carpenter and information for this blog entry are from the Salt Lake Tribune article:

"Lawmaker to propose bill that mirrors Arizona’s E-verify law"

Available at:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51900396-90/law-sandstrom-arizona-undocumented.html.csp)

Need a Job? Obama Says Give it to a Foreign Worker!!!

After several years of continued high unemployment, Obama thinks that jobs in America should go to foreign workers!!!

Incredible.

According to Roy Beck of numbersusa.com:

"While America's kids prepare for their college graduation events, Pres. Obama laid out an immigration  blueprint in El Paso  for making it much more difficult for them to find jobs.  When it comes to unemployed Americans, Pres. Obama always gives higher priority to foreign workers." 

 Mr. Beck adds this:

"Along with his speech, he issued his "Building a 21st Century Immigration System" report  that primarily calls for increasing U.S. work permits for foreign workers of all kinds by massive amounts.

The President's immigration  report reads as if it were written during a time of full employment, instead of during the fourth year of an unemployment crisis."

Isn't it great to know that Obama is truly looking out for the best interests of the American worker? 

Obama's views seem to mirror billionaire Bloomberg's which mirror those of the "Utah Solution" which mirror those of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce which mirror those of the Sutherland Institute which mirror those of Utah Attorney General Shurtleff which mirror those of Senator Bramble which mirror those of Governor Herbert...

The view being peddled is a sell-out to the money-powers pushing this scam.

Roy Beck's blog entry: 

"Pres. Obama To This Spring's American College Grads -- WE DON'T NEED YOU"

Can be found at:

http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/may-10-2011/pres-obama-springs-american-college-grads-we-dont-need-you.html

Leftists Gone Wild!:

While searching for videos of Carlos Santana at the Braves/Phillies baseball game on 5/15/11 (see blog entry below), I came across an interesting video which demonstrates the leftist slant on Arizona's SB1070.

It is certainly indicative of a mindset that seems to have problems seeing outside of  the "everyone's a racist who doesn't agree with me on immigration" box. 

How many in Utah have this same mindset and how much does it "poison" the debate and shut it down?

The video is at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7zhX8ym1PA

Roy Beck of NumbersUSA Slams Santana's Baseball Game Rant!:

An Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies baseball game yesterday was used by Carlos Santana to slam those who support Georgia's new E-Verify law.

Santana was there to receive a civil rights award and took advantage of the event to push his own views on the issue.  

Roy Beck pointedly takes on the aging rocker and tells it like it is in an article at numbersusa.com.  The article, "Hate Speech against new Georgia law tarnishes Civil Rights ceremony at Braves game," is available at:

http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/may-16-2011/hate-speech-against-new-georgia-law-tarnishes-civil-rights-ceremony-brave

Beck vs. Santana?

My money's on Beck.

Beck makes powerful points and supports the unemployed, of whatever race, in America:

"Let's take a look at the Americans Santana is calling racist for wanting laws to keep employers from keeping Americans unemployed by hiring illegal foreign workers. 

Of young American adults aged 18-29 with only a high school degree:

• 40% of all these young adults don't have a job.
• 43% of the Hispanic-American young adults don't have a job.
• 50% of Black Americans of this group don't have a job."

These statistics are quite concerning.  They indicate a fundamental problem in our nation.

Looking at Utah, how many of our young people without a high school degree are unemployed?

Are those who are defending HB116 taking these young Americans into consideration in their rush to see things from the perspective of illegal immigrants?

Or have they just pushed them out of their thoughts and concerns?

The Immigration Propaganda Matrix - (Part 1):

The debate over the LDS Church's role in the recently passed immigration laws in Utah continues.

This current blog entry, however, is not about that role.

It is, rather, about the use of the LDS Church for political purposes by others in the form of propaganda.

Paul Rolly, of the Salt Lake Tribune, wrote an article that appeared May 7, 2011 in the Trib.

The article is titled, "LDS Church has duty to protect missionaries."

