Report From Freedonia

Illegal Alien Crime Wave Sweeps Triad

Data filed with Federal Government by Guilford and Forsyth County sheriffs' departments indicates massive increase of criminal activity by illegal aliens in Triad area:  Guilford County numbers jump 50%, Forsyth County rocked by staggering 350% increase.

Now there are a few lines you will never see in the News and Record or Winston Salem Journal.

This is actually old news available to any cub reporter for at least twelve weeks now since the U.S. Department of Justice released its 2006 SCAAP "awards."  SCAAP stands for the ambiguously titled State Criminal Alien Assistance Program operated by the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance. SCAAP is a federal tax dollar kickback plan which reimburses state and local jails for a fraction of their costs expended on housing inmates determined by local jurisdictions to be illegal aliens. 

In 2005, Guilford County was awarded a $107,266 kickback while smaller Forsyth County netted $69,285.  In 2006, the Guilford county kickback jumped to $153,754 while Forsyth County, apparently in the midst of an under-reported illegal alien crime explosion, raked in an eye-popping $264,399.

Now unlike the N&R and WSJ, we will fess up a bit as to how the alarming percentages stated in the leading paragraph -- that many readers may not make it past – are slightly skewed. The total SCAAP pool of Fed money available to kickback to state and local jails increased from about $300 million in 2005 to over $400 million in 2006.  (This is in spite of SCAAP being designated in 2003 by the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ExpectMore.gov program as a non-performing program that should be terminated.)

The approximately 35% increase in the kitty for the program was partially offset by a 5% increase of local jurisdictions jumping into the party to get a piece of this federal booty.  In ballpark numbers, close enough for government work anyway; this leaves roughly an automatic 30% increase to adjusted year on year kickbacks.  This would cut the Guilford County number to a 20% increase in criminal alien incarcerations – still enough to raise eyebrows outside of government circles.  The Forsyth County number remains stunning even after factoring in the 30% adjustment AND allowing for the effect of improved accounting by the county – when there is free money to be gained by re-classifying immate immigration status.  (BTW - The state run jail system in NC saw its kickback balloon from just under $4 million in 2005 to over $8 million in 2006.)

In order to receive these kickbacks County Sheriff's departments of course have to compile reports on how much space illegal aliens are taking up in our county jails. I would hope that some enterprising reporter or county commissioner would make these numbers available to the public the next time the discussion on a new jail comes up.  Taxpayers have a right to receive this information before they are sunk further into debt to create more prison space.

Endnotes:

1) Now that our local counties are hooked on these federal kickbacks, effective for the 2007 awards, the DOJ is requiring that the kickbacks be used only in the jail system and not returned to general county budgets.  More reporting, more oversight.  Not a good thing to have the FEDS wrapping more tentacles around local law enforcement.

2) The Winston Salem Journal was advised of these SCAAP numbers before they wrote their whitewash piece last Sunday covering Forsyth County Sheriff Schatzman’s decision not to participate in yet another program the FED’s are using to gain more control (see addendum)l over local law enforcement.

Of Cabals and Kabalists

It's hard to out do the Dispensationalists on weeping and knashing of teeth in the End Times, but the Torah Ohr Kabalists offer a worthy challenge here:

The King of Persia is a leading bad guy in this one.  All options remain on the table for dealing with him.

NC DMV ups stakes in urban legend debate

"North Carolina is the first AAMVA member jurisdiction to use the North America hologram on a driver's license or ID card."

more

Plain drunk and drunk with power

If you were stating your profession as "addiction therapist" would this be the quote you want to have attached to your name in an AP wire service news story?

And for many of the iPhone's early adopters, money is not and never was an issue. They were after the gratification of knowing they were among the first owners of something that was cool, even revolutionary.

"If they told me at the outset the iPhone would be $200 cheaper the next day, I would have thought about it for a second -- and still bought it," said Andrew Brin, a 47-year-old addiction therapist in Los Angeles. "It was $600 and that was the price I was willing to pay for it."

Then again, if you were an elected county official would you blow off the judge in the next county just because the guy that would have to have you arrested for contempt of court is your friend?

Sidebar:  You know your county is in trouble when the most fiscally conservative board member on your county commission is taking his own company into bankruptcy.

Reminder: Mandatory State training required to run for political office in North Carolina

In an effort to keep the wealthy and connected from cheating in their bids to gain political office, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (per statutes devised by the oligarchs in our General Assembly) is doing its best to freeze out common citizens from participating as candidates in the election process.

This is old news, but I repeat it here for the uninitiated...

Quoting from my Aug 30th State Board of Elections - Campaign Finance Divsion letter, which I received for having thrown out the other one 3 weeks ago without responding:

Mandatory Treasurer Training

...Committees that have registered to stay under the $3000 threshold or to be inactive are still required to attend training...classes fill up quickly; please contact us immediately to reserve a seat if you are planning to attend...All Treasurers or their Assistant Treasurers if designated, including Candidates that are serving as their own Treasurer for a committee that is registered with the State Board of Elections are required to complete the training by October 10th, 2007 to be in compliance with SS 163-278.7.

This requirement also goes for any committee seeking to pass a referendum.

The road to serfdom looks like this:

Step I : mandatory registration

Step II: mandatory training

Step III: mandatory test to pass

Step IV: only candidates pre-approved by the state allowed on ballots.

And so goes the death of representative government in North Carolina.  You can bet that Thomas Jefferson's campaign treasurer did not have to attend mandatory training for him to be eligible to run for office.