Gerbil's Giant Gumball Gumbo

Drug Policy Alliance: Possible Drug Tests for Teenage Drivers in Illinois

Vermont Votes No to War

NPR : Electronic Anklets Track Asylum Seekers in U.S.

Morning Edition, March 2, 2005 · The Department of Homeland Security is experimenting with a controversial new method to keep better track of immigrants who are applying to remain in the United States. It is requiring aliens in eight cities to wear electronic monitors 24 hours a day.

The ankle bracelets are the same monitors that some rapists and other convicted criminals have to wear on parole. But the government's pilot project is putting monitors on aliens who have never been accused of a crime.

So far, the Department of Homeland Security has put electronic monitors on more than 1,700 immigrants. Victor Cerda, director of Detention and Removal Operations at Homeland Security, says the anklets will help prevent tens of thousands of immigrants who are ordered to leave the country each year from "absconding" -- going into hiding to avoid deportation.

But critics say Cerda and other Homeland Security officials have exaggerated the extent of the problem. They point to a Justice Department study that put part of the blame on immigration officials, saying they'd failed to keep adequate records to track aliens.

The Neverending Quest to Spread Democracy

Watching the Watchers.org

APPENDIX: THE FOURTEEN WORDS NEVER TO USE
Sometimes it is not what you say that matters but what you don ’t say. Other times a single word or phrase can undermine or destroy the credibility of a paragraph or entire presentation. This memo was originally prepared exclusively for Congressional spouses because they are your eyes and ears, a one-person reality check and truth squad combined. However, by popular demand, I have included and expanded that document because effectively communicating the New American Lexicon requires you to STOP saying words and phrases that undermine your ability to educate the American people.
So from today forward, YOU are the language police. From today forward, these are the words never to say again.

1. NEVER SAY Government
INSTEAD SAY: Washington
The fact is, most Americans appreciate their local government that picks up their trash, cleans their streets, and provides police and transportation services. Washington is the problem. Remind voters again and again about Washington spending, Washington waste, Washington taxation, Washington bureaucracy, Washington rules and Washington regulations. Then remind voters that if Washington created this mess, it is Washington ’s responsibility to fix it. “If we expect to succeed, we must look to ourselves and not to Washington to raise our kids, start our businesses and improve our day-to-day lives. ”If you must talk about government, use the context defined by President Bush: “Government should help people improve their lives, not try to run their lives. ”


2. NEVER SAY Privatization/Private Accounts
INSTEAD SAY: Personalization/Personal Accounts
Many more Americans would “personalize ”Social Security than “privatize ”it. In fact, two-thirds of America wants to personalize Social Security while only one-third should privatize it. Why? Personalizing Social Security suggests ownership and control over your retirement savings, while privatizing it suggests a profit motive and winners and losers. BANISH PRIVATIZATION FROM YOUR LEXICON.(Emphasis mine, caps lock theirs)

3. NEVER SAY Tax Reform
INSTEAD SAY: Tax Simplification
While a majority of Americans are generally in favor of tax reform, one-third of the population fears that they would end up paying more in taxes if the tax code was in fact reformed. However, almost all Americans believe they would personally benefit from a tax code that was simplified —in terms of money they owe, time they spend and anxiety about the IRS. When more Americans fear the IRS than root- canal surgery, something should be done to simplify the tax code.

4. NEVER SAY Inheritance/Estate Tax
INSTEAD SAY: The Death Tax
While a sizable 68% of America thinks the Inheritance/Estate Tax is unfair, fully 78%think that the Death Tax is unfair. And while a narrow majority would repeal the inheritance/estate tax, an overwhelming majority would repeal the death tax. If you want to kill the estate tax, call it a death tax.

5. NEVER SAY A Global Economy/Globalization/Capitalism
INSTEAD SAY: Free Market Economy
More Americans are afraid of the principle of globalization than even privatization. The reason? Globalization represents something big, something distant and something foreign. It ’s the same reason why Americans like their local government but dislike Washington —the closer you are, the more control you have. So instead of talking about the principles of globalization, instead emphasize “the value and benefits of a free market economy. ”Similarly, capitalism reminds people of harsh economic competition that yields losers as well as winners. Conversely, the free market economy provides opportunity to all and allows everyone to succeed.

