Free Republic

Trial focuses on role of malnutrition in death Doctor says victim not fed enough By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ Herald Salinas Bureau The care of a developmentally disabled Prunedale man before his death was the underlying topic during witness testimony Monday in the case against a couple accused of allowing Junji Grubbs to starve to death under their supervision. The prosecution used expert witnesses to identify the role malnutrition played in Grubbs' demise and alleged that Grubbs' death could have been prevented. Defense attorneys countered the allegations with facts entered as proof during trial last week. Shinji Grubbs and his wife,...

Officials Strive to Inform Immigrants That Sex With Minors Is Illegal She was 16, but with her small stature, enormous brown eyes and eighth-grader's innocence, she looked more like 13. He was 24. She was sure she loved him. He had a job in a hotel. He was good to her, respectful. And it thrilled her when she'd hear him say, "No one will ever love you the way I love you." If they had been in El Salvador, the country where both were born, no one would have thought twice about their relationship; older men often went with women...

San Diego -- FOLLOWING on the heels of chief executives who didn't dare go anywhere near the explosive topic of immigration, President Bush deserves credit for trying to fix a system that is beyond broken. But you can't even think about achieving real reforms until you make border security a top priority. Bush hasn't done that. Instead of dwelling on how immigrants do jobs that Americans won't do, or how willing workers should be matched with needy employers, he needs to get back to basics.

What's going on with President Bush and his refusal to close down the wide-open southwestern border? Warnings are accumulating that the undefended boundary is the Achilles heel of national security, yet the president studiously avoids the obvious fixes. The alerts are becoming more specific, like the recent Senate testimony of Admiral John Loy stating, "Several al-Qaida leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons." Worse, the president has actively sabotaged border security by reducing the number of new Border Patrol agents...

Dalila and William Timal look like any other couple signing a home mortgage. They've picked out paint colors for their new four-bedroom house in Indianapolis and can't wait for their 18-month-old son to play in the yard. But they differ in one way from many others you'd see at a loan officer's desk: Neither is a U.S. citizen or legal resident. The Timals came to this country from Guatemala in the late '90s and illegally overstayed their visas. They're the beneficiaries of a new program by Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank, basing mortgages on an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN....

Students urged to stand up against corporate violations By VICTORIA MANLEY Herald Staff Writer Facing more than 200 students in CSU-Monterey Bay's University Center, Leon Panetta on Thursday voiced urgency and outrage over the deep-pocketed influence on policymakers. "I don't sense the outrage of what we're seeing in corporate America, or even in the media," s aid Panetta, co-director of CSUMB's Panetta Institute for Public Policy and a panelist in a discussion on professional ethics presented by CSUMB's School of Business. "Money is speaking a great deal these days in terms of policy," he said. "If people remain quiet,... then...

Computer tax set to replace TV licence fee By Adam Sherwin and Dan Sabbagh THE BBC licence fee should be replaced by a tax on the ownership of a personal computer instead of a television, ministers said yesterday. Tessa Jowell told the BBC that the licence fee would be retained for at least another ten years until 2017 in return for abolishing the Board of Governors. But the Culture Secretary conceded that technological advances would mean that a fee based on “television ownership could become redundant”. More than six million households have access to high-speed broadband connections and the BBC...

Medical pot may be certified organic Regulating plant will subject it to health, safety standards BERKELEY (AP) - Mendocino County, the rugged California outpost that was first in the nation to ban genetically modified crops, is striding toward a new agriculture frontier with a proposal to certify medical marijuana as organic. The notion of pesticide-free pot is eliciting a few chuckles. But county officials, who are waiting to hear back from the state agriculture secretary about their proposal, say the issue is quite serious -- with no system to regulate cultivation, consumers are at risk. ''We regulate wine grape growers...

If a Republican politician is uncommonly good on both economics and social issues, he will probably be terrible on immigration. It’s an unfortunate fact of political life that’s taken me some time to get used to, but here it is: If a Republican politician is uncommonly good on both economics and social issues, he will probably be terrible on immigration. Think Dick Armey, Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake and Jack Kemp in his better days. All strong economic and social conservatives; all weak on immigration control. And that’s just conservative Republicans. Moderate to liberal Republicans tend to be even worse. Flake’s...

