The FBI is investigating Sheriff Arpaio for Abuse of Power. Last year, Mayor Phil Gordon wrote Congress a letter requesting an investigation. Congress wrote a letter to the FBI and the DHS requesting an investigation/indictment. The FBI is not only investigating Arpaio's racial profiling and abuse of 287(g) policies, but additionally for his targetting his enemies list.
CBS5 in Phoenix completed an in depth report of claims against Arpaio which the FBI is investigating. CBS5 went to a former prosecutor and U.S. Attorney to review the report. After his review, this expert said YES, there is sufficient evidence of Abuse of Power and YES he would take this information to a Grand Jury and request an indictment against arpaio. The expert said, "I can't believe this behavior is happening in the USA. I've seen it in South America, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, but I never thought that anything like this would happen in our country."
Those that have been the target of abuse by arpaio, many of whom have been interviewed by the FBI, include: Mayor Phil Gordon, Chief of Police George Gascon, Terry Goddard, Jon Stapley county supervisor, Babara Mundell, Mary Rose Wilcox, David Smith, Sandi Wilson, Rick Romley, Jackie Thrasher, John Dougherty reporter New Times, Michael Lacey, Jim Larkin, Lee Watkins, Dan Saban ran for sheriff against arpaio, Sandra Dowling, Ed Novak and Daniel Pochoda attorney ACLU. All of those on arpaio's enemies list, once arrested, investigated, but none resulted in convictions and ALL charges were dropped. However each of those harassed by the sheriff were forced to defend themselves and paid attorney's fees. "When you cross the sheriff, you will find yourself under investigation for no reason."
The FBI began its investigation over a year ago and there may be an indictment against the sheriff soon. CBS5 has asked the sheriff, who is usually quick to go on camera, to discuss the FBI investigation. They promised him an uneditted, open forum to provide his view. Arpaio DECLINED repeated requests to be interviewed. Reference: Ex-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias on Joe Arpaio: "I Would Seek an Indictment" (w/Video)
Huffington Post reports: NJ Law Enforcement Appear to Contradict Dobbs' Version of Gunfire Incident Interviews with the New Jersey State Police yielded a rather different assessment of the events described by Dobbs (vs Dobbs' version). In a phone interview conducted yesterday, Sgt. Stephen Jones, a NJ State Police spokesperson, chuckled out loud after he heard about Dobbs' account of the gunfire incident. Jones commented that he "wouldn't classify it [the gunfire incident] as very unusual." He also confirmed that there are hunters in the area, and stated that, "at this time of year hunter [shooting] complaints go up." He observed that in the ongoing police investigation sparked by Dobbs' complaint, "nothing has been determined [regarding] what the intended target for this bullet was." Nor did Jones confirm whether the shots near Dobbs' house appeared to be an accident or intentional.
Another New Jersey State Police spokesperson, Sgt. Julian Castellanos, noted that "it's a wide open area and there are hunters in the area." Castellanos explained that the bullet had hit the house in vicinity of the attic; it "hit the vinyl siding and fell to the ground" without penetrating the vinyl, he said. While Lou Dobbs' wife, Debi Lee Segura, was standing outside the house at the time of the gunfire, the bullet did not come close to her; it "struck at the apex of the house, near the roof," and thus considerably higher than a standing person, Jones observed.
Jones says he had not seen any mention of death threats in the reports about this incident. As Dobbs stated on his October 26 radio show, the CNN host had "decided not to report" "threatening phone calls" he says he has received.
The New Jersey police made no mention of the immigration reform groups Dobbs discussed in connection with the incident. When asked to comment for this story, Dobbs disputed the New Jersey State Police's account, saying in an email that "there was no hunting season underway three weeks ago." However, an official at the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife Bureau of Law Enforcement confirmed in a phone interview that state hunting seasons were underway at the time of the gunfire incident three weeks ago.
Asked what he thought of Dobbs' version of the gunfire incident, Sgt. Jones stated, "I'm really going to leave Lou Dobbs' assessment to himself."
