10/4: Students storm stage at Columbia University; Minuteman Project founder forced to flee
READ THIS NOW: MINUTEMAN MOBBED
http://www.bwog.net/index.php?page=post&article_id=2265
October 4, 2006
bwog7After a 45 minute long diatribe by a preachy opening speaker, during which a packed crowd inside Roone Arledge grew increasingly irate, main event Jim Gilchrist was rushed by a large group of students, in what descended into a free-for-all on the stage. Scroll below for the blow-by-blow and photos.
1:56 AM: Chicano Caucus press release at the bottom of the post.
1:23 AM: YouTube is down at the moment. Bwog is working to provide an alternative, so stay tuned.
CTV's video of the protest:
http://www.bwog.net/index.php?page=post&article_id=2265
7: 30 PM: In the biggest old-fashioned activist shindig Broadway has seen since Chris Kulawik's last guest arrived in November 2005, hundreds of students and community members yelled and picketed outside Lerner to protest the arrival of Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minutemen. They had catchy slogans.
minutemen"Workers of the world unite! Same struggle, same fight!"
"Minutemen, Nazis, KKK! Racists, fascists, go away!"
8:10 PM: A little Miles Davis music on overhead in Roone Arledge Auditorium strikes Bwog as ironic. Opening speaker Marvin Stewart steps up to the podium, and begins by thanking Jesus Christ and Chris Kulawik. "ARE YOU READY to surrender your liberties?" he demands of the crowd.
8:35 PM: Stewart is 30 minutes into a free-associative rant, ranging through scripture and America's Consitutional Republican form of government (NOT Democratic). People in the increasingly restless crowd shout: "You don't know shit about god! Black white supremacist!" "Go home! "
to which Stewart counters: "I am home! God bless America!
to which the crowd replies: "BOOOOOOOOOOO!"
It's getting more surreal by the minute.
Update 8:41 pm: Someone yells, "In Spanish, please!" The crowd bursts into a thunderous applause, which spirals into a full-out protest, complete with students wearing Mexican wrestling masks. The students are now standing up one by one, with their backs to the man, who has asked, "Are you standing with your backs to me? Why'd you come, no wonder you don't know anything." Repubs cheered, others sneered.
Update 8:45 pm: Some white-shirted students were just escorted out of the auditorium by security.
kulawikUpdate 8:47 pm: Man at the podium is still ranting, despite the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead and his voice-cracks... "Religion and morality are necessary for government." Students chanting: "Wrap it up! Wrap it up!" Some guy just came out to try to get him to stop, and he said, "Let me finish..." he's sweating, and looks angry. "All of you who are doing your chanting in here are the very ones that need this the most. But guess what, I'm not deterred."
Update 8:51 pm: "I'm going to wrap this up because time is an issue." With Kulawik looking uncomfortable, Stewart stops talking with a boisterous "God Bless America, and America Bless God!" Taking the podium, Kulawik chastens the crowd. "I was under the false assumption that this was an Ivy League School," he says.
Finally the Minuteman himself enters. "Now who're you calling racist?" he shouts, putting his arm around Stewart, who is black. "I love the First Amendment. As soon as you graduate, you'll all be investment bankers. I've been where you at. I know you hate yourselves."
bwog5Update 9:00 pm: BWOG IS SHOCKED. STUDENTS WITH A BIG YELLOW SIGN JUST CAME ONTO THE STAGE. The sign says, "There are no illegals." Students rise en masse from the audience and rush the stage. The Minuteman and the students engaged in a tug of war with the banner. More people rush the stage, prompting a fist-fight. One female student is kicked in the head. A guy in a pony tail (definitely not a student) rushes the stage and fights with students (several witnesses saw him kick a student) and then banded together with the Minuteman to shout the pledge of allegiance as the rumble spun out of hand, "One nation! Under God! Indivisible!"
There was at least two minutes of chaos between students, other students and the Minutemen. Bwog took cover.
security Update: 9:01 pm: Security comes out, now the curtain is down. Students are still chanting, now everyone's filing out.
Update: 9:15 pm: Students outside shouting, "They say, 'get bent,' we say, 'let's fight!'"
Update: 9:22 pm: A Bwog correspondent calls in a tip. A student defending the Minuteman right outside the gates on 115th was encircled by a group of protesters after a heated personal fight with just one of the protesters. The protesters then shouted, "Racist, go home!" Security showed up, and they started breaking up. Student last seen laughing on phone with friends. A mosh pit of triumphal students and community members dance and chant, "Asian, Black, Brown and White, we smashed the Minutemen tonight!"
OK, Bwog edited this since the initial transcription. We're excitable.
Press release from the Chicano Caucus, one of the main organizers of the protest:
On behalf of the Chicano Caucus Executive Board, I would like to clarify for the Columbia community any misunderstandings that may have arisen from tonight's chain of events. While we were the chief organizers of the protest outside Roone Arledge, we were not responsible for any of the actions that led to the termination of the event. It is unfortunate that the series of events escalated to a point of violence. We feel that it is important to discuss and bring to light important issues concerning immigration, though they should be done in a peaceful manner. While we do not agree with Mr. Gilchrist and his organization's views, we respect everyone's right to freedom of speech and regret that his opinion was not heard.
Sincerely,
Adhemir Romero
Chicano Caucus President
At Columbia, Students Attack Minuteman Founder
By ELIANA JOHNSON - Staff Reporter of the Sun
http://www.nysun.com/article/40983
October 5, 2006
Students stormed the stage at Columbia University's
Roone auditorium yesterday, knocking over chairs and
tables and attacking Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the
Minutemen, a group that patrols the border between
America and Mexico.
Mr. Gilchrist and Marvin Stewart, another member of
his group, were in the process of giving a speech at
the invitation of the Columbia College Republicans.
They were escorted off the stage unharmed and exited
the auditorium by a back door.
Having wreaked havoc onstage, the students unrolled a
banner that read, in both Arabic and English, "No one
is ever illegal." As security guards closed the
curtains and began escorting people from the
auditorium, the students jumped from the stage,
pumping their fists, chanting victoriously, "Si se
pudo, si se pudo,"Spanish for "Yes we could!"
The Minuteman Project, an organization of volunteers
founded in 2004 by Mr. Gilchrist, aims to keep illegal
immigrants out of America by alerting law enforcement
officials when they attempt to cross the border.The
group uses fiery language and unorthodox tactics to
advance its platform. "Future generations will inherit
a tangle of rancorous, unassimilated, squabbling
cultures with no common bond to hold them together,
and a certain guarantee of the death of this nation as
a harmonious ‘melting pot,'" the group's Web site
warns.
The pandemonium that ensued as the evening's keynote
speaker took the stage was merely the climax of
protest that brewed all week. A number of campus
groups, including the Chicano caucus, the
African-American student organization, and the
International Socialist organization, began planning
their protests early this week when they heard that
the Minutemen would be arriving on campus.
The student protesters, who attended the event clad in
white as a sign of dissent, booed and shouted the
speakers down throughout.They interrupted Mr. Stewart,
who is African-American, when he referred to the
Declaration of Independence's self-evident truth that
"All men are created equal," calling him a racist, a
sellout, and a black white supremacist.
A student's demand that Mr. Stewart speak in Spanish
elicited thundering applause and brought the
protesters to their feet. The protesters remained
standing, turned their backs on Mr. Stewart for the
remainder of his remarks, and drowned him out by
chanting, "Wrap it up, wrap it up!" Mr. Stewart
appeared unphased by their behavior. He simply smiled
and bellowed, "No wonder you don't know what you're
talking about."
"These are racist individuals heading a project that
terrorizes immigrants on the U.S.-Mexican border,"
Ryan Fukumori, a Columbia junior who took part in the
protest, told The New York Sun. "They have no right to
be able to speak here."
The student protesters "rush to vindicate themselves
with monikers like ‘liberal' and ‘open-minded,'
but their actions, their attempt to condemn the
Minutemen without even hearing what they have to say,
speak otherwise," the president of the Columbia
College Republicans, Chris Kulawik, said. On campus,
the Republicans' flyers advertising the event were
defaced and torn down.
The College Republicans expressed their concern about
the lack of free speech for opposing viewpoints on the
Columbia campus in the wake of the evening's events.
"We've often feared that there's not freedom of speech
at Columbia for more right wing views — and that was
proven tonight," the executive director of the
Columbia College Republicans, Lauren Steinberg, said.
The Minutemen's arrival at Columbia drew protesters
from around the city as well. An hour before Messrs.
Stewart and Mr. Gilchrist took the stage, rowdy
protests began outside the auditorium on Broadway,
where activists chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the
Minutemen have got to go!"
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Hastert Told Of Foley 3 Years Ago
Hastert Told Of Foley 3 Years Ago
by The Associated Press
October 4, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET
(Washington) A senior congressional aide said Wednesday he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office about worrisome conduct by his former boss, Rep. Mark Foley, toward teenage pages more than three years ago, long before officials have acknowledged becoming aware of the issue.
Kirk Fordham made his comments to The Associated Press in an interview as a Kentucky Republican canceled a campaign fundraising event with Hastert. Rep. Ron Lewis said he wants to know the facts behind a scandal that has roiled Republicans since last week.
"I'm taking the speaker's words at face value," Lewis said in an interview. "I have no reason to doubt him. But until this is cleared up, I want to know the facts.
"If anyone in our leadership has done anything wrong, then I will be the first in line to condemn it."
Taken together, the comments by Fordham and the actions by Lewis added to the political uncertainty surrounding Hastert and fellow Republicans five weeks before midterm elections in which their control of the House will be tested.
Hastert's office did not immediately respond to either development.
Foley, 52, a Florida Republican, resigned last Friday after he was confronted with sexually explicit electronic messages he had sent teenage male pages. He has since entered an alcohol rehabilitation facility at an undisclosed location and, through his lawyer, has denied having had any sexual contact with minors.
His abrupt departure left behind a virtual sex scandal and a string of unanswered questions -- about what senior lawmakers knew, when they learned and what they did about it.
Fordham said he was serving as Foley's chief of staff when he was told about the lawmaker's inappropriate behavior toward pages more than three years ago. He said he had "more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene" at the time.
Fordham declined to identify the officials in Hastert's office he spoke with.
Two members of the GOP leadership say they told Hastert this past spring they had heard Foley had sent overly friendly e-mails to a page. Hastert said over the weekend he does not recall those conversations, but has not disputed they took place.
Fordham resigned Wednesday as chief of staff to Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., and said: "I never attempted to prevent any inquiries or investigation."
He said he would fully disclose to the FBI and the House ethics committee "any and all meetings and phone calls" regarding Foley's behavior that he had with senior staffers in the House leadership.
Fordham said one staffer he spoke with remains employed by a senior House Republican leader, but he declined to identify the person.
"Rather than trying to shift the blame on me, those who are employed by these House leaders should acknowledge what they know about their action or inaction in response to the information they knew about Mr. Foley prior to 2005," Fordham said.
At the time of his resignation, Fordham was serving as chief of staff for Reynolds, a member of the GOP leadership who has struggled to avoid political damage in the scandal's fallout.
Lewis, the Kentucky congressman, had arranged for Hastert to appear at a $50-per-person fundraiser next Tuesday. Hastert is one of the GOP's most sought-after speaker for campaign events, and the decision to scrap the appearance reflected concern over sharing a stage with a man suddenly struggling with a scandal.
©365Gay.com 2006
by The Associated Press
October 4, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET
(Washington) A senior congressional aide said Wednesday he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office about worrisome conduct by his former boss, Rep. Mark Foley, toward teenage pages more than three years ago, long before officials have acknowledged becoming aware of the issue.
Kirk Fordham made his comments to The Associated Press in an interview as a Kentucky Republican canceled a campaign fundraising event with Hastert. Rep. Ron Lewis said he wants to know the facts behind a scandal that has roiled Republicans since last week.
"I'm taking the speaker's words at face value," Lewis said in an interview. "I have no reason to doubt him. But until this is cleared up, I want to know the facts.
"If anyone in our leadership has done anything wrong, then I will be the first in line to condemn it."
Taken together, the comments by Fordham and the actions by Lewis added to the political uncertainty surrounding Hastert and fellow Republicans five weeks before midterm elections in which their control of the House will be tested.
Hastert's office did not immediately respond to either development.
Foley, 52, a Florida Republican, resigned last Friday after he was confronted with sexually explicit electronic messages he had sent teenage male pages. He has since entered an alcohol rehabilitation facility at an undisclosed location and, through his lawyer, has denied having had any sexual contact with minors.
His abrupt departure left behind a virtual sex scandal and a string of unanswered questions -- about what senior lawmakers knew, when they learned and what they did about it.
Fordham said he was serving as Foley's chief of staff when he was told about the lawmaker's inappropriate behavior toward pages more than three years ago. He said he had "more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene" at the time.
Fordham declined to identify the officials in Hastert's office he spoke with.
Two members of the GOP leadership say they told Hastert this past spring they had heard Foley had sent overly friendly e-mails to a page. Hastert said over the weekend he does not recall those conversations, but has not disputed they took place.
Fordham resigned Wednesday as chief of staff to Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., and said: "I never attempted to prevent any inquiries or investigation."
He said he would fully disclose to the FBI and the House ethics committee "any and all meetings and phone calls" regarding Foley's behavior that he had with senior staffers in the House leadership.
Fordham said one staffer he spoke with remains employed by a senior House Republican leader, but he declined to identify the person.
"Rather than trying to shift the blame on me, those who are employed by these House leaders should acknowledge what they know about their action or inaction in response to the information they knew about Mr. Foley prior to 2005," Fordham said.
At the time of his resignation, Fordham was serving as chief of staff for Reynolds, a member of the GOP leadership who has struggled to avoid political damage in the scandal's fallout.
Lewis, the Kentucky congressman, had arranged for Hastert to appear at a $50-per-person fundraiser next Tuesday. Hastert is one of the GOP's most sought-after speaker for campaign events, and the decision to scrap the appearance reflected concern over sharing a stage with a man suddenly struggling with a scandal.
©365Gay.com 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Mr. Hastert: Do you hate more immigrants than potential child molesters?
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, ignored a call by a conservative Washington newspaper for him to resign as fallout continued from the political scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley and his explicit instant messages.
"The Speaker has and will lead the Republican conference to another majority in the 110th Congress," Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said in a statement that comes a little over a month ahead of midterm elections.
"Mark Foley has resigned his seat in dishonor and the criminal investigation of this matter will continue. The Speaker is working every day on ensuring the House is a safe, productive environment for members, staff and all those who are employed by the institution." (Watch Hastert express his disgust about Foley messages -- 2:25 Video)
The call for Hastert's resignation came in an editorial that appeared in Tuesday's edition of the Washington Times, which was available online late Monday.
"House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once," the editorial says.
"Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away."
The FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the House Ethics Committee are investigating Foley's conduct -- and whether there was any attempt to cover it up.
Foley, a six-term congressman and co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, was undergoing treatment for alcoholism and mental illness, his lawyer said Monday. (Full story)
The Times editorial could be a signal that conservative Republicans are growing tired of the moderate Hastert.
The editorial page editor of the newspaper is Tony Blankley, who served as press secretary for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during the Contract With America era after Republicans won the House in 1994.
With control of the House up for grabs in November, Hastert went before in Washington Monday to blast Foley, calling his behavior "vile" and charging that he had "deceived" his colleagues. (Watch what's at stake in the upcoming election Video)
Hastert insisted that top Republican leaders did not know about sexually explicit instant messages Foley allegedly sent former male pages in 2003. The messages surfaced Friday in an ABC News report shortly after Foley resigned.
"No one in the Republican leadership ... saw those messages until last Friday, when ABC News released them to the public," Hastert said. He added that if Foley had not resigned, "I would have demanded his expulsion from the House of Representatives." (Watch how the scandal threatens to snowball and hurt the GOP -- 2:19 Video)
Two Republican Congressmen -- Rep. John Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, and Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee -- have acknowledged knowing about an "overly friendly" exchange between Foley and a former male page.
The e-mails, which occurred in 2005 between Foley and a page from Louisiana, were not sexually explicit. (Watch a timeline of how the scandal unfolded -- 2:05 Video)
Shimkus, of Illinois, has said Foley assured him nothing inappropriate had taken place with the page, and Foley was then told not to have any further contact with the teen and to watch his conduct around pages.
