Presumptuous Politics : Jul 18, 2015

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Over There Cartoon

Most new California licenses go to drivers in country illegally

More than half of all new California driver’s licenses this year have gone to people who are in the country illegally, the state said Friday
The California Department of Motor Vehicles reported it has issued roughly 397,000 licenses to people who live in the country illegally. A total of 759,000 licenses have been issued in the first six months of the year. The DMV only issued 435,000 licenses in the first six months of 2014.
The new law initially generated huge interest causing long lines at motor vehicle offices in January and February. The DMV expects to see about one million more applicants over the next three years who are covered under new law.
"We hope that all of those people will be able to pass the testing and have the necessary documents to obtain" a license, said DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez.
Supporters of the law say giving licenses to people regardless of their immigration status makes the road safer for everyone. New drivers say having a license means they can travel more freely for work or pleasure.
"It's great that people are taking advantage of this new law," said Jackelin Aguilar, community organizer for Placer People of Faith Together, an Auburn, California-based group that supports the new licenses.
"It's definitely a step forward for the families, and having identification is huge," Aguilar said.
Opponents say people who get into the country illegally shouldn’t be rewarded.
Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which advocates for legal and limited immigration, criticized California for making life easier for people in the country illegally, at the expense of citizens and legal residents.
"There are now 400,000 more signals to people all over the world that working illegally in California is encouraged by the government itself," he said.
About 687,000 people have applied for the licenses issued to illegal immigrants. Applicants must pass driving tests and show proof of residency and identity.
The new license is marked differently than those issued to other drivers in the state and is not considered a valid form of federal identification, for example, to board an airplane.
More than 1.1 million people who qualify for the new licenses took the written driver's test between Jan. 2 and June 30, and 436,000 have also taken a behind-the-wheel driving test.

San Francisco deputies’ union takes on sheriff over immigration stance

Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi

The union for San Francisco sheriff's deputies reportedly is taking on Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi over the release of an illegal immigrant now charged with the murder of a young woman -- filing a complaint that slams a department policy barring communication with federal agents.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the complaint links Kathryn Steinle's murder to a March memo that prohibited deputies from giving information about prisoners to immigration agents. The grievance, according to the newspaper, said the policy "recklessly compromises the safety of sworn personnel, citizens, and those who merely come to visit the San Francisco area."
Steinle's killing, allegedly by illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez, has prompted a round of finger-pointing in San Francisco, a so-called sanctuary city. Sanchez, who had a lengthy felony record and already had been deported five times, was turned over to San Francisco by the feds in March on an old, outstanding warrant -- but the sheriff's office freed him the next month. Federal immigration officials say they asked to be notified prior to his release, but they were not.
Mirkarimi, in defending the decision, has suggested he was following a 2013 city policy, which only allows certain violent offenders to be held for deportation.
But San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and others have said Mirkarimi's department still could have contacted immigration officials.
"Do we need to educate somebody on how to pick up the phone?" Lee said, according to the Chronicle.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement earlier this month: "We're not asking local law enforcement to do our job ... all we're asking is that they notify us when a serious foreign national criminal offender is being released to the street so we can arrange to take custody."

Iran's supreme leader says nuke deal won't change policy on US

Senators upset UN will act on Iran nuke deal.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that a historic nuclear deal reached with world powers earlier this week won’t have any effect on Iran’s policy toward the U.S.
Khamenei said in a televised speech that U.S. policy in the Middle East runs counter to Tehran’s strategy and that Iran will continue to support its allies in the Middle East including the Lebanese, Hezbollah, Palestinian resistance groups and the Syrian government.
"Our policy towards the arrogant U.S. government won't change at all," he said. He was addressing a large crowd in Tehran, broadcast live on state TV, to mark the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Iran calls its Lebanese ally Hezbollah a "resistance movement" while the U.S. describes it a terrorist group. And Iran continues to call for the destruction of Israel; Khamenei in his Saturday speech described Israel as a "terrorist, baby-killer government."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has strongly opposed the deal, saying it will enable Iran to emerge from crippling economic sanctions while doing nothing to moderate Iran's aggressive behavior around the Middle East.
"U.S. policies in the region are 180 degrees in contrast to Iran's policies," Khamenei said. "Whether this text (nuclear deal) is approved or disapproved, we won't give up supporting our friends in the region. The oppressed Palestinian nation, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, the honest mujahedeen of resistance in Lebanon and Palestine will enjoy our constant support."
Iran’s direct talks with Washington was only limited to the nuclear issue and that there can’t be any dialogue or deal with the U.S. over any other issues, he said. However, Khamenei has said in the past that he door to other issues could open should the U.S. carry out its obligations under the deal in good faith.
Khamenei’s comments are the most detailed since a deal was agreed upon earlier this week. His remarks are widely held because in most of Iran’s matters, he has the final say and could still back outy of the agreement. The deal between Iran and six world powers curbs Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
The hard-line stance on future negotiations with the U.S. quenches the idea Iran’s Foreign Minister brought up about cooperation between both parties on fighting the Islamic State.
Javid Zarif said in an Eid message Friday that he hopes the nuclear deal could bring about a better relationship abroad. President Hassan Rouhani has preached a foreign policy of engagement based on mutual respect since his election in 2013, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Even with a deal reached, the U.S. and Iran still have obstacles to clear before anything official comes about.
Iran’s parliament and the Supreme National Security Council must sign off on the deal, while Khamenei still has to agree to the deal.
Congress has 60 days to weigh-in on the deal. President Barack Obama could veto a disapproving resolution should Congress disapprove of it.

