New Citizenship Applications for Asgardia

For those that are as old as me may remember Ralph Cramden telling his wife Alice, to the moon. Well, that time is here. Except, Alice would be an Asgardian if she launched and landed on the moon. Send postcards when you can.

Space platform

Asgardia will be a fully fledged, independent nation inhabited on a low Earth orbit. It began with a satellite, Asgardia-1, that was launched in 2017, to be followed by an orbital satellite constellation launch in 2019-2020, and later by other satellite constellations and Space Arks, as well as by settlements on the Moon.

Who will be your leader? Well there is one already. And there is a Constitution.

There are already citizens. Asgardia Nation Citizens 203,865 Residents 218,396

Click here to see where they are from.

There is also an anthem for Asgardia.

FIRST IN HISTORY INAUGURATION OF THE HEAD OF THE FIRST SPACE NATION ASGARDIA

Asgardia’s first Head of Nation, Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, was inaugurated on the 25th of June at the Hofburg Palace with guests from over 40 countries from across the world.

In attendance were ambassadors of more than 10 countries, representatives of a number of major public organizations affiliated with UN structures, newly elected Asgardian Members of Parliament, astronauts, space industry managers, scientists, international lawyers, and media from all over the world.

Taking part in the ceremony was the Chairman of Parliament, Lembit Öpik, a former leader of the Welsh Assembly and Member of the British Parliament. The Head of the Supreme Court, Dr Yun Zhao, also took part—a well-known lawyer in the field of space law, a professor at Hong Kong University and a member of a number of arbitration courts.

After taking his oath of office, Dr Ashurbeyli announced that, within the next 25 years, Asgardia will have habitable space stations and stationary settlements on the Moon equipped with artificial gravity and protection from cosmic radiation which will effectively enable permanent human habitation in space. In the coming months, he also announced that Asgardia’s first Government administration will be formed, during which time a Cabinet of Ministers will be appointed, alongside the formation of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Audit Office and the Supreme Space Council.

Why Become an Asgardian

Shape the Future of Space LawLet your voice be heard! Join our discussion on a new legal platform for the exploration of space. Be part of the movement that will define the future of humanity’s off-planet expansion.

Connect with Forward – Thinking People

Our community is the perfect place to network and brainstorm with innovators, engineers, scientists, business people and investors. Asgardians can transform a dream into reality.

Protect Our Planet and Future Generations

Faced with threats such as sun storms and potentially dangerous asteroids, we need to prioritise our collective efforts to protect the Earth. Help us accelerate this process and find solutions.

 

Justice Alito and Plaintiff Janus Saved Free Speech

Excellent!

Related reading: Tom Perez, Chairman of the DNC is not happy

There are an estimated 5 million government employees in 24 States. Mark Janus is a Illinois State employee that has been forced to pay $600 per year to the public sector union known as AFSCME. In a 5-4 ruling with the opinion written by Justice Alito, no more forced dues are required even when not a member of a union. Of course, Justice Elena Kagan wrote a dissenting opinion stating that ‘its crusade by the majority is turning the First Amendment into a sword’.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders had argued that strong labor unions are needed because they give “the strength in numbers [workers] need to fight for the freedoms they deserve,” including retirement plans and health care.

The repercussions could affect unions nationwide. Union membership nationwide is less than 11 percent of the American workforce, but about a third of government employees are members. More here.

As a condition of employment, a person is forced to pay up to keep their job while they have no voice in lobby efforts, where money is spent or in collective bargaining.

Supreme Court hears major challenge to government unions ... photo

The Janus case started in the 7th circuit and the union fee case has been going on for an estimated 40 years. Janus was represented by Mark Mix, the president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

The basis of the argument is being forced to pay union fees of any sort is coerced political speech. Part of the Alito decision includes:

Compelling individuals to mouth support for views they
find objectionable violates that cardinal constitutional
command, and in most contexts, any such effort would be
universally condemned. Suppose, for example, that the
State of Illinois required all residents to sign a document
expressing support for a particular set of positions on
controversial public issues—say, the platform of one of the
major political parties. No one, we trust, would seriously
argue that the First Amendment permits this.
Perhaps because such compulsion so plainly violates the
Constitution, most of our free speech cases have involved
restrictions on what can be said, rather than laws compel­
ling speech. But measures compelling speech are at least
as threatening.