In a news conference Monday night, Reynolds said that Rep. Rodney Alexander, a Louisiana Republican who sponsored the page e-mailed by Foley in 2005, informed him about the notes earlier this year. Reynolds said he did not actually see the e-mails.
Reynolds said he then informed Hastert because he thought it was appropriate to tell his "supervisor" about allegations of possible sexual misconduct. (Watch GOP leaders try to contain the fallout -- 2:1 Video)
Reynolds insisted that he, too, did not know about the more explicit messages from 2003. Once he saw them Friday, he said he began working "swiftly and immediately" to get Foley to resign.
CNN's Susan Candiotti, Andrea Koppel and John Zarrella contributed to this report.
"The Speaker has and will lead the Republican conference to another majority in the 110th Congress," Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said in a statement that comes a little over a month ahead of midterm elections.
"Mark Foley has resigned his seat in dishonor and the criminal investigation of this matter will continue. The Speaker is working every day on ensuring the House is a safe, productive environment for members, staff and all those who are employed by the institution." (Watch Hastert express his disgust about Foley messages -- 2:25 Video)
The call for Hastert's resignation came in an editorial that appeared in Tuesday's edition of the Washington Times, which was available online late Monday.
"House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once," the editorial says.
"Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away."
The FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the House Ethics Committee are investigating Foley's conduct -- and whether there was any attempt to cover it up.
Foley, a six-term congressman and co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, was undergoing treatment for alcoholism and mental illness, his lawyer said Monday. (Full story)
The Times editorial could be a signal that conservative Republicans are growing tired of the moderate Hastert.
The editorial page editor of the newspaper is Tony Blankley, who served as press secretary for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during the Contract With America era after Republicans won the House in 1994.
With control of the House up for grabs in November, Hastert went before in Washington Monday to blast Foley, calling his behavior "vile" and charging that he had "deceived" his colleagues. (Watch what's at stake in the upcoming election Video)
Hastert insisted that top Republican leaders did not know about sexually explicit instant messages Foley allegedly sent former male pages in 2003. The messages surfaced Friday in an ABC News report shortly after Foley resigned.
"No one in the Republican leadership ... saw those messages until last Friday, when ABC News released them to the public," Hastert said. He added that if Foley had not resigned, "I would have demanded his expulsion from the House of Representatives." (Watch how the scandal threatens to snowball and hurt the GOP -- 2:19 Video)
Two Republican Congressmen -- Rep. John Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, and Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee -- have acknowledged knowing about an "overly friendly" exchange between Foley and a former male page.
The e-mails, which occurred in 2005 between Foley and a page from Louisiana, were not sexually explicit. (Watch a timeline of how the scandal unfolded -- 2:05 Video)
Shimkus, of Illinois, has said Foley assured him nothing inappropriate had taken place with the page, and Foley was then told not to have any further contact with the teen and to watch his conduct around pages.
In a news conference Monday night, Reynolds said that Rep. Rodney Alexander, a Louisiana Republican who sponsored the page e-mailed by Foley in 2005, informed him about the notes earlier this year. Reynolds said he did not actually see the e-mails.
Reynolds said he then informed Hastert because he thought it was appropriate to tell his "supervisor" about allegations of possible sexual misconduct. (Watch GOP leaders try to contain the fallout -- 2:1 Video)
Reynolds insisted that he, too, did not know about the more explicit messages from 2003. Once he saw them Friday, he said he began working "swiftly and immediately" to get Foley to resign.
CNN's Susan Candiotti, Andrea Koppel and John Zarrella contributed to this report.
Religious groups are the masters of hate.
Churches Demand Fiji Abolish Gay Protections
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 2, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(Suva) Leaders of 20 denominations in Fiji are demanding the repeal of constitutional protections for gays and lesbians in the South Pacific islands
Fiji's constitution provides civil rights in housing and some other areas but a law, still on the books from colonial days, makes gay sex illegal, punishable by a lengthy prison sentence.
Now church leaders say it is time to amend the constitution to allow for the public shunning of gays and to discourage foreign gays from coming to the pristine islands.
The Assembly of Christian Churches in a letter to Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said that providing employment and housing rights to gays encourages "immoral" sexual behavior.
Last year Fiji's High Court overturned the convictions of two gay men, ruling that the South Pacific island's sodomy law was unconstitutional. (story)
The court released Thomas McCoskar, a 55-year-old Australian, and Dhirendra Nadan, a 23-year-old native man, telling McCoskar he was free to leave Fiji and return home.
Despite the court ruling the government has refused to repeal the sodomy law and has continued to lay charges,
The churches say that the only way to force the courts to uphold the law is amend the constitution.
"It is only a matter of time before same sex marriages, ordination of gay person as church ministers and other unacceptable practices will be enforced here because of the rights protected (under the Constitution)," the letter to Qarase said.
"The Government is duty bound to remove this abomination from our laws. The consequences of not removing such evil laws can only be devastating to Fiji as a nation."
Qarase said he would be prepared to meet with the church leaders.
Fiji is a popular destination for gay Australians and New Zealanders. Recently a company said it was preparing to build a gay resort in Fiji but has not provided details of the venture.
©365Gay.com 2006
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
October 2, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(Suva) Leaders of 20 denominations in Fiji are demanding the repeal of constitutional protections for gays and lesbians in the South Pacific islands
Fiji's constitution provides civil rights in housing and some other areas but a law, still on the books from colonial days, makes gay sex illegal, punishable by a lengthy prison sentence.
Now church leaders say it is time to amend the constitution to allow for the public shunning of gays and to discourage foreign gays from coming to the pristine islands.
The Assembly of Christian Churches in a letter to Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said that providing employment and housing rights to gays encourages "immoral" sexual behavior.
Last year Fiji's High Court overturned the convictions of two gay men, ruling that the South Pacific island's sodomy law was unconstitutional. (story)
The court released Thomas McCoskar, a 55-year-old Australian, and Dhirendra Nadan, a 23-year-old native man, telling McCoskar he was free to leave Fiji and return home.
Despite the court ruling the government has refused to repeal the sodomy law and has continued to lay charges,
The churches say that the only way to force the courts to uphold the law is amend the constitution.
"It is only a matter of time before same sex marriages, ordination of gay person as church ministers and other unacceptable practices will be enforced here because of the rights protected (under the Constitution)," the letter to Qarase said.
"The Government is duty bound to remove this abomination from our laws. The consequences of not removing such evil laws can only be devastating to Fiji as a nation."
Qarase said he would be prepared to meet with the church leaders.
Fiji is a popular destination for gay Australians and New Zealanders. Recently a company said it was preparing to build a gay resort in Fiji but has not provided details of the venture.
©365Gay.com 2006
Monday, October 02, 2006
Is this actually legal? (Are these activist pastors illegals?)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-churchvote1oct01,0,
7208299,full.story
Los Angeles Times
October 1, 2006
Pastors Guiding Voters to GOP
The Christian right seeks out members who might not go to the polls. The
focus is issues, but some leaders don't oppose endorsement.
By Stephanie Simon
Times Staff Writer
With a pivotal election five weeks away, leaders on the religious right
have launched an all-out drive to get Christians from pew to voting
booth. Their target: the nearly 30 million Americans who attend church
at least once a week but did not vote in 2004.
Their efforts at times push legal limits on church involvement in
partisan campaigns. That is by design. With control of Congress at stake
Nov. 7, those guiding the movement say they owe it to God and to their
own moral principles to do everything they can to keep social
conservatives in power.
Preachers "ought to put their toe right on the line," said Mathew D.
Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit law firm that supports
conservative Christian causes.
The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical in Texas, has recruited
5,000 "patriot pastors" nationwide to promote an agenda that aligns
neatly with Republican platforms. "We urge them to avoid legal
entanglement, but there are times in a pastor's life when he needs to
take a biblical stand," Scarborough said. "Our higher calling is to
Christ."
The campaign encourages individual pastors to use sermons, Bible studies
and rallies to drive Christians to the polls - and, by implication or
outright endorsement, to Republican candidates. One online guide to
discussing the election in church, produced by the Focus on the Family
ministry, offers this tip: If a congregant says her top concerns are
healthcare and national security, suggest that Jesus would make abortion
and gay marriage priorities.
At a recent rally in Pennsylvania, Focus on the Family founder James C.
Dobson told a crowd of 3,000 that it would be "downright frightening" if
Republicans lost control of Congress. If there's a good Christian on the
ballot, he said, failing to vote "would be a sin."
The law restricting political activity of churches and charities dates
to 1954, when then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson pushed it through in a pique
of anger over a nonprofit's effort to derail his reelection. Tax-exempt
organizations, including churches, may not participate or intervene in
political campaigns on behalf of any candidate. Intervention is broadly
defined as "any and all activities that favor or oppose one or more
candidate for public office," according to the Internal Revenue Service.
That sounds straightforward. In practice, though, there are many ways
around the restriction, as the faithful recognize.
"If the pastor is doing the right job, the people will automatically
vote for the right person," said Gale Wollenberg, who belongs to a
conservative evangelical church in Topeka, Kan.
Perhaps the biggest loophole is that churches can campaign on policy
issues - even if that effort benefits a particular candidate.
Scarborough, for instance, has spent a great deal of time far from his
Texas parish, rallying Christian voters against an initiative promoting
embryonic stem-cell research in Missouri. At his events, Scarborough
makes a point not to mention Missouri's Republican Sen. Jim Talent, who
is in a tight fight for reelection.
But in private, he says candidly that he expects - and hopes - his
efforts will give Talent a boost. "If a pro-life candidate benefits from
Christians being involved, to God be the glory," Scarborough said.
Pastors can further help their favored candidates by distributing
"issue-oriented" voter guides in church, a tactic used for years among
secular (often left-leaning) groups such as the National Assn. for the
Advancement of Colored People and adapted to faith communities by the
Christian Coalition in the 1990s.
The voter pamphlets are supposed to be neutral, but often present issues
through a distinctly partisan lens. A guide distributed by a
conservative group in Minnesota in 2004 laid out the candidates' views
on aborting "unborn babies." One produced this year by the liberal
evangelical group Sojourners describes immediate withdrawal of U.S.
troops as the only way to bring peace to Iraq.
Pastors have a right to work directly for candidates on their own time,
as long as they don't use church resources. In a recent article aimed at
evangelical preachers, Staver wrote that they "should feel free" to go
even further and endorse a candidate from the pulpit because he thought
the IRS law was unconstitutional. He repeatedly noted that the IRS had
rarely sanctioned churches. The Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton,
N.Y., is the only one ever to lose its tax-exempt certification, for
sponsoring newspaper ads that opposed presidential candidate Bill
Clinton.
Far more often, IRS agents resolve complaints by training church leaders
to avoid future missteps, said Lois G. Lerner, who directs the IRS unit
for tax-exempt groups. In 2004, the IRS resolved dozens of complaints
this way, including such blatant violations as churches donating to a
candidate's campaign or placing political signs on their property.
Given the slim chance of serious sanction, "I encourage pastors to
exchange their muzzles for megaphones," Staver wrote in the Rev. Jerry
Falwell's monthly newspaper, the National Liberty Journal.
Political preaching has been particularly fervent this season in Ohio,
where two conservative mega-churches have promoted the Republican
candidate for governor, J. Kenneth Blackwell. They've featured him in at
least six rallies that blended patriotic appeals with Christian revival.
Yet the latest poll shows Blackwell trailing by 19 points. In part,
that's because Ohio voters seem to be in an anti-Republican mood, after
scandals involving state GOP politicians. It also shows that a pastor's
influence only goes so far.
Many on the Christian right credit their aggressive mobilization,
similar to this fall's campaign, with securing President Bush's
reelection. And turnout among evangelical voters did jump 9% from 2000
to 2004.
But two religious groups that heavily back Democrats also came out in
droves: Turnout was up 15% among Jews and 13% among mainline Protestants
who attend liberal churches, according to surveys conducted by John C.
Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Overall turnout was up 4 points.
"It's really difficult to parse out" the effectiveness of the religious
right's mobilization in 2004 "because it was such an intense campaign,"
Green said. "It does seem to bear fruit, but it varies a great deal from
congregation to congregation."
Church-based campaigning may have been most influential in voters'
choice of candidate. Bush won 78% of the evangelical vote in 2004, up
from 68% in his first presidential bid. And evangelicals were far more
likely than any other group of voters to say that religion was the most
important factor in their political thinking.
Voter education from the church "can be enormously effective," said
Colin Hanna, who directs the Pennsylvania Pastors Network. The group of
850 seeks to mobilize voters against "abortion and other evils,"
according to its website.
Some of this fall's efforts are aimed at energizing politically active
but disillusioned Republicans who might otherwise stay home. But Hanna
is particularly eager to reach the 30 million regular churchgoers, and
an overlapping group of 19 million evangelicals, who did not vote in
2004. Their indifference to politics is "either a tragedy or a scandal,"
he said, but he's certain it can be overcome.
Liberals, too, see potential in mingling faith and politics. Black
churches have a long history of political activism from the pulpit,
dating to the civil rights movement - but their efforts did not boost
voter turnout in 2004. This time around, other Christians, including
liberal Catholics, are jumping in to try to energize the religious left.
They plan to distribute more than 1 million voter guides urging
Christians to evaluate candidates based on issues such as poverty and
global warming. A new consulting firm, Common Good Strategies, aims to
help Democratic candidates make stronger pitches to communities of
faith.
For the most part, however, the left is far behind the right: "They've
got organization and discipline that we don't really have yet," said
Jack Pannell of Sojourners. "It may take us a generation."
With both the left and the right pursuing faith-based strategies, the
IRS issued a warning in February that churches may be in danger of
becoming "arms of political campaigns and parties." Agents are looking
into about 40 reported violations by churches and other tax-exempt
nonprofits. A few are holdovers from 2004, including the high-profile
probe into an antiwar sermon at a liberal Pasadena church. But new
allegations continue to come in at a brisk clip.
Liberal clergy in Ohio have filed a protest about the pastors' efforts
on behalf of Blackwell. On the right, the website
http://www.ratoutachurch.org is recruiting volunteers to report partisan
activity from the pulpit that favors Democrats.
Melissa Rogers, a visiting professor of religion and public policy at
Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., says she expects more
complaints as the election approaches. In their zeal to bring politics
into the pews, some religious leaders "have made a decision to walk on
the razor's edge of the law," she said. "Or over the edge."
stephanie.simon@latimes.com
7208299,full.story
Los Angeles Times
October 1, 2006
Pastors Guiding Voters to GOP
The Christian right seeks out members who might not go to the polls. The
focus is issues, but some leaders don't oppose endorsement.
By Stephanie Simon
Times Staff Writer
With a pivotal election five weeks away, leaders on the religious right
have launched an all-out drive to get Christians from pew to voting
booth. Their target: the nearly 30 million Americans who attend church
at least once a week but did not vote in 2004.
Their efforts at times push legal limits on church involvement in
partisan campaigns. That is by design. With control of Congress at stake
Nov. 7, those guiding the movement say they owe it to God and to their
own moral principles to do everything they can to keep social
conservatives in power.
Preachers "ought to put their toe right on the line," said Mathew D.
Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit law firm that supports
conservative Christian causes.
The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical in Texas, has recruited
5,000 "patriot pastors" nationwide to promote an agenda that aligns
neatly with Republican platforms. "We urge them to avoid legal
entanglement, but there are times in a pastor's life when he needs to
take a biblical stand," Scarborough said. "Our higher calling is to
Christ."
The campaign encourages individual pastors to use sermons, Bible studies
and rallies to drive Christians to the polls - and, by implication or
outright endorsement, to Republican candidates. One online guide to
discussing the election in church, produced by the Focus on the Family
ministry, offers this tip: If a congregant says her top concerns are
healthcare and national security, suggest that Jesus would make abortion
and gay marriage priorities.
At a recent rally in Pennsylvania, Focus on the Family founder James C.
Dobson told a crowd of 3,000 that it would be "downright frightening" if
Republicans lost control of Congress. If there's a good Christian on the
ballot, he said, failing to vote "would be a sin."