Orly Taitz thrown out of court again! Brrrraaaccckkkk! Politico.com reports: Brutal ruling quashes birthers' suit A federal judge in California has issued a brutal ruling dismissing a closely-watched "birthers'" lawsuit challenging President's Barack Obama's qualifications to be president. In a 30-page ruling issued Thursday morning, Judge David Carter used unusually withering language to throw out the suit prominent birthers' attorney Orly Taitz brought on behalf of a variety of military personnel and some third-party presidential and vice presidential candidates, such as Alan Keyes.
Carter, a Clinton appointee who sits in Orange County, attacked the motives of the military plaintiffs, suggesting they were simple trying to avoid duty in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. "This Court will not interfere in internal military affairs nor be used as a tool by military officers to avoid deployment. The Court has a word for such a refusal to follow the orders of the President of the United States, but it will leave the issue to the military to resolve," the judge wrote. Keyes and the other candidates also got the back of the hand from Carter as he discussed whether any of the plaintiffs could show the individualized harm needed to pursue the suit. "Plaintiffs received only four-hundredth of one percent of the vote. The Court may have already met this entire group of voters at the hearings on this matter," the judge scoffed.
Ultimately, Carter found that while he might have had power to consider the suit before Obama's inauguration, the court could not do so now. "There is a textually demonstrable constitutional commitment of the issue of the removal of a sitting president to a coordinate political department–the Legislative branch," the judge wrote. "There may very well be a legitimate role for the judiciary to interpret whether the natural born citizen requirement has been satisfied in the case of a presidential candidate who has not already won the election and taken office. However, on the day that President Obama took the presidential oath and was sworn in, he became President of the United States. Any removal of him from the presidency must be accomplished through the Constitution’s mechanisms for the removal of a President....The process for removal of a sitting president–removal for any reason–is within the province of Congress, not the courts." Additionally from CBS news: Carter says at another point that "the hearings have been interesting to say the least." "Plaintiffs’ counsel has favored rhetoric seeking to arouse the emotions and prejudices of her followers rather than the language of a lawyer seeking to present arguments through cogent legal reasoning," he writes. "While the Court has no desire to chill Plaintiffs’ enthusiastic presentation, Taitz’s argument often hampered the efforts of her cocounsel Gary Kreep (“Kreep”), counsel for Plaintiffs Drake and Robinson, to bring serious issues before the Court." "[T]he Court has received several sworn affidavits that Taitz asked potential witnesses that she planned to call before this Court to perjure themselves," writes Carter. "This Court is deeply concerned that Taitz may have suborned perjury through witnesses she intended to bring before this Court."
Elsewhere in the document, Carter says that "[p]laintiffs appear to assume that should the Court receive a document from Kenya, the Court would give credence to this document over the American birth records of the President and the case would be resolved." "Even should the Court permit the issuance of a letter rogatory to Kenya, the Court would still engage in a comparative exercise in which the records of America, which has historically maintained some of the most credible recordkeeping practices in the world, would be contrasted with the credibility of the records obtained from Kenya," he writes.
Ole Dobbs had his feeling hurt when Geraldo Rivera said of Dobbs “he's almost single-handedly responsible for creating, for being the architect of 'the young-Latino-as-scapegoat' for everything that ails this country.” Geraldo's statement is SO TRUE! However, this made ole Dobbs loco. Dobbs responded by SPINNING STORIES/LIES so Tall of a 3 Week Old Magic Bullet that Never Was!! Advice to Lou: Try telling the TRUTH for a change and tell Geraldo you are sorry! On Lou Dobbs' 10/26/09 radio show, ole Lou starts out his show by saying "I want to tell you a STORY!" And what a creative story he tells. It changes and metamorphosizes throughout the tale weaving. First he says this STORY happened 3 weeks ago. "A shot was fired at my HOUSE." Dobbs then starts weaving this unbelievable tale. Later in the story, he says his WIFE was standing 15 feet away from the bullet. Let's get this straight Lou. You start out your tale by saying your HOUSE was shot at. Then you say your wife was 15 feet away, so now the tale becomes "My WIFE was shot at while she was standing next to the car."
