While you were sleeping, or otherwise distracted by the shiny things dispatched by Scandalpalooza,  the usurpation continues.

WASHINGTON DC – After three long weeks of hearings and debates, spectators burst out into screams and applause Tuesday night after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved an immigration bill that would be the biggest overhaul to the nation’s immigration laws in a generation.

The bill was produced by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight. With four of those members on the committee, the bill survived more than 200 proposed amendments over five lengthy hearings.

Left intact was the core of the bill, which will allow the nation’s 11 million unauthorized immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship, add significant investments in border security and fundamentally alter the legal immigration system of the future. (more…)

First things first.   This does not need to be rushed – this should not be a “pass it to see what’s in it” bill.   This needs to be clearly and methodically, even painstakingly, a deliberative process.

As I see Team Obama requesting the “rushing it to a vote” I become even more suspicious of it….

Report #1 – Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) told Boston’s conservative radio host Howie Carr on Wednesday that the political momentum is starting to turn against the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill.  (Link)

Report #2 – President Obama said there is one thing he absolutely won’t compromise on in immigration reform: a pathway to citizenship [ie. “Amnesty”]   But as for what he would be willing to give up, he won’t say.  (link)

Report #3 – Just in case anyone is concerned that senators aren’t reading the 844-page immigration reform bill from the Group of Eight closely before returning from recess next week, note that Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) is tweeting as he goes, calling out concerning elements of the legislation (link):

More red flags in #Gangof8 bill #Gof8Fact pg 102 lets Sec of Homeland Security waive employment and education requirements for illegals

— David Vitter (@DavidVitter) May 2, 2013

I'm still reading through the #Gangof8 bill #Gof8Fact pg 83 says Sec of Homeland Security can waive citizenship processing fees for illegals

— David Vitter (@DavidVitter) May 2, 2013

(more…)

Julia Davis is a former DHS officer/supervisor for Customs and Border Protection turned “Whistleblower” who, in an effort to suppress her story and discredit her, was labelled a “domestic terrorist” and persecuted to a breathtaking extent.

1.  Isolate

2.  Ridicule

3.  Marginalize

Her crime?  She had evidence about potential terrorists entering the country on July 4, 2004 and her attempts to report her concerns “up the chain” were ignored because the intelligence department was having a unit social event barbeque – so she reported her concerns to the FBI instead about border crossers that fit the profile outlined in an alert to the Border Patrol.  Her report to the FBI was viewed by DHS as a disloyal “whistleblower”.

In court documents, the government stated that they considered her a “domestic terrorist” because of her “derogatory” statements about the Department of Homeland Security.

Let that sink in.  Speak the Truth rooted in deep love of country and be labelled a “domestic terrorist”.

She has also produced and released a movie called “Top Priority: The Terror Within“

The Documentary

“This is an outstanding movie – one that exceeds every other modern documentary I’ve seen.”
-Lt. Col.. Anthony Shaffer

CBS “60 Minutes”  interviewed Julia Davis at length – and then cancelled the scheduled airing – because of political pressure.

https://youtu.be/feHbP4k_tdk?t=1s

Another one of those ‘PASS THE BILL TO SEE WHAT’S IN IT’ manuevers.  The last time did not work out too well.  [See: Obamacare] 

WASHINGTON DC – Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy vowed to move swiftly on immigration  legislation despite calls from conservatives, including Sen. Marco Rubio, to  slow the process.

Reacting to a Rubio (R-Fla.) letter over the weekend calling for extensive  hearings on the soon-to-be-unveiled immigration bill by a group of eight  senators, the Vermont Democrat said his panel would “consider” holding a hearing  on the measure once it was introduced. But Leahy raised concerns that waiting  too long could undermine the larger effort to pass the comprehensive bill,  calling the matter “urgent.”

Senate “Gang of Eight”

“While you have conducted the process of the ‘gang of eight’ behind closed  doors, I can assure you that it has always been my position … that the work of  the Committee should be open to the public,” Leahy said in a Tuesday letter, (more…)

   By Elvis Chupacabra

The old timers said that a dry, chill wind was blowing out of the northwest, right from the heart of the Commancheria, that dawn of March 6, 1836. It ripped the palls of black smoke billowing from the old Alamo mission into ragged tendrils and hurled them away, as if trying to clear the air of the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh and the acrid stench of gunpowder. By the time the sun broke above the horizon and cast a golden light over the old mission-turned-fortress, gunshots still sporadically rent the air, but the main sound was that of an enraged mob. (more…)

HERE’S the link to USTREAM. (I took down the live feed due to the incessant auto-play ads. Thank me. 😉 )

Wall Street Journal – In medical isolation in South Texas, 100 miles or so from Mexico’s border, is a man who embodies one of U.S. health officials’ greatest worries: He is the first person to cross and be held in detention while infected with one of the most severe types of drug-resistant tuberculosis known today.

His three-month odyssey through 13 countries—from his homeland of Nepal through South Asia, Brazil, Mexico, and finally into Texas—shows the way in which dangerous new strains of the disease can migrate across the world unchecked. (more…)

Texas Independence Day

March 2, 1836

    By Elvis Chupacabra

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When I was a mere lad, Texas Independence Day was celebrated in schools with patriotic songs, readings of the Declaration by schoolkids and grave lectures on our role as Texans by our teachers. Even the Mexican kids participated, because anyone who’d read the  hallowed rolls of the Alamo and Goliad dead knew that there were plenty of martyrs with Spanish surnames. We also knew of Lorenzo de Zavala and Juan Seguin, both Texian heroes of the Revolution.

It was understood by the youngest of us that Texas went from being just the mostly empty northern part of the Mexican state of Cohuila-Texas to the independent Republic of Texas with the signing of this document. Like the beloved United States, from whence the spirit -and some would say impetus – of revolution had come, we won our right to be free through the force of arms, wielded by brave and bold men. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the despot which our Texas Forefathers overthrew was ever bit as evil and prone to predations as Britain’s George III. His one saving grace, that he invented that most American of oral fixations, chewing gum, was more than off-set by his cruelty and duplicitous nature. The self-proclaimed Napoleon of the North, he boasted an army well-officered and well-equipped that had spent the past couple of years putting down rebellions in Mexico. It wasn’t just the Texians who longed for the return to a government who respected the liberal Constitution of 1824.  (more…)

This series of articles is guest posted by Elvis Chupacabra!

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February 23, 1836:

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna reaches San Antonio with a large body of his troops, mostly cavalry. Much of his assault infantry, engineer troops and siege artillery are strung out along the road back to the Rio Grande. Of these, many of his native troops, lightly dressed for the warmth of Mexico, have suffered in a late and particularly harsh winter storm along their hasty, forced march towards the rebellious province of Tejas. (more…)

WASHINGTON — A draft of a White House immigration proposal obtained by USA TODAY would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years.

The plan also would provide for more security funding and require business owners to check the immigration status of new hires within four years. In addition, the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants could apply for a newly created “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” visa, under the bill being written by the White House.

The draft was obtained from an Obama administration official who said it was being distributed to various agencies. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the proposal publicly.  (read more)