Tennessee gunman first radicalized, now idolized by Internet jihadists

It's a sad day when people try to turn mad dogs like this guy into a hero.

U.S. investigators aren't ready to conclude that Thursday’s murder of four Marines was an act of terrorism, but terrorists are.
Dozens of Twitter accounts spewing jihadist bile have placed Mohammad Abdulazeez’s bearded face as their main images, and tweets believed to have been sent out by Islamic State radicals and sympathizers have proclaimed him a martyr. And according to one top federal official, the posthumous praise for the sick slaughter comes over the very forum that may have turned the suburban-bred college graduate into a killer.
“The threat is real, and it comes from the Internet,” said Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas. “This is a new generation of terrorist. This is not Bin Laden in caves with couriers anymore. This is what the new threat of terrorism looks like.”

“The threat is real, and it comes from the Internet.”
- Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas

While the FBI is investigating the Chattanooga shooting as a terrorist act, the agency has not yet declared it one. But McCaul said Abdulazeez appears to have been motivated by ISIS to first open fire at a military recruiting center in a Chattanooga strip mall and then at a nearby military training center, where four Marines were killed.
“My judgment and experience is that this was an ISIS inspired attack. And it has been opened as a terrorism investigation by the FBI, which is a very significant event in this case,” McCaul said.
After the attack, Twitter accounts linked to terrorist groups exploded with praise for Abdulazeez. One twitter user with hashtags ‪#IslamicState and ‪#ChattanoogaShooting pledged “The War Has Just Begun. More to come fellas,” another taunts “We are in your homeland, payback time?” and a third attempts to justify the murders of the Marines by proclaiming they “participated in slaughtering Muslim babies.” Other twitter posts with hashtags “Chattanooga”, “ISIS,” and “Islamic State” vow “O American dogs, you will see wonders. Soon” and another mocks in broken English “Taste the blood of Americans …. Are very good.”
“The fact they are celebrating is not surprising at all. Whenever something bad happens in America, whether a terrorist attack or even a natural disaster, they see it as Allah punishing America,” said Ryan Mauro, National Security Analyst for the Clarion Project, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the threat of Islamic extremism.
The bigger concern, Mauro said, is not only that there may be a “copycat” attempt, but also that the successful attack may lead to even more people being radicalized.
“ISIS feels their success is Allah’s endorsement,” Mauro said. “The success of ISIS attracts more people.”
Twitter is just one of several media outlets where terrorists and their sympathizers congregate to share their latest horrific acts and propaganda. But stopping the use of the web to celebrate and inspire terror is a daunting task, experts said.
Veryan Khan, editorial director for the Florida-based Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, said her organization has tracked accounts on FaceBook, MySpace, Instagram, Pinterest, You Tube, Ask.FM, Tumblr, SendVid, Dump.to, Just Paste.it, Nasher.me, Manbar.me WordPress and Scribid. The use of foreign web sites, particularly in Russia, also is on the rise.
Terror groups like Islamic State have become so organized, they have their own media production houses, Khan said. In addition to filming, editing and posting videos of prisoner and traitor executions, they also film outreach and recruitment efforts and speeches by their leaders that glorify their acts.
While spokespeople for U.S. media outlets and others in the UK claim they cannot rid their sites of terrorist related materials in a timely manner because they are so bombarded with content from around the world, the U.S. based software company GIPEC has developed tools its founder said can assist in combating the global threat of on-line terrorism recruitment and the jihadist messaging.
The software, which its developer said also can be used to track piracy, counterfeiting and pornography, said there is no excuse for software companies not to remove terrorist-related content immediately.
“Terrorist organizations are spending time and money and using American social media platforms to recruit and incite sympathizers and ‘lone wolves’ here in the United States and around the world,” said a GIPEC analyst. “The social media companies have a moral responsibility to make their platforms safe from these horrific and directional posts that call for terrorist behavior that we have been witnessing over the past months.”