Eddie:

They call it “nuanced”.

There are other words that most non lawyers would use, but no doubt Web mom would deem use of such words in violation of the BBS posting rules.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Saturday, October 05, 2024 - 10:43 am: Edit

1) Congress in this case includes the GOP controlled House.

And what Congress appropriates, it appropriates. Please don't say it's somehow the executive branch.

2) I would be all in for laws that
-Ban the whole anchor baby thing. But I would have a provision that kids born to parents that are here legally get "natural born status" when their parents naturalize. Like my Father (grandfather came over from China) and Mother (both parents were involuntary transportees from Ireland).
-Immigrants do NOT get government checks.
-I would support a law that says if you are in the US illegally, you can NEVER get a visa, residency or citizenship and you get deported forthwith. You have to ask for asylum at the border, AND all claims must be reviewed within 90 days. Until then you stay in detention.
- ANY migrant or visa holder indicted for a felony is ineligible for bail and MUST be deported upon conviction.

3) And I dispute that whole "took money from disaster funds" bit. I think it's just a fake news partisan talking point that is easily disproven with any research. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58420 Note that the Congress here is GOP controlled!

4) As for the claim "tThe one the Republicans turned down would have legalized illegal immigration." I read it and didn't see that part. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4361/text

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, October 05, 2024 - 10:48 am: Edit

1. Deals are made in which both sides swallow stuff they hate.
2. Let me give you a list in another post.
3. Yeah, they did just that, but did it cleverly by labeling some of the disaster funds as immigrant funds beforehand. Use whatever weasel words you like but a dollar spent for a bad project could have been spent for good one. The point is that the disaster budget would have been bigger if the immigrant budget did not exist. And BTW, anything said by Mayorkas can be considered a lie without further checking.
4. Better read it again. it authorized huge numbers to enter and wait for hearings, which is what is being done with more questionable legality now.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, October 05, 2024 - 11:00 am: Edit

Here is my immigration reform plan.

1. No anchor babies. Existing anchor babies who do not reach 18 by the end of the current calendar year lose their status at that point. If parents are here as legal immigrants their children get citizenship when parents to.

2. End the provision on technical visas H1B I think) cannot change employers, and prohibit giving immigrants jobs held by citizens.

3. Create a new orange card which is a guest worker, able to work but not stay if they aren't working. Minimum wage laws apply. Income tax applies, but not social security. Any job held by an orange card guest worker must be taken from the guest worker and given to a citizen who qualifies for the job.

4. Any month in which an immigrant gets assistance doesn't count for the 84 month citizenship period. If a green card holder gets 36 months of aid his green card is pulled and replaced by an orange card.

5. No more refugee/sanctuary status. We have done enough and other countries can take in the world's desperate. (I might agree to 25 per month who have served the US and become targets of persecution therefore.)

6. Anyone with a felony conviction is denied entry period.

7. Legal immigration requires you to have the skills to support yourself and whatever dependents arrive with you.

8. A few hundred thousand "temporary refugees" in this country get their temporary status extended every year. End such extensions. They can apply for a green card or go home.

9. No citizenship is approved until you demonstrate proficiency in English equal to a high school graduate. Being enrolled in an English course is not enough.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Saturday, October 05, 2024 - 12:13 pm: Edit

There is one question I have regarding the people seeking asylum; if they were so persecuted in their homeland, why did they cross several nations before asking for asylum? If they really wanted asylum in the United States, why didn't they ask for it at an embassy (or consulate) in the first host country they crossed into?

By Jean Sexton Beddow (Jsexton) on Saturday, October 05, 2024 - 02:14 pm: Edit

Folks, this topic is about ankle deep in the Political Swamp. Allie and Ally were (note past tense) keeping me company while I didn't feel well, but they are now on the prowl. Remove yourself from the Swamp, pronto!

Jean
WebMom

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Saturday, October 05, 2024 - 05:36 pm: Edit

It looks like the next storm (Milton) is due to smack into Florida as a major hurricane on Wednesday; the center of predicted paths has it coming ashore at Tampa.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, October 05, 2024 - 08:26 pm: Edit

They did not ask at the US consulate in the first country they passed because they would not have been approved. Even if they had been, it would have taken a year to get approved, if that fast.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 02:56 am: Edit

It come to my notice on Bluesky that FEMA got an actual page; "Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response"

O tempora, O mores

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 08:17 am: Edit

TV interviews of residents in the affected areas have been generally negative concerning FEMA and the decidedly poor response to the emergency.

