Local and Beyond

By Nancy Thomson

California is the catalyst for trends later adapted by the rest of the nation. At least the time element gives other states a head start in trying to fend off some of the extraordinary events happening in this state.

The politics of diversity have found a home in the public school system in California. This includes a week of Halloween, a month of celebrating Hispanic history, followed by extensive costuming and dancing for the Cinco de Mayo. Black history month is upon us now. For added pluralism the Muslims are gaining in influence and have established an Islamic Center of Southern California. Other activities include American-produced English –language Islamic textbooks and the Iraq International Educational foundation in Chicago.

Costa Mesa’s Sonora Elememtary School is encountering cultural problems. Ten percent of their students come from the Marshall Islands. The Islanders have an extended family concept that means aunts, uncles, and grandparents have equal responsibility along with the child’s parents. The school is at a loss to know whom to contact concerning educational matters.

Language and cultural differences have caused many misunderstandings. They are looking for a grant to hire a Marshallese –speaking –community coordinator and teachers are to be given lectures on Marshall Islands culture. As the Americans bend over back-wards to accommodate every foreign element that comes flooding into our country the US culture goes begging. No longer are American Christian traditions tolerated in the classroom.

The politics of culture is also accompanied by politics in general.

North County public vocational program used student services for a political fund -raiser.

Students from the culinary arts class provided food for Orange County’s Lou Correa’s political event.
Lou paid for the hors d’oeuvres but not the student’s service. Although the teacher said the project was a "win –win situation, someone on the board of trustees complained. Politicians will no longer receive free food service from the public schools.

Some of the legislation signed into law before the state government left for Christmas recess included:

Some schools are adapting a plan where teachers, psychologists, and police deputies stationed at schools are all responsible to observe and report any actions by children they consider might be "violence prone."

Senate Bill 1102 by Democrat Murray which outlaws racial profiling in California was signed into law. This racial profiling is high on the federal agenda as well. Problems will arise in minority neighborhoods with police avoiding lawsuits by refusing to arrest suspects in these areas. Complaints have been raised in the Latino communities about arresting people illegally crossing the border just because they look like Mexicans.

California’s Solution to the Energy Problem.

The answer to our energy crises may be right across the border. Baja California already sends us televisions, textiles and a variety of other exports, goods that were formerly made here. A newly approved gas pipeline linking Baja to the US is causing investors to propose building several new power plants in Mexico. Baja has been importing 10% of its summer load from southern California. Now the idea is to have American companies build energy plants in Mexico and then we’ll be buying not only manufactured products from them, but electricity as well.

I wonder if this will stop the residents of Tijuana who have been tapping into the lines in San Diego for years in order to get free electricity.

Agriculture

Strawberries, Orange County’s second largest crop is in danger of disappearing. Phasing out of a key fumigant as ordered by the EPA will cause customer price increases. It will put smaller growers out of business and give Mexican imports a competitive advantage.

Federal Actions

Clinton has been working overtime to make things as miserable as possible for all of us before he leaves the White House and moves into a 2.4 million dollar house across the street.

Ping–pong diplomacy in 1971 brought closer relations between the US and China.

Now Clinton has introduced "culture" diplomacy which, he advises "has the power to penetrate our common humanity."

160 poets, artists, diplomats, actors and actresses, foundation directors and businessmen from the US and abroad, all gathered in the East Room. Madeline Albright, (who is known for putting on plays while attending foreign policy meetings) was adorned in a Navajo bolo—a symbol of early American heritage.

The purpose for all of this was to back legislation setting up a fund to support the State Department’s cultural exchange program that was given a measly 1% of the federal budget.

Perhaps we all remember how the Russians used their ballet and other cultural programs sent over here in an exchange. Funds garnered from US patrons were transferred directly to their communist organizations active in our country. This is a lucrative method of having us pay for our own subversion.

One can only imagine how this same cultural exchange scheme will delight the Chinese. They are here in every capacity imaginable securing military, economic and espionage information. A cultural exchange will further enhance their ability to gain even more advantage over our trade imbalance with them.