Then you continue your tale. You then say "Your Car, Your House, Your Wife, You, and your Driver" were shot at with that one crazy bullet THREE Weeks ago.
Then you go on your diatribe blaming (as you say --little fools like) Geraldo Rivera, "La Raza", LULAC, MALDEF, and America's Voice for telling the truth about your extreme ANTI Immigration Reform propaganda you spew.
Tell me this Dobbs. They are using their 1st amendment rights to tell the truth about you. You say they are destroying you. Then you weave it into "they take their best SHOT at me." Then you weave your unbelievable tale about your car, no your house, no your wife, no your driver, no YOU, Lou Dobbs were shot at THREE WEEKS ago. (As if anyone could believe you could keep a grandiose story like this quiet for 3 weeks!) How can you blame them Silly Dobbs? How? Did you forget you live in elitist, rural New Jersey? It is deer hunting season and you do live near the woods. No one would shoot you. The police surely would have caught them if they did. You surely would not have kept this story hidden for three weeks.
You've lied before Dobbs, with your leprosy stories, scares, scams. We don't believe you now!
But don't worry Dobbs. You have instilled your fear and your lies in your little band of ANTIs (sheeple). . Alipac is making it their leading cause. . The Post Chronicle is reporting this piece of crap, reporting the story as if it happened yesterday, and blaming PRO Information Reform groups for the murder attempt: Shots fired at home of CNN Reporter Lou Dobbs We have just learned that someone has fired a gun at the home of Lou Dobbs, with his wife just a few feet away from the incident. The gunfire followed a series of threatening phone calls. Lou Dobbs is being targeted by the pro-illegal alien groups and pundits who feel that Dobbs is stopping Amnesty from passing. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti Defamation League, the National Council of La Raza, Media Matters, and Geraldo Rivera of Fox News are using false information to foment hatred towards Lou Dobbs or any American who speaks out against Amnesty or illegal immigration. The lies and hate coming from these radical pro-illegal alien groups is now manifesting in the form of gunfire fired into the occupied home of an innocent multi-racial family.
At least media bistro got the story right: Police Investigating Shot Fired at Lou Dobbs' Home By Chris Ariens on Oct 29, 2009 11:03 AMOn his radio show this week, Lou Dobbs told his listeners that someone fired a shot at his remote New Jersey home earlier this month, while his wife was standing outside. "My house has been shot and hit... This shot was fired, with my wife not 15 feet away," said Dobbs. "It's part of life. The anger, the hate, the vitriol." Somehow the story turned to "little fools like Geraldo Rivera." There is no comment from CNN on the security scare.
As my blog has previously reported, Shawna Forde is incarcerated and charged with the crime of murdering 9 year old Brisenia Flores and her father in Arivaca, AZ. For months, we have been discussing the relationship between Shawna Forde, the Minutemen, and other border rogues. Yesterday, Scott North, a reporter from HeraldNet Daily, published an amazing article which details the obviously demented Shawna Forde's connections with the Minutemen and other dangerous Border Watchers, including a former CIA agent.
Highlights describe Forde's relationships with: 1. Bob and Kathy Dameron, minutemen from Washington, participated in border watch events with Shawna. They befriended her, helped her build her website. Participated in Arizona border watches with them. Shawna acted as the MCDC's spokesman. The Damerons were witness to Forde's many lies, exaggerated boasts, her craving for glory and attention. Shawna destroyed their relationship when she was caught stealing from them. 2. Chris Simcox promoted Shawna to statewide leader of the Minutemen in Washington. However the members revolted and voted her out of the group. 3. Doug Parris, director of conservative group The Reagan Wing. 4. Jim Gilchrist, leader of the Minuteman Corp. and their long time relationship. 5. Joe Adams, border watcher. He is a former private investigator from St. Louis whose tough-guy credentials include combat tours with the Marines and federal prosecution for his activities linked to the CIA during the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s. 6. Scott Shogren, