Showing posts with label Sacramento. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sacramento. Show all posts

Friday, January 5, 2018

Farms Facing Shrinking Immigrant Labor Pool

First thing I thought when I started reading this piece, is, "No, American workers worked Central Valley fields in the 1930s and '40s, workers escaping the devastation of Dust Bowl America (the Okies).

The piece does mention them, as a sop to history.

I just know that if wages were high enough, Americans would take these jobs. I would have picked cantaloupes in the 1980s if owners were paying me $12.00 an hour. The Times had a piece last year where growers near Sacramento were paying $15.00 and up (with some growers expecting to pay wages from $18.00 to $20.00 an hour).

It's simple economics. There's no shame in working an honest job. The fact that dark-skinned people have done it for so long doesn't mean that hard-working U.S. citizens won't work the fields. Immigrant labor drags down wages. Growers like it that way, giving the shiv to regular citizens.

At LAT, "Born in the U.S.A. and working in the fields — what gives?":

Nicholas Andrew Flores swatted at the flies orbiting his sweat-drenched face as he picked alongside a crew of immigrants through a cantaloupe field in California's Central Valley.

The 21-year-old didn't speak Spanish, but he understood the essential words the foreman barked out: Puro amarillo. And rapido, rapido! Quickly, Flores picked only yellow melons and flung them onto a moving platform.

It was hard and repetitive work, and there were days under the searing sun that Flores regretted not going to a four-year college. But he liked that to get the job he just had to "show up." And at $12 an hour, it paid better than slinging fast food.

For Joe Del Bosque of Del Bosque Farms in the San Joaquin Valley, American-born pickers like Flores, though rare, are always welcome.

For generations, rural Mexico has been the primary source of hired farm labor in the U.S. According to a federal survey, nine out of 10 agricultural workers in places like California are foreign-born, and more than half are in the U.S. illegally.

But farm labor from Mexico has been on the decline in California. And under the Trump administration, many in the agricultural industry worry that deportations — and the fear of them — could further cut the supply of workers.

But try as they have to entice workers with better salaries and benefits, companies have found it impossible to attract enough U.S.-born workers to make up for a shortage from south of the border.

Del Bosque said he'll hire anyone who shows up ready to work. But that rarely means someone born in the U.S.

"Americans will say, 'You can't pay me enough to do this kind of work,'" Del Bosque said. "They won't do it. They'll look for something easier."

For some immigrants working the fields, people like Flores are a puzzle — their sweating next to them represents a kind of squandering of an American birthright.

"It's hard to be here under the sun. It's a waste of time and their talents in the fields," said Norma Felix, 58, a Mexican picker for almost three decades. "They don't take advantage of their privilege and benefit of being born here. They could easily work in an office."

Most don't last long, she said.

"There is always one or two who show up every season," Felix said. "They show up for three or four days and turn around and leave."

Agriculture's reliance on immigrant labor, especially in the American West, goes back to the late 1800s, after the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, said J. Edward Taylor, a UC Davis rural economist.

"The domestic farm workforce was simply not big enough to support the growth of labor-intensive fruit and vegetable crops," he said...

Friday, July 21, 2017

Violent Antifa Leader Yvette Felarca Arrested

She's a middle school teacher. I wrote a letter of complaint last year, although I never heard back.

She should be behind bars, as I've said many times on Twitter. At least we're seeing some movement toward that effect.

At Legal Insurrection, "Antifa Leader Arrested for Inciting a Riot."

She should have been arrested for assault and battery at the time. Multiple videos were posted of those "battles" in Berkeley, and she was inciting and participating in mob violence against so-called "fascist" protesters.

Watch, at CBS News 5 San Francisco:



More at the Daily Californian, "BUSD teacher, activist Yvette Felarca arrested Tuesday."

Monday, February 13, 2017

Oroville Dam: Federal and State Officials Ignored Warnings 12 Years Ago

This just sticks in my craw.

At the San Jose Mercury News, and at KCRA News 3 Sacramento below:




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BONUS: Robert Kelley, Battling the Inland Sea: Floods, Public Policy, and the Sacramento Valley.