The law restricting political activity of churches and charities dates
to 1954, when then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson pushed it through in a pique
of anger over a nonprofit's effort to derail his reelection. Tax-exempt
organizations, including churches, may not participate or intervene in
political campaigns on behalf of any candidate. Intervention is broadly
defined as "any and all activities that favor or oppose one or more
candidate for public office," according to the Internal Revenue Service.
That sounds straightforward. In practice, though, there are many ways
around the restriction, as the faithful recognize.
"If the pastor is doing the right job, the people will automatically
vote for the right person," said Gale Wollenberg, who belongs to a
conservative evangelical church in Topeka, Kan.
Perhaps the biggest loophole is that churches can campaign on policy
issues - even if that effort benefits a particular candidate.
Scarborough, for instance, has spent a great deal of time far from his
Texas parish, rallying Christian voters against an initiative promoting
embryonic stem-cell research in Missouri. At his events, Scarborough
makes a point not to mention Missouri's Republican Sen. Jim Talent, who
is in a tight fight for reelection.
But in private, he says candidly that he expects - and hopes - his
efforts will give Talent a boost. "If a pro-life candidate benefits from
Christians being involved, to God be the glory," Scarborough said.
Pastors can further help their favored candidates by distributing
"issue-oriented" voter guides in church, a tactic used for years among
secular (often left-leaning) groups such as the National Assn. for the
Advancement of Colored People and adapted to faith communities by the
Christian Coalition in the 1990s.
The voter pamphlets are supposed to be neutral, but often present issues
through a distinctly partisan lens. A guide distributed by a
conservative group in Minnesota in 2004 laid out the candidates' views
on aborting "unborn babies." One produced this year by the liberal
evangelical group Sojourners describes immediate withdrawal of U.S.
troops as the only way to bring peace to Iraq.
Pastors have a right to work directly for candidates on their own time,
as long as they don't use church resources. In a recent article aimed at
evangelical preachers, Staver wrote that they "should feel free" to go
even further and endorse a candidate from the pulpit because he thought
the IRS law was unconstitutional. He repeatedly noted that the IRS had
rarely sanctioned churches. The Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton,
N.Y., is the only one ever to lose its tax-exempt certification, for
sponsoring newspaper ads that opposed presidential candidate Bill
Clinton.
Far more often, IRS agents resolve complaints by training church leaders
to avoid future missteps, said Lois G. Lerner, who directs the IRS unit
for tax-exempt groups. In 2004, the IRS resolved dozens of complaints
this way, including such blatant violations as churches donating to a
candidate's campaign or placing political signs on their property.
Given the slim chance of serious sanction, "I encourage pastors to
exchange their muzzles for megaphones," Staver wrote in the Rev. Jerry
Falwell's monthly newspaper, the National Liberty Journal.
Political preaching has been particularly fervent this season in Ohio,
where two conservative mega-churches have promoted the Republican
candidate for governor, J. Kenneth Blackwell. They've featured him in at
least six rallies that blended patriotic appeals with Christian revival.
Yet the latest poll shows Blackwell trailing by 19 points. In part,
that's because Ohio voters seem to be in an anti-Republican mood, after
scandals involving state GOP politicians. It also shows that a pastor's
influence only goes so far.
Many on the Christian right credit their aggressive mobilization,
similar to this fall's campaign, with securing President Bush's
reelection. And turnout among evangelical voters did jump 9% from 2000
to 2004.
But two religious groups that heavily back Democrats also came out in
droves: Turnout was up 15% among Jews and 13% among mainline Protestants
who attend liberal churches, according to surveys conducted by John C.
Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Overall turnout was up 4 points.
"It's really difficult to parse out" the effectiveness of the religious
right's mobilization in 2004 "because it was such an intense campaign,"
Green said. "It does seem to bear fruit, but it varies a great deal from
congregation to congregation."
Church-based campaigning may have been most influential in voters'
choice of candidate. Bush won 78% of the evangelical vote in 2004, up
from 68% in his first presidential bid. And evangelicals were far more
likely than any other group of voters to say that religion was the most
important factor in their political thinking.
Voter education from the church "can be enormously effective," said
Colin Hanna, who directs the Pennsylvania Pastors Network. The group of
850 seeks to mobilize voters against "abortion and other evils,"
according to its website.
Some of this fall's efforts are aimed at energizing politically active
but disillusioned Republicans who might otherwise stay home. But Hanna
is particularly eager to reach the 30 million regular churchgoers, and
an overlapping group of 19 million evangelicals, who did not vote in
2004. Their indifference to politics is "either a tragedy or a scandal,"
he said, but he's certain it can be overcome.
Liberals, too, see potential in mingling faith and politics. Black
churches have a long history of political activism from the pulpit,
dating to the civil rights movement - but their efforts did not boost
voter turnout in 2004. This time around, other Christians, including
liberal Catholics, are jumping in to try to energize the religious left.
They plan to distribute more than 1 million voter guides urging
Christians to evaluate candidates based on issues such as poverty and
global warming. A new consulting firm, Common Good Strategies, aims to
help Democratic candidates make stronger pitches to communities of
faith.
For the most part, however, the left is far behind the right: "They've
got organization and discipline that we don't really have yet," said
Jack Pannell of Sojourners. "It may take us a generation."
With both the left and the right pursuing faith-based strategies, the
IRS issued a warning in February that churches may be in danger of
becoming "arms of political campaigns and parties." Agents are looking
into about 40 reported violations by churches and other tax-exempt
nonprofits. A few are holdovers from 2004, including the high-profile
probe into an antiwar sermon at a liberal Pasadena church. But new
allegations continue to come in at a brisk clip.
Liberal clergy in Ohio have filed a protest about the pastors' efforts
on behalf of Blackwell. On the right, the website
http://www.ratoutachurch.org is recruiting volunteers to report partisan
activity from the pulpit that favors Democrats.
Melissa Rogers, a visiting professor of religion and public policy at
Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., says she expects more
complaints as the election approaches. In their zeal to bring politics
into the pews, some religious leaders "have made a decision to walk on
the razor's edge of the law," she said. "Or over the edge."
stephanie.simon@latimes.com
Mark Foley (R-FL)... The Congress should focus on more important issues, like protecting kids from potential predators.
Foley To Resign Over Sexually Explicit Messages to Minors
September 29, 2006 3:02 PM
Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer Report:
Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) planned to resign today, hours after ABC questioned him about sexually explicit internet messages with current and former Congressional pages under the age of 18.
A spokesman for Foley, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, said the congressman submitted his resignation in a letter late this afternoon to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
· Sixteen-Year-Old Who Worked as Capitol Hill Page Concerned About E-mail Exchange with Congressman
· Rep. Foley's Opponent Calls for an Investigation into Allegations of Inappropriate E-mails with Former Page
· Click Here for More of the Brian Ross Page
Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.
The full details will be included in a report tonight on ABC World News with Charles Gibson.
Click here for the previous report on the e-mails sent by Rep. Foley.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Mmmmm, sounds rather extrange...
9/20 Laguna Beach, CA: Cops Arrest--Then Release--The Day Labor Attackers, But Still Pursuing Charges Against Anti-Minutemen Protester!
Minutemen Watch, Projects of National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.MinutemenWatch.net
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.net
We Suggest you to contact Susan Schroeder Orange County District Attorney's Office, ask the:
1) Why they release these two attackers when the Laguna Day Labor Center had been repeatedly attacked and harassed by Minutemen/KKK Groups? Why they actively file charges against the peaceful anti-Minutemen protester Kurt Isobe? (see above)
2) If they will file any charges against the attackers?
County District Attorney's Office, Tel: (714) 834-3600
D.A. Delays Decision On Filing In Laborer Attack
September 20, 2006
CBS News
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_263190407.html
(CBS) LAGUNA BEACH , Calif. Prosecutors have delayed a decision on whether to file charges against two young men arrested for allegedly assaulting several day laborers at a Laguna Beach hiring center, an official said Wednesday.
"We sent it (the case) back for further investigation," said Susan Schroeder of the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Artem Soloviev, 23, and Dennis Kaptilniy, 18, were arrested Sunday and booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime, police said.
The delay in filing charges meant the pair were released from jail.
Prosecutors normally have 48 hours, or two court days, to file charges if arrestees do not post bail and remain behind bars, Schroeder said.
If no charges are filed within that time, arrestees are released and an arrest warrant is issued if and when charges are filed, Schroeder said.
Additional investigation can take weeks, but at the maximum, prosecutors have as long as a crime's statute of limitations, which is about three years for many felonies, Schroeder said.
Soloviev and Kaptilniy allegedly assaulted several day laborers at a hiring center and then plowed their car through the parking lot of the Day Labor Hiring Site at 1690 Laguna Canyon Road , hitting two workers while shouting
racial insults, police said.
Several people called Laguna Beach police around 9:12 a.m. to report the men driving the black Toyota , police said.
Witnesses said the men pulled into the hiring center parking lot and tried to hire a worker. When the worker rejected the terms of the job, he and a friend were allegedly assaulted by Soloviev and Kaptilniy, police said.
The suspects then fled the scene, only to return moments later speeding through the area. Witnesses were forced to jump out of the vehicle's path as the suspects continued to circle the parking lot, striking two workers as well
as metal lunch tables and a chain-link fence.
The initial assault victim was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Day laborers and their supporters gathered at the center Tuesday to denounce the alleged attack.
9/15: Orange County D.A. Seeks to Prosecute Garden Grove Demonstrator Found Innocent (LA IMC)
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/09/178739.php
Kurt Isobe, one of the Garden Grove 5, who was found innocent of charges of throwing cans, is still stuck in the court system for allegedly resisting arrest and interfering with police officers. He is due back in court on Sept 18th.
Others arrested and charged at the Garden Grove demonstration against the Minutemen were found not guilty, or took plea bargains for lesser charges, but Isobe decided to fight the false charges, in the name of justice. The system, however, has pursued charges against him, despite the jury's clear finding that Isobe did not commit the most serious and concrete acts charged against him.
To help defray legal expenses a benefit concert on Sept. 16th from 2 to 5 pm will be held at Union Center for the Arts, 120 Judge John Aiso St., featuring Warren and Lisa Furutani, George Abe, Kiyoshi Graves, Miwa Lyric, the Afro-Cuban All Stars from J-Flats, and Kyoko. Donations can be made to the Kurt Isobe Support Committee.
Recent News on Laguna Beach Day Labor Center
7/17: Laguna Beach: Minutemen drop their mask (LA IMC)
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/168944.php
LAGUNA BEACH, 15 July 2006--The minutemen were mean. Just sheer, ugly, dog-biting mean. One of them had discovered the Laguna Beach Day Labor Center was on state land but, just days later, on July 11, the City of Laguna Beach leased the land from the state to keep the center open. The minutemen came to Laguna Beach to protest their defeat, at a day labor center that has been a hotspot over the past year between immigrant supporters and deportation mongers. But the City had already made up its mind. And the minutemen had lost before they even began.....
7/1: Laguna Day Labor Center Ordered Closed (LA IMC)
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/166846.php
===========================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Minutemen Watch, Projects of National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.MinutemenWatch.net
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.net
We Suggest you to contact Susan Schroeder Orange County District Attorney's Office, ask the:
1) Why they release these two attackers when the Laguna Day Labor Center had been repeatedly attacked and harassed by Minutemen/KKK Groups? Why they actively file charges against the peaceful anti-Minutemen protester Kurt Isobe? (see above)
2) If they will file any charges against the attackers?
County District Attorney's Office, Tel: (714) 834-3600
D.A. Delays Decision On Filing In Laborer Attack
September 20, 2006
CBS News
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_263190407.html
(CBS) LAGUNA BEACH , Calif. Prosecutors have delayed a decision on whether to file charges against two young men arrested for allegedly assaulting several day laborers at a Laguna Beach hiring center, an official said Wednesday.
"We sent it (the case) back for further investigation," said Susan Schroeder of the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Artem Soloviev, 23, and Dennis Kaptilniy, 18, were arrested Sunday and booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime, police said.
The delay in filing charges meant the pair were released from jail.
Prosecutors normally have 48 hours, or two court days, to file charges if arrestees do not post bail and remain behind bars, Schroeder said.
If no charges are filed within that time, arrestees are released and an arrest warrant is issued if and when charges are filed, Schroeder said.
Additional investigation can take weeks, but at the maximum, prosecutors have as long as a crime's statute of limitations, which is about three years for many felonies, Schroeder said.
Soloviev and Kaptilniy allegedly assaulted several day laborers at a hiring center and then plowed their car through the parking lot of the Day Labor Hiring Site at 1690 Laguna Canyon Road , hitting two workers while shouting
racial insults, police said.
Several people called Laguna Beach police around 9:12 a.m. to report the men driving the black Toyota , police said.
Witnesses said the men pulled into the hiring center parking lot and tried to hire a worker. When the worker rejected the terms of the job, he and a friend were allegedly assaulted by Soloviev and Kaptilniy, police said.
The suspects then fled the scene, only to return moments later speeding through the area. Witnesses were forced to jump out of the vehicle's path as the suspects continued to circle the parking lot, striking two workers as well
as metal lunch tables and a chain-link fence.
The initial assault victim was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Day laborers and their supporters gathered at the center Tuesday to denounce the alleged attack.
9/15: Orange County D.A. Seeks to Prosecute Garden Grove Demonstrator Found Innocent (LA IMC)
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/09/178739.php
Kurt Isobe, one of the Garden Grove 5, who was found innocent of charges of throwing cans, is still stuck in the court system for allegedly resisting arrest and interfering with police officers. He is due back in court on Sept 18th.
Others arrested and charged at the Garden Grove demonstration against the Minutemen were found not guilty, or took plea bargains for lesser charges, but Isobe decided to fight the false charges, in the name of justice. The system, however, has pursued charges against him, despite the jury's clear finding that Isobe did not commit the most serious and concrete acts charged against him.
To help defray legal expenses a benefit concert on Sept. 16th from 2 to 5 pm will be held at Union Center for the Arts, 120 Judge John Aiso St., featuring Warren and Lisa Furutani, George Abe, Kiyoshi Graves, Miwa Lyric, the Afro-Cuban All Stars from J-Flats, and Kyoko. Donations can be made to the Kurt Isobe Support Committee.
Recent News on Laguna Beach Day Labor Center
7/17: Laguna Beach: Minutemen drop their mask (LA IMC)
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/168944.php
LAGUNA BEACH, 15 July 2006--The minutemen were mean. Just sheer, ugly, dog-biting mean. One of them had discovered the Laguna Beach Day Labor Center was on state land but, just days later, on July 11, the City of Laguna Beach leased the land from the state to keep the center open. The minutemen came to Laguna Beach to protest their defeat, at a day labor center that has been a hotspot over the past year between immigrant supporters and deportation mongers. But the City had already made up its mind. And the minutemen had lost before they even began.....
7/1: Laguna Day Labor Center Ordered Closed (LA IMC)
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/166846.php
===========================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
National Call-In Day to STOP Congress from Passing Anti-Immigrant Bills!
Action Alert! National Call-In Day to STOP Congress from Passing Anti-Immigrant Bills!
September 20 National Call-In Day!
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
On Wednesday September 20, the U.S. House will be discuss and voting several racist anti-immigrant legislation (see above). After last week the passage of last week's (9/14) Secure Fence Act of 2006 H.R. 6061. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll446.xml the anti-immigrant forces in Washington D.C. want to push their enforcement-only immigrant agendas before November election. And we need to mobilize to stop it!
On Wednesday September 20, we urge you to CALL, FAX AND MAIL your elected officials, SAY NO TO THE RACIST ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILLS:
H.R. 4844 - Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 ("Voter ID bill")
H.R. 6089 - Illegal Immigrant Deterrence Act
H.R. 6090 - Immigration Enforcement Act
H.R. 6091 - Border Security Enhancement Act
Talking Point (by: New American Opportunity Campaign)
"Congress should stop the piecemeal, enforcement-only approach to immigration reform. I support a comprehensive bill that reunites families, legalizes the undocumented population, and provides future immigrants with a safe and legal way to live and work in the U.S."
or we'll not vote for you at the November election!
To find your House members, please visit the following site:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Here's the suggest key persons to call:
1) We need call Democrats who had vote for the anti-immigrant, ask them DO THE RIGHT WAY BY VOTE NO TO THE BILLS!