The article is available at:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/51758464-82/church-latin-lds-missionaries.html.csp

Part of the thesis of the article seems to be:

The LDS Church has an obligation to protect its missionaries.

Certainly, that is true.  No one would dispute that.

But, Rolly does not stop there.  He discusses the danger missionaries might face in Latin American nations because of anti-immigrant rhetoric in Utah.  He slyly tells us that anti-illegal-immigration people distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants, but that sometimes the distinction is lost in "inflammatory" rhetoric.  Thus, according to Rolly, those "belonging to the same ethnic group most targeted by that rhetoric" feel the rhetoric is "racist."

Rolly adds in the "risk" factor and his actual thesis, although unstated, seems to be:

If you want enforcement of U.S. laws regarding illegal-immigration, and speak out publicly, then you are putting LDS missionaries at risk in Latin America.  You, as an LDS Church member, should seek to protect the missionaries. 

Can't you almost hear the natural follow-up idea to this expanded thesis?

This follow-up idea is the propaganda effect of Rolly's article, whether he intended it or not. 

This idea is: Therefore, you should keep your mouth shut about illegal immigration.


This is the message I get from the article. 

It is an implicit demand for LDS people to back out of the immigration debate.  Since most people in Utah are LDS, it would effectively end the debate in favor of those promoting amnesty-type policies - such as HB116.

Isn't this a strange implicit message for a newspaper writer to be creating?  Aren't they supposed to be for open debate?

The odd thing about Rolly's article is that he can't push this view without slandering Latin Americans. 

Rolly states:

"Mexico already is a violent and dangerous country because of all the drug wars, and other parts of Latin America are risky as well."

Rolly then goes on to cite Tony Yapias, who just got back from Peru (his country of origin).   Rolly seems to be using his information from Mr. Yapias as a way to reinforce his own point about risk in Latin American nations.

The Trib tells us:  "He [Yapias] says missionaries, because they are so visible, run the risk of being put in a dangerous situation because of "guilt by association."'

Mr. Yapias, interestingly enough, seems to think that we should adopt the viewpoint of those Peruvians who apparently want the U.S. to subordinate its laws to their wishes instead of to policies beneficial to the U.S. 

By portraying Mexicans and other Latin Americans as potentially violent in their disagreement with those in Utah or the U.S., who want enforcement of illegal immigration beefed up, Mr. Rolly has essentially engaged in the very behavior he wishes to attribute to anti-illegal immigration advocates.

He is insulting to Latin Americans and, if his thesis is correct, they now have a reason to be angry with Americans in their nations - thus putting Americans at risk.

There is certainly violence in any nation perpetrated by criminals, people who are drunk, drug cartels, etc.  Mexico, for example, is a prisoner of drug cartel violence - violence and corruption that should cause us all concern and call for ideas about how to assist our neighbor to the south. 

I have doubts, however, that drug cartels really care much about our immigration debate in Utah except as it may advance their operations and HB116 certainly seems to be a bill that would provide them opportunity for expansion and cover.

What I am being critical of here, however, is the notion that an average Mexican or Peruvian or other Latin American is just going to be violent towards an LDS missionary or other American because of the debate in Utah over illegal immigration.  I think that Latin Americans, as well as Mormons, are being portrayed by Mr. Rolly in a certain way for political purposes and that purpose is to position Mormons in a way that makes them uncomfortable with opposing HB116.

The case can be made that by reinforcing the rule of law and by discouraging illegal behavior in the U.S., Latin Americans everywhere will find renewed respect for Americans and confidence in our system as a model for improvements in their own societies.

Video: Shocking Excerpts Read at Tucson School Board Meeting From A Book In The Ethic Studies Curriculum

A friend sent me the link to the video below.  The video is from May 10, 2011.  A woman reads excerpts from a book used in the public schools in Tuscon at a school board meeting.

The excerpts encode ethnic identification and separation along with victimage and hate directed towards supposed oppressors - along with anti-capitalistic rants, 

Not exactly the way to create a civil society built on mutual respect. 