Then the MSM announced that funds intended for assisting disaster victims has instead been spent on migrant relief only added to the victims misery.

I realize Mike Grafton has a valid point about congress and spending, but that totally misses the point.

[Political stuff deleted. Strike 1. WebMom]

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 09:37 am: Edit

WebMom posts: no politics.

Three of the next four posts: politics.

Allie and Ally are going to be eating well.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 09:47 am: Edit

Well, mine just answered a question with simple facts. Not really politics.

Carl noted that the government had posted some info and vaguely implied it might be a pack of lies. Borderline with some redeeming intellectual value.

Jeff is dancing all over the issue and not really adding anything not said before.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 10:56 am: Edit

Actually SVC and I agree on most of the immigration points. I just come at it from a more left POV. BOTH of us know the current system isn't working and is riddled with loopholes.

As for disaster response, FEMA is working at it. It isn't easy or an instantaneous thing. When I was a firefighter, we'd get "knocked out" (ie County Alarm would tone us on the radio and tell us where to go, etc "BWOO, DOOO Attention Harrods Creek, respond to a housefire, 7408 Woodhill Valley Road, your box 354...), be on the truck & rolling down the road in less than a minute, be at the house in a couple/ three minutes, and the locals would STILL complain that it has taken too long. And this was when I was driving 1232 which was one seriously fast fire truck. (the older trucks, 1222, 1227, 1233, 1244, 1255 were much slower). Scroll WAY down to see the trucks I drove back in the day... https://www.kentuckyfiretrucks.com/Photos/Jefferson-Coun/Harrods-Creek-Fire-District

Politically, it has been reported that some previous disasters had funds withheld while the political affiliation of the area was checked. Dunno.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 11:12 am: Edit

Oh, right that's how my post could be interpreted.
Actually I meant it's a sad thing that FEMA need to create such a page. Rumours have always existed, because man is a social animal, but it's gotten worse.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 02:02 pm: Edit

Just less than 50 miles SE of Asheville, 20 miles from Chimney Rock (a strip of buildings on the road, one side next to river, now gone)...

Seven and 1/2 days without power (returned Fri at 6 pm).... Internet returned around 13;00 Sun (today)...

Spared any damage, took two days to get around due to downed trees....

Private Organizations like Samaritans Purse, still complaining about Feds locking them out of airspace and took them several days till they were allowed to actually help..... Private citizens attempting to locate people who might need help were also banned from flying drones into the remote areas...

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 07:06 pm: Edit

I keep seeing references to "$750 is all you get", and that's just flat-out false. The $750 is under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Serious Needs Assistance program, which covers immediate needs after a disaster, including “food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies.” This is separate and distinct from FEMA payments for hotel costs, home repair, etc.

As a note on drones that Bolo mentioned: they've been banned because they're a legitimate danger to the supply-and-rescue helicopters that are operating throughout the region. The *last* thing anyone needs is someone with a drone deciding to take a "closer look" at a helicopter and causing a crash.

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 08:13 pm: Edit

Or just fly along, and being seen by the helicopter until it is to close to avoid, given how fast helicopters are, vs how small most drones are.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 08:18 pm: Edit

Fema always has a reputation of being too slow to get there, and it is well-earned. I think it might be better to disband 99% of FEMA, leaving a dozen people at HQ. When a disaster happens, FEMA-lite would then issue money to the 51 SEMA agencies, giving local responders the money and responsibility. Let each state take care of their own problems. FEMA just becomes a big insurance company. I am not sure you could not just farm out the FEMA-lite duties anyway.

I will risk the gators and note that a lot of the rumor-control on FEMA's site was proven false very quickly by state governments.

FEMA gets about $20 billion a year. It is prohibited by law for spending disaster budget on anything else. The immigrant thing is a separate file. However, the two accounts (disaster, immigrant) when the immigrant thing was created equalled the previous year's disaster budget, so money WAS diverted, just "stolen fair and square" to use government terms. I will not risk the gators by pointing out that catch-and-release is a disastrously bad policy that should never have been started. I will let my previous comments on that score stand for themselves.

Jessica is right that the $750 is an immediate need them with more money later based on actual loss. That said, the $750 isn't going to last until FEMA gets its ducks lined up.

It isn't right that FOX is saying "one time payment of $750" and deliberately confusing the issue. Yes, it is a one-time payment but not the only payment.