In the Pro-America January/February newsletter comments were made concerning the ban on roads and logging in 60 million acres of the National Park system. Added to this, Clinton has issued an avalanche of regulations regarding the environment, labor and health care. One of the environmental issues is a 95 % reduction in the amount of sulfur in diesel fuel. This is the same as a hefty tax on diesel production and will send prices soaring for the buyers. Many of our goods are transported by truck and the extra fuel cost will just be added to the price of the trucked products.

In all Clinton has added 29,000 pages of regulations to the Federal Register.

IMMIGRATION
On January 9, a group of 5 US senators led by Texas Senator Phil Gramm, met in Mexico City with Vicente Fox. These senators along with Fox want to eliminate drug certification. This means the US will continue to annually fund Mexico’s "war on drugs." We will ignore all the drug dealing going in Mexico between their politicians and their own drug enforcement officers.

This new bipartisan US/Mexico relationship doesn’t end there as the senators are also backing a guest -worker plan. This would in effect grant amnesty to as many as 7 million in this country now (this is a low estimate) while allowing others to apply for work in Mexico in the future. Service industries, resorts, hotels and of course Disneyland would be the destination for many. Those immigrants scheduled for farm work seldom remain on the farm.
 

US sovereignty hangs in the balance.

Bush is deciding whom to appoint as ambassador to the UN. The ambassadorship concerns 3 different men, 2 are associated with the UN and want to expand its power. The third man is a conservative international lawyer, Frank Ruddy. Call the Bush-Cheney Transition office: (202) 513-7400 and say no to John Whitehead and Lee Hamilton. YES TO US SOVEREIGNTY ADVOCATE FRANK RUDDY.

Janet Reno and Lawrence Summers joined Clinton on December first to issue a call for tracking illegal gun buyers.

Toy gun makers in the US will incur heavy fines if they make the toys look real. They must be painted blue, green or some bright color in addition to not looking much like a gun.

Meanwhile, in Canada where they have had gun registration for years some new rules have been added. Personal data on gun buyers and home inspections are now mandatory laws.

Military Affairs

The Air Force is paving the way for planes to be stationed outside the US during crises to avoid long flights. Some of the forward bases being considered for storing fuel and weapons are

Guam, Diego Garcia, a British-controlled island in the central Indian Ocean, a British airbase 65 miles west of London, and a Middle East location the Air force doesn’t want to identify.

Besides important papers tuning up behind a water cooler, some secret nuclear weapons data has been misdirected. The Energy Department admitted that 15% of classified documents mailed from 3 nuclear labs last year were sent to places not authorized to receive such material.

Satellites

An El Segundo firm is launching backups for rent. Failure rate for launches is high so AssurSet wants to become the Hertz of satellites.

One of their customers is SEA LAUNCH owned by Boeing, Russia, Ukraine and Norway. This is the famous ship whose home base is Long Beach. Boeing was fined ten million dollars for giving Russia military information pertaining to construction of this project. One of the reasons the Chinese wanted control of the Long Beach Naval Base was to gain intelligence on SEA LAUNCH whose berth is adjacent to the former Base port.

Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite data to aid them a team of explorers are attempting to find the source of the Amazon River which has always been a mystery. The US Dept of Defense stopped blurring the GPS signals that had been put in place to prevent enemy powers from using the US Global System to target our facilities. Thus it is now available for this search.

It appears this Global Positioning System has other uses in the public arena.  "The Wisconsin Report" published an article on December 7th concerning another use for the GPS satellite.

We have heard about ECHELON the electronic worldwide spy system that got its start during WW11 and zeros in on phones faxes and other communications.  We have also been told that many of these satellites launched today have audio so as to combine with other surveillance sources directed at earth.

According to the Wisconsin Report, on November 16, at 5:A.M. a report on ABC stated that Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois are spearheading a new type of tax based on road usage.  This will be implemented in the near future by having a transponder placed when the vehicle is licensed and registered. This transponder box will connect with the global positioning satellite and record every mile driven by the cars. The state computer that connects with the global satellite will automatically send a bill to the driver for the miles driven.

Thus everywhere you go, stay and when you return will be monitored. This is undoubtedly a pilot project to which we will all be subjected at a later date.

Remember the International Space Station that we are funding? The Russians share joint power but they can’t afford to participate in any of the financial obligations.  Even though there is still work to be done this Space Station will now be manned continually by crew replacements every 3 or 4 months.  What are they doing up there?

Best wishes for a happy and informed New Year.