Artegal

If I as the Librarian I would ask to have theift charges filed against JoAn Karkos. She clearly intended to steal the books in question, and her act of sending in 20 dollars does not free her of commiting the crime. Its a library not a bookstore. If she does not want to read those books then do not check them out.

No surprise this is Oregon the state where an anonymous teacher wants to pack heat in the classroom. Ain't this the same state where Teachers were raping minors--nothing like a Glock 9 to have your way with a 12 to 15 year old. If the actual intimidation and threat of violence does not render the minors under the teacher's control, then "cool" factor will certainly--as the impression of power and novelty of having a piece can get you a piece.

Weapons in the classroom--no I do not see the need.

I was in the Army and we never had weapons while in school, neither did any of the instructors. We only had our weapons on days that we went on actual combat training (using blanks or no ammo at all) or while shooting the weapons at the rifle range, we would have live ammo then--but we were nearly strip-searched after each time we had live ammo. Gun safety and rarely having a gun was the status in the US Military. Now look at Prisons--even the Police are not allowed to carry firearms into the inner areas of the Prisons. There is a reason for that--accidents, being over-powered and having the gun taken a way from you, etc.

So if the US Military and Prison systems do not carry loaded weapons around willy nilly, then how can you expect a Recent College-Coed who has relationship issues--at times he/she is only slightly more mature then the students she/he is teaching to be able to understand gun safety, the rules of engagement, and the ramifications of taking another humanbeing's life, and still concentrate on teaching school.

Weapons and Kids never a good mix.

A U.S. Justice Department official has been arrested on suspicion of traveling to Detroit over the weekend to have sex with a minor.

John David R. Atchison, 53, an assistant U.S. attorney from the northern district of Florida, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Detroit Monday afternoon.

An undercover officer posed as a mother offering her child to Atchison for sex, according to police.

Prosecutors said Atchison flew from Pensacola, Fla., to Detroit on Sunday intending to have sex with the 5-year-old girl.

He was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Link: Federal Prosecutor Seeking Sex with 5 year old

All I know is I was paying tax in April when I was renting, and now since I own a house I itemize and get a nice refund each April.

I noticed that the 2 year conditional green card stated visa type: CR1. But when the 10 year permanent green card arrived, the stated visa type was IR1.

What I read in this article was a lobbying statement for tighter laws against the agricultural industry--by scapegoating some supposedly unfortunate trends in violence against animals. However I notice there was little in the way of facts in the report--hardly any names or places or dates were mentioned. So how does one even know that some of the exampled incidents really occurred.

Yeah this will end up just being an additional tax--not likely to repeal the income tax law from the constitution. And who would want to--if people come up with ways to not pay the "fair-tax" then they will need an alternative--tax income. Look how long it took for the government to repeal the telephone tax to pay for the Spanish-American War. Repealed in 2006 finally after 108 years.

If there is a huge tax on stuff--retailers will be hurt and black market retailers will profit. Fair-tax is a gimmick.

This is an interesting topic, therefore while at my local county board of elections I asked them about a situation where a non-US Citizen registers to vote.

Basically, it was stated if it was an honest mistake and you immediately de-register then it’s like no harm no foul. But if you stay registered and then actually vote--then you are probably toast.

The Elections Board official stated that INS Agents routinely query voter registration records and pull those files of suspected aliens, illegal or legal who are registered and voting. And this may not be immediate, as one person was registered to vote since 2004, and just recently INS pulled his records.

In my state it clearly asks if you are a US Citizen and over 18. If you check no to either then you cannot register, if you lie and swear by checking yes that you are a US Citizen and over 18 years of age and then register you are committing a felony--perjury before sworn representative of the government.

Yes please make it illegal to post provocative new topics without proper photographic documentation to back up the provocative titles and themes.

This could be done with a keyword trap. That is if the thread title or message body contains keywords such as: boobies, breast, jugs, knockers, condom, bra, bikini, prostitute, hooker, porn star, model, stripper, and hot, sexy or good-looking--then a pop-up window could appear prompting the original poster of the provocative new topic to provide photographic documentation of the presented theme. Please make this new posting rule retroactive.

Thank you!

