“George Mason University Study Shows Deep Anti-Immigration Sentiment in Pockets of Prince William County”

This report came out November 5th.   I am not going to post the entire report, but you can click here to read it in full.

What jumped out at me, immediately, was the fact that overall, the sudden demographic change, i.e. the influx of Latinos, to specific neighborhoods, resulted in a sense of community loss. Residents who had lived in fairly homogeneous populations, were quite suddenly faced with dramatic changes to their perception of what was “comfortable” and secure in their own neighborhoods.  

I am not suggesting there were not real issues of quality of life, but it is clear, the orchestrated deliberate attempt to equate all hispanics as “illegals” was meant to facilitate targeted removal of a specific population.   Many hispanics left, not because they were lacking proper documentation, but because they were afraid of being harrassed. 

FAIRFAX, Va.—A study by George Mason University researchers has found that a majority of residents in two Manassas neighborhoods express deep-seated anti-immigrant sentiments, though fewer than half say immigration has affected them personally. The survey, which included life history interviews, was conducted from Spring 2008 to Summer 2009 to attain an in-depth understanding of the forces inciting a local movement to adopt legislation to “crackdown” on illegal immigration in Prince William County.

Forty-six percent of those surveyed indicated that immigration had had either no effect on them personally or has had a positive effect. A total of 79 percent stated that they like their neighborhoods and 56.9 percent said that they planned to stay in their neighborhood in the next 5 years.

Yet, 53 percent of residents in the Weems and Sumner Lakes neighborhoods surveyed stated that the U.S. should take decisive action to deport illegal immigrants, and/or blamed them for depleting local resources such as health care and education. Some expressed strong anti-immigrant sentiments as indicated by the statements: “The place is being barraged with Latinos…Everywhere you go, there are swarms of them,” and, “Can I send them on a bus and load it up until they all speak English?” Others were more moderate in their sentiments, citing the issue of immigrants having entered the country illegally as a key concern.

“Our research suggests that the changes that have taken place in Manassas in the last 20 years have been unsettling for some residents,” says Debra Lattanzi Shutika, assistant professor of English at Mason. “Many of these residents seemed to be experiencing what I have identified as a type of ‘localized displacement’—they feel out of place in their home community. In some cases, residents told us that they found it difficult to adapt to the changes taking place around them, and that these changes that made their ‘home’ seem unfamiliar.”

 

“Homeowners naturally want their investments to appreciate,” says Cleaveland, a faculty member in Mason’s Department of Social Work. “What becomes problematic is turning this discussion into one about the presence of a particular group of people, and creating a social issue in which a certain segment of the population is targeted. We would have hoped for a debate and response that concerned trash pick-up, parking and overcrowding, instead of one in which a particular group is singled out as problematic.”

[EDITOR NOTE:  Thread moved to current location because of continued interest. M-H 11/22/09]

McCain Might be in Trouble

Senator John McCain, (R-AZ) might be in for the fight of his life to preserve his senate seat.  According to the Huffington Post:

PHOENIX, AZ — Rasmussen announced a new poll on Friday showing Senator John McCain may be in trouble at home where a polarized electorate has him facing constant criticism from both the left and the right.

The poll shows McCain tied with former Congressman and current talk radio host J.D. Hayworth in a hypothetical Republican primary. Hayworth, who has become an outspoken local hero among immigration-control activists, lost his House seat to Rep. Harry Mitchell (D) in 2006. Since then, Hayworth has promoted the Tea Parties on his radio show and has spoken at Tea Party events, including the April 15 rally in Phoenix. Hayworth has expressed interest in running but has been tight-lipped on whether or not he intends to actually file as a candidate against McCain.

Rasmussen has McCain at 45% and Hayworth at 43% (4% margin of error). Although McCain’s loudest opponents from the right usually cite immigration as the key issue, Minutmen founder Chris Simcox only reached 4% in the poll. According to the poll, Hayworth is more popular overall among the GOP, especially among the younger GOP sect. McCain fares better with females and moderate Republicans.

McCain is up for reelection in 2010. It was thought at one time that Janet Napolitano was going to challenge him. As Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, that seems unlikely. What is it about McCain that Republicans don’t like? It seems that he is the darling of the moderates and the villan of just about everyone else. It obviously isn’t all about immigration. The minuteman guy sure didn’t grab up a lot of the votes in the poll. Is it just the mood of the country?

JFK Assassination: 46 Years Ago Today

Its that dreadful anniversary date again. 46 years ago John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. To this day, conspiracy theories are still abound, with some folks believing that government forces assassinated the President, rather than Lee Harvey Oswald.