Updates: #OrovilleSpillway Holds for Now (VIDEO)

Watch, at KCRA, "What a spillway failure would mean downstream," and "Aerial view shows emergency spillway at Lake Oroville."

Also, "Sacramento motels, hotels fill up with evacuees."

More, at the Sacramento Bee, and CBS This Morning below:




Sunday, February 12, 2017

#OrovilleSpillway Emergency Evacuation

The Sacramento Bee's got great coverage, as well as KCRA News 3 Sacramento:


Sunday, February 5, 2017

Rep. Tom McClintock Faces Angry Constituents at Roseville Town Hall Meeting (VIDEO)

McClintock's interviewed at the video, where near the end he says, "There's an intolerance on the political left that's running very deep, and the fact that the police had to intervene is a serious indicator of the growing violence of the left --- this is very disturbing!"

See the Los Angeles Times, "Hundreds of people showed up for a town hall with California's Rep. Tom McClintock, and things got intense."

And at the Sacremento Bee, "McClintock exits with police escort after raucous town hall meeting in Roseville":

Facing a packed auditorium and raucous crowd, Republican Congressman Tom McClintock on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017, defended his party’s national agenda and voiced strong support for President Donald Trump’s disputed executive actions to scale back Obamacare, ban refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Facing a packed auditorium and raucous crowd, Republican Rep. Tom McClintock on Saturday defended his party’s national agenda and voiced strong support for President Donald Trump’s controversial executive actions to scale back Obamacare, ban visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Vote him out,” hundreds of demonstrators chanted outside the Tower Theatre in downtown Roseville, the Republican-heavy population center of McClintock’s sprawling congressional district. Inside the theater, more than 200 people gathered for a town-hall event hosted by McClintock.

Attendees, some carrying signs that read “Resist,” “Dump Tom McTrump” and “Climate change is real,” pressed McClintock to denounce Republican plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, acknowledge the science supporting the human causes of climate change, and oppose Trump’s executive order temporarily restricting refugee admissions to the U.S.

“I believe that order is constitutional,” said McClintock, one of several comments that elicited boos at the hourlong event.

McClintock’s visit drew hundreds of people, most of whom had come to express opposition to the new administration. Many identified themselves as liberal Democrats and progressives, while party registration in McClintock’s district – which incorporates all or part of 10 counties spanning from Tahoe to Yosemite – is solidly Republican.

“This is really all about resisting the Trump agenda,” said Wendy Wood, chairwoman of Indivisible Sierra Nevada, a local chapter of a political organization formed in response to the election. “Most of us have never participated in political activism of any sort. Something is happening here, and people here are not happy with (Trump) and McClintock. We’re here to vote them out.”

Roseville police and fire officials capped attendance inside the theater at roughly 200 people. Those left outside voiced frustration about being locked out of the theater, some saying they had driven for hours simply to see McClintock face to face.

“We just wanted to be able to ask questions of our representative and share our thoughts on key issues,” wrote Lauren Lake in an email. “I drove hours over a snowy pass to be there … we were told that the venue was at capacity and no one else would be allowed in.”

Inside the theater, McClintock took about a dozen audience questions. Some of the most passionate comments came from people who said they feared losing access to health care if Republicans press forward to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a clear replacement.

“What do you expect seniors and people with disabilities with low income to do if you take away our Medicare and Medicaid that we rely on to literally stay alive?” asked Amanda Barnes, who said she was paralyzed from her waist down after a hit-and-run accident in a crosswalk five years ago.

McClintock said his party did not yet have a replacement plan, but that there were several Republican-backed proposals still taking shape...
Continue.

McClintock's a solid conservative, but he's really earning my respect here by facing down this deranged leftist mob. You had some guy a couple of weeks ago slip out the side door rather than stand up to the progressive goon squad, so McClintock's clearly showing he can take a political beating and get right back up.

More power to him.

Via Memeorandum.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

It's the 'Glammy Gay Package'

Robin Abcarian tweets.

And her L.A. Times story here, "Breitbart provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos is shouted down at UC Davis but gets the last word."