Artegal...............07/03.........Biometrics 08/24.....10 yr GC 09/04

Pixie-Pooh...........07/07........Biometrics 08/17.....10 yr GC 09/04

kofuku................07/07........Biometrics 08/10.....10 yr GC 09/04

zmyal.................07/17........Biometrics 08/15.....waiting

6901...................07/24........Biometrics 09/12

widge..................07/30........Biometrics 09/12

bsokny 12............07/30........

mcutchin..............07/30........Biometrics 09/18

Lugn....................07/30........

Smoothsailing...... 07/31........Biometrics 09/10

Gene and Maria....07/31........Biometrics 09/10

dcl 766.................07/31........Biometrics 09/13

pj1959us..............08/15........Biometrics 9/29

ca_babe...............08/17........Biometrics 09/28

Will be filing the N400 in June 2008

After years of being the cover guy for all the parents taking extra days off work--all I got to say is, now I have a son, and if he even sneezes, I am not going to work.

But what irritated me more so than overprotective/acting/caring parents was the smokers--that constantly took smoke breaks--these people have now been replaced by the Text message/cell phone junkies. When I worked with a large percent of smokers--I took fresh air breaks everytime my coworkers would return from burning one, the amount of times I would leave to go outside each shift really highlighted how much productivity was being lost by smoking.

This Bill would never fly--As a suggested change to the Constitution this bill needs to get to the level of votes required to change the Constitutional Amendment--not likely--because as is historically well known (and shamefull) slaves were counted as 1/3 a person in drawing up districts--and now the idea is to count non-US-Citizens as Zero a person. Not likely--not in a million years. Furthermore since all persons inside the US and even US Citizens living abroad are afforded protection of the constitutional rights--it goes without saying that all persons inside the US be counted. What next if non-US-Citizens are discounted--then do you also not count Non-registered voters, Children, felons who have lost the right to vote--etc?

while I am very much for breastfeeding rights--my son is breastfed and also on formula supplementals--this case has as much to do with mother's rights to breastfeed as the case of Elvira Arellano has for immigrants rights to have children. This is more of a case of someone over-extending herself in life and then wanting special dispensation in order to gain an advantage. I mean they have already made one concession by allowing her to take the test over two days instead of just one day.

I dunno about those of you saying that owning a home is a bad idea--maybe its not such a great investment--but then is the Stock Market any better? Lets not forget about the tax savings--I really appreciate the tax write-off for my home mortgage. Also the feeling of this dwelling being mine! I can paint it I can put holes in the walls, I can do pretty much anything to it within reason without violating a rental aggreement. Also think of the equity you build and how you can use that equity to get a line of credit that is a tax deduction in order to buy a new car, go on a vacation, pay a debt, or educational expenses.

I rented for 5 years--I have now owned a house for 4 and a half years--sure I am paying about 400 dollars more for my house than I was paying in Rent. And I am responsible for the maintenance and upkeep--however, in a few years if I decide to move I might at least break even, and alternatively I could decide to continue owing my home and rent it to someone else.

But buying a home is not for everyone--if you do not like to crawl on the roof, go into the basement, climb up in the attic, know nothing about anything mechanical or home improvement--or hate to mow the lawn--then probably owning a home is not a good idea for you.

As far as using real estate to make money--that is not for a person just buying a family home--the real investment opportunity is to get a lot of cash and buyout some of the overbuilt areas where home builders and contractors are bankrupt or on the verge and desperate--buy the lot, flip them and sell them or rent them to others.

Number of Immigrants Hits Record 37.5M Also Number of People Who are Foreign Born, US Census

Number of Immigrants Hits Record 37.5M

WASHINGTON — Nearly one in five people living in the United States speaks a language at home other than English, according to new Census data that illustrate the wide-ranging effects of immigration.

The number of immigrants nationwide reached an all-time high of 37.5 million in 2006, affecting incomes and education levels in many cities across the country. But the effects have not been uniform.

In most states, immigrants have added to the number of those lacking a high-school diploma, with almost half of those from Latin America falling into that category.

However, at the other end of the education spectrum, Asian immigrants are raising average education levels in many states, with nearly half of them holding at least a bachelor's degree.

"There is no one-size-fits-all policy that you could apply for all immigrant groups," said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau. "I think most of the attention has been on low-skilled workers coming from Mexico. But we have 10 million immigrants from Asia, a number that's growing."