Andrews (D-NJ) - Baird (D-WA) - Barrow (D-GA) - Bean (D-IL)
Berkley (D-NV) - Berry (D-AR) - Bishop (GA) (D-GA) - Bishop (NY) (D-NY)
Boren (D-OK) - Boswell (D-IA) - Boucher (D-VA) - Boyd (D-FL)
Brown (OH) (D-OH) - Brown, Corrine (D-FL) - Capuano (D-MA)
Cardoza (D-CA) - Chandler (D-KY) - Cooper (D-TN) - Costa (D-CA)
Costello (D-IL) - Cramer (D-AL) - Davis (AL) (D-AL) - Davis (TN) (D-TN)
DeFazio (D-OR) - Delahunt (D-MA) - Edwards (D-TX) - Etheridge (D-NC)
Ford (D-TN) - Frank (MA) (D-MA) - Gordon (D-TN) - Herseth (D-SD)
Holden (D-PA) - Hooley (D-OR) - Israel (D-NY) - Kanjorski (D-PA)
Kildee (D-MI) - Kind (D-WI) - Lipinski (D-IL) - Lynch (D-MA)
Maloney (D-NY) - Marshall (D-GA) - Matheson (D-UT) - McCarthy (D-NY)
McIntyre (D-NC) - Melancon (D-LA) - Miller (NC) (D-NC) - Mollohan (D-WV)
Moore (KS) (D-KS) - Moran (VA) (D-VA) - Pascrell (D-NJ)
Peterson (MN) (D-MN) - Pomeroy (D-ND) - Rahall (D-WV)
Ross (D-AR) - Ruppersberger (D-MD) - Ryan (OH) (D-OH)
Skelton (D-MO) - Smith (WA) (D-WA) - Spratt (D-SC)
Stupak (D-MI) - Tanner (D-TN) - Taylor (MS) (D-MS)
Weiner (D-NY) - Wexler (D-FL)
2) And here's the lists of Pro-Immigrant Republicans who had been identify by the anti-immigrant organization, we need to call them to thanks for their pro-immigrant support and urge them VOTE NO THE BILLS!
John McCain (R-AZ) 202-224-2235
Lindsay Graham (R-SC) 202-224-5972
Mike DeWine (R-OH) 202-224-2315
Arlen Specter (R-PA) 202-224-4254
John Warner (R-VA) 202-224-2023
Richard Lugar (R-IN) 202-224-4814
Robert Bennett (R-UT) 202-224-5444
Sam Brownback (R-KS) 202-224-6521
Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) 202-224-2921
Norm Coleman (R-MN) 202-224-5641
Judd Gregg (R-NH) 202-224-3324
Chuck Hagel (R-NE) 202-224-4224
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 202-224-2541
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 202-224-6665
Susan Collins (R-ME) 202-224-2523
Larry Craig (R-ID) 202-224-2752
Pete Domenici (R-NM) 202-224-6621
Mel Martinez (R-FL) 202-224-3041
Gordon Smith (R-OR) 202-224-3753
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) 202-224-5344
Ted Stevens (R-AK) 202-224-3004
George Voinovich (R-OH) 202-224-3353
Other Useful Links
National Council of La Raza
http://www.nclr.org
National Immigration Forum
http://www.immigrationforum.org
New American Opportunity Campaign
http://www.cirnow.org
National Network of Immigrant & Refugee Rights
September 20 National Call-In Day!
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
On Wednesday September 20, the U.S. House will be discuss and voting several racist anti-immigrant legislation (see above). After last week the passage of last week's (9/14) Secure Fence Act of 2006 H.R. 6061. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll446.xml the anti-immigrant forces in Washington D.C. want to push their enforcement-only immigrant agendas before November election. And we need to mobilize to stop it!
On Wednesday September 20, we urge you to CALL, FAX AND MAIL your elected officials, SAY NO TO THE RACIST ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILLS:
H.R. 4844 - Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 ("Voter ID bill")
H.R. 6089 - Illegal Immigrant Deterrence Act
H.R. 6090 - Immigration Enforcement Act
H.R. 6091 - Border Security Enhancement Act
Talking Point (by: New American Opportunity Campaign)
"Congress should stop the piecemeal, enforcement-only approach to immigration reform. I support a comprehensive bill that reunites families, legalizes the undocumented population, and provides future immigrants with a safe and legal way to live and work in the U.S."
or we'll not vote for you at the November election!
To find your House members, please visit the following site:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Here's the suggest key persons to call:
1) We need call Democrats who had vote for the anti-immigrant, ask them DO THE RIGHT WAY BY VOTE NO TO THE BILLS!
Andrews (D-NJ) - Baird (D-WA) - Barrow (D-GA) - Bean (D-IL)
Berkley (D-NV) - Berry (D-AR) - Bishop (GA) (D-GA) - Bishop (NY) (D-NY)
Boren (D-OK) - Boswell (D-IA) - Boucher (D-VA) - Boyd (D-FL)
Brown (OH) (D-OH) - Brown, Corrine (D-FL) - Capuano (D-MA)
Cardoza (D-CA) - Chandler (D-KY) - Cooper (D-TN) - Costa (D-CA)
Costello (D-IL) - Cramer (D-AL) - Davis (AL) (D-AL) - Davis (TN) (D-TN)
DeFazio (D-OR) - Delahunt (D-MA) - Edwards (D-TX) - Etheridge (D-NC)
Ford (D-TN) - Frank (MA) (D-MA) - Gordon (D-TN) - Herseth (D-SD)
Holden (D-PA) - Hooley (D-OR) - Israel (D-NY) - Kanjorski (D-PA)
Kildee (D-MI) - Kind (D-WI) - Lipinski (D-IL) - Lynch (D-MA)
Maloney (D-NY) - Marshall (D-GA) - Matheson (D-UT) - McCarthy (D-NY)
McIntyre (D-NC) - Melancon (D-LA) - Miller (NC) (D-NC) - Mollohan (D-WV)
Moore (KS) (D-KS) - Moran (VA) (D-VA) - Pascrell (D-NJ)
Peterson (MN) (D-MN) - Pomeroy (D-ND) - Rahall (D-WV)
Ross (D-AR) - Ruppersberger (D-MD) - Ryan (OH) (D-OH)
Skelton (D-MO) - Smith (WA) (D-WA) - Spratt (D-SC)
Stupak (D-MI) - Tanner (D-TN) - Taylor (MS) (D-MS)
Weiner (D-NY) - Wexler (D-FL)
2) And here's the lists of Pro-Immigrant Republicans who had been identify by the anti-immigrant organization, we need to call them to thanks for their pro-immigrant support and urge them VOTE NO THE BILLS!
John McCain (R-AZ) 202-224-2235
Lindsay Graham (R-SC) 202-224-5972
Mike DeWine (R-OH) 202-224-2315
Arlen Specter (R-PA) 202-224-4254
John Warner (R-VA) 202-224-2023
Richard Lugar (R-IN) 202-224-4814
Robert Bennett (R-UT) 202-224-5444
Sam Brownback (R-KS) 202-224-6521
Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) 202-224-2921
Norm Coleman (R-MN) 202-224-5641
Judd Gregg (R-NH) 202-224-3324
Chuck Hagel (R-NE) 202-224-4224
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 202-224-2541
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 202-224-6665
Susan Collins (R-ME) 202-224-2523
Larry Craig (R-ID) 202-224-2752
Pete Domenici (R-NM) 202-224-6621
Mel Martinez (R-FL) 202-224-3041
Gordon Smith (R-OR) 202-224-3753
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) 202-224-5344
Ted Stevens (R-AK) 202-224-3004
George Voinovich (R-OH) 202-224-3353
Other Useful Links
National Council of La Raza
http://www.nclr.org
National Immigration Forum
http://www.immigrationforum.org
New American Opportunity Campaign
http://www.cirnow.org
National Network of Immigrant & Refugee Rights
What San Francisco Gets That Milwaukee Doesn't
What San Francisco Gets That Milwaukee Doesn't
New America Media, Commentary, Marta Donayre, Sep 14, 2006
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=2b135118bb9df3e81c2205a425f61b29
EDITOR'S NOTE: At the bottom of the immigration debate is the issue of labor and labor rights, writes Marta Donayre, a co-founder of Love Sees No Borders and a member of the leadership council of the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition.
In San Francisco last Sept. 4, unions and immigrants joined forces to march for another immigrant rights rally. In Milwaukee, however, union leaders refused to join forces with immigrant workers. In San Francisco immigrants are seen as workers; in Milwaukee, apparently they're not.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Harry Kreuser, business manager of the Plumbers and Gas Fitters Local 75, said that mixing the issues would dilute the march. By contrast, the San Francisco Chronicle quotes Brian Cruz, a member of Local 790 of the Service Employees International Union, as saying that both issues are the same.
It only shows that at the bottom of the immigration debate is the issue of labor, it's availability and price.
Working immigrants are educated and uneducated people who find that they have few options in their homeland. Some are women who face discrimination and reduced opportunities and wages because of their gender. Others are racial and ethnic minorities who face discrimination back home and the only way for them to make a living is by leaving. Others are lesbian, gay or transgender individuals who are denied employment based solely on who they are.
Regardless of the particulars, their motive is the same: finding work. Likewise, the fear that immigrants, especially the undocumented, take jobs from Americans is felt the most by the working classes.
But you wouldn't know what's at the bottom of the controversy from the mainstream media coverage. The media like to sensational issues, and crossing the border is exactly what the editor ordered. Think about it. You have desperation, the heroism of surviving the desert, relying on your smarts and outwitting the system and, of course, you have the "outlaw" element. These are the ingredients of most Hollywood blockbusters.
So the media put most of its attention on the border and those who cross it. As a result, the larger issues hardly receive any real discussion and analysis. For example, H.R. 4437 would create a new category of crime applicable only to immigrants, regardless of how they entered the country, or whether they are here legally or not.
Another largely ignored issue is worker rights for all.
The logic is pretty simple. If an employee can be underpaid and abused, this employee will be preferred to one who has to be paid a decent wage and respected. This country had a civil war because half of the country wanted to reserve its privilege to keep its unpaid labor. Today's employers follow a similar logic.
Cheap labor is what undocumented workers mean to employers -- cheap wages, no need to spend for protective equipment or safe conditions, many hours without breaks and intimidated workers who won't complain. It is a sweet deal for employers.
But the solution to this problem is not to look at the immigrant as the one causing the problem. The solution is to look at the root of the problem -- lack of protections for everyone -- and to implement protections for all workers, regardless of immigration status.
Imagine two carpenters. One charges $15 per hour because he can. The other charges $8 per hour because he can't get any better rates because of his status. The first one is entitled to two breaks and a lunch hour. The second is entitled to deportation if he complains. Which one do you think employers will hire?
Now, imagine that the second worker has the same protections as the first. Both workers would compete equally. Both would be hired based on fair assessments, not because one is easier to exploit than the other.
This is what immigrant rights advocates are trying to achieve by promoting worker rights.
Workers, especially those in the food industry, are exposed to many dangers.
The United Farm Workers union has complained against dairies for making workers walk in cow manure up to their waists. Many are afflicted with skin disorders that they bring home. It has also complained about employers who deny shade and water to farm workers, some of whom have died of heat stroke. And let's not forget the ones who were sprayed with pesticides as they worked in the fields.
Meat processing plants aren't far behind. It's brutal work for both American and immigrant workers. It's easy to see that the workers who make food for the American dinner table aren't nourished by the industries in which they work. Creepy, huh?
This is why immigrant rights advocates include workers' rights in their agenda. It levels the playing field for all workers. This is why immigrant rights are worker rights, and vice versa.
All work should be honored and all workers should have labor protections regardless of citizenship or immigration status. This is why in San Francisco immigrants and union members marched together as workers.
Why are so many Democrats betraying liberalism?
House's Secure Fence Act of 2006 (HR 6061)
Updates And Who'd Vote It
September 16, 2006
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
700 miles of border fence includes:
- 361 miles from Calexico, California to Douglas, Arizona
- 176 miles from Laredo to Brownsville, Texas
- 51 miles from Del Rio to Eagle Pass, Texas
- 88 miles from El Paso, Texas to Columbus, New Mexico
- 22 miles in Tecate, California near San Diego
The Full text of H.R. 6061 bill passed by House:
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.6061:
Who vote for the bill:
The final vote was 283-138, 6 Republicans who voted no on this and the 64 Democrats who voted yes.
