Moonhowlings

This video was distributed by Supervisor Stirrup’s office prior to the July 2007 resolution, presumably to garnish support for the ‘Immigration Resolution’.  It appears to be a very popular piece of propoganda in the anti-immigrant debate but to use it for justifying in an ‘anti-illegal’ debate by individuals claiming to be ‘pro-immigrant’ is a concern.

It appears that the underlying factor motivating many people especially with respect to the Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR) is a concern about ‘population growth control’.  This video never identifies the speaker or the organization of which he represents but his name is Roy Beck, Executive Director of NumbersUSA.

 In terms of disputing the claims made in the video, the following was stated -

The gumball thing was cute but his charts are total b.s. His “red” dangerous population growth attributable to immigrants includes the descendents of immigrants who arrived post-1970. Descendents aren’t immigrants. By 2050, the great grandchildren of 1970s immigrants are included in the red portion. Are the great grandchildren of immigrants immigrants themselves? No. Are they part of the “immigration problem?” I myself am the great grandchild of an immigrant who came from Ireland 90 years ago. Am I part of the “immigration problem?” If he selected 1790 for his arbitrary start date rather than 1970, I’m sure about 98% of the American population would be in the red area.

Also, in the very beginning, he talks about how our infrastructure has had to double because immigration has doubled the population growth #. Immigration may have doubled our growth (maybe, i’m not sure), but it didn’t double the entire population (which = the demand for services). The demand for roads is growing astronomically not because there are tons of new immigrants on the roads, but all of us drive much more now and over greater distances now than we did 30 years ago.

Also, as he mentioned, about 200 million Americans are missing from his chart, in a green area you’ll have to imagine below where he cuts it off. It makes his eye-popping order of magnitude a bit exaggerated.

I’m not saying that the guy is entirely wrong in what his point is. But it’s not the most convincing argument, and if you aren’t distracted by the pretty colors and cute gumballs you’ll see that it’s not at all objective and presented in a manner of exaggeration to get a reaction.

Again, one of the problems w/the red line is that it includes people who are not ‘immigrants’.  The people who are not ‘immigrants’ are descendants of immigrants.  The red line represents future population increase in the U.S. attributable to current immigration presumably both legal & illegal.  My question is why is it that he is not considered a descendant of an immigrant?  For example, if we were to go back to 1700 and start the red line there, then just about everyone in the U.S. would be descendants of post-1700 immigrants.

In my opinion this video poses many difficulties and should not be taken at face value.

Chief Dean is in a no-win situation.  If there’s any hint of impropriety by any of the departments 500+ personnel then it’s going to be ‘his fault’.  At the same time he needs to convince everyone that the police force should be a trusted source for reporting crimes.  Otherwise, criminal activity and vigilantism will abound.  It will not be an easy task on any front.  We are already seeing instances where witnesses and surely eventually victims will not be willing to come forward to report crime.  As this trend becomes better known, the immigrant community(regardless of status) will  appear an ‘easier target’ for criminals wanting to commit a crime without incurring any repercussions.  In my opinion, he is acting prudently in attempting to prevent a lawsuit by requesting installation of cameras in patrol cars.  A successful lawsuit against the county could cost the county millions to defend so it’s probably not a bad investment.

Odd rantings… Just finished reading – ‘Last-Ditch Efforts To Protect Illegal Aliens‘, and am astonished to learn that exercising a constitutional right against self-incrimination is contrary to the law.  If an attorney uses the law to find an individual a legal way to prevent deportation then so what.  What’s the problem?  Obviously, you can’t have it both ways; either you are for the rule of law or your not.   Obviously, an attorney would attempt to use the law to prevent a deportation.  Is this some radical new notion?  Listen, attorneys don’t make-up the law, they practice it.  So, if you have a grievance it’s with the law and not the attorney.  Is this too complicated for some people to understand?  Last I checked, everyone is entitled to be represented regardless of their immigration status.  And you better just resign yourself to the fact that not all detentions will result in deportations.  No subversion there.

And now for the shameless pitch for donations to the organization that was set-up because ‘It’s hard to save the world if you can’t pay the rent.‘

The bully lectures on bullying, oh this should be interesting.

This blog entry is about a letter written in the Manassas Journal Messenger by Ruben Pineda.  While there are many points that I disagree with Mr. Pineda he has a valid point when he states, -”Deny it, but racism has been the reason for many to speak against illegal immigration.”  There have many instances of racist comments especially during Citizens Time often the individuals are wearing a red circle sticker.  Comments that stand out in my mind are as follows:

I don’t like it when a Hispanic can own 9 homes but I can’t own one.

When I drive by a daylabor site, I feel as if the men could jump out into the street and hijack my car at any second.

I feel uncomfortable when a Hispanic man nods his head at me.

Thank God for birth control.

And yes there’s the accusation that they are disease infested, parasites, suitable for dog food …  Well the list goes on and on….

First of all, the name of the organization ‘Help Save Manassas’ along with ‘Help Save Virginia’ names & mission are extremely similar to ‘Save Our State’, a California organization which has ‘white nationalist’ ties.  More information found here.  Ironically, he’s no longer on the payroll for Federation for American Immigration Reform presumably because of his associations to neo-Nazi groups.  Ironically, they have yet to distance themselves from founder and current board member John Tanton who has equally disturbing ties.