Oswald, in turn, was gunned down while in police custody by a small time thug named Jack Ruby. Without Oswald, there was little chance of ever sorting out the truth, despite the formation of the Warren Commission that studied and reported on this American tragedy.

Anyone of the age of reason when JFK was assassinated remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they found out about President being shot. No other incident save 9-11 brings about this instant freeze in time in the minds of Americans who are old enough to remember.

Much has happened since that fateful fall day in Dallas. Out of 9 children, only one of the Kennedy clan of that generation survives, Jean Kennedy Smith. Jackie Kennedy is dead. Teddy Kennedy died this past summer. John Junior died in a plane accident in 1999. Caroline and numerous cousins live on.

What do you remember about November 22, 1963? If this date was before your time, what dates do you remember that have been frozen in time. Please share.

Ferrum Student Shot and Killed in Hunting Accident

Ferrum student Jessica Goode grabbed her 2 friends and headed to the outdoors for some quiet time and to clear her head.  They were looking for turtles for a biology assignment. She never came back.  Another young person killed while away at college!

Local resident Jason D. Cloutier went out hunting.  He dropped to one knee and fired at sound, killing Jessica and wounding one of her friends.  He had gotten off work early and went out to do what he loved doing this time of year.

 

Ferrum is known for its outdoors way of life.  It is a 4 year college located about 35 miles south of Roanoke. Students check their hunting weapons in with the campus security chief who keeps them in her weapons safe.  Jessica Goode was studying the environment.  Cloutier was not a student.  Ferrum College is in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and it is definitely in hunting country.

What went wrong?  Cloutier didn’t have a hunting license and he wasn’t on his own property.  He was on county property which does not allow hunting.  He obviously shot at what he heard, not what he saw. That action violates the first law of hunting.

Goode and friends weren’t wearing orange blaze in the woods during hunting season.  Any woods or field can be dangerous during hunting season, even woods where no hunting is allowed. Meanwhile, 1 life has been snuffed out, and another wounded.  Cloutier will probably do jail time.  According to the Washington Post:

Cloutier remains free on a $20,000 bond, charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless use of a firearm and trespass, charges that together carry a maximum of 12 years in jail and $5,000 in fines. Toxicology reports are pending, and law enforcement officials said they might add charges as the investigation continues.

The bullet passed through Jessica Goode and entered the hand of Regis Boudinot. He will recover. His step-mother, meanwhile, is pleading for clemency for the shooter and was quoted in the Washington Post on Friday:

On Thursday, Boudinot’s stepmother appealed for an end to recriminations against the hunter, who told authorities he mistook the students for deer.

“We all make mistakes, and people are saying horrible things about him without knowing the facts,” Kimberly Boudinot wrote in an e-mail to friends. “I have never known hate and cruelty to triumph over love, and I ask that everyone remember this.”

 

Too many of our students are dying on or near Virginia campuses. It is enough to make a person not send their kid to college–that and the tuition increases.

The community is split over the rights of hunters and those who are horrified that an accident like this could happen. 

Who is at fault here, if anyone? Does an accident like this give hunters all a black eye? Is it incumbent upon those who want to enjoy the woods to deck themselves out in orange blaze or is it the sole responsibility of the hunter? Many of our contributors on Anti are gun rights people. We want to hear from you.

Notice on Ferrum’s website.

Huckabee Calls Knee-Jerk GOP Attacks On Obama ‘Deplorable’ And ‘Shameful’

Mike Huckabee has always seemed like a decent sort.  His politics are too conservative for someone like me but I have always respected his sincerity and his decency.  He also plays a mean guitar. 

While promoting his book, ‘A Simple Christmas,’ he took the time to speak out against his fellow Republicans taking a swipe at simply everything President Obama has done.  He said he hated it when it was done to Bush and he hates it being done to Obama:

Appearing before the Hudson Union Society to discuss his forthcoming book, “A Simple Christmas”, Huckabee took umbrage with the criticism levied by some conservatives over Obama’s visit to Dover Air Force base to see the coffins of returning soldiers.

When he [Barack Obama] was at Dover the other day, and went there to pay respect for soldiers, I heard a lot of people on the Right say “Aw, that’s just a cheap photo-op.” No, I think it was the Commander-in-Chief of our military paying respect to a dead soldier, and I’m grateful that he did that, and I was proud of him for doing that. And I think we all — as Americans — should give him credit for doing that.