As a lifetime member of the US Army Corps of Engineers (born into it) I am furious that the Army was not sent into the disaster area within 24 minutes. The USACoE has everything you can ask for in the way of supplies, kitchens, generators, radios, boats, medical equipment/facilities, tents, road clearing, and portable bridges. I have personally spoken with engineer officers I have known for decades who say they have been screaming to be turned loose and put into the game since before landfall. And this is hardly the first time THAT has happened. We need a brigadier general with some guts to throw his career away and deploy without orders. He will then be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and promoted during his court-martial.

By Douglas Saldana (Dsal) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 08:34 pm: Edit

Annual Appropriation (in thousands) to FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund for the last nine years (per the Congressional Research Service).

2015 7,033,464
2016 7,374,693
2017 7,328,515
2018 7,900,720
2019 12,558,000
2020 17,863,259
2021 17,142,000
2022 18,799,000
2023 19,945,000

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, October 06, 2024 - 10:22 pm: Edit

Someone should copy SVC’s FEMA operations reform plan over to the Star Fleet Proposals topic as the main operational plan for the Federation Emergency Management program.

He essentially created, seemingly unintentionally, a working structure for how the United Federation of Planets handles planet wide disasters.

I should point out, that would also validate the publication of the FEM class of disaster command ships AND explains why there were never more than three such ship sent to event sites. (Namely, because such disasters occurred less frequently than the initial estimates assumed.)

Heck, it might even be enough for a captains log thing detailing why the FEM program was created. I.e. to reduce or eliminate corrupt practices, introduce a neutral / independent commander to oversee the project, and provide said commander with a a command platform equipped with the tools needed to complete the task. (High f&E command rating, special sensors for monitoring flow of ships to and from the disaster area and provide the special sensor necessary for traffic control.

Of course, this is just a suggestion…

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Monday, October 07, 2024 - 07:49 am: Edit

DSAL thank you. A lot of bad information out there.

FLG is what does the Management in the SFU

As for letting SEMA do the duties, I can see states blowing it off and then screaming about how the Feds failed them when a crisis comes. Kind of like how some state utility regulators fell to politics and let the state grid go down, water treatment plants go bad...

[Unauthorized link deleted. WebMom]

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, October 07, 2024 - 10:55 am: Edit

I will remind everyone that links are not to be posted until/unless approved by Jean.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, October 07, 2024 - 11:47 am: Edit

Mike Grafton:

FLG is a first responder, and would be among the first ships to arrive at a disaster scene.

Yes, it would do a fine job directing operations of other first responders (POL class police ships, civilian freighters, APTs even possibly the Odd Federation Express Courier) doing search and rescue, establishing emergency services, even house or relocate refugees on a very limited basis.

The part you are missing, is that while a FLG can do the job, its normal job (doing the day to day tasks that the FLG class ships were built for.). Star Fleet has ships that do important jobs to keep the Federation running over a significant part of the Alpha quadrant. The FLG is one of those ships.

What the FLG isn’t very good at, is being at two or more places at the same time.

The Second responder command ship, is the FEM. It relieves the FLG from disaster management so that the FLG can go back to managing that little portion of the Federation that IS ITS mission. (Capitalization for emphasis only.)

The Federation built the FEM class ships for disaster management.

The FLG class ships were built to manage the normal operations in the territory of the United Federation of Planets.

To put the point bluntly, the FLG is for normal… the FEM for Abnormal.

Planet wide catastrophes most certainly are NOT normal events. We know that for a fact as the FEM class was supposed to be composed of twelve ships (nominally one per star base.)

the fact that only a max of three FEM ships are active at any given time gives an indication of how often planet wide disastersoccur in the UFP.

The corollary is equally valid:

If the FEM class did not exist, then at any given time in star fleet history, up to three FLG class ships would be needed for disaster management duties.

That means three provinces would not have its assigned FLG doing its job. How that impacts the Federation might be debatable, but if the worst happens (say an Orion Cartel decides to take advantage of a missing FLG) the UFP would take a hit on its economy. Significant? Perhaps. But the loss of up to three province (plus any major or minor planets present) Economic Income gives a ball park estimate.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, October 07, 2024 - 06:59 pm: Edit

If FEMAL had only 12 employees and SEMA-NorCar blew off its job, NC voters would know very well who let them down. FEMAL would have to write the checks in a timely manner but that is easier to do. The locals would love to show up and say "This money is from US to YOU never mind FEMAL."

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Tuesday, October 08, 2024 - 05:15 pm: Edit

Hopefully Hurricane Milton will lose power overnight - but stay safe if your in it's path.