When speech is compelled, however, additional damage
is done. In that situation, individuals are coerced into
betraying their convictions. Forcing free and independent
individuals to endorse ideas they find objectionable is
always demeaning, and for this reason, one of our land­
mark free speech cases said that a law commanding “in­
voluntary affirmation” of objected-to beliefs would require
“even more immediate and urgent grounds” than a law
demanding silence.
The 82 page opinion is found here. It is compelling reading.
Open Secrets, a site for money in government published this in part:
2018 $13,352,634 80% 19%

That number above represents union money to legislators where 80% went to Democrats and 19% went to Republicans.

Since 1989, public sector unions have contributed $385 million to federal elections, and Democrats have received the vast majority of that money. In the 2016 election those groups pumped $63.8 million into races, 90 percent of which went to Democrats. So far in the 2018 cycle, $13.4 million has gone toward races, with 80 percent benefiting Democrats.

The top 20 politicians to receive money from public sectors since 1989 have been Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

In this election cycle, Democratic senators in hotly contested races have benefited from union support.

In the past 10 years, public sector unions also spent nearly $160 million on lobbying.

Overall, 28 states have passed so-called “right-to-work” laws, which ban requirements for union membership or fees. The states include Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana, former union strongholds where average hourly wages and union memberships have slipped since the laws passed.

A dip in union membership would likely bring a significant drop in funding for big union political spenders like AFSCME, which has spent $114 million on federal elections since 1989.

Other top spenders that would see their funds potentially slashed include the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Facts are Stubborn Things Regarding Immigrants

So, a friend sent an article to me written by Victor David Hansen and published by National Review. It is about Mexico and this presidential candidate and the threat he has made to the United States. He encouraging a mass exodus of his own people to the United States. Why? Money. There is a protected $70 billion trade surplus for Mexico under NAFTA. Another item is, illegal immigrants and Mexican nationals remit $30 billion back to Mexico.

Hansen’s article is here for the full read and context.

So, doing just a few minutes of research, it seems countless left-leaning media operations are all stating that illegals are not only not eligible for entitlement programs while in the United States, they don’t get any Federal dollars. What?

In a 2013 study, meaning 5+ years ago, there were at the time 3.7 million unlawful immigrant households in the U.S. The financial burden was determined to be $54.5 billion at the time. Now, we can’t seem to get to a real true number of illegals in the United States. It ranges from 11 million to 20 million. But hey, we take in an estimate 500,000 each year….so 20 million appears to be a more accurate number.

That 2013 report also revealed: Unlawful immigration and amnesty for current unlawful immigrants can pose large fiscal costs for U.S. taxpayers. Government provides four types of benefits and services that are relevant to this issue:

Direct benefits.

These include Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation.
Means-tested welfare benefits. There are over 80 of these programs which, at a cost of nearly $900 billion per year, provide cash, food, housing, medical, and other services to roughly 100 million low-income Americans. Major programs include Medicaid, food stamps, the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit, public housing, Supplemental Security Income, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Public education.

At a cost of $12,300 per pupil per year, these services are largely free or heavily subsidized for low-income parents.
Population-based services. Police, fire, highways, parks, and similar services, as the National Academy of Sciences determined in its study of the fiscal costs of immigration, generally have to expand as new immigrants enter a community; someone has to bear the cost of that expansion. Read that report here and then consider any updated statistics.

Further in 2017, illegals do receive benefits from the SNAP program. That summary is here.

With the Supreme Court decision today on the travel conditions regarding a handful of countries and presidential authority, it speaks to properly investigating and vetting those who come into our country. For those that flow across the border, we simply cant do that. Once here, our system is designed for those illegals to not be responsible or accountable for their illegal and fugitive actions or their status.

Just the mere fact they are in the United States is an entitlement in and of itself. They receive protections real citizens never receive. There is the matter of reduced or free college tuition, like that offered in Illinois.

The highest welfare use rates for immigrants are in New York (30 percent), California (28 percent), Massachusetts (25 percent), and Texas (25 percent).

Immigrants are eleven percent of our population, but they are 20 percent of the poor population. Unless our immigration policies are reevaluated and changed accordingly, welfare usage and subsequent costs will remain high.

Instead of addressing the problem, some in Congress have suggested measures that would make it even worse, such as proposals to increase immigrants’ eligibility for benefits. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that making legal immigrants eligible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) would cost an estimated $2.24 billion over ten years. More here.