Mr. Obama's close friend, William Ayers, would certainly find these school materials uplifting even if most Americans would not.  Mr. Ayers, a former terrorist, built his career on trying to move American education to the far, far left and use it as a tool of social transformation.

Arizona has rightly passed a law to try to clean-up its education and turn it away from using Arizona's minorities as pawns in a game of social revolution. 

Utah needs to wake up and realize that the same elements that led up to this point in Arizona will certainly see Utah as another playground for their anti-American educational propaganda.

Caution: the video has some profanity (quoted from the text).

The video is, or was, available at youtube.com at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_mr9i7QgDw&feature=related

5/20/11 Update:  

The video link on this blog for the above video, when clicked on, went to the following message from youtube.com:

"Shocking Excerpts Read at T..."
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Three Sonorans.

Sorry about that.

However, if you type in the title of the video at youtube.com, you should be able to access the original video with that title.

The following video, also at youtube, should assist the reader/viewer in getting a sense of what is being debated.  Marxist propaganda masquerading as education and marxists using school kids as fronts for their agenda are typical of the far, far left.  The philosophy of marxism creates much of the social animosity it pretends to want to solve.  The second video is available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ZVjK8TM50&feature=related

When Will Salt Lake City Police Chief Burbank Open His Eyes?:

In a recent article, KSL (ksl.com) reported on a congressman who wants to deny federal funds to "sanctuary" cities, i.e.,cities that refuse to cooperate with the federal government in immigration enforcement.  Salt Lake City was named as one such potential city.

Wikipedia, in the entry for "Sanctuary City," defines the term as follows:

"Sanctuary city is a term given to a city in the United States that follows certain practices that protect illegal immigrants. These practices can be by law (de jure) or they can be by habit (de facto). The term generally applies to cities that do not allow municipal funds or resources to be used to enforce federal immigration laws, usually by not allowing police or municipal employees to inquire about one's immigration status. The designation has no legal meaning."

The term incorporates a variety of actions taken by cities to discourage actions by government officials, such as police, from trying to ascertain one's immigration status, etc.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank has some bizarre comments about the congressman's proposal.

According to KSL, Burbank said the following:

"Burbank said Salt Lake City deports more criminal illegal immigrants than any other agency in Utah, but it’s not the role of police to actively look into the immigration status of law-abiding residents."

“Plus, I think there’s been a tremendous lack of evaluation into whether or not we should conduct this type of effort."

Salt Lake City deports more illegal immigrants than any other agency in Utah?

Isn't that a strange claim for Mr. Burbank to make?

If true, it contradicts Mr. Burbank's assertion that an effort to determine immigration status when police detain or arrest someone in conjunction with a crime is not worthwhile.  I assume, by his comment, that he means that Salt Lake City arrests more people who are later discovered to be illegals and then deported.  Salt Lake City has no power to deport and, by the chief's own admission, his department cannot be bothered with checking the legal-status of those arrested.  This is the most likely interpretation of his comments as far as I can tell.

Is Chief Burbank, therefore, implicitly telling us that Salt Lake City has enough illegal alien criminals to give him the number one position in terms of criminal alien deportations even when he sees no reason to have his department attempt to ascertain the legal status of those he detains or arrests?  How else could his claim be accurate?

One key reason, therefore, that should cause the chief to open his eyes is that Salt Lake City obviously has a problem with criminal illegal aliens.

Can he really be protecting Salt Lake City if he is not interested in the legal status of immigrants?

There are two other reasons that the chief should open his eyes and begin to cooperate with the federal government on immigration status checks of those his department arrests.

The first is HB116. 

Until a criminal is actually caught, an illegal alien criminal living in Utah would be eligible for "guest worker" status under Utah's new odd immigration law (HB116).  This new rather strange law becomes effective six-months after being granted a waiver by the federal government or on July 1, 2013 - whichever is earlier. 

Think about it...a criminal illegal alien, without a criminal record, can become a legal worker or resident in Utah after the law takes effect. 

Does this reluctance to care about illegal aliens in Salt Lake City on the part of Mr. Burbank make a difference?

