Canales News Briefs

June 16, 2004

"...Liberals don't try to win arguments, they seek to destroy

their opponents and silence dissident opinions. The

monopoly media of television, newspapers, and magazines

can inflict liberals on the public without paying a price.

Noticeably, however, liberals fail in any media realm

where there is competition. In the three media where

success is determined on the free market--radio, books,

and the Internet--conservatives rule. A competitive

marketplace in speech has the ominous effect of

producing Rush Limbaugh. Only a monopoly could

produce Dan Rather..."

-Lines from Chapter 6, "Samizdat Media",

in the book "Slander" by Ann Coulter

(Crown Publishers, 2002)

To All,

It seems that the "Ole Gray Mare" is having a problem with the concept of free speech:

"...Allright, Everyone Into The Pool...":

James Dao writes in today's New York Times about the recent announcement by the National Rifle Association that it has worked out an agreement to broadcast 3 hours of "NRANews" on the Sirius satellite radio network daily.

The move is being made by the NRA to finalize the organization's status as a media organization. The NRA already publishes magazines, news letters, and posts news content on the Internet that, combined, reaches more than 4 million persons.

But by attaining status as a media organization, the NRA can compete alongside the more-decidedly antigun positions of a liberal media largely exempted by the McCain-Feingold campaign reform laws. Pertinent commentary can continue all the way until Election Day 2004, instead of being silenced just after Labor Day and before the Republicans have "officially" nominated their candidate.

Being that the Sirius Satellite Radio network (NASDAQNM: SIRI) is a subscription service much as is the New York Times itself, the move should pass muster with the FEC. Given that the NRA's model appears, at least on the surface, to follow Al Franken's "Air America" second model of message dissemination (but not the financing aspect), it is hard to imagine the project being quelled at this time.

Oddly enough, the New York Times is truly worried about this latest of unintended consequences resulting from the Congress' attempt to mickey the Constitution. In this case, the move to qualify as a media organization could become the standard operating procedure for every organization that has something at stake in the political arena. The resulting rush would, for all intents and purposes, represent the pent-up demand for public comment and participation that was originally stifled by McCain-Feingold.

Another opportune result is that increased demand for access to the public will create new jobs as the number of direct-to-the-public "voices" increases through all means of communication (Sirius and XM radio's stockholders are sure to welcome the increased demand for for their services.). The added economic activity might just add to the job numbers for the third and fourth quarters of 2004, just in time to fit in with the current economic data coming in from various sources. Given that a host of "527" organizations have spent over $ 200 million in 2004 alone, this may mean that politics will "remain" as usual in an operational sense through this Federal election cycle.

In a sense, it serves the Times and it's media confreres right for trying to corner the market on speech. Like the Hunt Brothers trying to corner the silver market, the modern market of ideas is just too big for any one set of players to monopolize. And while it is apparent that the Lamestream Media waxes nostalgic for the days when Walter Cronkite had the public fooled almost all of the time, it is to the benefit of the public that alternative news sources are there to make sure all sides of the story are really told. And if that means that more competition enters the information market, thus making it harder for the Times et al to earn it's daily bread, then that is just the nature of the modern global economy. Putting the genie of open sources back into the bottle is no longer an option, whether it is in the newsrooms in Manhattan or in the Internet cafes in Beijing. The sooner that the New York Times catches on to this hard fact, the better it will be for all.

Story basis may be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/16/national/16nra.html?
ei=5062&en=c99f542a7a80427a&ex=1087963200&
partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=all&position=

http://www.tray.com/cgi-win/irs_ef_527.exe?DoFn=&sYR=2004

Aces And Eights:

Hans Nichols is reporting at HillNews.com that outgoing Congressman Chris Bell (D-Tex) has filed ethics charges against House Republican Majority Leader Tom Delay. The charges appear to recent press allegations of campaign irregularities in the recent redistricting fight in Texas, where Bell was "aced" out of his district.

Earlier this year, the courts have upheld the Republican redistricting map which resulted in an increase of "majority-minority" districts as well as congressional districts that match registration and vote results from recent elections.

Interestingly enough, the charges filed by Rep. Bell seem to mirror the same type of charges being investigated by the Travis County District Attorney. As has been noted by John Gizzi over at HumanEventsOnline.com, Democrat Ronnie Earle has been "probing" for violations by Delay for over 7 months, but as yet has not filed charges. The filing of charges by Bell, given their belated nature and that they are based almost entirely of press accounts, may be the clearest indication to date that the "campaign" to take out Tom Delay is based on hot air and nothing more.

The importance of this revolves around the expiration date of the 1994 Federal Ban on Flashsuppressors, Bayonet Lugs, and Folding Stocks. Majority Leader Delay's principled support for the Second Amendment puts him out on "point" in the fight against bad gun control laws. As such, any specious attempt to remove Representative Delay at this time has to be viewed as a "backdoor" attempt to further the agenda of the gun confiscation movement.

It is hard to imagine the kind of hand Representative Bell thinks that he has if all he is relying upon are "press clippings". But since he is headed out for the private sector at the end of the 108th Congress, charges such as these may just cement Bell's career in the "Sore-loserman" image common to such candidates as Algore and Howard Dean. Given that business is business, and that the Dems would have pursued preferential re-districting should the roles had been reversed, Representative Bell should have folded and left the game gracefully. As it is, there will forever be the taint of partisanship that will follow him should he remain in politics or attempt to join the Beltway Bandits of K Street. And that, surely, is not the way to play "the game".

Story basis may be found at:

http://www.hillnews.com/news/061604/bell.aspx

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=3775

Driver's License Loophole Update- Issues, Not Results:

Jim Wasserman writes for the Associated Press today that SB 1160, the bill to allow illegal aliens/undocumented immigrants to lawfully obtain driver's licenses, was passed out of the California State Senate Transportation Committee on a 6-3 vote.

