Battered by foreign tariffs for the past year, California farmers now see a ray of hope for their operations in the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement.
It’s an updated version of the North American Free Trade Deal, or NAFTA, that the White House is preparing to send to Congress for ratification.
But there is no guarantee it will pass once it gets there.
Labor groups are telling lawmakers that ratifying the deal in its current form will hurt workers in California and beyond. They’ve blamed the original NAFTA, which went into effect in 1994, for costing Americans jobs as companies moved operations to Mexico, where wages are lower and regulations more lax.
By Stephen Frank, California Political News and Views
Thanks to Gray Davis as governor, the people of California paid excessive sums for gas and energy. Thanks to Guv Brown, farmers did not have enough water—and the price of food went up. Plus, we were forced to import food into this State. Housing shortage—look at the government policies making housing expensive and difficult to build. Homelessness? More government interference creates a problem and makes it worse.
“Whether you are forced to check the public defecation map to navigate the streets of San Francisco, are on the 57 freeway in Santa Ana looking at miles of homeless tent cities and camps, or you are dodging heroin-addicted homeless zombies around the State Capitol and on residential streets in Sacramento, the results are the same — Nearly one-third of the nation’s welfare recipients and homeless population lives in California.
In 2016, San Francisco allocated a record $241 million on homeless services, but couldn’t track results.”
Throw enough tax dollars at a problem you will have a crisis. Throw even more government money, and you have a disaster. Wonder why productive people are leaving California—look for the government label.
Stephen Frank: Is the the publisher and editor of the California Political News and Views. Mr. Frank speaks all over California and appears as a guest on several radio shows each week. He has also served as a guest host on radio talk shows and is a full time political consultant. http://capoliticalnews.com/
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Daily border crossings of illegal migrants over the past month have surpassed a daily average not seen since fiscal year 2006, stark evidence of the escalating situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers apprehended or stopped 3,974 illegal migrants on March 19, marking the single highest day since Present Donald Trump entered office, according to CBP data obtained by NBC News. There have been six other days in February where crossings surpassed 3,595, topping the 3,530 daily average seen in fiscal year 2006.
These seven days, which took place over just the past six weeks, are all the highest on record since the beginning of the Trump administration.
The latest numbers are not totally surprising. Illegal immigrant apprehensions have been steadily rising this year, and the Department of Homeland Security predicted total apprehensions in March would reach a high not seen in over ten years. The spring months typically witness greater rates of illegal migrants as more people are willing to make the trek across Mexico during the warmer weather.
The high number of migrant apprehensions at the U.S southern border has been garnering public attention. Border Patrol agents working near El Paso, Texas, for example, reportedcatching over 430 illegal immigrants over a period of just five minutes on March 19.
The type of immigrants seeking to enter the U.S. illegally are different from what was experienced in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many of whom during that period were adult Mexican nationals. The vast majority of illegals apprehended at the border today are families, and most of them are from Central America. Out of the 3,834 illegal migrants the CBP encountered on March 12, the majority of them (2,022) were members of a family unit.
The new demographics make it difficult for immigration enforcement officials to quickly deport them, leaving detention centers overwhelmed.
The flood of asylum requests and border crossings forced the El Paso Border Patrol sector to temporarily close its highway checkpoints. The checkpoint agents who typically check cross-border cargo for drugs are instead being redeployed to process the influx of asylum seekers.
The situation brings credence to President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration. The administration is using the emergency crisis to allocate billions in funds for border wall construction. Congressional Democrats, for their part, have heavily opposed Trump’s moves, passing a resolution through the House and Senate that condemns the declaration.
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However, Trump vetoed the resolution, and Democratic attempts to override his veto failed in the House on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues torpedoed the activist-backed Green New Deal Tuesday as Democrats called the vote a dog-and-pony show.
Republicans defeated the proposal 57 to 0 as Democratic lawmakers derided the vote as a political gesture meant to rile up conservatives ahead of an election year. McConnell calledthe GND Tuesday morning a socialistic ploy designed to kill the American economy and the “only sources of energy that working-class and middle-class families can actually afford.”
Only three Democrats voted against the resolution. Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Doug Jones of Alabama all voted no. All of their fellow Democratic colleagues voted present.