The Census Bureau on Wednesday released a host of demographic data about the nation, including statistics on immigration, housing, education and employment.

The data come from the American Community Survey, an annual survey of 3 million households that has replaced the Census Bureau's long-form questionnaire from the once-a-decade census. It does not distinguish between illegal immigrants and those who are in the U.S. legally.

Mather analyzed the differences in education levels among immigrants from Asia and those from Latin America. Together, the groups account for about 80 percent of all immigrants.

About 48 percent of Asian immigrants held at least a bachelor's degree, compared with about 11 percent of immigrants from Latin America. Among people born in the U.S., about 27 percent were college graduates.

"Driving this are people coming from China and India," Mather said. "They are either coming with a bachelor's degree, or they are coming with visas and getting degrees once they arrive."

At the other end of the spectrum, 47 percent of adult immigrants from Latin America lacked a high school diploma, compared with 16 percent of Asian immigrants and 13 percent of people born in the U.S.

Those numbers are fueling overall increases in the number of high-school dropouts in four states: Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Texas, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

"It used to be the poor southern states that had low levels of education and income. Now it is the high-immigration states as well," Frey said. "But that isn't to say that the second or third generation won't do better, because they will," he added. "There is upward mobility."

10 Year Green Card arrived today!

Please click on my timeline for specific information about when I sent in a form or what have you.

click on my timeline link. And um sent my I-751 to the Texas Service Center, but it was transferred to the California Service Center.

Just wondering if this means its approved.

I would think so... did you get a notice? email? letter?

L.

Email notice and its online in my portfolio.

Just wondering if this means its approved.

Today Sept 4th received the following in my mailbox!

Current Status: Card production ordered.

On September 4, 2007, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service.

He is an idiot--or could it be the cunning of others? Sounds a little too 24ish to me!

Jack Bower--yeah when does this show start up again--though last season was the weakest.

A better way to cut emissions, save the environment, and improve worker's health and something that we currently have the technology to do is cut the work hours from five 8 hour days to four 10 hour days. Give everyone Friday off, and then also stipulate that on average half of the 40 hours per week should be telecommute hours.

So a typical work week would be working 10 hours from home on Monday and Tuesday. Going to the office and working 10 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, and taking Friday off--this is already the work schedule that many in Congress enjoy.

Now how many have seen a presidential Motorcade? I saw Clinton's motorcade when it came to Atlanta, and there were several limos and like a hundred SUVs, I mean it looked like an SUV freight train passing by. I wonder if elected to the presidency will John Edwards curtail the traditional motorcades?

Maybe he could teleconference more, or travel by train instead--if its wood burning engine it would be a null carbon emitter.

Anyway everytime I type or say John Edwards I think of the guy that can talk to dead relatives. Both are creepy, and equally full of ######.

Millions of illegal Mexican immigrants and the Mexican government calling for special treatment because crossing the border is easier than crossing the ocean is discrimination.

While I know quite well that all Hispanics don't support mass illegal immigration from Latin America, I find quite a lot that do and I have found that most do from my own personal observations. It is the legal community that enables the illegals to thrive. The local state and city Hispanic politicians in Texas act as if the illegals are their constituents and do whatever they can to protect them from the law. Some are quite famous for it. To try to say this issue isn't divided along racial lines is absurd.

Based on the two quotations above from two different threads I decided to create this thread--because as many of you know I speak Spanish and I watch Univision daily. Anyway the other day they had a news report about the mistreatment of non-Mexican immigrants that try and pass through Mexico on their way to the USA. The report showed how Mexicans were beating and robbing Latinos from Central and South America, in many cases beating to death, setting them on fire, attacking them with machetes--causing loss of limbs, eyes, etc. Also another report I saw showed how the Mexican jails are full of non-Mexican citizens who were in Mexico illegally in order to cross the border to the USA.

The fact is the amount of money sent back to Mexico and the relief that this money provides in the form of cold hard cash foreign investment, and the amount of relief that the Mexican government receives buy dumping some of its poorest and most needy citizens on its northern neighbor is so important that the Mexican government will do nothing to prevent its own citizens from crossing the border but seek to detain, deport and look the other way as non-Mexicans are kill, beaten, or otherwise victimized.