Monday, July 4, 2016

Leftist 'Anti-Fascist' Yvette Felarca Caught on Video Attacking Peaceful Protester in Sacramento (VIDEO)

The most gobsmacking thing is that she's a junior high school teacher in Berkeley!

Shouldn't be surprised, I guess. We've got enclaves in this country that've been literally taken over by the forces of global anti-Americanism. It's pretty bad.

I saw the raw video last week after the rioting, but CBS News 5 San Francisco covered it on the local news. And at the Los Angeles Times, "Bay Area school threatened after teacher clashes with neo-Nazis at state Capitol."




Previously, "'No Free Speech for Fascists!' — Leftist Extremists Launched Violent Attack at Sacramento Rally (VIDEO)."

Monday, June 27, 2016

Frances Wang

Man, this lady was just bringing it home yesterday. She video'd the black bloc anarchists throttling the so-called "neo-Nazis," and especially captured the one dude getting rung-up on the back of his head with a 2x4.

Posted here, "'No Free Speech for Fascists!' — Leftist Extremists Launched Violent Attack at Sacramento Rally (VIDEO)."

And here's her bio, at ABC News 10 Sacramento:

Frances Wang joined the ABC10 reporting team in October 2015. She was born in San Francisco but grew up in Sacramento, which she considers home.

Frances has dreamed of being a journalist since she was kid after being interviewed by Walt Gray.

She's always been the most talkative of her peers, so her former teachers and classmates aren't surprised she became a reporter.

After graduating from St. Francis High School, she went on to become a Trojan at the University of Southern California. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors. During her time there, she also earned a second Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

Most recently, Frances worked as a morning news reporter for KREM2 in Spokane, Wash., where she would cover breaking news one day and zip line through the mountains on live TV the next. She's also had internships at KABC-TV, CNN and E! News.

Frances' favorite part of her job is getting to know people she may not have met otherwise. She loves to tell stories about the amazing things people do for their communities.

In her free time, you can find her catching up on shows, trying out new restaurants, and struggling to get to the gym.


'No Free Speech for Fascists!' — Leftist Extremists Launched Violent Attack at Sacramento Rally (VIDEO)

I don't shock easily, but the beginning of the video, when the black bloc anarchist, armed with a wooden club, smashes a protester in the side of the head, is mind-boggling.

Some of these activists from the Traditional Workers Party appeared indeed to be Nazis, as I found out after trolling around on Twitter yesterday. The only thing is, it was the leftists who started the violent attacks. Frankly, they set out to violently confront the so-called "white nationalists" and shut them down. So who's the extremist? Who's the real fascist?

Here's the event announcement from BAMN (By Any Means Necessary), "NO “FREE SPEECH” FOR FASCISTS! Mass, militant demonstration shuts down Sacramento Neo-Nazi rally!":


PROTEST THE NAZIS/KKK IN SACRAMENTO!

No Racist Organizing in California!

No “Free Speech” for Fascists!

• SMASH FASCISM! NO PLATFORM FOR ORGANIZING RACIST VIOLENCE, MURDER, AND GENOCIDE!
• No Racist Demagogy! No Anti-Muslim Bigotry! No National Chauvinism, Fear Mongering, or Immigrant Scapegoating!
• Latina/o, Black, Native American, Arab, Asian, and White, Immigrants With and Without Papers, We are ALL Californians!
• Open the Borders! Full Citizenship Rights for All Undocumented Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum-Seekers Now!
• Build the New Independent, Integrated, Mass Militant Youth-Led Civil Rights and Immigrant Rights Movement!
Also, from Lee Stranahan, at Breitbart, "Officer: Left-Wing Extremists Started Sacramento Riot."

And get this, at the Sacramento Bee, "Activist Yvette Felarca says anti-fascist rally at the Capitol will prevent more violenceJun 26, 2016" (VIDEO):
Yvette Felarca, from the activist group By Any Means Necessary in Oakland, says their violent reaction to a white supremacist rally at the California Capitol Sunday will help prevent violence against immigrant communities by dissuading other supremacist groups from holding events.
The leftist MSM was lapping up the propaganda from this pig Felarca. Watch, at CNN, "Bloody protester: We took Nazis on."