The resolution, which was introduced in February by New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calls for “10-year national mobilizations” toward a series of goals aimed at fighting global warming. A separate fact sheet claims the plan would “mobilize every aspect of American society on a scale not seen since World War 2.”(RELATED: Does Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal Outlaw Every Building In The Country)
Recent reports suggest the GND, which seeks to phase out fossil fuel usage within 12 years, could costs tens of trillions of dollars. Americans could be forced to pay up to $93 trillion to implement the proposal over a decade, the conservative-leaning American Action Forum (AAF) noted in a study in February. Critics claim that number is exaggerated as the proposal is still in the preliminary stages.
House Democrats along with most the Democratic Party’s quickly-expanding 2020 presidential field have voiced support for the measure. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey, who have both announced their bids for the 2020 nomination, for instance, have signed on as Senate co-sponsors of the proposal.
To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’: A Green Deal by any other color or whatever color would remain part of the same Plan, the Statist Plan.
I begin by using the word statist. It includes bad actors such as Islam, a political organization hiding behind the facade of being a religion. It also includes Democrats, Socialists, Progressives, Communists, and their fellow travelers that include some Republicans!
When President George H. W. Bush returned from a United Nations sponsored climate conference in 1992, the Rio Earth Summit, he was asked about a treaty he had signed. His response was a snide, “Welcome to The New World Order”. What did Bush mean?
It meant the President of the United States, a so-called Republican had sold the American people out to globalism, a hydra-headed monster. Bush had signed a “globalist” treaty. It was never submitted to the Senate for ratification because the treaty itself is consummate evil. The Plan is Agenda 21!
Over the intervening years, regardless of party, political administrations have incrementally implemented bits and pieces of that awful, globalist treaty-plan, Agenda 21. It has created an environment wherein States also work against citizens.
Agenda 2021/2030’s goal is to reduce and control the world’s people; to keep populations at “manageable” levels under the domination of a One World Government. The hydra-headed beast has many facets including maintaining the “royals”, the 10% of the population who are determined to exercise ruthless control over the serfs (we-the-people) by any means possible.
One facet in the United States, and there are many, controls life itself under the guise of medical care. Why else do the “Royals” call for Medicare for All if not as a controlling tool!
By any measure of humanity, the legalized murder of “disposable babies” (abortion) funded by our tax dollars that now belong to the State, and the elimination of “old people” through organized neglect because they are no longer “useful” to the “Statist Royals”, is immoral and terrifying all at once. The Statist Royals want a world in which they control the population from “cradle to grave”.
Socialized medicine as practiced in many so-called developed countries simply allows bureaucrats to set rules whereby abortion can be had “on demand” and medical care is denied to the elderly in order to reduce costs and eliminate wasteful spending on useless people.
The statists desperately want to impose the brutal, deadly blight of socialized medical care on all of us. As was done in the Soviet Union, and as is practiced currently in China, a “non- “royal”, a “serf” must comply; he or she must go along to get along or suffer dire consequences. The same is happening in Europe today. It is why thousands of wealthy Europeans travel to America for surgeries and medical care otherwise denied them in their home country.
“Royal” wannabe Al Gore joined the statist bandwagon early with his Global Warming campaign telling everyone to live frugally. He commands compliance from “on-high” while his mansion (palace!?) consumes as many resources as a small city.
“Royal” Moonbeam (former California Governor Jerry Brown) worked hard ripping the fabric of prosperity out of the heartland of California. Water to farmlands has been curtailed (except for those who pay and go along to get along), fisheries are wiped out as water retention dams are intentionally destroyed, water rationing is imposed while water retention needs are ignored.
Were it not for the strength of California’s heartland folks, the state would already resemble Venezuela. The stench of urine and feces permeates the air in some California cities driving people to the suburbs. An unintended and unwelcome consequence for the statists because their objective is to coral the masses forcing them to live in small, cramped Orwellian quarters.
China’s statists are implementing a social credit system (merits and demerits) that American statists want, and already have to a certain extent with statist control of social media. That is what Obamacare is/was all about, supplying care for the chosen ones (often free as was the case for Moslems) and limiting or cutting care to others deemed useless (because they no longer contribute their “fair share”) or because they have become problems.
