Today’s Headlines

STREETSIE UPDATE: John Jones and Joe Buscaino holding slim leads…a South Bay Sweep?

  • Times Backs Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants (LAT)
  • Gold Line Testing Underway for Gold Line Foothill Extension (Claremont Courier)
  • Go Metro for New Year’s Parties (The Source)
  • Trains a Magnet for Terrorists? I’m Guessing the Letter-Writer Lives in Bev. Hills (LAT)
  • The Daily News Is Really Excited You Got a Bike for Christmas (Daily News)
  • Help Santa Monica Fight Homelessness (SaMo Next)
  • Jose Huizar’s Dog Has an Instagram Account (Instagram)
  • davistrain

    Regarding the “Trains a magnet for terrorists” letter writer; James Moore is a notorious anti-rail intellectual. Although he’s employed by USC, he has no use for the Expo Line, and over the years he has written many anti-rail letters to the editor. I’ve never seen direct proof of the accusation, but some have speculated that he is backed by the oil, highway and motor vehicle industries.

  • GlobalLA

    Driver’s licenses for illegals are a joke. It’s doesn’t change a damn thing and only shows how the corrupt government doesn’t even follow its own laws. It flies against the face of our immigration laws and what our national sovereignty is all about. The people who gets screwed the most are the taxpayers who follow the law – which means the majority of us (soon to become the minority)….

  • Alex Brideau III

    I’m not sure how effective providing licenses to undocumented immigrants will be in the short term, but if it increases the percentage of licensed drivers on the road even a little bit, I’m all for it.

  • GlobalLA

    So licensed drivers means that it fixes the problem?! Licenses doesn’t mean insured. And you can look at New Mexico to see what California will be getting itself into…

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/23/us/new-mexico-immigrant-licenses/

  • Alex Brideau III

    Insurance is an issue to be sure. However, my first hope is that more licensed drivers may lead to a higher proportion of drivers who are more likely to follow the rules of the road.

    (More responsible drivers: I won’t hold my breath, but I can dream!)

  • GlobalLA

    So dreaming will help solve this problem?! So should “dreamers” shape the laws that law-abiding citizens already follow? I say we follow our immigration laws and make it fair for EVERYBODY, not just the people who have the convenience to illegally cross our borders.

    Follow the rules of the road?! What if the person only knows Spanish? What’s next? Force traffic signs to be in Spanish also? I know a person who’s daughter was several injured from an illegal drunk driver. He fled the scene but was later caught. You’re not fooling anybody!

  • Alex Brideau III

    Dreaming won’t make our roads safer, but increased licensing (and more enforcement of traffic laws) will.

    As for non-English speakers understanding road signs, DMV’s website says, “The [written] test is available in English and many other languages. If you take the written test in a foreign language, you must also take a traffic signs test.” Seems to me the DMV already accounts for non-English speakers.

    It seems you have a big beef with illegal immigration. That’s just not an issue I get really worked up about. Sorry. (Perhaps if we Americans didn’t have a history of taking over indigenous people’s lands or kidnapping people to abuse as slaves, I could muster some sense of righteous indignation at illegal immigration. But that’s not the case.) Besides, to me there are far greater injustices that do far greater harm to our nation.

    “You’re not fooling anybody!” Huh? I’m not fooling anybody with what?

  • GlobalLA

    What do you mean “taking over of indigenous people”? So is that an EXCUSE to destroy this nations’s sovereignty because you want to use past grievances to justify breaking the law today? And speaking of “indigenous” people when land was taken, there was no foundational property laws in place. Even Africans sold slaves, aren’t you going to blame them as well? We now have formal laws in place and the government has done many things to grant reprieve/re-payment.

    We have this great nation because we learned from our mistakes (tell me what country hasn’t) and made our legal systems stronger. What you are advocating for is to weaken our national sovereignty and dictate that our laws be ignored on externalities such as foreigners illegally entering our country. Congress has the power to establish immigration (naturalization) laws, not the President with his EO. Read up on Article I Section 8 of our Constitution.

    Stop fooling people with your convoluted liberal views of the U.S. Constitution.

  • Alex Brideau III

    Yes, beware my scary liberal views!!!

    Well, it seems like you have enough anger/frustration over illegal immigration issues for the both of us, so I’ll leave that to you.

    For me, I just believe that all who operate deadly vehicles (cars, trucks, etc.) should be licensed regardless of their immigration status. A higher proportion of licensed drivers makes the roads a (slightly) safer place.

  • GlobalLA

    I see, because immigration status doesn’t mean anything to you.