There has been no real factoring on the cost to DHS and the taxpayer for ICE ad CBP. Then there is detention, the judicial process, deportation, ATF, DEA, education, and, and and…

Have you considered how many we are housing in jails and prisons? Have you considered the job you have where you may not be promoted as you don’t speak Spanish or perhaps not getting hired at all?

So, while Victor David Hansen has the summary very right, there are many more piece parts to the debate. Lastly, imagine the foreign aid given to countries that are exporting their human capital, criminals and entitlement seekers so money can be sent back.

 

So, Maxine Waters is now Running Silent?

After her last little press conference trying to undo her political rhetoric in a real feeble attempt, seems she is running silent now.

Senator Chuck Schumer came out with a huge critical response to Maxine and rightly so. Then Nancy Pelosi issued a comment as well, although it was much more thin on substance.

But in between all of this two interesting things happened.

  1. Judicial Watch came out with a hand delivered letter to the Chairman and Co-Chairman of the House Office of Congressional Ethics demanding that Waters be investigated and disciplined for her violation of House rules.
  2. Congressman Andy Biggs, R-AZ introduced a measure calling for Waters to apologize and to resign her position.

What we have going on is building chaos that cannot be denied. The Department of Homeland Security issued an internal memo advising agency employees to take all measures for increase individual security and to be prudent in all work and life activities.

Meanwhile, this rhetoric, the protests and confrontations is only growing and far beyond that of government employees.

Check out Chicago as a bar called Replay Lincoln Park has refused to allow or serve customers wearing MAGA hats, stating it wants to keep the establishment classy.

There are some interesting but nasty tactics being used across the country but this tells a bigger story. You see, protestors in DC are virtually stalking administration personnel and surrounding their homes. How about this wanted poster being handed out and taped to walls and elevators?

So meanwhile, check out the plans for example in New Jersey set of June 30.

“On June 30, politicians across the country will hear the outrage of the American people towards these policies,” said Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn Civic Action, one of the groups organizing the protests.

More than 400,000 people have RSVPed on social media that they plan to attend the events around the country, organizers said.

Other groups participating in the rallies and protests include American Civil Liberties Union, Greenpeace, NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Education Association, YWCA and the Women’s March organization, which held a similar large national march and sister rallies around the country in January.

The Washington, D.C., rally will be held at 11 a.m. at Lafayette Square near the White House. Some New Jersey activists are organizing buses to attend the event.

Then it seems breastfeeding moms have been invited to be a part of the anti-Trump immigration policy.

Due to the Supreme Court decision, 5-4 on the Trump third version of the travel suspension, expect more protests. The Supreme Court decision is here. Of note: “[T]he government has set forth a sufficient national security justification to survive rational basis review. We express no view on the soundness of the policy. We simply hold today that plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their constitutional claim,” Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority.

Roberts also dismissed arguments that the Supreme Court’s Japanese internment rulings had any bearing on the outcome of the lawfulness of the travel ban.

“Whatever rhetorical advantage the dissent may see in doing so, Korematsu has nothing to do with this case,” Roberts wrote. “The forcible relocation of U.S. citizens to concentration camps, solely and explicitly on the basis of race, is objectively unlawful and outside the scope of Presidential authority. But it is wholly inapt to liken that morally repugnant order to a facially neutral policy denying certain foreign nationals the privilege of admission.”

Days of Rage could still be upon the country. So, where is Maxine now? Has she deferred to Corey Booker or The Open Society Institute or Kamala Harris?

Military Bases are Destination for Migrant Insurgency

The United Sates is not dealing with this issue and frankly is not even managing it. When a Mexican presidential candidate calls for a mass exodus TO the United States, we know the mission to flood the United States is a well known doctrine in Mexico.

Oh and by the way, in case you missed former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, make sure you tell the pro-immigrant activists that Johnson admitted the Obama administration also detained children without parents or guardians, citing it was necessary at the time. He further admitted he expanded it even though it was controversial.

So, let’s dump on the military bases to deal with the volume shall we? Sigh Does that mean that all weapons and or live fire training and exercises will have to stop to keep from making the migrants fearful?

Camp Pendleton California Marine Base. | Places I've been ...

San Diego County could become a destination for tens of thousands of unauthorized immigrants to be housed indefinitely by the U.S. Government, under the zero-tolerance policy implemented by President Donald Trump.

According to a report published Friday afternoon by Time magazine, military leaders are drawing up plans to create a tent city at Camp Pendleton to detain as many as 47,000 illegal immigrants from Central America and other locations over the coming months.

