CALIFORNIA YANKEE

China To Spend $175 Billion To Clean-Up Pollution

China plans to spend$175 billion over the next five years to clean-up the severe water and air pollution produced by the country's rapid economic development.

According to Reuters, China is home to 20 of the world's 30 most smog-choked cities.

Under this five-year plan, sewage treatment facilities are to be built in 10 river valleys to dispose of waste water discharged by urban areas, sulfur dioxide and dust will be reduced in major cities, and facilities will be built to guarantee nuclear safety.

China can no longer afford to continue its double digit growth without considering the negative environmental consequences.

No Immigration Reform Before Midterms

President Bush told Mexican President Vicente Fox that the U.S. Congress is unlikely to pass immigration reforms before elections in November.

According to Reuters, when Presidents Bush and Fox met at the G-8 summit in Russia, Fox asked about the negotiations in Congress over an immigration reform. Bush was realistic:

"He pointed out that this period is very short, there are only two or three weeks before Congress members go on the election campaign," Fox told Mexican radio on a flight from St Petersburg to Madrid.

"So the chance of the immigration issue reaching approval in the House of Representatives and reaching joint approval isn't very high," Fox said.

Unfortunately, President Bush's assessment is correct. Today, the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims is holding a hearing titled,"Should We Embrace the Senate's Grant of Amnesty to Millions of Illegal Aliens and Repeat the Mistakes of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986?" With the House-passed bill focused solely on border security and enforcement, the Senate bill seen by a large number of House Republicans as an amnesty similar to the failed 1986 Immigration Reform Act, and both sides thinking the issue gives their side a political advantage, no reform will be passed until after the November elections.

Immigration Subcommittee to Examine Amnesty Provisions in Senate's Immigration Legislation

The House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims will hold a hearing tomorrow titled,"Should We Embrace the Senate's Grant of Amnesty to Millions of Illegal Aliens and Repeat the Mistakes of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986?"

In May, the Senate passed legislation, S. 2611. According to the press release announcing the hearing, the Senate bill proposes granting amnesty to most of those in the country illegally, just as the 1986 law did.

Hearings such as these are only an effort to gain a political advantage in the midterm election. The hearings will not help to work out a compromise between the drastically different House and Senate immigration reform bills.

Long-Range ian Missile Destroyed In Lebanon

The Associated Press reports an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon destroyed at least one long-range ian missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv:

The officials said Israeli aircraft targeted a truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched. The force of the blast sent at least one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under military regulations.

During nearly a week of fighting, Hizbullah operatives have fired missiles up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) into Israel. But officials have raised concerns the guerrilla group could strike Tel Aviv, about 125 kilometers (80 miles) south of the border with Lebanon

Hezbollah Rejects Ceasefire With Israel

Agence France Presse reports Hezbollah rejects a ceasefire with Israel.

Abdullah Kasir, a member of Hezbollah’s central committee, told AFP:

We will never leave, even if Lebanon is reduced to scorched earth.

Showing the same contempt for the UN as Hezbollah's ian puppet masters, Kasir also said:

Israel’s demand to see the Lebanese army deploy along the border with Israel, replacing Hezbollah guerrillas who currently control the area, was a matter for the Lebanese to settle themselves.

In 2005, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1583 [pdf] calling upon Lebanon to exercise its sole and effective authority throughout southern Lebanon. Again this year, the UN Security Council called on Lebanon to make more progress in controlling its territory and disbanding militias. Had Lebanon complied with the UN demands, the present crisis could have been avoided.

Taliban Attacks Hiding Inside Hospital

American Forces Press Service reports Taliban extremists attacked Afghan and coalition security forces with machine-gun fire from inside a hospital, which the terrorists were using for cover:

Despite receiving direct fire, the coalition ground commander held off returning fire until he was able to confirm that neither patients nor staff members were inside the hospital. Afghan National Police helped confirm this information.

After positively confirming that only enemy fighters were in the hospital, the coalition troops launched a single precision-guided munition at the enemy machine-gun position to minimize damage and impact only that position, officials said.

It infuriates me that the main stream media will focus on every alleged transgression by U.S. soldiers, but ignores the enemy's violations of the rules of war.

Discovery Back Home

Discovery touches down at NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility after nearly 13 days, in space. Discovery traveled 5.3 million miles, landing on orbit 202.

Security Council Nears Vote On North Korea Missiles

The United Nations Security Council is closer to voting on a resolution chastising North Korea for its missile tests.

According to Agence France Presse, the draft resolution includes a reference to Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which can authorize mandatory sanctions or even the use of force.

China has made it clear it will veto any text that invokes Chapter Seven. The U.S. has that the co-sponsors of the draft resolution were prepared to drop the reference to mollify the Chinese.

Compromise language was agreed to by ambassadors of the five permanent members of the council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- as well as Japan:

The new text seeks to reconcile two rival proposals -- a tough Japanese draft, co-sponsored by the United States and its European allies, and a milder one championed by China and Russia.

It was presented by Japan and co-sponsored by the United States, Britain, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Peru and Slovakia.

The draft resolution requires "all member states ... to exercise vigilance and prevent missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology" being transferred to North Korea's missile and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.

It also requires those states "to exercise vigilance and prevent the procurement of missiles or missile-related items, materials, goods and technology (from North Korea) and the transfer of any financial resources" to Pyongyang's WMD programs.

And the document "demands" that Pyongyang suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program.

It is tempting to demand that a tough resolution punishing North Korea for its provocative missile volley, even if China vetoes it, but perhaps it is more important to have a resolution.

Mumbai’s Train Bombers Came From Bangladesh

The Mumbai Mirror reports all the seven terrorists involved in bombing Mumbai’s trains were either trained in Bangladesh or had spent considerable time there after receiving training in ISI-controlled training camps in Pakistan.

The Anti-Terrorist Squad is now quite certain that the seven bombers, and the others who helped them carry out the blasts, had a strong Bangladeshi connection. “At least three of them were Bangladeshi nationals who had entered India illegally. The rest, including those who provided the logistical support to the bombers, were either trained in Bangladesh or had entered India through that country,” a senior ATS officer said on Friday.

The War On Terror is truly Global.

Imam Without A Country

The former imam of a Cleveland mosque is stuck in jail because the U.S. cannot find a place to deport him:

Fawaz Damra, who was born on the West Bank, was convicted in 2004 of lying about ties to terrorist groups when he came to the United States about 20 years earlier. The evidence included a 1991 videotape in which Damra called Jews "pigs and monkeys" in Arabic and urged his listeners to contribute to Islamic Jihad.

[. . .]

Damra agreed in January to deportation. He was turned down by Canada and then requested deportation to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt or the Palestinian territories.

According to United Press International, until his trial, Damra, as a spiritual leader at the Islamic Center of Cleveland, had been considered a moderate.

Even though he was convicted of "lying about ties to terrorist groups," its all the fault of the US:

Haider Alawan, a friend of Damra, said the government made him homeless by depicting him as a terrorist.

"He's a man without a country," Alawan said.