Lake Arrowhead

Congress solves both High gas prices and the Illegal Alien problem with new law.

Washington, DC - Congress passed a controversial plan that tackles two important problems facing US citizens...Energy costs and Illegal Aliens!

Senator Gale Crosby explained, " With over 13 million illegal aliens currently living in America, we need to reap the benefit of such cash strapped immigrants and match that economic need up to a national energy need that benefits all US citizens."

The new law will require illegal aliens to push all citizens automobiles in an effort to curtail gasoline usage and to promote a cleaner environment.

"We will pay all illegals the minimum wage which will equate to getting the national gas consumption standard up to 140 miles per gallon with ZERO emissions!" Said Vice President Cheney.

Already, a team of 20 illegal Mexicans have been hired to push the President's limosine during parade route trips. All will be dressed in snappy uniforms and will have their names embroidered on their shirts.

The space on all 'pushers' shirt backs is being sold as advertising space. Various marketing companies have started selling advertising to corporate giants like: Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft.

Pedro Gonzales, an illegal migrant worker had this to say about the new US law, "Carumba! I no hope I get a Hummer to push. Iz too big and heabie!"

There would be emissions! Probably methane, but emissions, none the less......

Real Katrina hero? Wal-Mart, study says

Empowered to 'do the right thing,' employees gave away supplies and offered sleeping space after the 2005 hurricane. Local knowledge allowed big-box retailers to respond before FEMA could.

It's not the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A new study suggests Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's would be a lot more helpful.

The study, by Steven Horwitz, a professor of economics at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., stresses that successful disaster relief depends upon responders having detailed knowledge of a local area and the right incentives to act on that knowledge.

Examining federal and private responses to Hurricane Katrina, the study says why FEMA was destined to fail and why for-profit companies succeeded at disaster recovery.

It also looks at the Coast Guard -- the only federal agency lauded for its Katrina performance -- which rescued more than 24,000 people in the two weeks after the storm.

Local knowledge critical
The study says Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's made use of their local knowledge about supply chains, infrastructure, decision makers and other resources to provide emergency supplies and reopen stores well before FEMA began its response. Local knowledge enabled the big-box stores to make plans ahead of the storm and then put them into effect immediately.

"Profit-seeking firms beat most of the government to the scene and provided more effectively the supplies needed for the immediate survival of a population cut off from life's most basic necessities," Horwitz wrote in the study, which was published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. "Though numerous private-sector firms played important roles in the relief operations, Wal-Mart stood out."

MSNBC

So Corey...without the engine running you have minimal, if any brakes. Do we have something in place where the aliens could drag their feet when going down hill?

Why don't we all run around the mountain with them behind us clapping coconut shells?

San Bernardino County assessor's office raided

The D.A. would not disclose the nature of the investigation. Assessor Bill Postmus said his office was cooperating in the probe.

Investigators with search warrants raided the offices of San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus on Thursday night, carrying off an undisclosed number of computers and files.

The district attorney's office, which conducted the raid, would not disclose its nature Friday. "The search warrants were served and the investigation is ongoing," spokeswoman Susan Mickey said.

Postmus issued a statement saying his office was cooperating fully.

"This inquiry will not interfere with our day-to-day public service, and we are looking forward to a swift resolution," he said. "Taxpayers should know that my office stands ready to assist them and all service will continue uninterrupted."

The former San Bernardino County supervisor has a history of controversy. He was named last year in a state audit of the Victorville-based California Charter Academy, whose founder, Charles Cox, was indicted on charges of grand theft and misappropriation of public school funds.

Postmus accepted $25,450 in political contributions from Cox while running for supervisor. At the same time, Postmus was serving on two of the charter school's boards. He testified about the academy before a grand jury last year.

Postmus, who was elected assessor in 2006, raised eyebrows in 2005 when he and fellow Supervisor Paul Biane negotiated a settlement between the county and Colonies Partners, a Rancho Cucamonga developer.

County lawyers deemed the proposed $77-million settlement excessive, and it was not adopted. Both men had received contributions from the developer or its partners.

A confidential memo outlining the deal was leaked to several newspapers, leading to an investigation by the district attorney's public integrity unit. The leaker was not found, but all five supervisors vowed to take lie-detector tests to help prove it wasn't them.

In his 2006 bid for assessor, Postmus outspent his opponent, Donald Williamson, 10 to 1 but just barely won.

During the campaign, he sent out fliers detailing a sexual harassment claim against Williamson that the county had settled. The mailings included copies of checks the county paid to the women involved.

Biane, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said he could not comment on Postmus because of the ongoing investigation.

L.A. Times 4/14/2008

Immigration roundup in the Inland Empire targets sham marriages
Foreign visitors are accused of paying U.S. citizens to wed. At least 46 are arrested.

CEDAR GLEN, CA. -- The four-tiered cake the newlyweds were about to cut was plastic. The glasses and plates on the reception table were empty. And the bride wore casual shoes under her wedding gown.

Those were among the clues that first caught the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after they searched the offices of Cedar Glen-based All In One Services U.S.A. In a back room were the cake, the fake reception hall and a rack with several wedding dresses.

"The cake is the first clue. . . . And the running shoes are a nice touch, too," said Matt Garland, assistant special agent in charge of ICE in Riverside.

Investigators soon realized that the photos and props were identical in many of the 25 marriage cases they were probing with All In One Services involving Central and South American visitors accused of paying for spouses so they could stay and work in the United States.

On Friday, ICE officials and federal prosecutors said such photos were among key evidence in Operation Knot So Fast, an Inland Empire roundup of 83 people this week accused of organizing or participating in sham marriages in Cedar Glen, San Bernardino, Riverside, Adelanto and Victorville.

At least 26 people were arrested in the Cedar Glen area and surrounding counties by ICE and FBI agents, U.S. marshals, and San Bernardino and Riverside county deputies, and more arrests are expected.

At a news conference Friday in Riverside, U.S. Attorney Ronald Olson displayed marriage photos of Hugo Lapa, 29, an Argentine visitor accused of paying for an arranged marriage in January 2005 in Twin Peaks, with Angelica Kraemer, 25, an American citizen from Arrowbear, so he could remain in the country.

Olson said that case was typical of foreigners paying up to $10,000 for arranged marriages, including up to $2,500 paid to the American spouses participating in the scam.

Lapa and Kraemer were arrested this week and charged with immigration fraud.

"In these photographs, there are no pictures of people in the audience," Olson said. "They're having photos taken to make it look like these sham marriages were legitimate." Immigration officials said foreigners who often overstayed their visas paid various companies so they could marry Americans and stay in the country.

Several Inland Empire companies and their operators were accused of coaching the new couples on dealing with immigration officials and government documents.

Burt Webb of Riverside, who heads ICE investigations in the Inland Empire, said immigration-marriage fraud is a multimillion-dollar industry across the country and a priority target for his agency. The agency investigated about 2,300 such cases in 2004. The number reached more than 5,200 in 2006 and the first half of 2007.

The Observer-Journal Tribune 5/10/2008

Illegal Immigrants demand free HDTV's...

Cedar Glen, CA-- A representative for the Illegal Immigrant rights group, 'Los Locos' demanded free HDTV's be provided to each and every illegal immigrant today.

"We demanded free schooling for our children, we got it. We demanded free health care for our families, we got it. Why not demand free HDTV's? America is the LAND OF THE FREE!" stated Carlos Villenueva De Los Santos.

When I informed him that 'The Land of the Free' referred to America's commitment to Liberty for all, Villenueva De Los Santos stated, "You are a bigot and a racist!" and stole my hubcaps.

CoreyinVOE-Roving reporter