Consider the following:

In Provo, Javier Cuadros-Lopez, 21, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted rape of a child.  Mr. Cuadros-Lopez seduced a 12-year old girl and had sex with her on two occasions in his home, which was near the girl's home.  According to the Daily Herald (Provo), his attorney believes that he "does not currently have legal status in the U.S. and likely will be deported after serving his prison sentence." 

The reaction on repeal116.com to this, by a well-known public commentator on immigration issues, was:

"This man, if not caught, would have qualified for a Guest Worker Permit under HB116!"

Will HB116 bring illegal aliens, or even terrorists, to Utah to provide them legal status and a cover for their criminal activity?

The second key reason why Chief Burbank should open his eyes is that HB116 makes the problem of criminal illegal aliens worse by inviting such individuals to come to Utah and providing them legal cover once the law takes effect.  Mr. Burbank's "sanctuary" attitude acts in the same way.  It invites criminal illegal aliens and provides them cover. 

The third key reason why Chief Burbank should open his eyes is that he and others promoting a "sanctuary" attitude are willing to look the other way about illegal immigrants until they are caught committing a crime. 

That is too late.

The crime should never have been committed because the individual should not be here. 

The victim is essentially a throwaway in Burbank's world. 

He is willing to trade victims on a one-for-one basis with an illegal's incarceration and eventual deportation. 

That is an unacceptable trade. 

It is a trade that subordinates the well-being of Utah's citizens and legal residents to the politically-correct "sanctuary" approach of Chief Burbank.

The 12-year old girl, raped twice by an illegal alien criminal, is a statistic to the pro-illegal advocates.  They quickly downplay the victims of illegal alien crime by pointing out that all groups have criminals.

Yes, it is true.  All groups do have criminals. 

But is this abstract concept supposed to bring comfort to a raped 12-year old girl?

Or the family of a murder victim?

The point is this:  a crime committed by someone who is not supposed to even be in the U.S. is a crime that may have been prevented through a more active involvement in discouraging illegals through doing the very thing that Chief Burbank thinks is a distraction to his department - identifying illegals when they are detained or arrested by the police in conjunction with criminal activity. 

By illegally entering the U.S., illegal aliens have bypassed the component of the legal immigration process that checks for criminal backgrounds.  Chief Burbank wants to ignore this and pretend that it is irrelevant. 

If Chief Burbank can read the article about the raped 12-year girl and brush it off as of no consequence, then he is not worthy of the public's respect. 

The KSL article,"Congressman want to penalize Salt Lake for being illegal immigration 'sanctuary'" (5/11/11), is available at:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=15505743

The Daily Herald story, "Man pleads guilty to having sex with 12-year-old" (5/12/11), is available at:

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_034e402e-a36d-5461-a49c-7e71a1b38a2d.html

A Thomas Jefferson Quote:

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."

-President Thomas Jefferson

Is HB116 the product of the consensus of the good citizens of Utah or the mandate of the elites seeking their own welfare to the detriment of the body politic?

Sinaloa Cartel Operating in Salt Lake City Area:

In a story that ran May 5, 2011 on Fox 13, ("Police say recent heroin raid all too common" at fox13now.com), a large heroin bust in West Valley City seized over 2500 balloons of heroin along with thousands of dollars of cash.

Worse than that, for residents of Utah, was the disclosure by Lt. Ferguson of the Utah County Major Crimes:

"Ferguson says the West Valley suspects were organized and extremely well funded. After interviewing them, he has a warning for Utahans who think the drug violence in Mexico will stay south of the border.
 
"By their own admission, out of the two groups, they directly work with the Sinaloa Cartel. Those cartels that are committing all the violent acts and the murders in Mexico have workers. They're here in the U.S., they're here in Utah, these are them, this is who they are.”

According to Lt. Ferguson, increasing heroin usage in Utah is ripping families apart and destroying people's lives.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute, and Bloomberg waterboy, Jeremy Robbins, surely don't have in mind increased drug trafficking, the destruction of Utah families, and cartel violence when they talk in such exalted terms about the wonders of immigration reform (i.e., euphemism for amnesty), do they?