Voted Aye
Aderholt (R-AL)
Akin (R-MO)
Alexander (R-LA)
Andrews (D-NJ)
Bachus (R-AL)
Baird (D-WA)
Baker (R-LA)
Barrett (SC) (R-SC)
Barrow (D-GA)
Bartlett (MD) (R-MD)
Barton (TX) (R-TX)
Bass (R-NH)
Bean (D-IL)
Beauprez (R-CO)
Berkley (D-NV)
Berry (D-AR)
Biggert (R-IL)
Bilbray (R-CA)
Bilirakis (R-FL)
Bishop (GA) (D-GA)
Bishop (NY) (D-NY)
Bishop (UT) (R-UT)
Blackburn (R-TN)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boehlert (R-NY)
Boehner (R-OH)
Bonilla (R-TX)
Bonner (R-AL)
Bono (R-CA)
Boozman (R-AR)
Boren (D-OK)
Boswell (D-IA)
Boucher (D-VA)
Boustany (R-LA)
Boyd (D-FL)
Bradley (NH) (R-NH)
Brady (TX) (R-TX)
Brown (OH) (D-OH)
Brown (SC) (R-SC)
Brown, Corrine (D-FL)
Brown-Waite, Ginny (R-FL)
Burgess (R-TX)
Burton (IN) (R-IN)
Buyer (R-IN)
Calvert (R-CA)
Camp (MI) (R-MI)
Campbell (CA) (R-CA)
Cannon (R-UT)
Cantor (R-VA)
Capito (R-WV)
Capuano (D-MA)
Cardoza (D-CA)
Carter (R-TX)
Castle (R-DE)
Chabot (R-OH)
Chandler (D-KY)
Chocola (R-IN)
Coble (R-NC)
Cole (OK) (R-OK)
Cooper (D-TN)
Costa (D-CA)
Costello (D-IL)
Cramer (D-AL)
Crenshaw (R-FL)
Cubin (R-WY)
Davis (AL) (D-AL)
Davis (KY) (R-KY)
Davis (TN) (D-TN)
Davis, Jo Ann (R-VA)
Davis, Tom (R-VA)
DeFazio (D-OR)
Deal (GA) (R-GA)
Delahunt (D-MA)
Dent (R-PA)
Doolittle (R-CA)
Drake (R-VA)
Dreier (R-CA)
Duncan (R-TN)
Edwards (D-TX)
Ehlers (R-MI)
Emerson (R-MO)
English (PA) (R-PA)
Etheridge (D-NC)
Everett (R-AL)
Feeney (R-FL)
Ferguson (R-NJ)
Fitzpatrick (PA) (R-PA)
Flake (R-AZ)
Foley (R-FL)
Ford (D-TN)
Fortenberry (R-NE)
Fossella (R-NY)
Foxx (R-NC)
Frank (MA) (D-MA)
Franks (AZ) (R-AZ)
Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
Gallegly (R-CA)
Garrett (NJ) (R-NJ)
Gerlach (R-PA)
Gibbons (R-NV)
Gilchrest (R-MD)
Gillmor (R-OH)
Gingrey (R-GA)
Gohmert (R-TX)
Goode (R-VA)
Goodlatte (R-VA)
Gordon (D-TN)
Granger (R-TX)
Graves (R-MO)
Green (WI) (R-WI)
Gutknecht (R-MN)
Hall (R-TX)
Harris (R-FL)
Hart (R-PA)
Hastings (WA) (R-WA)
Hayes (R-NC)
Hayworth (R-AZ)
Hefley (R-CO)
Hensarling (R-TX)
Herger (R-CA)
Herseth (D-SD)
Hobson (R-OH)
Hoekstra (R-MI)
Holden (D-PA)
Hooley (D-OR)
Hostettler (R-IN)
Hulshof (R-MO)
Hunter (R-CA)
Hyde (R-IL)
Inglis (SC) (R-SC)
Israel (D-NY)
Issa (R-CA)
Istook (R-OK)
Jenkins (R-TN)
Jindal (R-LA)
Johnson (CT) (R-CT)
Johnson (IL) (R-IL)
Jones (NC) (R-NC)
Kanjorski (D-PA)
Kelly (R-NY)
Kennedy (MN) (R-MN)
Kildee (D-MI)
Kind (D-WI)
King (IA) (R-IA)
King (NY) (R-NY)
Kingston (R-GA)
Kirk (R-IL)
Kline (R-MN)
Knollenberg (R-MI)
Kuhl (NY) (R-NY)
LaHood (R-IL)
LaTourette (R-OH)
Latham (R-IA)
Leach (R-IA)
Lewis (CA) (R-CA)
Lewis (KY) (R-KY)
Linder (R-GA)
Lipinski (D-IL)
LoBiondo (R-NJ)
Lucas (R-OK)
Lungren, Daniel E. (R-CA)
Lynch (D-MA)
Mack (R-FL)
Maloney (D-NY)
Manzullo (R-IL)
Marchant (R-TX)
Marshall (D-GA)
Matheson (D-UT)
McCarthy (D-NY)
McCaul (TX) (R-TX)
McCotter (R-MI)
McCrery (R-LA)
McHenry (R-NC)
McHugh (R-NY)
McIntyre (D-NC)
McKeon (R-CA)
McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
Melancon (D-LA)
Mica (R-FL)
Miller (FL) (R-FL)
Miller (MI) (R-MI)
Miller (NC) (D-NC)
Miller, Gary (R-CA)
Mollohan (D-WV)
Moore (KS) (D-KS)
Moran (KS) (R-KS)
Moran (VA) (D-VA)
Murphy (R-PA)
Musgrave (R-CO)
Myrick (R-NC)
Neugebauer (R-TX)
Northup (R-KY)
Norwood (R-GA)
Nunes (R-CA)
Nussle (R-IA)
Osborne (R-NE)
Otter (R-ID)
Oxley (R-OH)
Pascrell (D-NJ)
Paul (R-TX)
Pearce (R-NM)
Pence (R-IN)
Peterson (MN) (D-MN)
Peterson (PA) (R-PA)
Petri (R-WI)
Pickering (R-MS)
Pitts (R-PA)
Platts (R-PA)
Poe (R-TX)
Pombo (R-CA)
Pomeroy (D-ND)
Porter (R-NV)
Price (GA) (R-GA)
Pryce (OH) (R-OH)
Putnam (R-FL)
Radanovich (R-CA)
Rahall (D-WV)
Ramstad (R-MN)
Regula (R-OH)
Rehberg (R-MT)
Reichert (R-WA)
Renzi (R-AZ)
Reynolds (R-NY)
Rogers (AL) (R-AL)
Rogers (KY) (R-KY)
Rogers (MI) (R-MI)
Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Ross (D-AR)
Royce (R-CA)
Ruppersberger (D-MD)
Ryan (OH) (D-OH)
Ryan (WI) (R-WI)
Ryun (KS) (R-KS)
Saxton (R-NJ)
Schmidt (R-OH)
Schwarz (MI) (R-MI)
Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Sessions (R-TX)
Shadegg (R-AZ)
Shaw (R-FL)
Shays (R-CT)
Sherwood (R-PA)
Shimkus (R-IL)
Shuster (R-PA)
Simmons (R-CT)
Simpson (R-ID)
Skelton (D-MO)
Smith (NJ) (R-NJ)
Smith (TX) (R-TX)
Smith (WA) (D-WA)
Sodrel (R-IN)
Souder (R-IN)
Spratt (D-SC)
Stearns (R-FL)
Stupak (D-MI)
Sullivan (R-OK)
Sweeney (R-NY)
Tancredo (R-CO)
Tanner (D-TN)
Taylor (MS) (D-MS)
Taylor (NC) (R-NC)
Terry (R-NE)
Thomas (R-CA)
Thornberry (R-TX)
Tiahrt (R-KS)
Tiberi (R-OH)
Turner (R-OH)
Upton (R-MI)
Walden (OR) (R-OR)
Walsh (R-NY)
Wamp (R-TN)
Weiner (D-NY)
Weldon (FL) (R-FL)
Weldon (PA) (R-PA)
Weller (R-IL)
Westmoreland (R-GA)
Wexler (D-FL)
Whitfield (R-KY)
Wicker (R-MS)
Wilson (NM) (R-NM)
Wilson (SC) (R-SC)
Wolf (R-VA)
Young (FL) (R-FL)
Voted Noe (Republicans in bold)
Abercrombie (D-HI)
Ackerman (D-NY)
Allen (D-ME)
Baca (D-CA)
Baldwin (D-WI)
Becerra (D-CA)
Berman (D-CA)
Blumenauer (D-OR)
Brady (PA) (D-PA)
Butterfield (D-NC)
Capps (D-CA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carnahan (D-MO)
Carson (D-IN)
Clay (D-MO)
Clyburn (D-SC)
Conaway (R-TX)
Conyers (D-MI)
Crowley (D-NY)
Cuellar (D-TX)
Cummings (D-MD)
Davis (CA) (D-CA)
Davis (IL) (D-IL)
DeGette (D-CO)
DeLauro (D-CT)
Diaz-Balart, L. (R-FL)
Diaz-Balart, M. (R-FL)
Dicks (D-WA)
Dingell (D-MI)
Doggett (D-TX)
Doyle (D-PA)
Emanuel (D-IL)
Engel (D-NY)
Eshoo (D-CA)
Farr (D-CA)
Fattah (D-PA)
Filner (D-CA)
Gonzalez (D-TX)
Green, Al (D-TX)
Green, Gene (D-TX)
Grijalva (D-AZ)
Gutierrez (D-IL)
Harman (D-CA)
Hastings (FL) (D-FL)
Higgins (D-NY)
Hinchey (D-NY)
Hinojosa (D-TX)
Holt (D-NJ)
Honda (D-CA)
Hoyer (D-MD)
Inslee (D-WA)
Jackson (IL) (D-IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX) (D-TX)
Jefferson (D-LA)
Johnson, E. B. (D-TX)
Jones (OH) (D-OH)
Kennedy (RI) (D-RI)
Kilpatrick (MI) (D-MI)
Kolbe (R-AZ)
Kucinich (D-OH)
Langevin (D-RI)
Lantos (D-CA)
Larsen (WA) (D-WA)
Larson (CT) (D-CT)
Lee (D-CA)
Levin (D-MI)
Lewis (GA) (D-GA)
Lofgren, Zoe (D-CA)
Lowey (D-NY)
Markey (D-MA)
Matsui (D-CA)
McCollum (MN) (D-MN)
McDermott (D-WA)
McGovern (D-MA)
McKinney (D-GA)
McNulty (D-NY)
Meehan (D-MA)
Meek (FL) (D-FL)
Meeks (NY) (D-NY)
Michaud (D-ME)
Millender-McDonald (D-CA)
Miller, George (D-CA)
Moore (WI) (D-WI)
Murtha (D-PA)
Nadler (D-NY)
Napolitano (D-CA)
Neal (MA) (D-MA)
Oberstar (D-MN)
Obey (D-WI)
Olver (D-MA)
Ortiz (D-TX)
Owens (D-NY)
Pallone (D-NJ)
Pastor (D-AZ)
Payne (D-NJ)
Pelosi (D-CA)
Price (NC) (D-NC)
Rangel (D-NY)
Reyes (D-TX)
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Rothman (D-NJ)
Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Rush (D-IL)
Sabo (D-MN)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanchez, Linda T. (D-CA)
Sanchez, Loretta (D-CA)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schakowsky (D-IL)
Schiff (D-CA)
Schwartz (PA) (D-PA)
Scott (GA) (D-GA)
Scott (VA) (D-VA)
Serrano (D-NY)
Sherman (D-CA)
Slaughter (D-NY)
Snyder (D-AR)
Solis (D-CA)
Stark (D-CA)
Tauscher (D-CA)
Thompson (CA) (D-CA)
Thompson (MS) (D-MS)
Tierney (D-MA)
Towns (D-NY)
Udall (CO) (D-CO)
Udall (NM) (D-NM)
Van Hollen (D-MD)
Velazquez (D-NY)
Visclosky (D-IN)
Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Waters (D-CA)
Watson (D-CA)
Watt (D-NC)
Waxman (D-CA)
Woolsey (D-CA)
Wu (D-OR)
Wynn (D-MD)
Young (AK) (R-AK)
Didn't Vote:
Case (D-HI) Cleaver (D-MO) Culberson (R-TX) Davis (FL) (D-FL) Evans (D-IL) Forbes (R-VA) Johnson, Sam (R-TX) Keller (R-FL) Ney (R-OH) Strickland (D-OH)
Voted Present:
Kaptur (D-OH)
=====================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Updates And Who'd Vote It
September 16, 2006
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
700 miles of border fence includes:
- 361 miles from Calexico, California to Douglas, Arizona
- 176 miles from Laredo to Brownsville, Texas
- 51 miles from Del Rio to Eagle Pass, Texas
- 88 miles from El Paso, Texas to Columbus, New Mexico
- 22 miles in Tecate, California near San Diego
The Full text of H.R. 6061 bill passed by House:
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.6061:
Who vote for the bill:
The final vote was 283-138, 6 Republicans who voted no on this and the 64 Democrats who voted yes.
Voted Aye
Aderholt (R-AL)
Akin (R-MO)
Alexander (R-LA)
Andrews (D-NJ)
Bachus (R-AL)
Baird (D-WA)
Baker (R-LA)
Barrett (SC) (R-SC)
Barrow (D-GA)
Bartlett (MD) (R-MD)
Barton (TX) (R-TX)
Bass (R-NH)
Bean (D-IL)
Beauprez (R-CO)
Berkley (D-NV)
Berry (D-AR)
Biggert (R-IL)
Bilbray (R-CA)
Bilirakis (R-FL)
Bishop (GA) (D-GA)
Bishop (NY) (D-NY)
Bishop (UT) (R-UT)
Blackburn (R-TN)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boehlert (R-NY)
Boehner (R-OH)
Bonilla (R-TX)
Bonner (R-AL)
Bono (R-CA)
Boozman (R-AR)
Boren (D-OK)
Boswell (D-IA)
Boucher (D-VA)
Boustany (R-LA)
Boyd (D-FL)
Bradley (NH) (R-NH)
Brady (TX) (R-TX)
Brown (OH) (D-OH)
Brown (SC) (R-SC)
Brown, Corrine (D-FL)
Brown-Waite, Ginny (R-FL)
Burgess (R-TX)
Burton (IN) (R-IN)
Buyer (R-IN)
Calvert (R-CA)
Camp (MI) (R-MI)
Campbell (CA) (R-CA)
Cannon (R-UT)
Cantor (R-VA)
Capito (R-WV)
Capuano (D-MA)
Cardoza (D-CA)
Carter (R-TX)
Castle (R-DE)
Chabot (R-OH)
Chandler (D-KY)
Chocola (R-IN)
Coble (R-NC)
Cole (OK) (R-OK)
Cooper (D-TN)
Costa (D-CA)
Costello (D-IL)
Cramer (D-AL)
Crenshaw (R-FL)
Cubin (R-WY)
Davis (AL) (D-AL)
Davis (KY) (R-KY)
Davis (TN) (D-TN)
Davis, Jo Ann (R-VA)
Davis, Tom (R-VA)
DeFazio (D-OR)
Deal (GA) (R-GA)
Delahunt (D-MA)
Dent (R-PA)
Doolittle (R-CA)
Drake (R-VA)
Dreier (R-CA)
Duncan (R-TN)
Edwards (D-TX)
Ehlers (R-MI)
Emerson (R-MO)
English (PA) (R-PA)
Etheridge (D-NC)
Everett (R-AL)
Feeney (R-FL)
Ferguson (R-NJ)
Fitzpatrick (PA) (R-PA)
Flake (R-AZ)
Foley (R-FL)
Ford (D-TN)
Fortenberry (R-NE)
Fossella (R-NY)
Foxx (R-NC)
Frank (MA) (D-MA)
Franks (AZ) (R-AZ)
Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
Gallegly (R-CA)
Garrett (NJ) (R-NJ)
Gerlach (R-PA)
Gibbons (R-NV)
Gilchrest (R-MD)
Gillmor (R-OH)
Gingrey (R-GA)
Gohmert (R-TX)
Goode (R-VA)
Goodlatte (R-VA)
Gordon (D-TN)
Granger (R-TX)
Graves (R-MO)
Green (WI) (R-WI)
Gutknecht (R-MN)
Hall (R-TX)
Harris (R-FL)
Hart (R-PA)
Hastings (WA) (R-WA)
Hayes (R-NC)
Hayworth (R-AZ)
Hefley (R-CO)
Hensarling (R-TX)
Herger (R-CA)
Herseth (D-SD)
Hobson (R-OH)
Hoekstra (R-MI)
Holden (D-PA)
Hooley (D-OR)
Hostettler (R-IN)
Hulshof (R-MO)
Hunter (R-CA)
Hyde (R-IL)
Inglis (SC) (R-SC)
Israel (D-NY)
Issa (R-CA)
Istook (R-OK)
Jenkins (R-TN)
Jindal (R-LA)
Johnson (CT) (R-CT)
Johnson (IL) (R-IL)
Jones (NC) (R-NC)
Kanjorski (D-PA)
Kelly (R-NY)
Kennedy (MN) (R-MN)
Kildee (D-MI)
Kind (D-WI)
King (IA) (R-IA)
King (NY) (R-NY)
Kingston (R-GA)
Kirk (R-IL)
Kline (R-MN)
Knollenberg (R-MI)
Kuhl (NY) (R-NY)
LaHood (R-IL)
LaTourette (R-OH)
Latham (R-IA)
Leach (R-IA)
Lewis (CA) (R-CA)
Lewis (KY) (R-KY)
Linder (R-GA)
Lipinski (D-IL)
LoBiondo (R-NJ)
Lucas (R-OK)
Lungren, Daniel E. (R-CA)
Lynch (D-MA)
Mack (R-FL)
Maloney (D-NY)
Manzullo (R-IL)
Marchant (R-TX)
Marshall (D-GA)
Matheson (D-UT)
McCarthy (D-NY)
McCaul (TX) (R-TX)
McCotter (R-MI)
McCrery (R-LA)
McHenry (R-NC)
McHugh (R-NY)
McIntyre (D-NC)
McKeon (R-CA)
McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
Melancon (D-LA)
Mica (R-FL)
Miller (FL) (R-FL)
Miller (MI) (R-MI)
Miller (NC) (D-NC)
Miller, Gary (R-CA)
Mollohan (D-WV)
Moore (KS) (D-KS)
Moran (KS) (R-KS)
Moran (VA) (D-VA)
Murphy (R-PA)
Musgrave (R-CO)
Myrick (R-NC)
Neugebauer (R-TX)
Northup (R-KY)
Norwood (R-GA)
Nunes (R-CA)
Nussle (R-IA)
Osborne (R-NE)
Otter (R-ID)
Oxley (R-OH)
Pascrell (D-NJ)
Paul (R-TX)
Pearce (R-NM)
Pence (R-IN)
Peterson (MN) (D-MN)
Peterson (PA) (R-PA)
Petri (R-WI)
Pickering (R-MS)
Pitts (R-PA)
Platts (R-PA)
Poe (R-TX)
Pombo (R-CA)
Pomeroy (D-ND)
Porter (R-NV)
Price (GA) (R-GA)
Pryce (OH) (R-OH)
Putnam (R-FL)
Radanovich (R-CA)
Rahall (D-WV)
Ramstad (R-MN)
Regula (R-OH)
Rehberg (R-MT)
Reichert (R-WA)
Renzi (R-AZ)
Reynolds (R-NY)
Rogers (AL) (R-AL)
Rogers (KY) (R-KY)
Rogers (MI) (R-MI)
Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Ross (D-AR)
Royce (R-CA)
Ruppersberger (D-MD)
Ryan (OH) (D-OH)
Ryan (WI) (R-WI)
Ryun (KS) (R-KS)
Saxton (R-NJ)
Schmidt (R-OH)
Schwarz (MI) (R-MI)
Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Sessions (R-TX)
Shadegg (R-AZ)
Shaw (R-FL)
Shays (R-CT)
Sherwood (R-PA)
Shimkus (R-IL)
Shuster (R-PA)
Simmons (R-CT)
Simpson (R-ID)
Skelton (D-MO)
Smith (NJ) (R-NJ)
Smith (TX) (R-TX)
Smith (WA) (D-WA)
Sodrel (R-IN)
Souder (R-IN)
Spratt (D-SC)
Stearns (R-FL)
Stupak (D-MI)
Sullivan (R-OK)
Sweeney (R-NY)
Tancredo (R-CO)
Tanner (D-TN)
Taylor (MS) (D-MS)
Taylor (NC) (R-NC)
Terry (R-NE)
Thomas (R-CA)
Thornberry (R-TX)
Tiahrt (R-KS)
Tiberi (R-OH)
Turner (R-OH)
Upton (R-MI)
Walden (OR) (R-OR)
Walsh (R-NY)
Wamp (R-TN)
Weiner (D-NY)
Weldon (FL) (R-FL)
Weldon (PA) (R-PA)
Weller (R-IL)
Westmoreland (R-GA)
Wexler (D-FL)
Whitfield (R-KY)
Wicker (R-MS)
Wilson (NM) (R-NM)
Wilson (SC) (R-SC)
Wolf (R-VA)
Young (FL) (R-FL)
Voted Noe (Republicans in bold)
Abercrombie (D-HI)
Ackerman (D-NY)
Allen (D-ME)
Baca (D-CA)
Baldwin (D-WI)
Becerra (D-CA)
Berman (D-CA)
Blumenauer (D-OR)
Brady (PA) (D-PA)
Butterfield (D-NC)
Capps (D-CA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carnahan (D-MO)
Carson (D-IN)
Clay (D-MO)
Clyburn (D-SC)
Conaway (R-TX)
Conyers (D-MI)
Crowley (D-NY)
Cuellar (D-TX)
Cummings (D-MD)
Davis (CA) (D-CA)
Davis (IL) (D-IL)
DeGette (D-CO)
DeLauro (D-CT)
Diaz-Balart, L. (R-FL)
Diaz-Balart, M. (R-FL)
Dicks (D-WA)
Dingell (D-MI)
Doggett (D-TX)
Doyle (D-PA)
Emanuel (D-IL)
Engel (D-NY)
Eshoo (D-CA)
Farr (D-CA)
Fattah (D-PA)
Filner (D-CA)
Gonzalez (D-TX)
Green, Al (D-TX)
Green, Gene (D-TX)
Grijalva (D-AZ)
Gutierrez (D-IL)
Harman (D-CA)
Hastings (FL) (D-FL)
Higgins (D-NY)
Hinchey (D-NY)
Hinojosa (D-TX)
Holt (D-NJ)
Honda (D-CA)
Hoyer (D-MD)
Inslee (D-WA)
Jackson (IL) (D-IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX) (D-TX)
Jefferson (D-LA)
Johnson, E. B. (D-TX)
Jones (OH) (D-OH)
Kennedy (RI) (D-RI)
Kilpatrick (MI) (D-MI)
Kolbe (R-AZ)
Kucinich (D-OH)
Langevin (D-RI)
Lantos (D-CA)
Larsen (WA) (D-WA)
Larson (CT) (D-CT)
Lee (D-CA)
Levin (D-MI)
Lewis (GA) (D-GA)
Lofgren, Zoe (D-CA)
Lowey (D-NY)
Markey (D-MA)
Matsui (D-CA)
McCollum (MN) (D-MN)
McDermott (D-WA)
McGovern (D-MA)
McKinney (D-GA)
McNulty (D-NY)
Meehan (D-MA)
Meek (FL) (D-FL)
Meeks (NY) (D-NY)
Michaud (D-ME)
Millender-McDonald (D-CA)
Miller, George (D-CA)
Moore (WI) (D-WI)
Murtha (D-PA)
Nadler (D-NY)
Napolitano (D-CA)
Neal (MA) (D-MA)
Oberstar (D-MN)
Obey (D-WI)
Olver (D-MA)
Ortiz (D-TX)
Owens (D-NY)
Pallone (D-NJ)
Pastor (D-AZ)
Payne (D-NJ)
Pelosi (D-CA)
Price (NC) (D-NC)
Rangel (D-NY)
Reyes (D-TX)
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Rothman (D-NJ)
Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Rush (D-IL)
