Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

May is National Hamburger Month

Seriously. Search Google for "National Hamburger Month" and check out the hits. There's a lot of them, including one from Johnny Rockets, a hamburger chain that opened in June of 1986 on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles.

They have a list of thirteen (what a coincidence -- Thursday Thirteen material, except that I wouldn't dare plagiarize their list) interesting facts about hamburgers. Here's a couple of items from that list.

The hamburger made its début in America at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904.

The cheeseburger was invented in 1924 by chef Lionel Sternberger of Pasadena, Calif.

This leads me to one question... Why did it take twenty years for someone to think of putting a slice of cheese on a hamburger?

Washington makes it a little harder for illegal immigrants to pretend to be citizens

Every now and then the state of Washington does something that almost shakes my faith in its firm placement as a proud member of the left coast, but this article from the Seattle Times points to one such occasion: 

New Washington drivers must now prove state residency before they can get a driver's license.

... 

In the past, he said, people could use passports or other identification that didn't prove residency to get a license. "We are strengthening our checking process," he said.

The change was driven by cases in which drivers — particularly commercial drivers who aren't in the country legally — would come to Washington to get a driver's license because the state doesn't require proof of citizenship. They then would take their licenses back to their home states and exchange them for their state's license.

Sadly some of the items that pass for proof of residency still might allow illegal immigrants to get drivers licenses, but it's a start...

Acceptable forms of identification are home utility bills dated within two months of the date of application for a license, rental agreements, home mortgage information, or Washington voter registration cards.

Benfield said there are seven states that do not require proof of legal residence in the United States to obtain a driver's license.

Washington still appears to be one. A home utility bill isn't proof of legal residence in the United States, but it beats the heck out of a Matricula Consular card.

In 2006, more than 248,000 people applied for a first-time drivers license, 86,000 received an instruction permit and 103,000 obtained an ID card. In addition, 14,000 out-of-state drivers obtained licenses in Washington.

For information on acceptable documents to prove residency go to www.dol.wa.gov.

Now if only Washington would go that one extra step, and verify that non-citizens are here legally before granting drivers licenses.

Spammers sending death threats?

The Seattle Post Intelligencer has an interesting article today about an escalation in the spam wars:

First, it was e-mail from a Nigerian general looking to offload his gold. Then came the notes from "customer service" representatives from a bank you've never heard of.

Now the spam artists are trying something new -- death threats.

Seattle police are encouraging residents to ignore the hoax e-mails in which the sender threatens to send a hired assassin if recipients don't fork over thousands of dollars.

...

Information on this and other scams is available at IC3.gov, the federal Internet Crimes Complaint Center.

I guess that Nigerian general just can't find enough people willing to help him offload that gold, so he's got to threaten people to make them do it.

Thursday Thirteen - #3

Thirteen Things about Illegal Immigration

1. Illegal Immigration is illegal.
   
2. Three of the six men arrested in the Fort Dix terror plot were illegal immigrants.
3. Illegal immigrants don't do the jobs American's won't do, they take the jobs that Americans would do and make them not worth doing by driving the wage rate for those jobs down.
4. Illegal immigrants don't come to our country with the intent to be citizens or to assimilate into our culture.
5. Illegal immigrants are a drain on our social services, taking benefits from the state without paying into the state's coffers.
6. In order to receive social security benefits, and illegal immigrant must commit identity theft (another crime) or use a fraudulent social security number (yet another crime).
7. When an illegal immigrant commits identity theft and uses someone else's social security number to obtain employment, the effect is worse than simply harming someone else's credit rating. It also drives the victim into a higher tax bracket, since the illegal immigrant's income is reported to the IRS as being the victim's income.
   
8. It is not "racist" to be against illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants come from many countries and all contentents, and they don't represent just one race.
9. You do not have to be against all immigration to be against illegal immigration.
10. Mexico has stricter laws against illegal immigration than does the United States.
11. Despite the claims by some, including a few state governors, the National Guard can be called up by the Congress to enforce U.S. immigration law, as well as to block illegal immigrants from crossing the border. Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution says: "The Congress shall have Power ... To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions".
12. It is the federal government's responsibility under the constitution to stop illegal immigration. Article IV of the U.S. Constitution says: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion".
13. Despite the trend in many states to ignore illegal immigration, the U.S. Constitution binds all Judges, State Legislatures, executive and judicial Officers by oath to support the Constitution, and by extension the nation's laws against illegal immigration. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution says: "... This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
    The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution..."

Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (My trackback filter won't let you trackback unless you link to this post, so you can leave a comment I will add you as I get time today.):

1. Toni
   
2. Jenny-up the hill
   
3. Dana
   
4. Malinda777
   
5. Starrlight
   
6. Polliwog
7. SJ Reidhead
8. toni
9. Carol
10. Your name here...

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