Surely not, and yet it is here and it is real. 

The "economic" miracles envisioned by the new group pushing for an American Compact as a way to sell national amnesty are surely built on a foundation of sand as the true costs of their money-scam will impoverish one American community after another while the money-interest-cartel runs to the banks with their bags of loot gained through government sanctioned cheap labor.

The Fox 13 story is available, along with the news video clip, at:
http://www.fox13now.com/kstu-police-say-recent-heroin-raid-all-too-common-20110505,0,6580028.story

Fox 13 News is to be commended for this piece of journalism which serves the public interest - in stark contrast to some of the propaganda fluff coming out of some news outlets.

Is this the future of education in Utah?

From Judicial Watch (http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/apr/public-school-dist-violates-la-raza-studies-ban):

"A public school district in Arizona is violating a new state law by continuing a radical La Raza studies program banned under the legislation because it segregates students by race, teaches disdain for American sovereignty and ignites racial hostility."
 
Here's a sense of what the program includes:

"Students in elementary, middle and high school are still exposed to the biased ethnic studies curriculum which teaches kids that Mexicans are victims of a racist American society driven by the interests of middle and upper-class whites. Children also learn that the southwestern United States was taken from Mexicans because of the insatiable greed of the Yankee who acquired values from the corrupted ethos of western civilization, according to a Hispanic teacher who taught in the program."

Judicial Watch continues:

"In an effort to appease the area’s powerful Chicano community, the district—Arizona’s second largest—has proposed making courses in the controversial Mexican/Raza Studies program electives rather than the accredited core classes that they have been for years. A rowdy group of La Raza students refused the offer and stormed into this week’s school board meeting, where officials were scheduled to vote on the change, threatening to fight.  A practical riot ensued and the unruly students chained themselves to board members’ chairs, forcing school officials to cancel the regularly scheduled meeting at Tucson Unified School District headquarters. The protest was organized by a youth coalition called UNIDOS or united."

Local coverage of the event is available at: 

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/article_176f8aed-4b95-53fc-9b49-0959cd5a26e5.html 

The photos of the event show a much larger crowd at the meeting than the few in front in the video (link below).  The photos are available through the link for the story above.

The 10-point demand list of the students is available at:

http://azstarnet.com/online/pdf/pdf_935a2abe-7121-11e0-b07c-001cc4c002e0.html

It should be obvious from reading the 10-points that much more is being thrown into the mix than a few students mad about a core high-school course.  It seems obvious too that the document was not prepared by a high-school student. 

The article also includes a link to a short video:

http://azstarnet.com/online/video/youtube_f21ef734-70e8-11e0-a1f4-001cc4c002e0.html

The same video is also available at youtube.com at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBWv-VTaLUg

I seriously doubt that these kids came up with this idea all on their own.  Of course, I could be wrong. 

Either way, their actions seem to be the natural outgrowth of the type of educational philosophy that is being promoted by the far-left in America - one of rage, animosity, and blame based on an inculcated racial consciousness built on a highly selective and dysfunctional portrayal of American history.

It is not clear if these are immigrant kids or American children of immigrants or American citizens born to American citizens.  However, something is wrong when our nation has arrived at the point where some of our schools feel quite comfortable in teaching hate for their own nation.

It is a warning sign.

The portrayal of the average illegal immigrant by the pro-HB116 crowd in Utah as a dedicated hard-working soul just working to get ahead  is certainly accurate in some cases - perhaps in many or even most cases. 

On the other hand, there is an extreme reluctance on the part of pro-illegal advocates to see things as they are and admit that there are real issues that go along with our high levels of immigration and our willingness to ignore warning signs of growing social antagonisms.

Certainly, the political agenda of the far-left as it relates to immigration will create much mischief in America.  Hopefully, there will be moves to remove such dysfunctional educational philosophy from our schools. 

History does not need to be sugarcoated, but the blatant attempt to misuse education to foment social turmoil by the far-left needs to be worked against.