Also, from Ed Driscoll at Instapundit, "VIDEO: THE INSANE SACRAMENTO NEO-NAZI/ANTI-FASCIST MELEE."

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Open-Borders Thugs Protest Donald Trump at California GOP Convention (VIDEO)

CBS News 13 Sacramento has the video below.

And at the Los Angeles Times, today's front page lead story, "Trump spurs a fresh wave of Latino activism":


As Donald Trump's presidential campaign moves into California, he's being met by a revitalized, youthful Latino-rights movement playing from a different rule book than its predecessors.

Trump faced large and hostile demonstrations outside a rally Thursday night in Costa Mesa and at the Burlingame hotel where he delivered a speech to the California Republican Convention.

Protest organizers in Southern California said the anti-Trump demonstration spread through word of mouth and involved mostly young people, including many high school and college students. They brought with them Mexican flags, which were once discouraged at immigrant rights rallies for fear they would be regarded as un-American.

But in reaction to Trump, the Mexican flag has re-emerged, unfurled and unapologetic and a symbol for a new generation of Latino activists. Protesters said they have no hesitation about putting their heritage on display, especially when it comes to the rise and rhetoric of Donald Trump.

"People are angry — they are feeling personally attacked and in danger," said Luis Serrano, 28, an organizer with California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.

Some activists have discussed whether aggressive protests might actually boost Trump with his conservative base and help him win the Republican primary, where he faces Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

On Friday, Trump tried turning the protests to his advantage. After demonstrators blocked his entrance to the hotel, forcing him to walk around a back way, he joked: "It was like crossing the border."

Serrano and other activists said speaking out against Trump outweighs the risk of their protests inadvertently earning the presidential candidate votes. Some groups are trying to use outrage against Trump to register more Latino voters...
More.

Hoisting the Mexican flag is only going to help Trump. Maybe not in California, but if these Latino protests take off in battleground states, they're going to hurt the Democrats. See also, "Trump protesters, Mexican flag-wavers could bring unintended consequences for GOP race."

Sunday, April 17, 2016

U.C. Davis Spent at Least $175,000 to Scrub Bad Pepper-Spray Reputation from the Web (VIDEO)

This story's a crack-up, heh.

The chancellor, espcially, Linda Katehi, is a terrible horrible bad person.

Students continue to call for her resignation, at the KCRA video below.

At the Sacramento Bee, "UC Davis spent thousands to scrub pepper-spray references from Internet":

UC Davis contracted with consultants for at least $175,000 to scrub the Internet of negative online postings following the November 2011 pepper-spraying of students and to improve the reputations of both the university and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, newly released documents show.

The payments were made as the university was trying to boost its image online and were among several contracts issued following the pepper-spray incident.

Some payments were made in hopes of improving the results computer users obtained when searching for information about the university or Katehi, results that one consultant labeled “venomous rhetoric about UC Davis and the chancellor.”

Others sought to improve the school’s use of social media and to devise a new plan for the UC Davis strategic communications office, which has seen its budget rise substantially since Katehi took the chancellor’s post in 2009. Figures released by UC Davis show the strategic communications budget increased from $2.93 million in 2009 to $5.47 million in 2015.

“We have worked to ensure that the reputation of the university, which the chancellor leads, is fairly portrayed,” said UC Davis spokeswoman Dana Topousis. “We wanted to promote and advance the important teaching, research and public service done by our students, faculty and staff, which is the core mission of our university.”

Money to pay the consultants came from the communications department budget, Topousis said.

*****

IT IS ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF HOW OUT OF TOUCH THE LEADERSHIP AT UC DAVIS IS WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR PUBLIC PERSPECTIVE...

*****
Well, that's for sure.

More at that top link.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Sacramento State's Four-Year Graduation Rate is Just 9 Percent (VIDEO)

Actually, I think the four-year graduation benchmark is extremely unrealistic. The problem, though, is that less than half of students are even graduating within six years.

So something's got to be done to boost completion times.

At CBS News Sacramento:



Plus, from the Sacramento Bee, last July, "New Sac State president puts graduation rates first."