Sabo (D-MN)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanchez, Linda T. (D-CA)
Sanchez, Loretta (D-CA)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schakowsky (D-IL)
Schiff (D-CA)
Schwartz (PA) (D-PA)
Scott (GA) (D-GA)
Scott (VA) (D-VA)
Serrano (D-NY)
Sherman (D-CA)
Slaughter (D-NY)
Snyder (D-AR)
Solis (D-CA)
Stark (D-CA)
Tauscher (D-CA)
Thompson (CA) (D-CA)
Thompson (MS) (D-MS)
Tierney (D-MA)
Towns (D-NY)
Udall (CO) (D-CO)
Udall (NM) (D-NM)
Van Hollen (D-MD)
Velazquez (D-NY)
Visclosky (D-IN)
Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Waters (D-CA)
Watson (D-CA)
Watt (D-NC)
Waxman (D-CA)
Woolsey (D-CA)
Wu (D-OR)
Wynn (D-MD)
Young (AK) (R-AK)
Didn't Vote:
Case (D-HI) Cleaver (D-MO) Culberson (R-TX) Davis (FL) (D-FL) Evans (D-IL) Forbes (R-VA) Johnson, Sam (R-TX) Keller (R-FL) Ney (R-OH) Strickland (D-OH)
Voted Present:
Kaptur (D-OH)
=====================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Republicans are out of control!
Congress Aims to Require Voter ID
From: Marcela.Salazar@mail.house.gov
Friends,
This week (9/20 Wed and 9/21 Thurs), the House of Representatives is poised to consider the "Voter ID bill" H.R. 4844, the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006.
The VOTER ID bill aims to decrease the number of citizens able to vote by requiring all citizens to show proof of citizenship in order to vote. Millions of Americans, who do not have the identification and proof of citizenship that the bill requires -- the elderly, the disabled, Native Americans and other minorities- will be profoundly impacted by this legislation. H.R. 4844 will do far more to suppress turnout and intimidate voters than to prevent voter fraud, as the proponents of the Voter ID bill claim. Millions of Americans will be denied their right to vote because the House Republicans are rushing this bill to floor to address a problem that does not really exist.
MORE ANTI-IMMIGRATION BILLS:
This week, we also expect the Republican Leadership to bring up a series of border security bills. It is odd that, that as the election nears, Republicans would pick border security as a theme, with their "Border Security Now" agenda - thereby highlighting an issue on which they don't have a single accomplishment. If the House Republicans were serious, they would have moved forward with a House-Senate conference on realistic and bipartisan border security/immigration reform legislation - instead of stalling any progress with sham "hearings" or ineffective legislation.
Below is a list of the upcoming border security bills. We will keep you posted on any developments.
FLOOR SCHEDULE
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 and the balance of the week
On Wednesday & Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 am for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 am.
H.R. 6054 - Military Commissions Act (Rep. Hunter - Armed Services) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 4844 - Voter ID Bill (Rep. Hyde - House Administration) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6089 - Illegal Immigrant Deterrence Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6090 -Immigration Enforcement Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6091 - Border Security Enhancement Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary)
=====================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
From: Marcela.Salazar@mail.house.gov
Friends,
This week (9/20 Wed and 9/21 Thurs), the House of Representatives is poised to consider the "Voter ID bill" H.R. 4844, the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006.
The VOTER ID bill aims to decrease the number of citizens able to vote by requiring all citizens to show proof of citizenship in order to vote. Millions of Americans, who do not have the identification and proof of citizenship that the bill requires -- the elderly, the disabled, Native Americans and other minorities- will be profoundly impacted by this legislation. H.R. 4844 will do far more to suppress turnout and intimidate voters than to prevent voter fraud, as the proponents of the Voter ID bill claim. Millions of Americans will be denied their right to vote because the House Republicans are rushing this bill to floor to address a problem that does not really exist.
MORE ANTI-IMMIGRATION BILLS:
This week, we also expect the Republican Leadership to bring up a series of border security bills. It is odd that, that as the election nears, Republicans would pick border security as a theme, with their "Border Security Now" agenda - thereby highlighting an issue on which they don't have a single accomplishment. If the House Republicans were serious, they would have moved forward with a House-Senate conference on realistic and bipartisan border security/immigration reform legislation - instead of stalling any progress with sham "hearings" or ineffective legislation.
Below is a list of the upcoming border security bills. We will keep you posted on any developments.
FLOOR SCHEDULE
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 and the balance of the week
On Wednesday & Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 am for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 am.
H.R. 6054 - Military Commissions Act (Rep. Hunter - Armed Services) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 4844 - Voter ID Bill (Rep. Hyde - House Administration) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6089 - Illegal Immigrant Deterrence Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6090 -Immigration Enforcement Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6091 - Border Security Enhancement Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary)
=====================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Monday, September 18, 2006
What would Jesus do?
Immigration Raid Makes a Ghost Town
By RUSS BYNUM, AP
STILLMORE, Ga. (Sept. 15) - Trailer parks lie abandoned. The poultry
plant is scrambling to replace more than half its workforce. Business
has dried up at stores where Mexican laborers once lined up to buy
food, beer and cigarettes just weeks ago.
This Georgia community of about 1,000 people has become little more
than a ghost town since Sept. 1, when federal agents began rounding up
illegal immigrants.
The sweep has had the unintended effect of underscoring just how vital
the illegal immigrants were to the local economy.
More than 120 illegal immigrants have been loaded onto buses bound for
immigration courts in Atlanta, 189 miles away. Hundreds more fled
Emanuel County. Residents say many scattered into the woods, camping
out for days. They worry some are still hiding without food.
At least one child, born a U.S. citizen, was left behind by his Mexican
parents: 2-year-old Victor Perez-Lopez. The toddler's mother, Rosa
Lopez, left her son with Julie Rodas when the raids began and fled the
state. The boy's father was deported to Mexico.
"When his momma brought this baby here and left him, tears rolled down
her face and mine too," Rodas said. "She said, `Julie, will you please
take care of my son because I have no money, no way of paying rent?"'
For five years, Rodas has made a living watching the children of
workers at the Crider Inc. poultry plant, where the vast majority of
employees were Mexican immigrants. She learned Spanish, and considered
many immigrants among her closest friends. She threw parties for their
children's birthdays and baptisms.
The only child in Rodas' care now, besides her own son, is Victor. Her
customers have disappeared.
Federal agents also swarmed into a trailer park operated by David
Robinson. Illegal immigrants were handcuffed and taken away. Almost
none have returned. Robinson bought an American flag and posted it by
the pond out front - upside down, in protest.
"These people might not have American rights, but they've damn sure got
human rights," Robinson said. "There ain't no reason to treat them like
animals."
The raids came during a fall election season in which immigration is a
top issue.
Last month, the federal government reported that Georgia had the
fastest-growing illegal immigrant population in the country. The number
more than doubled from an estimated 220,000 in 2000 to 470,000 last
year. This year, state lawmakers passed some of the nation's toughest
measures targeting illegal immigrants, and Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue
last week vowed a statewide crackdown on document fraud.
Other than the Crider plant, there isn't much in Stillmore. Four small
stores, a coin laundry and a Baptist church share downtown with City
Hall, the fire department and a post office. "We're poor but proud,"
Mayor Marilyn Slater said, as if that is the town motto.
The 2000 Census put Stillmore's population at 730, but Slater said
uncounted immigrants probably made it more than 1,000. Not anymore,
with so many homes abandoned and the streets practically empty.
"This reminds me of what I read about Nazi Germany, the Gestapo coming
in and yanking people up," Slater said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Marc Raimondi would not
discuss details of the raids. "We can't lose sight of the fact that
these people were here illegally," Raimondi said.
At Sucursal Salina No. 2, a store stocked with Mexican fruit sodas and
snacks, cashier Alberto Gonzalez said Wednesday that the owner may
shutter the place. By midday, Gonzalez has had only six customers.
Normally, he would see 100.
The B&S convenience store, owned by Keith and Regan Slater, the mayor's
son and grandson, has lost about 80 percent of its business.
"These people come over here to make a better way of life, not to blow
us up," complained Keith Slater, who keeps a portrait of Ronald Reagan
on the wall. "I'm a die-hard Republican, but I think we missed the boat
with this one."
Since the mid-1990s, Stillmore has grown dependent on the paychecks of
Mexican workers who originally came for seasonal farm labor, picking
the area's famous Vidalia onions. Many then took year-round jobs at the
Crider plant, with a workforce of about 900.
Crider President David Purtle said the agents began inspecting the
company's employment records in May. They found 700 suspected illegal
immigrants, and supervisors handed out letters over the summer ordering
them to prove they came to the U.S. legally or be fired. Only about 100
kept their jobs.
The arrests started at the plant Sept. 1. Over the Labor Day weekend,
agents with guns and bulletproof vests converged on workers' homes
after getting the addresses from Crider's files.
Antonio Lopez, who came here two years ago from Chiapas, Mexico, and
worked at the Crider plant, said agents kicked in his front door.
Lopez, 32, and his 15-year-old son were handcuffed and taken by bus to
Atlanta with 30 others. Because of the boy, Lopez said, both were
allowed to return. In his back pocket, he carries an order to return to
Atlanta for a court hearing Feb. 2.
But now, "there's no people here and I don't have any work," he said.
The poultry plant has limped along with half its normal workforce.
Crider increased its starting wages by $1 an hour to help recruit new
workers.
Stacie Bell, 23, started work canning chicken at Crider a week ago. She
said the pay, $7.75 an hour, led her to leave her $5.60-an-hour job as
a Wal-Mart cashier in nearby Statesboro. Still, Bell said she felt bad
about the raids.
"If they knew eventually that they were going to have to do that, they
should have never let them come over here," she said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
By RUSS BYNUM, AP
STILLMORE, Ga. (Sept. 15) - Trailer parks lie abandoned. The poultry
plant is scrambling to replace more than half its workforce. Business
has dried up at stores where Mexican laborers once lined up to buy
food, beer and cigarettes just weeks ago.
This Georgia community of about 1,000 people has become little more
than a ghost town since Sept. 1, when federal agents began rounding up
illegal immigrants.
The sweep has had the unintended effect of underscoring just how vital
the illegal immigrants were to the local economy.
More than 120 illegal immigrants have been loaded onto buses bound for
immigration courts in Atlanta, 189 miles away. Hundreds more fled
Emanuel County. Residents say many scattered into the woods, camping
out for days. They worry some are still hiding without food.
At least one child, born a U.S. citizen, was left behind by his Mexican
parents: 2-year-old Victor Perez-Lopez. The toddler's mother, Rosa
Lopez, left her son with Julie Rodas when the raids began and fled the
state. The boy's father was deported to Mexico.
"When his momma brought this baby here and left him, tears rolled down
her face and mine too," Rodas said. "She said, `Julie, will you please
take care of my son because I have no money, no way of paying rent?"'
For five years, Rodas has made a living watching the children of
workers at the Crider Inc. poultry plant, where the vast majority of
employees were Mexican immigrants. She learned Spanish, and considered
many immigrants among her closest friends. She threw parties for their
children's birthdays and baptisms.
The only child in Rodas' care now, besides her own son, is Victor. Her
customers have disappeared.
Federal agents also swarmed into a trailer park operated by David
Robinson. Illegal immigrants were handcuffed and taken away. Almost
none have returned. Robinson bought an American flag and posted it by
the pond out front - upside down, in protest.
"These people might not have American rights, but they've damn sure got
human rights," Robinson said. "There ain't no reason to treat them like
animals."
The raids came during a fall election season in which immigration is a
top issue.
Last month, the federal government reported that Georgia had the
fastest-growing illegal immigrant population in the country. The number
more than doubled from an estimated 220,000 in 2000 to 470,000 last
year. This year, state lawmakers passed some of the nation's toughest
measures targeting illegal immigrants, and Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue
last week vowed a statewide crackdown on document fraud.
Other than the Crider plant, there isn't much in Stillmore. Four small
stores, a coin laundry and a Baptist church share downtown with City
Hall, the fire department and a post office. "We're poor but proud,"
Mayor Marilyn Slater said, as if that is the town motto.