In American government at all levels, the statists are the swamp. A festering, putrid swamp that must be exterminated.
Alexandra Ocasio-hyphen-Cortez performs is a lightning rod for the statists as she outrageously bloviates with all manner of foolishness. She is treated by many as an ignorant idiot as she garners media attention intended to ridicule her and her antics. Is she really that stupid or is the former barmaid a clever fox?
Cortez seems to be focused on being a one-term Congressman. She has not established an office in the district that elected her, she performs little if any constituent services, and she makes no effort towards the re-election process. Cortez is being showered with funds from the likes of sugar daddy George Soros and will likely be a multi-millionaire in a short order. (Next stop, the Hollywood casting couches?)
Lightning Rod Alexandra Ocasio hyphen Cortez is running interference for other statists who, when compared to her, are considered moderate and therefore more electable. Sneaky critters like Senators Gillebrand, Sanders, Booker and other nasty statists and their “positions” start to appear “normal” and certainly more “desirable” than the Cortez rod! This seeming “normalness” is a detriment to all of us we-the-people. Everyone of these statists threaten our existence.
Already, loopy Pelosi is viewed by some fools as a moderate player on the statist stage.
ACHTUNG! Statists are an unrelenting existential threat to civilized humanity. Statists are invading our everyday lives. Many on social media platforms who has expressed their real thoughts, who have posted honest, true, and fact-based views are suffering the consequences of being upright and outspoken citizens. Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other social media platforms engage in acts designed to punish, to demean, to harm, or control citizens. They censor what we say, shadow-ban our content, and either punish us with time-outs in the social media gulag or boot us off their platforms because we displease the “royal ranks” of the statists.
Their abuses however have spawned a host of new social media sites that promise not to censor, ban, or punish people for saying what they believe. Thousands are flocking to these new platforms, MeWe, Freetalk24, MINDS, GAB, and others, where they can express their First Amendment thoughts and concerns.
Statists work hard trying to re-define the First Amendment, promoting Political Islam’s blasphemy, and limiting our rights of free expression. They try to destroy and to deny citizens’ Second Amendment rights, privileges, and responsibilities. They already are formulating plans to sentence us to re-education centers (FEMA camps) and punish us for our transgressions. Children are being ripped from the embrace of their caring, loving parents and families because some statist feel like doing so. And, because it is part of The Plan.
New Mexico’s governor signed a goofy law that forces every gun owner to submit to some form of control. It denies that state’s citizens the right to defend themselves and their loved ones.
Fortunately, good New Mexico Sheriffs, who cannot be fired, are telling the statist New Mexico governor where she can go. Similar actions are taking place in Maryland. California’s uber statist government is working on a collection of onerous gun control measures as are Oregon and Washington statists.
Sensible gun owners are themselves taking measures to protect their guns from statists (http://www.jamesehorn.com/guns-gun-confiscation-gun-control-gun-politics/). More realistic, sensible states like Oklahoma, Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming, Vermont, Kentucky, Kansas, Mississippi, Utah, South Carolina, and Texas, are making it possible for citizens to pack weapons for their self-defense.
Where statist gun control prevails, crime thrives. Where gun ownership prevails, crime diminishes.The statists are raging because President Donald J. Trump is one of us, a genuine human being. Some say an he is an altruist, which I do not agree with. But we do KNOW President Trump is NOT a statist.President Trump and the growing numbers of people who like or love him, who think like him, who appreciate what he is doing for our nation, and who want to follow his lead are a serious threat to statism.
Trump has indicated he will run for re-election in 2020, and like millions of others, I rejoice at the thought.
Jim, a decorated veteran, is a retired American Diplomat who served in American embassies and consulates for 25-years, ten in Islamic societies. He is not a fan of Islam. Jim is a public speaker on the topic of Moslems and Islam and the author of several books on the subject.
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Center4SpecialNeeds is proud to announce a brand new upcoming program perfect for kids that they will surely love! It will be led by a registered behavior technician and 2-3 volunteer support staff!
Yummy snacks will be provided, and each meeting will feature a different exciting theme & fun activity!