    If immigration laws doesn’t mean anything to illegals, neither will a card called a driver’s license. Nothing has changed for the illegals, except the sense of social justice from liberals.

    California will be following in New Mexico’s footsteps…

  • Alex Brideau III

    Immigration status falls fairly low on my priority list of things that are f’ed up in America. Much lower for sure than the potential for increased road safety and possibility of fewer road deaths.

    As for how many “illegals” will get licenses, I guess time will tell.

  • HighNoon

    Your questons/concerns have been answered but you keep on moving to the next irrational issue. Let me see:
    1) Licensed doesn’t mean insured… ok but it does mean better familiarity with our traffic laws and regs
    2) The idea that children who were brought across the border, undocumented, by their parents are not law-abiding sounds ridiculous to me.
    3) No one is advocating these dreamers should shape laws, but they do and will, just like all other groups in society.
    4) The DMV, as pointed out, has tests to determine comprehension of signs.
    5) You want to defend the destruction of native lands and peoples on the lack of a legal framework for doing so, yet provide a lot of noise and little evidence about why a movement toward doing that very thing – finding a legal framework for creating “foundational driving laws for undocumented immigrants” won’t work.
    6) If you think we’ve learned from our mistakes, I would argue you aren’t very familiar with this nation’s history. On the same side of this coin you fail to mention any benefits of undocumented immigration, of which there are some that accrue to you. You can at least try to be a little objective.
    7) Most legal experts agree BHO’s EO was well within the office’s rights and purview. I would urge you to consider morality as well as legality, but probably hard to do given your unsubstantiated disdain for illegal immigration – which is a huge part of this country’s past and success in the world (see catholics, jews, irish, germans, chinese, etc).
    8) Do you equally support the enforcement of this nation’s law on wealthy white wall street types as you do on undocumented immigrants?
    9) Immigration laws do mean something, but breaking them for the sake of a better life and to escape some pretty deplorable conditions isn’t that hard to understand. You don’t have to agree, but it isn’t hard to understand.

    You are good at vilifying and criminalizing an entire group of people based on your perceptions or the actions of a few, and very little actual evidence that this will actually hurt this country, it’s laws, or safety on the road. As Alex points out, there is much more evidence that leads me to be much more concerned about real, rather than manufactured, significant problems facing this country. Luckily, you are a dying breed and we won’t have to deal with this silliness for much longer.

  • GlobalLA

    My questions answered? And was Alex’s questions answered also? Are you speaking for him now? Irrational? To you of course they are…

    1. Licensed may mean familiarity but “following” laws and being “insured” are just as important. Since illegals already broke immigration laws, what trust is there already to begin with?
    2. If children are allowed citizenship they will go around and petition their illegal alien parents for citizenship. I won’t blame them, but that’s not fair for those who came here legally, like millions of parents who went through the legal process.
    3. Dreamers who are illegals will be in competition with those who are legally here and have dreams too. We have limited resources and illegals are stealing resources from legal residents.
    4. So the DMV has tests for sign comprehension. Again, that doesn’t change anything except flood roads with illegals who won’t hesitate to run away from the law if they feel threatened. How many times have we seen this with hit-and-run accidents?!!!
    5. Defending destruction of land? Are you being serious? Did I say that? We wouldn’t have no nations or countries in this world with your twisted liberal views. According to you, everyone in this world are the same…
    6. Discussing undocumented immigration will require a long long discourse. I can be objective but the damage by our society from flooding our neighborhoods with illegals have been done (lack of affordable housing, gangs, poor quality in our schools, etc. etc.). It really hurts us. But look at your buddy BHO and his efforts to work with Congress on immigration. Why don’t you ask him that question.
    7. The history of immigrants is very diverse, and I would say each culture contributed in various ways. But the current trends in immigration – by flooding our society with poor low-skilled people who illegaly decided to cross our borders is a travesty.
    8. No I don’t support white wealthy types on everything. But that’s why we had Glass-Steagall, Dodd-Frank, etc. Bear Sterns, AIG, etc. all went down. Madoff, Martha Stewart, etc. went to jail. But illegals can have driver’s licenses, free education, welfare, housing subsidies, etc. What a joke.
    9. Immigration laws are part of a NATION’S SOVEREIGNTY. That’s why America is America and Mexico is Mexico. Is that too hard to understand? Must we socially and politically subsidize Mexico and Central America’s problems because they are close to us (unlike China or Europe).

    Dying breed? So that’s why Republicans hold both houses now come next week? We shall see. I’ll be seeing you at the voting polls!!!