The 2000 Census put Stillmore's population at 730, but Slater said
uncounted immigrants probably made it more than 1,000. Not anymore,
with so many homes abandoned and the streets practically empty.
"This reminds me of what I read about Nazi Germany, the Gestapo coming
in and yanking people up," Slater said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Marc Raimondi would not
discuss details of the raids. "We can't lose sight of the fact that
these people were here illegally," Raimondi said.
At Sucursal Salina No. 2, a store stocked with Mexican fruit sodas and
snacks, cashier Alberto Gonzalez said Wednesday that the owner may
shutter the place. By midday, Gonzalez has had only six customers.
Normally, he would see 100.
The B&S convenience store, owned by Keith and Regan Slater, the mayor's
son and grandson, has lost about 80 percent of its business.
"These people come over here to make a better way of life, not to blow
us up," complained Keith Slater, who keeps a portrait of Ronald Reagan
on the wall. "I'm a die-hard Republican, but I think we missed the boat
with this one."
Since the mid-1990s, Stillmore has grown dependent on the paychecks of
Mexican workers who originally came for seasonal farm labor, picking
the area's famous Vidalia onions. Many then took year-round jobs at the
Crider plant, with a workforce of about 900.
Crider President David Purtle said the agents began inspecting the
company's employment records in May. They found 700 suspected illegal
immigrants, and supervisors handed out letters over the summer ordering
them to prove they came to the U.S. legally or be fired. Only about 100
kept their jobs.
The arrests started at the plant Sept. 1. Over the Labor Day weekend,
agents with guns and bulletproof vests converged on workers' homes
after getting the addresses from Crider's files.
Antonio Lopez, who came here two years ago from Chiapas, Mexico, and
worked at the Crider plant, said agents kicked in his front door.
Lopez, 32, and his 15-year-old son were handcuffed and taken by bus to
Atlanta with 30 others. Because of the boy, Lopez said, both were
allowed to return. In his back pocket, he carries an order to return to
Atlanta for a court hearing Feb. 2.
But now, "there's no people here and I don't have any work," he said.
The poultry plant has limped along with half its normal workforce.
Crider increased its starting wages by $1 an hour to help recruit new
workers.
Stacie Bell, 23, started work canning chicken at Crider a week ago. She
said the pay, $7.75 an hour, led her to leave her $5.60-an-hour job as
a Wal-Mart cashier in nearby Statesboro. Still, Bell said she felt bad
about the raids.
"If they knew eventually that they were going to have to do that, they
should have never let them come over here," she said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Who is Dennis Hastert? (Spit) (R-ILL) (The Fat one)
The Rude Pundit has been battling the religious right in one form or another for virtually his entire life:
When he was 10, his next-door neighbor was a little red-headed girl named Sarah who kept trying to get the Rude Pundit to go to church with her and get saved. Once, while jumping rope, Sarah said, "Don't you wanna feel holy?" To which the Rude Pundit replied, "The only thing 'holy' means to me is 'full of holes.'" Then Sarah took her jump rope and, oh, sweet purging pain, started to whip the Rude Pundit with it.
When he was in high school, one of the Rude Pundit's best friends was Paul, a football player, heavy metal lover, and dopester, rebelling against his fundamentalist parents. A year or so after high school, Paul was married with a kid, and he decided to give up the dope and get born again. "Isn't it great? I used to get high on pot, but Jesus fills that spot in my life," he said. To which the Rude Pundit replied, "What's the difference?" Paul was non-plussed. He talked about how he had thrown out all his Led Zep and Metallica and other music because it had led him down a demonic path. "Throw them out? Fuck, why didn't you give 'em to me?" asked the Rude Pundit. "Because they wrecked me and I didn't want them to wreck you," Paul said.
This list of stories could go on and on. From the groups who tried to block his entrance to seeing The Last Temptation of Christ to the Operation Rescue nuts who screamed in his face to other friends who tried to get the Rude Pundit to see the light, the Rude Pundit's been there, man. He's been prayed for, spit on, and told he's going to hell (as one ex-lover wept - she couldn't be with the Rude Pundit because he's gonna end up in hell 'cause he won't let Jesus save him). He's looked into their spinning eyes and seen the blind hate they mistake for love.
Oh, sure, as every good pundit needs to say who dares criticize Christians, there's been lots of positive experiences, like the gospel choir in Tennessee he was invited to see, like the Methodist wedding he attended in a forest chapel. But this is bullshit. It's the religious equivalent of "I Have Gay Friends" or "I Have Black Friends." Still, we're not talkin' about all religion here: we're talkin' evangelicals who have appropriated the word "Christian" to mean them and only them.
The Rude Pundit has seen them all their manifestations, all over the nation, from Eureka, California to Wichita, Kansas to Birmingham, Alabama to Boston, Massachusetts, and there's one thing he can tell you about the godly fundamentalists who have nothing but Jesus in their "hearts": they don't stop. Ever. And they won't until they're disbanded or win.
They are deluded motherfuckers, man, who would smile reading this because all they would think is that they know best because Jesus tells them so and then they'd feel sad that the Rude Pundit refuses to let Christ into his heart. But then they'd feel happy because Jesus is in their hearts. It's so fuckin' sweet.
They are plague rats, they are vile, they are poison. And when this ship of a nation finally goes down into the drink, they will be the first to abandon it while the rest of us stay and try to salvage the wreck.
Tomorrow: Tim Russert and his polarized "panel" on "moral values" on Meet the Press this past Sunday, and the need to sodomize Jerry Falwell. Repeatedly. (For early reading, check out the two parts on the Meet the Press confrontation over at BlondeSense.)
And feel free to send in your own story of your battles with the righteous. We'll throw them up here on Friday. E-mail your tale to rudepundit@yahoo.com.
A Couple of Things Noted Briefly:
On Voter Fraud in Ohio and Elsewhere (U.S. Version) -- As we watch the legal wrangling over Ohio's suspicious voting irregularities, as well as debates about statistics and e-voting, and on and on, the Rude Pundit has one question: can anyone give an example cited in "mainstream" press sources of an electronic voting machine overtallying in John Kerry's favor? Or a statistical anomaly in Kerry's favor? Or something that would show the problem is the system itself and not just a bias in Bush's favor? And, statisticians, what's the likelihood that every "error" would result in more votes for Bush?
On Voter Fraud (International Version) -- The comparisons between the Bush administration's insistence on the need for clean, open elections in Ukraine and their dismissal of any allegations of irregularities in the U.S. are bizarro and interesting. Perhaps more relevant is the comparison of the Bush administration's positive reaction to the Kiev demonstrations and the support for what will inevitably be tainted elections in Iraq. So let's get this straight: many in the Iraqi political spectrum want to postpone elections to assure a fair vote, but, fuck fairness and legitimacy, let's just vote and let Allah sort it out. Damn, some abiding principles we live by in the U.S.A., huh?
Dennis Hastert is the son of Satan!
/11: New Republican Anti-Immigrant Bill Coming Soon! TAKE ACTION!
As you can see, the House Republicans have decided to further politicize their anti-immigrant rhetoric before the November election.
Please Fax, mail, call Dennis Hastert's office about raise your concern about the so-call "new" Border Security Package, his contact information as follows:
Washington D.C. Office
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-2976
Fax: 202-225-0697
Batavia District Office
27 North River Street
Batavia, IL 60510
Phone: 630-406-1114
Fax: 630-406-1808
Speaker’s Press Office
United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
September 7, 2006
Speaker Announces New Border Security Package to be Unveiled Next Week
(Washington, DC) “ Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today made the following announcement regarding the House Republican commitment to pass a new legislative package that would help to secure America’s border:
Border security is a top priority of House Republicans. Our border is a sieve. We are at war, and we must act like it. Our chairmen who held hearings on border security and the Senate's amnesty bill did a great job this summer talking to the experts and American citizens about how to solve this problem. After meeting with the Chairmen today, we agreed that we cannot support the Senate Reid-Kennedy amnesty bill. This Democrat immigration bill wouldn't secure the border; it would erase it.
The House Republicans believe that Congress has a unique opportunity to strengthen our borders. I have asked Policy Committee Chairman Adam Putnam to hold a forum next week where our Chairmen will present what they learned from their hearings and concrete steps to secure the border. We will take many of these recommendations and move quickly to pass border security legislation in the next few weeks. Congress cannot wait until next year to move on this issue. The American people expect us to tackle this problem and solve it.
As you can see, the House Republicans have decided to further politicize their anti-immigrant rhetoric before the November election.
Please Fax, mail, call Dennis Hastert's office about raise your concern about the so-call "new" Border Security Package, his contact information as follows:
Washington D.C. Office
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-2976
Fax: 202-225-0697
Batavia District Office
27 North River Street
Batavia, IL 60510
Phone: 630-406-1114
Fax: 630-406-1808
Speaker’s Press Office
United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
September 7, 2006
Speaker Announces New Border Security Package to be Unveiled Next Week
(Washington, DC) “ Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today made the following announcement regarding the House Republican commitment to pass a new legislative package that would help to secure America’s border:
Border security is a top priority of House Republicans. Our border is a sieve. We are at war, and we must act like it. Our chairmen who held hearings on border security and the Senate's amnesty bill did a great job this summer talking to the experts and American citizens about how to solve this problem. After meeting with the Chairmen today, we agreed that we cannot support the Senate Reid-Kennedy amnesty bill. This Democrat immigration bill wouldn't secure the border; it would erase it.
The House Republicans believe that Congress has a unique opportunity to strengthen our borders. I have asked Policy Committee Chairman Adam Putnam to hold a forum next week where our Chairmen will present what they learned from their hearings and concrete steps to secure the border. We will take many of these recommendations and move quickly to pass border security legislation in the next few weeks. Congress cannot wait until next year to move on this issue. The American people expect us to tackle this problem and solve it.
9/11
Migrants rights advocates pays tribute to undocumented migrant workers killed in 9-11 ; says no human being is illegal
From: agarcia@nnirr.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [Sigue en espanol/please forward to your media]]
September 11, 2006
Migrants rights advocates pays tribute to undocumented migrant workers killed in 9-11 ; says no human being is illegal
(New York City) Migrant workers and migrant rights organizations from the United States, Asia, Africa and Europe will converge at the Ground Zero this evening and join the New York-based immigrant rights advocates to recognize the heroism of hundreds of undocumented migrant workers killed in the September 2001 terror attacks. The early evening vigil also aims to challenge repressive migration policies across the globe and call for the ‘decriminalization’ of undocumented workers who are called illegal workers in many countries.
“Migrants are among the victims of that heinous and barbaric attack five years ago. Some of them did not have the proper documents as well. Would you call those people, who had served coffee, mopped the floors and cleaned the windows of the World Trade Center, illegal? They sacrificed their lives for this country during the 9-11 attacks,” says Catherine Tactaquin, Executive Director of the US-based National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and member of Migrants Rights International. “Tens of thousands of migrant workers in the US face daily sacrifices including loss of life, as they toil to provide safe and healthy lives for their families,” she adds.
“An undocumented worker is not illegal. No human being is illegal. Undocumented migrant workers have the same rights as any other worker. Both contribute to the companies they worked for, the countries they reside in and the countries they will go home to,” says William Gois, the Regional Coordinator of Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA).
According to Mr. Gois, categorizing migrant workers who have no proper documents as illegals allows governments to conduct activities that will violate the rights of the migrants. In Asia, MFA has repeatedly condemned the Malaysian and South Korean governments for the violent crackdowns and arbitrary expulsions against undocumented workers.
“Stop the crackdowns and vicious raids. These are not the actions of mature and democratic societies. What we need here is the genuine recognition of the tremendous contribution of migrant workers to the development of host and home countries. These are the facts. Without these workers, there will be no food on your table, no clean clothes in your closet and no roof over your heads,” Mr. Gois says.
The various migrant rights groups are in New York City to attend and observe the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development on September 14 and 15. Ms. Tactaquin says that their group will also be organizing community dialogues on migration and talking with the different permanent mission representatives of the UN Member States to give their inputs on migration and highlight the perspectives of migrants and migrant civil society organizations.#
For interviews and more information, please contact:
Joey Dimaandal, Media Officer for the MRI Civil Society Parallel Events during the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development in New York City
Tel: +639175267171, +639278775810
Email: j-mod@rocketmail.com
Address: West Side YMCA, 5 West 63rd Street between Broadway and Central Park West, New York City.
Arnoldo Garcia (For Spanish language media organizations)
Tel +1 510 928 0685
Email: agarcia@nnirr.org
* MFA is a regional network of 260 migrant workers associations, trade unions and NGOs in Asia. The contact information of MFA:
Regional Coordinator: William Gois
Address: 59-B Malumanay Street, Teachers’ Village West, Quezon City, Philippines
Email address: mfa@pacific.net.hk Web: www.mfasia.org
** Migrant Rights International has members in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America
+++++
Para difusión inmediata
11 de Septiembre, 2006
Defensores de derechos migrantes rinden homenaje a las y los trabajadores migrantes indocumentados que murieron el 11 de septiembre; declaran que ningún ser humano es ilegal
Ciudad de Nueva York) Organizaciones de trabajadores migrantes y defensoras de derechos migrantes de los EEUU, Asia, África y Europa se convergirán en Zona Cero esta noche y se unirán a defensores de los derechos de los y las inmigrantes basados en Nueva York para reconocer el heroísmo de los cientos de trabajadores migrantes indocumentados que murieron en los ataques terroristas del 11 de Septiembre. La vigilia del anochecer también desafiará las políticas represivas que se han desatada a través del mundo y llamarán por la “despenalización” de las y los trabajadores indocumentados que son llamados trabajadores ilegales en muchos países.
“Los y las migrantes están entre las víctimas de ese ataque vil y barbárico de hace cinco años. También algunos de ellos no tenían sus documentos en orden. ¿Llamaría a esa gente, que servían café, trapeaban los pisos y limpiaban las ventanas del Centro de Comercio Mundial, ilegales? Sacrificaron sus vidas por este país durante los ataques del 11 de septiembre,” declara Catherine Tactaquin, directora ejecutiva de la Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados (NNIRR, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rightsd), que está basada en los EEUU, y miembra de la Internacional de Derechos Migrantes (MRI, Migrant Rights International). “Decenas de miles de trabajadores migrantes en los EEUU enfrentan sacrificios diarios incluyendo la pérdida de su vida, cuando trabajan para proveer vidas sanas y saludables para sus familias,” añade.
“Un trabajador indocumentado no es ilegal. Ningún ser humano es ilegal. Las y los trabajadores migrantes indocumentados tienen los mismos derechos que cualquier otro trabajador. Ambos contribuyen a las compañías por los que trabajan, a los países donde residen y a sus países de origen,” dice William Gois, el coordinador regional del Foro Migrante en Asia (MFA, Migrant Forum in Asia).
Según el Sr. Gois, categorizar de ilegal a las y los trabajadores migrantes que no tienen documentación vigente permite a los gobiernos de conducir actividades que violarán los derechos de las y los migrantes. En Asia, el MFA repetidamente ha condenado a los gobiernos de Malasia y Corea del Sur por las represalias violentas y las expulsiones arbitrarias contra trabjadores indocumentados.
“Alto a las represalias y las redadas viles. Estas no son las acciones de sociedades maduras y democráticas. Lo que necesitamos aquí es el reconocimiento genuino de la contribución tremenda de las y los trabajadores migrantes al desarrollo de los países anfitriones y de origen. Estos son los hechos. Sin estos trabajadores, no habrá comida en sus mesas, no habrá ropa limpia en su armarios y no habrá techos sobre sus cabezas,” declara el Sr. Gois.
Los diversos grupos de derechos migrantes están en la Ciudad de Nueva York para asistir y observar el Diálogo de Alto Nivel sobre Migración y Desarrollo de las Naciones Unidas el 14 y 15 de Septiembre. La Sra. Tactaquin dice que su organización también estará organizando diálogos comunitarios sobre migración y hablando con diferentes representantes de la misión permanente de los Estados Naciones de la ONU para proveer las perspectivas sobre la migración y realzar las perspectivas de los y las migrantes y las organizaciones migrantes de la sociedad civil.