The facility at Camp Pendleton would be one of multiple temporary detention centers designated to house immigrants making their way into the United States.

According to an internal memo obtained by Time magazine, the U.S. Navy has been directed to establish “temporary and austere” encampments on military installations in Alabama, Arizona, and California that each could host tens of thousands of detainees.

The document, prepared by an assistant secretary for approval by Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, suggests construction could begin at one site within 60 days. The structures would be designed to last for six months to one year, Time magazine reported.

The memo has not yet been approved by Spencer or Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the report said.

The plans detailed in the internal document match the executive order Trump signed earlier this week in response to growing political pressure to halt the separation of parents and children crossing the southern border illegally.

The order does not end the Trump administration zero-tolerance program that aims to prosecute all illegal border crossings. Rather, it calls for families to be housed together in detention facilities instead of separated while parents go through both the criminal court system for illegal entry and then immigration proceedings after that.

The order says immigration courts should prioritize detained-family cases, but it will still likely take longer than the 20 days the government is currently allowed to hold children in detention, even if they are held with their families.

Officials at Camp Pendleton said they know nothing about a temporary immigrant-housing project.

“Camp Pendleton is unaware of any plan to house detainees on our base at this time,” Capt Luke Weaver said in a statement. “Contact DoD Office of the Secretary of Defense public affairs for information on this subject.”

The Time magazine report quoted a U.S. Navy spokesman saying it would be inappropriate to discuss internal deliberative planning documents.

The detainment plan estimates the Navy would spend more than $230 million to build and run a single facility serving 25,000 people for a six-month term.

According to a Government Accountability Office report published in April, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office requested $3.6 billion in 2018 funding to pay for immigrant housing — $1 billion more than the amount of funds requested the prior year.

The GAO report recommended several recommendations aimed at improving ICE’s cost estimates and making sure the budget documents are accurate.

The ICE budget for 2019 proposes a nearly 33 percent increase in the average daily count for unauthorized immigrants, from about 38,000 in 2017 to more than 51,000 this year.

Advocates who work with San Diego immigrant communities were stunned by the Time magazine report.

Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee San Diego office, said he had been hearing rumblings about new detention centers but never expected Camp Pendleton to be selected.

“I think it’s a mistake to suggest that housing families in austere temporary Navy bases is a solution to the humanitarian needs of people seeking asylum,” he said Friday. “The possibility that families will be held indefinitely is a clear violation of human rights standards.”

Elizabeth Lopez, an immigration attorney with the Southern California Immigration Project, worried about what this might mean for court hearings and what services the detention facilities would have.

“First off, I doubt the government is going to transport them to court, so they will have to build video conference rooms to be able to have hearings,” she said. “Secondly, it is going to be a nightmare to allow the attorneys on to Pendleton to visit our clients.”

Lopez also said she was concerned about the level of medical care migrants would receive while being detained.

Immigration attorney Ginger Jacobs said, “I am also concerned about the extremely high expense of these camps. It looks like it would take approximately $500 million to house people at Camp Pendleton for only a six month time period. That is an enormous waste of government resources. It would be far less expensive to allow the asylum-seekers to live in their own communities with GPS monitor ankle bracelets on, so ICE can keep track of their whereabouts.”

Peter K. Nunez, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California and board chair of a conservative think tank, said he favors erecting as many different detention spaces in as many different places as needed in order to enforce the law.

“There was a time back in the Clinton administration when they started using military facilities to detain people, so it’s not a new idea,” he said. “They have to be treated humanely, but that doesn’t mean they have to be put up in a five-star hotel.

“If they can create temporary detention facilities at Camp Pendleton or any other military base that are adequate to the housing needs, then certainly we can do that,” he said.

According to the Time report, a similar tent city would be established at the former Naval Weapons Station Concord, east of San Francisco. It too would be constructed to hold as many as 47,000 people.

Other facilities that are expected to house 25,000 immigrants would be established at abandoned airfields outside Mobile, Alabama. The memo also proposes studying the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona. as a possible site for an additional immigrant detention center.

The arrival and housing of tens of thousands of immigrants at Camp Pendleton would not be a first for the military base that buffers between San Diego and the Greater Los Angeles area.

In April 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the first of 50,000 or more refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos began arriving at Camp Pendleton for processing before they were resettled to other parts of Southern California and beyond.

The temporary quarters closed by November of the same year.