 

He continued:

When he and Michele hosted the tricker-treaters on Halloween, quit finding something wrong with that. Say “Good, I’m glad that he and the First Lady are treating children to an experience at the White House.” And I just find it deplorable that some people on my end of the aisle want to find everything wrong and nothing right about the man as a man.
The underlying point, Huckabee concluded, was that knee-jerk criticism to the president was counter-productive to civil debate. “I hated it when people did that to George Bush,” he said. “They couldn’t even laugh at the man’s jokes they found something wrong with everything and if we do that to Barack Obama, then shame on us, shame on us. No wonder our country is so divided when that happens.”

Mike Huckabee is also an ordained minister. Perhaps that is what gives him a sense of decency. Maybe he is just a southern gentleman. At any rate, he serves as a model for the rest of us. He raises the political bar to where it should be. He is not an ad hominem attack kind of guy.

We may see a lot more of Mike Huckabee in the upcoming years. By the time the next presidential election rolls around, people might just be ready for ‘nice.’

Huckabee is an accomplished bass player:

Quotations are from Huffington Post.

Palin-o-phobia Footage

You folks knew this was coming. The media is aglow with Palin-o-phobia. Some of it is funny. Some pathetic. Some fair. Some not fair. On the other hand, if you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch,

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Daily Show: The Rogue Warrior
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political Humor Health Care Crisis

 

 

On to safer waters…Sean Hannity.  He will be more than fair with Ms. Palin.

But is she up to the challenge of Fox News?

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Maersk Alabama Attacked Again

The US merchant vessel Maersk Alabama was attacked again by pirates off the coast of Somalia in the early hours on Wednesday.  This ship was attacked last year and their captain was held for 5 days.  He was freed by Navy Seals and three of the pirates were shot and killed. 

This time the Maersk Alabama was ready.  There were armed security guards with military training on board who fired back at the high speed boat carrying pirates.  Additionally, the security guards fired a high screeching  ear-piercing sound at the pirates. 

The pirates have been receiving ransom money from some countries.  The shipping insurance companies encourage paying the pirates to avoid lengthy expensive lawsuits.  (you have to be kidding!)   Firing on a ship should be considered an act of war and that is the end of that.

Senator Byrd Achieves Senate Milestone

On Wednesday, the Senate honored Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) for being the longest serving member of Congress. Byrd was elected to Congress in 1952 and 6 years later, was elected to the Senate.

Byrd made the following remarks about his long tenure:

“I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days,” Sen. Robert Byrd said in a statement marking the occasion. His only regret, Byrd said, was that his late wife, Erma, was not there with him.

“I know that she is looking down from the heavens smiling at me and saying congratulations, my dear Robert — but don’t let it go to your head,” Byrd said.

The 92 year old senator is known for his earmarks–he has brought home millions to his state, West Virginia, which has a long history of economic depression.

Senator Byrd was quite upset over the illness of Senator Ted Kennedy and his subsequent death. He was part of the large group who waited on the Capitol steps for the hearse bearing Kennedy’s casket to stop for a moment, so that staffers and other friends of the Lion of the Senate, could pay their respects. It was a warm afternoon and Senator Byrd had to be taken inside. He is not in good health himself.

Imagine, serving in Congress for almost 57 years.

WWII in HD Starts Sunday Night on the History Channel

War isn’t in black and white any longer.  WWII in HD is  the first colorized HD World War II movie and will be shown in 5 2-hour segments beginning this Sunday on the History Channel. One of the goals of the production was to put the viewer in the historical moment of time. Both veteran voices and the voices of younger actors were used to put the viewer right there at the moment. Much of the footage has not been seen by the general public.

According to the History Channel:

WWII in HD is the first-ever World War II documentary presented in full, immersive HD color. Culled from thousands of hours of lost and rare color archival footage gathered from a worldwide search through basements and archives, WWII in HD will change the way the world sees this defining conflict. Using footage never before seen by most Americans–converted to HD for unprecedented clarity–viewers will experience the war as if they were actually there, surrounded by the real sights and sounds of the battlefields. Along the way they’ll meet a diverse group of soldiers whose wartime diaries and journals show in visceral detail what the war was really like.
.

 

The series will be narrated by award winning Gary Sinise (“Forrest Gump,” “CSI: NY”) and will be voiced by top Hollywood performers. The video trailers may be viewed on the History Channel. It starts on Sunday, November 15 from 9-11. The show repeats in the middle of the night if you want to record it. 1 am-3 am.

Finally snagged the footage from the Wounded Warrier Project:

Old Sparky Still Operational

The State of Virginia executed Larry ‘Bill’ Elliot tonight around 9 pm.  Elliot was the oldest person on death row in Virginia.  He was convicted of killing 25-year-old Dana Thrall and 30-year-old Robert Finch in a capital murder charge. Both victims were killed inside Thrall’s Woodbridge townhouse on Jan. 2, 2001.