Will Meet Once Per Month Will meet twice per month depending on demand $24 per 2-hour session
Ages 4-7: 10am – 12pm Ages 8-11: 12:30pm – 2:30pm
This play group will focus on:
▪ A Fun Environment to Make and Maintain New Friendships ▪ Navigating Social Situations ▪ Cultivating Communication Skills ▪ Reducing Social Anxiety ▪ The Ability to Practice Skills in a Safe Environment ▪ Modeling and Implementing Correct Play Behavior
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A Fun Environment to Make and Maintain New Friendships
▪
Navigating Social Situations
▪
Cultivating Communication Skills
▪
Reducing Social Anxiety
▪
The Ability to Practice Skills in a Safe Environment
▪
Modeling and Implementing Correct Play Behavior
Registration in advance is required for all participants. The Intake Form, Photo Release Form, and Release of Liability Form must be filled out 24 hours prior to payment. Spots are limited,as each play group will only have a max of 6 kids!
Click the button below to learn more & access the forms you’ll need to sign your child up for this play group!
April 13: Easter Eggs Craft Made of felt and/or construction paper. Decorate an egg with accessories including ribbons, markers, and buttons!
May 11: Mother’s Day Notebook Made with construction paper. Create a heart-shaped notebook for Mother’s Day that you can write notes in!
Be Part of the Change & Help Us Grow Our Programs!
Our monthly goal is for 300 individuals to make a monthly pledge of $20 or more for one year, which would provide the funding we need to sustain our programs, and expand to reach more individuals and families. For $20 per month, less than the price of one dinner for two at a casual restaurant, you have the opportunity to improve the quality of life for someone with special needs!
Conejo Deals offers new deals everyday for local leisure. Your purchase will send a dollar to Center4SpecialNeeds when you select an organization at checkout.
Ralphs Rewards and Center4SpecialNeeds are working together to ensure all purchases are contributed to a greater cause.
Simply sign in on Ralphs’ website, check “My Account” & go to“Welcome Valued Customer”. Afterwards, search for our organization’s name or NPO# (QG527), select it, & click enroll!
Tom Dunn is a Port Hueneme resident who is publisher of Port Hueneme News, a digital newspaper (facebook @huenemenews) and host of “Hello Port Hueneme” a video interview show about people, places and things in Port Hueneme.
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Westlake Village, Calif.—The 45th Conejo Valley Home Remodeling Show will feature new home and outdoor designs, technology and upgrades. The show takes place Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14, at the Hyatt Regency Westlake (880 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village). Vendors include over 170 local contractors, landscapers, interior designers, smart home technology experts, solar installers and other home improvement professionals. Sponsoring the show is BMC, one of the country’s largest providers of building products.
This year, the show will feature contractors who can help homeowners whose homes or landscaping were damaged or destroyed during the Hill Fire and Woolsey Fire.
“Rebuilding and repairing after a disaster is often an overwhelming experience. We’re hoping that the show will be a valuable one-stop resource for homeowners whose properties were damaged in the fires,” says Rick Goodman, show organizer. “The show attracts a variety of vendors with products and ideas for every taste and style and every type of project.”
First-time home show vendor is Black Diamond Paver Stones & Landscape. The company, which designs and installs hardscapes and softscapes, began in northern California over 15 years ago and is now in Westlake Village. “The home show is our opportunity to introduce ourselves,” says Keith Coburn, Black Diamond’s southern California regional manager. “We want people to know that Black Diamond is committed to 100 percent client satisfaction. Homeowners are continually looking for ways to upgrade their property. Pavers and other hardscape features, ground cover and high-grade artificial turf are always in great demand.”
Another new vendor at the home show is Stiltz Lifts. The company installs home elevators in two and three-level houses after homeowners begin to find it difficult climbing up and down stairs. “People who love their homes want to age in place,” says Michael Brice, Stiltz Lifts’ Southern California president. “They don’t want to move just because walking up and down stairs has become a chore.”
The elevators have a relatively small footprint and some models can accommodate a wheelchair. Typically, the lift is installed in a hallway or family room in the downstairs of the property in either the corner or middle of a room. It leads up to a bedroom or landing. “The elevators are used as dumb waiters so you don’t have to lug heavy items upstairs or down,” says Brice.