But despite the howling from a variety of sources, including the lively duo of John and Ken on KFI-640 AM Los Angeles, it remains un-discussed that SB 1160 is an urgency bill. As such, it requires a two thirds vote to pass. Given that more than enough Republicans have lined up to support Governor Schwarzenegger on his requirements that any licenses for illegal/undocumented immigrants have an easily identifiable characteristic on it's face, it is hard to see the bill surviving in the near future. Of course, such characteristics would make it easier for licensed dealers to identify prohibited persons trying to illegally obtain firearms and ammunition. Why Senator Cedillo seems bound and determined to make it easier for prohibited persons to obtain firearms and ammunition remains to be seen, especially given the Democrat party's fondness for extreme gun control measures.

As such, the entire drill in this election year more likely has to do with the kind of "dog and pony" show Democrats use to formulate campaign issues with. In the battle for the lawful Hispanic vote, Republican rejection of a driver's license bill will be held out as Prop 187 was to mischaracterize critics of SB 1160. Given the success of the original effort to demonize Republicans over Prop 187, it is understandable as to why the Dems want to try it again.

As a way to confirm the above, Senator Cedillo himself has failed to demonstrate that illegal/undocumented immigrants would be willing to submit any documentation indicating illegal status for recordation in any government database. What is more, it could hardly be expected that Senator Cedillo is "unaware" as to the handicap an "urgency" status confers on a bill at a time when battles over the budget are likely to dominate the remaining part of the session. As such, there is an "odor" of coordination by Senator Cedillo and the Democrats in this attempt to fabricate an issue for November (All the Democrats on the Transportation Committee voted for SB 1160, despite wide polling indicating the public's rejection of the concept. They would most likely do this only when they would know ahead of time that the bill will never become law.).

Knowing the above, it will remain for firearms activists to watch the bill's fate over the urgency issue over the next few weeks. The roundabout way in which those "Party Animals", known as Democrats, use the system to shape the political battlefield will serve as an important lesson in practical politics. Pity that it has to come at the public's expense in funds and time.

Story basis may be found at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/
2004/06/15/state1850EDT0354.DTL

But Will You Still Love Me, Tomorrow?:

Leslie Carlson and Pete Thomas wrote in the Los Angeles Times Outdoor Digest yesterday about a developer's plan to put a housing tract in Round Valley, California. Their story makes prominent mention as to how both hunters and environmentalists are fighting the proposed development in what appears to be a "marriage of convenience".

Round Valley is north of Bishop, California, and constitutes some of the best remaining winter range for mule deer in any of the X zones of California. But while Carlson and Thomas attribute a decline in the winter Round Valley deer herd to drought, fire, and the reduction of bitterbrush due to development, they conspicuously omit any effects due to mountain lion depredation or some of the diseases that have impacted Sierra Nevada deer herds over the past decade. This calls into question the thoroughness of their research, or that it may be influenced by anti-development tenets of the various environmentalist groups involved.

Oddly enough, the fate of mountain lions that prey on the Round Valley deer could constitute more of a reason to halt the slated housing development. That is due to the protected status that mountain lions enjoy in California. There is a good possibility that the developer, Pacifica Development, has not designed a housing development that takes the large territorial needs of male mountain lions into account (In all probability, recognition of the range requirements of one or two male mountain lions would probably cancel out any additional development in Round Valley).

It is odd enough that the Times is giving positive coverage to hunters in any of it's columns. But given that, in this case, hunters are involved in fighting a project that the Sierra Club and other environmental groups oppose, the "honorable mention" is par for their agenda-driven course. Given the way in which mule deer migrate throughout the Sierra Nevada, the idea of a "fixed" mule deer herd may not withstand final scrutiny would it not be for the interests of the hunting community wanting to preserve deer numbers and hunting opportunities in one of the premier zones in the state.

Still, this confluence of interests may not survive beyond the end of the Round Valley controversy. Hunters well remember the promises of access in the East Mojave case, only to discover that access was seriously hindered in the aftermath. In addition, guzzlers and other "non-natural" water holes were filled up, limiting opportunities to hunt quail and varmints throughout the whole East Mojave range. As such, hunters and other activists are forewarned to be more stringent in their demands for access and concessions up front, and in writing. Otherwise, their expenditure in time and political capital may go to waste should they ultimately defeat the Round Valley development project.

Story basis was found in the print edition of the Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2004 edition.

Possum Poop:

Ashley Powers wrote in yesterday's Los Angeles Times about the latest scientific hypothesis as to why sea otters are dieing off of the California coast of late.

But rather than it being a preference by Orcinus orca for fresh otter snacks, it seems that otters in the Morro Bay/Pismo Beach area are succumbing to a brain parasite.

Powers notes that state veterinarians have announced that the cause of death of at least 11 otters was due to Sarcocystis neurona, a parasite commonly associated with possum feces.

Earlier reports by various environmental groups, which laid the demise of otters to domestic pet feces (horse, cat, dog, etc.) thus may have to face the possibility that they were a tad off in their prognostications. That is because there are not likely as many possums upstream of the otter habitats as there are domestic pets and livestock. Thus it could be that such die-offs might be more of a naturally re-occuring nature than previously discovered by biologists, past accounts of large otter populations notwithstanding.

On the other hand, it may eventually turn out that possums may have infected domestic pets somehow, thus allowing for a larger spread of the parasites due to concentration. As such, inoculation of domestic pets, rather than the marine restrictions that are commonly in vogue, may have more of a chance to preserve these "cuddly" marine mammals. Stay tuned.

Story basis was found in the print edition of the Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2004 edition.

Respectfully,

Anthony Canales

SFVMC-NRA