Elliot chose to die by electrocution, which is still an option in Virginia.  The U. S. Supreme Court refused to consider his appeal and Governor Tim Kaine refused to intervene. 

Elliot killed Finch and Finch’s girlfriend Dana Thrall over a custody dispute between Finch and Elliot’s girl friend named Rebecca Gragg.   Click for the story.

Prince William County has had 2 executions in a week.  Last Tuesday, Beltway sniper  John Allen Muhammad was executed by lethal injection, again convicted in Prince William County.  The execution chambers are at the Greensville Correctional Center in Waverly, Virginia.

So, as they say, Elliot got to ride the lightning bolt.  One less killer.  For those who defend the death penalty, justice has been served.  For those who do not, I suppose it hasn’t been a very good month.

No Official State Song

Virginia has no official state song.  It has a Virginia Official Song Emeritus.  Ok.  So what’s the problem?  No one would be caught singing the  Virginia Official Song Emeritus, Carry Me Back to Old Virginny, written by an African American man named James Allen Bland who was born in 1854 in New York. 
 

Some history:

James “Jimmy” Allen Bland was born on October 22, 1854 in Flushing, Long Island, New York. When he was 12 and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he saw an old black man playing a banjo and singing spirituals. He fell in love with the banjo and tried to make one using bailing wire for strings. This didn’t work very well and, besides, a big kid took it and broke it into pieces. Jimmy’s father bought him a real banjo for $8.00 and Jimmy taught himself to play… very well.

Later, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where Jimmy finished high school and enrolled in Howard University. He was so talented and had become so proficient with the banjo that he was entertaining professionally at private parties and in hotels and restaurants from the time he was 14.

At Howard University, he met a young lady named Mannie Friend. On a trip with Mannie to her birthplace in Tidewater, Virginia, Alan Bland composed “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny”. Sitting on the banks of the James River, Mannie wrote the words down on paper while Jimmy played and sang to her.

 

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ADL in Concert Against Hate

I had the privilege of attending a SPECTACULAR event last evening at the Kennedy Center – ADL’s 15th Annual Concert Against Hate.

The Masters of Ceremonies included Liev Schreiber and Gabriel Byrne.  Their presentation was flawless and the introductions of the different honorees was beyond touching.

In between recognizing the honorees, the National Symphony Orchestra played under the direction of Emil de Cou, who appeared larger than life as he commanded the performance.

This Year’s Honorees included:

  • Tom Self – A newspaper photographer in Birmingham, Alabama at the Birmingham News  who photographed the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that killed four African-American girls.
  • Mindy Finkelstein – A counselor who survived an attack at North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles, where a neo-Nazi opened fire.
  • Joseph Ileto – A postal service employee gunned down by the same neo-Nazi responsible for the shooting at the Jewish Community Center for looking ‘Asian or Hispanic’.
  • Ilsa & Lisa Klinghoffer – The daughters of Leon Klinghoffer, who in 1985 was murdered aboard the Archille Lauro by the Palestinian Liberation Organization(PLO) because he was Jewish.

A preview of the event can be found at http://www.adlconcert.org/Preview-09.html.

Sarah Goes Rogue

Sarah Palin’s new book, Going Rogue, has received more publicity than most authors could ever hope or wish for. It should hit the shelves running, so to speak, Tuesday morning. Much has been leaked about of the book, either intentionally or unintentionally. In the book Sarah Palin talks about the McCain campaign, her difficulties with his campaign staff, her family, Alaska, her resignation as governor of Alaska, her near miss son-in-law, Levi Johnson, and an assortment of other things Americans seem to find fascinating. 

Sarah Palin appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Monday. I sat up extra late to see the rerun. Sarah Palin was gracious and scripted. Oprah didn’t have a prayer of catching her off-guard. Sarah Palin is likable. She is practiced. She appeared to want to leave no trail of words that might need explaining later. For example, she didn’t badmouth that pos Levi Johnson. That must have been tough considering Levi has gone everywhere trashing the entire family. She said he was the father of her grandchild and that would never change. Pretty smart of the lady, both politically and as the matriarch of the family.

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Border Security and Environmental Protection on a Collision Course

In a remarkably candid letter to members of Congress, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said her department could have to delay pursuits of illegal immigrants while waiting for horses to be brought in so agents don’t trample protected lands, and warns that illegal immigrants will increasingly make use of remote, protected areas to avoid being caught.

The above quote from the Washington Times makes one take note. In fact, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) has been crusading to shore up the gaps between DHS border control and environmental rules coming from the Dept. of the Interior. He confirms his displeasure over border initiatives to install towers associated with the virtual fence being denied because of wilderness designation.

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