The right type of window installation can mean the difference between a truly energy efficient window and one that isn’t. Home Show vendor Clear Choice Windows cautions homeowners to never buy a window off the shelf at a big box store and try to install it yourself. “Every window or door opening is unique,” says Bill Meneray, owner of the Simi Valley-based Clear Choice Windows. “They need to be professionally measured and installed to make sure the window or door is truly energy efficient.” He says that track homebuilders are what keep window and door installers in business. “Doors and windows are where new construction skimps on grade and quality,” says Meneray. As far as window trends, Meneray is noticing a comeback in mini-blinds placed in between windowpanes. “It was popular about 15 years ago and now we’re seeing it again.”
These and lots more home and decorating ideas will be at the show with professionals ready to answer questions. Home show hours are Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Gourmet food trucks will be serving food on Saturday, April 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
About six months ago I got an American Express card through the Navy Fed Credit Union.
This weekend I got a letter from the American Express Club saying there was a problem with my card and I could not use it and please go to a website listed in the letter.
I took the letter to the Navy Credit Union and they said if there was a problem with the card the Navy Credit Union would have sent the letter. They checked my card and there was no hold or memo on it and could be used. They said this is a scam to get personal info when you go to the website that was listed in the letter.
I asked if I had gotten the card directly from American Express what should I have done; they said call the number on your American Express card or on a monthly statement to see if it came from them.
Be Careful.
Tom Dunn is a Port Hueneme resident who is publisher of Port Hueneme News, a digital newspaper (facebook @huenemenews) and host of “Hello Port Hueneme” a video interview show about people, places and things in Port Hueneme.
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The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Tuesday’s announcement by Vice President Mike Pence, at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council, about putting American astronauts back on the Moon in the next five years:
“Today, I joined leaders from across the country as Vice President Mike Pence chaired the fifth meeting of the National Space Council. Vice President Pence lauded President Donald J. Trump’s bold vision for space exploration and spoke to NASA’s progress on key elements to accomplish the President’s Space Policy Directives.
“Among the many topics discussed during our meeting at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was to accelerate our return to the Moon:
NASA is charged to get American astronauts to the Moon in the next five years.
We are tasked with landing on the Moon’s South Pole by 2024.
Stay on schedule for flying Exploration Mission-1 with Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket next year, and for sending the first crewed mission to the lunar vicinity by 2022.
NASA will continue to ‘use all means necessary’ to ensure mission success in moving us forward to the Moon.
“It is the right time for this challenge, and I assured the Vice President that we, the people of NASA, are up to the challenge.
“We will take action in the days and weeks ahead to accomplish these goals. We have laid out a clear plan for NASA’s exploration campaign that cuts across three strategic areas: low-Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars and deeper into space.
“I have already directed a new alignment within NASA to ensure we effectively support this effort, which includes establishing a new mission directorate to focus on the formulation and execution of exploration development activities. We are calling it the Moon to Mars Mission Directorate.
“Earlier today I was also at Marshall Space Flight Center for an all-hands to reinforce our commitment to SLS with the workforce. We discussed my recent announcement that NASA would consider all options to fly Orion around the Moon on schedule. I shared the analysis we conducted to assess flying the Orion on different commercial options. While some of these alternative vehicles could work, none was capable of achieving our goals to orbit around the Moon for Exploration Mission-1 within our timeline and on budget. The results of this two-week study reaffirmed our commitment to the SLS. More details will be released in the future.
“There’s a lot of excitement about our plans and also a lot of hard work and challenges ahead, but I know the NASA workforce and our partners are up to it. We are now looking at creative approaches to advance SLS manufacturing and testing to ensure Exploration Mission-1 launches in 2020. We will work to ensure we have a safe and reliable launch system that keeps its promise to the American people.
“I know NASA is ready for the challenge of moving forward to the Moon, this time to stay.”
On March 26, 2019 the United Space and Rocket Center hosted a meeting of the National Space Advisory Council. The meeting was chaired by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence with remarks by members of the Council including NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
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Stephen Frank: Is the the publisher and editor of the California Political News and Views. Mr. Frank speaks all over California and appears as a guest on several radio shows each week. He has also served as a guest host on radio talk shows and is a full time political consultant. 
By CHRIS WHITE, Energy Reporter
By James E. Horn