Numerous NT students exchanged heated arguments Wednesday during the "Capture the Illegal Immigrant Game," put on by NT's chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas. The purpose of the game was to show the organization's opposition to President Bush's temporary worker plan. Around 30 students, mostly Hispanic, began engaging members of the organization in a debate because they felt all the facts were not being properly presented. "We want to know! We want to know!" the group chanted. "You shouldn't make a game of these people who suffer for their families," Kristy Cisneros, Carrolton senior, said. "It's a mockery" Three...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Recent trademark filings from Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) are raising speculation that the world's largest chip maker may be preparing to create a new global brand. The question is, what does VIIV mean? "Intel Inside VIIV" and "Intel VIIV" were filed as U.S. trademarks last month by the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker, known for its Pentium and Centrino brands. A square graphic, resembling an inkblot or a starfield, was also filed around the same time. Intel watchers have a few hypotheses on the meaning of VIIV. One is that the letters are Roman...

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wants New Legislation to Secure U.S. The legislation would effectively deny drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, tighten the requirements for political asylum and complete the border fence between California and Mexico. By Mary Curtius, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON - In a move that could put him at odds with President Bush, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee introduced legislation today that would effectively deny drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, tighten the requirements for political asylum and complete the border fence between California and Mexico. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) said the measures would help...

Baca's Plan to Screen Inmates OKd On a 3-2 vote, board approves the training of jail clerks to identify illegal immigrants and turn them over to U.S. A controversial plan to train clerks at the Los Angeles County jail to identify inmates who are illegal immigrants and turn them over to immigration officials was approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors.

Racial disparity seen in gun charges Blacks more likely to face felonies than whites By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO - Blacks are far more likely to be charged with felonies and whites more likely to be charged with misdemeanors for the same offense of possessing an unregistered weapon, a study by the state attorney general shows. The study is prompting calls for changes from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but the state senator who wrote the law defended it and the flexibility it affords prosecutors. The study examined four years of data on how a...

A Wisconsin inmate who has developed female characteristics as a result of state-paid hormone therapy is suing prison officials for not completing the sex change process. The suit is pending in federal court in Milwaukee, filed by an inmate who was born Scott Konitzer but who now uses the name Donna Dawn Konitzer. The plaintiff is serving 123 years for multiple armed robberies and for stabbing another inmate. The department has been providing Konitzer, 40, with hormone therapy to stimulate female development since 1999 but will not allow genital surgery. Konitzer claims a prison doctor said the surgery would follow...

<p>WASHINGTON - If you think of a hit television series when you read the words ''West Wing,'' then you probably don't have to worry about your next security clearance polygraph.</p> <p>But if it brings to mind secret U.S. bases in Jordan, you might have a problem if you have read William Arkin's new book, which amounts to the sort of unauthorized dump of classified information you would have to report to protect your clearance.</p>

Who Needs Harvard? Why big corporations are hiring fewer Ivy Leaguers. By Daniel Gross Posted Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005, at 12:50 PM PT A coveted undergraduate admission to an Ivy League college is a ticket to success, right? But a recent paper by Peter Cappelli and Monika Hamori, both of the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that the prestigious degrees aren't as valuable at America's largest corporations as they were a generation ago. If you want to run GE, you might be better off attending the University of Connecticut than Yale. Cappelli and Hamori compared the résumés of the top 10...

Foreign gays seek haven in U.S. but may not find it A Peruvian lesbian is seeking asylum, but critics say Congress never meant sexual orientation to be a criterion for granting it. By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer Published January 10, 2005 Lourdes Sayan feels the rush of freedom with every public kiss, or when she holds her girlfriend's hand in the street. She wears her hair short above the ears instead of down to her hips as she did in Peru, where peers pressured her to look like everyone else, something she knew she wasn't. In the United States,...

Pet owners have scarves, blankets made By MARIETTA NELSON Herald Correspondent In the land of the Fountain of Woof, where dogs roam through the shopping malls and across the sands, it seems only appropriate that an enthusiastic pet lover could have a blanket woven of his golden retriever's hair, or a scarf that shows off the fluff of her Lhasa Apso. Doesn't it? Two Carmel residents, Bob Miller and Susan Willey, think so. Through VIP Fibers, a company in Morgan Hill, they are both the proud owners of items created from their dogs' hair. "It was her gift to me,"...

Girl let out of criminal custody Farmworker who abandoned baby in toilet held for immigration By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ Herald Salinas Bureau The young Oaxacan woman accused of abandoning her newborn outside Soledad is now being held for immigration officials after a judge released her from local criminal proceedings. An immigration hold was placed on the woman when she was booked into Juvenile Hall in June after being arrested on charges of attempted murder and child abandonment, said Mike McNews, Monterey County probation services manager. The woman has since turned 18. On Thursday, the court ordered her released from custody...