6. NEVER SAY Outsourcing
INSTEAD SAY: Taxation, Regulation, Litigation Innovation, Education
When you use the words of your opposition, you are basically accepting their definition and therefore their conclusion. We should NEVER use the word outsourcing because we will then be asked to defend or end the practice of allowing companies to ship American jobs overseas. Rather, we should talk about the “root cause ”why any company would not want to hire “the best workers in the world. ”And the answer: “over-taxation, over-regulation, too much litigation, and not enough innovation or quality education. ”Because it rhymes, it will be remembered.

7. NEVER SAY Undocumented Workers
INSTEAD SAY: Illegal Aliens
The Dems have adopted the phrase “undocumented worker ”but you shouldn ’t. Call them exactly what they are. In fact, instead of addressing “immigration reform, ”which polarizes Americans, you should be talking about “border security ”issues. Securing our borders and our people has universal support.

8. NEVER SAY Foreign Trade
INSTEAD SAY: International Trade
For many reasons unrelated to this issue, the word “foreign ”conjures up negative images. Americans simply don ’t like “foreign oil, ”or “foreign products ”or “foreign nationals. ”International is a more positive concept than either foreign or global.

9. NEVER SAY Drilling for oil
INSTEAD SAY: Exploring for energy
It ’s the picture people paint in their minds, the difference between an old-fashioned oil rig that gushes up black goop vs. 21st century technology and innovation that provides us the ability to heat our homes and drive our cars. When you talk about energy, use words like “responsible ”and “balanced ”and always address your concern for the environment.

10. NEVER SAY Tort Reform
INSTEAD SAY: Lawsuit Abuse Reform
The term “tort ”has very little meaning to the average American, and at best reminds one of a French pastry. “Lawsuit Abuse ”is something most Americans understand and resent. If you really want to make your case, add the word “frivolous. ”

11. NEVER SAY Trial Lawyer
INSTEAD SAY: Personal Injury Lawyer
It is hard to distrust a trial lawyer because we see them portrayed so favorably on L.A. Law and Law & Order. But personal injury lawyers, also known as ambulance chasers, remind people of those annoying, harassing commercials we see at 1:00 a.m. cajoling us to sue someone. If you want to get the full bang for the buck, call them “predatory personal injury lawyers. ”

12. NEVER SAY Corporate Transparency
INSTEAD SAY: Corporate Accountability
I constantly hear the need for “transparency ”coming from members of the financial services industry as well as members of Congress. But if you asked the American people, corporate accountability is a much higher priority. The fact is, a majority of Americans can ’t even explain what transparency actually means. But everyone understands and demands accountability from all sectors of the economy …and the government.

13. NEVER SAY School Choice
INSTEAD SAY: Parental Choice/Equal Opportunity in Education
Americans are still evenly split over whether they support “school choice ”in America ’s schools. But they are heavily in favor of “giving parents the right to choose the schools that are right for their children, ”an there is almost universal support for “equal opportunity in education. ”So frame the issue right and you get the support you need.

14. NEVER SAY Health care “Choice ”
INSTEAD SAY: “The Right to Choose ”
This is an important nuance so often lost on political officials. Almost all Americans want “the right to choose the health care plan, hospital, doctor and prescription drug plan that is best for them, ”but far fewer Americans actually want to make that choice. In fact, the older you get, the less eager you are to have a wide range of choices. One reason why the prescription drug card earned only qualified public support was that it offered too many choices and therefore created too much confusion for too many senior citizens.

Nuclear Terror at Home

"If you read the vision for 2020 published by the Space Administration, it talks about how the new frontier is space—and that we have to take control of space for military purposes and make sure that we have no competitors. That means the space-based instruments of sudden mass destruction.

There was an outer space treaty in 1967, which doesn’t have any teeth in it but it does call for preserving space for peaceful purposes. And there have been efforts at the U.N. General Assembly Disarmament Committee to strengthen it. But they’ve been blocked unilaterally by the United States. The United States alone refuses to vote for the General Assembly resolution, and it’s been tied up since the year 2000. The Chinese are the ones who are pushing to expand it. That’s not reported in the United States. In the year 2000 it was only reported in one newspaper, a small newspaper in Utah."