Para entrevistas y más información, por favor de contactar:
Joey Dimaandal, portavoz de MRI para los eventos paralelos de la sociedad civil durante el Diálogo de Alto Nivel sobre Migración y Desarrollo de las Naciones Unidas en la Ciudad de Nueva York
Tel +639175267171, +639278775810
Correo electrónico: j-mod@rocketmail.com
Dirección: West Side MICA, 5 West 63rd Street, entre la Broadway y Central Aprk West, Ciudad de Nueva York
Arnoldo García (para los medios de comunicación en español)
Tel +1 (510) 928-0685
Correo electrónico: agracia@nnirr.org
* MFA es una red regional de 260 asociaciones, sindicatos y ONGs de trabjadores migrantes en Asia. La información de contacto de MFA:
Coordinador regional: William Gois
Dirección: 59-B Malumanay Street, Teachers’ Village West, Quezón City, Las Filipinas
Correo electrónico: mfa@pacific.net.hk Web: www.mfasia.org
** La Internacional de Derechos Migrantes (MRI) tiene miembros en Asia, Europa, América del Norte y América Latina.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Peace on earth!
Peace No War Network
http://www.PeaceNoWar.net
Looking Back Sept 11, 2001
http://peacenowar.net/newpeace/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=28&Itemid=39
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows 9/11/06 Statement
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org
On September 11th, 2001, members of our families became civilian casualties of terrorism. And while we grieved their loss, we were seized by the urgent desire to spare other families, in any part of the world, the suffering that we were experiencing.
In expressing these desires, we heard from others who saw us as kindred spirits. They were from places like Israel and Palestine, Japan, Northern Ireland and South Africa. Each had suffered a similar loss—from the terrorism of war and atomic weapons, to the terrorism of state-sponsored violence.
Hearing from them, we learned that we were not alone. We also learned that the deaths of our family members, although unique in circumstance, were far from unique in human history. The means were different, but the results were still the same: innocent people dying, families torn apart, traditions and histories cut short. We came to see our losses as happening in a bigger context, one that cut across national boundaries and the confines of time.
From those who reached out to us after 9/11, we developed a sense of responsibility to all those who suffered as the result of 9/11: immigrants and other people perceived to be terrorists, targeted by hate crimes and hateful legislation; those who suffered in terrorist attacks from Bali to Beslan; those killed in the train bombings in Madrid and London; and those in Afghanistan and Iraq who continue to suffer under occupation and the terror of war.
Today, five years after September 11th, 2001, we see clearly that civilian casualties overwhelmingly have been the common denominator in all that has taken place. We see that the path we have taken has created a world that is less safe, less humane, and less likely to survive. Where we saw children in mortal danger from unexploded cluster bombs in Afghanistan, we now see children in mortal danger from cluster bombs in Lebanon. Where we saw the brutality and inhumanity of Saddam Hussein, we now see the same brutality and inhumanity occurring under U.S. occupation, in Fallujah, in Haditha, in Abu Ghraib.
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it… Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." We have seen those words become a sad reality.
In the days immediately following September 11th, 2001, the world came together with a sense of mutual humanity and mutual purpose. Five years later, we are in a death spiral of increasing violence, increasing terrorism, and increasing civilian casualties. In the days immediately following September 11th, Iranians risked negative consequences by holding spontaneous candlelight vigils for those who had died in America. Five years later, Iran is in the crosshairs of America’s next war. In the days immediately following September 11th, the United States could have asked the world to do anything for us. The U.S. government has instead generated anger, fear, death, and profound grief. On the fifth anniversary of September 11th, 2001, we believe it is time for America to end the cycle of violence. It is time for the United States to become a positive force in world affairs.
The hope we felt from those who reached out to us—those who had, like us, been touched by terrorism, violence and war, continues to resonate. These people, who have been so deeply affected by loss, have a wisdom from which we continue to benefit. It is their wisdom, their strength, and their stories that have kept us going. And it is their wisdom, their strength, and their stories that we hope to share with people across the United States.
This year, we have brought to the U.S. 30 people from around the world who have been personally affected by terrorism, violence and war and have chosen to break the cycle of violence. All of us have chosen acts of peace rather than acts of violent revenge. Together, we will create an international network that will share ideas, initiatives and actions. This network will become one of many new efforts to do what the United States could have, and should have, done five years ago: join in common purpose with the rest of the world to end the scourge of civilian casualties—the lost children, broken families and futures that have always been the unacknowledged byproducts of violence and war.
As we did five years ago, and as we do today, we stand in solidarity with those ordinary people whose lives have been permanently transformed by violence. We pledge to continue that journey of transformation from pain to promise, from fear to fellowship. Martin Luther King, Jr. identified the choice as being chaos or community. Five years after September 11th, we have seen enough of chaos. It is time for each of us to create community with our counterparts from around the globe, and to create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone.
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
www.peacefultomorrows.org
http://www.PeaceNoWar.net
Looking Back Sept 11, 2001
http://peacenowar.net/newpeace/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=28&Itemid=39
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows 9/11/06 Statement
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org
On September 11th, 2001, members of our families became civilian casualties of terrorism. And while we grieved their loss, we were seized by the urgent desire to spare other families, in any part of the world, the suffering that we were experiencing.
In expressing these desires, we heard from others who saw us as kindred spirits. They were from places like Israel and Palestine, Japan, Northern Ireland and South Africa. Each had suffered a similar loss—from the terrorism of war and atomic weapons, to the terrorism of state-sponsored violence.
Hearing from them, we learned that we were not alone. We also learned that the deaths of our family members, although unique in circumstance, were far from unique in human history. The means were different, but the results were still the same: innocent people dying, families torn apart, traditions and histories cut short. We came to see our losses as happening in a bigger context, one that cut across national boundaries and the confines of time.
From those who reached out to us after 9/11, we developed a sense of responsibility to all those who suffered as the result of 9/11: immigrants and other people perceived to be terrorists, targeted by hate crimes and hateful legislation; those who suffered in terrorist attacks from Bali to Beslan; those killed in the train bombings in Madrid and London; and those in Afghanistan and Iraq who continue to suffer under occupation and the terror of war.
Today, five years after September 11th, 2001, we see clearly that civilian casualties overwhelmingly have been the common denominator in all that has taken place. We see that the path we have taken has created a world that is less safe, less humane, and less likely to survive. Where we saw children in mortal danger from unexploded cluster bombs in Afghanistan, we now see children in mortal danger from cluster bombs in Lebanon. Where we saw the brutality and inhumanity of Saddam Hussein, we now see the same brutality and inhumanity occurring under U.S. occupation, in Fallujah, in Haditha, in Abu Ghraib.
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it… Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." We have seen those words become a sad reality.
In the days immediately following September 11th, 2001, the world came together with a sense of mutual humanity and mutual purpose. Five years later, we are in a death spiral of increasing violence, increasing terrorism, and increasing civilian casualties. In the days immediately following September 11th, Iranians risked negative consequences by holding spontaneous candlelight vigils for those who had died in America. Five years later, Iran is in the crosshairs of America’s next war. In the days immediately following September 11th, the United States could have asked the world to do anything for us. The U.S. government has instead generated anger, fear, death, and profound grief. On the fifth anniversary of September 11th, 2001, we believe it is time for America to end the cycle of violence. It is time for the United States to become a positive force in world affairs.
The hope we felt from those who reached out to us—those who had, like us, been touched by terrorism, violence and war, continues to resonate. These people, who have been so deeply affected by loss, have a wisdom from which we continue to benefit. It is their wisdom, their strength, and their stories that have kept us going. And it is their wisdom, their strength, and their stories that we hope to share with people across the United States.
This year, we have brought to the U.S. 30 people from around the world who have been personally affected by terrorism, violence and war and have chosen to break the cycle of violence. All of us have chosen acts of peace rather than acts of violent revenge. Together, we will create an international network that will share ideas, initiatives and actions. This network will become one of many new efforts to do what the United States could have, and should have, done five years ago: join in common purpose with the rest of the world to end the scourge of civilian casualties—the lost children, broken families and futures that have always been the unacknowledged byproducts of violence and war.
As we did five years ago, and as we do today, we stand in solidarity with those ordinary people whose lives have been permanently transformed by violence. We pledge to continue that journey of transformation from pain to promise, from fear to fellowship. Martin Luther King, Jr. identified the choice as being chaos or community. Five years after September 11th, we have seen enough of chaos. It is time for each of us to create community with our counterparts from around the globe, and to create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone.
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
www.peacefultomorrows.org
Thursday, August 24, 2006
The "Misionary" work at work...
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/state/15264913.htm
Contra Costa Times
Sunday, August 13,2006
Religious refugees lock horns with Sacramento gays
Christian Slavs, who are not used to seeing open homosexuality, protest at parade, school boards
By Dorothy Korber
SACRAMENTO BEE
SACRAMENTO - Thousands of religious refugees mass in the streets of Sacramento to shout "Shame!" Their targets, with their own history of persecution still fresh and raw, retort: "Go back to Russia!"
How did it come to this?
In the past few months, the growing conflict between Sacramento's Slavic Christians and its politically savvy gay community has erupted on campuses, at school board hearings and on the grounds of the Capitol.
Russian-speaking hecklers lined the march of this year's gay pride parade downtown. At least 15 Slavic students were suspended in April for wearing shirts proclaiming, "Homosexuality is sin." This spring, Slavic Christians packed board meetings in three local school districts to make their position clear: Being gay is not OK.
Gays are starting to respond in kind. A dozen staged a counterprotest in July, demonstrating outside the region's largest evangelical Slavic church during Sunday morning services.
Gays say the Slavic protesters have hit them with signs, spit on them and displayed a menacing lack of civility. Gay leaders have met with local police and press to say they are worried about violence, and now they are forming a "Q Crew" -- a new political activism group -- to tell the public their fears.
"They're more and more brazen with their signs and their numbers," said Tina Reynolds, a lesbian activist and owner of a gallery in downtown Sacramento. "It's much more in our face, and I'm beginning to feel like something's going to happen."
Beyond the surface animosity, this is a collision of two powerful forces: a deeply held religious conviction and the determined march of homosexuals toward equal rights.
The region's large Russian-speaking Christian community, usually shy of publicity, is stepping into the public eye, saying they have to save California from a dangerous moral decline. Gay leaders worry that these protests will erode their community's political progress and spoil the security they have come to feel in Sacramento.
The evangelical Slavs, refugees who fled religious persecution in the former Soviet Union, are finally hitting their stride in the land of the free. They came for the freedom to worship. Now they say they are exercising the freedom of speech to spread a fundamental belief: Homosexuality is a sin and a choice.
"We have tasted the power of democracy -- now we go and protest," said George Neverov, a Baptist who emigrated from Uzbekistan in 1991 and lives in Carmichael. The father of three young daughters, he is a vocal opponent of any endorsement of homosexuality in the public schools.
"Am I against tolerance?" said Neverov, 33. "God forbid, no. But my whole belief system is based on the Bible. I say homosexuality is a sin. Why are you offended by that?"
Gay activists contend that this sentiment, when aggressively expressed in public protests, is nothing less than hate speech. The demonstrations seem suffused with a frightening rage, they say.
"At their protests, it's all about God, burning in hell and sodomy," said Darrick Lawson, president of Sacramento's Stonewall Democratic Club, a gay political organization. "They want to use their rights and freedoms to suppress another community. It goes against the reasons they moved here. The Bible never taught this kind of hatred."
Lawson, the son of an evangelical pastor, spent nearly three years in therapy trying to overcome his homosexuality before accepting it.
"We have no problem with them saying this in their churches," Lawson said. "Do I want to ban them from Gay Pride? No. I don't. In no way do I want to infringe upon the right they came here for. But they need to consider our safety and play by the rules."
These refugees say they understand rules. They fled from an officially atheistic society where the rules discriminated against the religious. People of faith sometimes were imprisoned, their children wrenched from them, their careers stalled.
Some harbor memories of a grandfather executed, a grandmother who died in jail.
Community leaders estimate 100,000 Russian-speaking residents live in the Sacramento region, about a third of them evangelical Christians. Mostly Ukrainian Baptists or Pentecostals, many came here in recent decades believing the United States was a Christian nation -- a place where their literal interpretation of the Bible would be the rule.
Instead, they landed in freewheeling California and encountered a culture of widespread divorce, premarital sex and -- almost unheard of in their home countries open homosexuality.
Contra Costa Times
Sunday, August 13,2006
Religious refugees lock horns with Sacramento gays
Christian Slavs, who are not used to seeing open homosexuality, protest at parade, school boards
By Dorothy Korber
SACRAMENTO BEE
SACRAMENTO - Thousands of religious refugees mass in the streets of Sacramento to shout "Shame!" Their targets, with their own history of persecution still fresh and raw, retort: "Go back to Russia!"
How did it come to this?
In the past few months, the growing conflict between Sacramento's Slavic Christians and its politically savvy gay community has erupted on campuses, at school board hearings and on the grounds of the Capitol.
Russian-speaking hecklers lined the march of this year's gay pride parade downtown. At least 15 Slavic students were suspended in April for wearing shirts proclaiming, "Homosexuality is sin." This spring, Slavic Christians packed board meetings in three local school districts to make their position clear: Being gay is not OK.
Gays are starting to respond in kind. A dozen staged a counterprotest in July, demonstrating outside the region's largest evangelical Slavic church during Sunday morning services.
Gays say the Slavic protesters have hit them with signs, spit on them and displayed a menacing lack of civility. Gay leaders have met with local police and press to say they are worried about violence, and now they are forming a "Q Crew" -- a new political activism group -- to tell the public their fears.
"They're more and more brazen with their signs and their numbers," said Tina Reynolds, a lesbian activist and owner of a gallery in downtown Sacramento. "It's much more in our face, and I'm beginning to feel like something's going to happen."
Beyond the surface animosity, this is a collision of two powerful forces: a deeply held religious conviction and the determined march of homosexuals toward equal rights.
The region's large Russian-speaking Christian community, usually shy of publicity, is stepping into the public eye, saying they have to save California from a dangerous moral decline. Gay leaders worry that these protests will erode their community's political progress and spoil the security they have come to feel in Sacramento.
The evangelical Slavs, refugees who fled religious persecution in the former Soviet Union, are finally hitting their stride in the land of the free. They came for the freedom to worship. Now they say they are exercising the freedom of speech to spread a fundamental belief: Homosexuality is a sin and a choice.
"We have tasted the power of democracy -- now we go and protest," said George Neverov, a Baptist who emigrated from Uzbekistan in 1991 and lives in Carmichael. The father of three young daughters, he is a vocal opponent of any endorsement of homosexuality in the public schools.
"Am I against tolerance?" said Neverov, 33. "God forbid, no. But my whole belief system is based on the Bible. I say homosexuality is a sin. Why are you offended by that?"
Gay activists contend that this sentiment, when aggressively expressed in public protests, is nothing less than hate speech. The demonstrations seem suffused with a frightening rage, they say.
"At their protests, it's all about God, burning in hell and sodomy," said Darrick Lawson, president of Sacramento's Stonewall Democratic Club, a gay political organization. "They want to use their rights and freedoms to suppress another community. It goes against the reasons they moved here. The Bible never taught this kind of hatred."
Lawson, the son of an evangelical pastor, spent nearly three years in therapy trying to overcome his homosexuality before accepting it.
"We have no problem with them saying this in their churches," Lawson said. "Do I want to ban them from Gay Pride? No. I don't. In no way do I want to infringe upon the right they came here for. But they need to consider our safety and play by the rules."
These refugees say they understand rules. They fled from an officially atheistic society where the rules discriminated against the religious. People of faith sometimes were imprisoned, their children wrenched from them, their careers stalled.
Some harbor memories of a grandfather executed, a grandmother who died in jail.
Community leaders estimate 100,000 Russian-speaking residents live in the Sacramento region, about a third of them evangelical Christians. Mostly Ukrainian Baptists or Pentecostals, many came here in recent decades believing the United States was a Christian nation -- a place where their literal interpretation of the Bible would be the rule.
Instead, they landed in freewheeling California and encountered a culture of widespread divorce, premarital sex and -- almost unheard of in their home countries open homosexuality.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Contemporary wisdom...
TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED the
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!
If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as
kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good .
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
WHO SURVIVED the
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!
If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as
kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good .
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
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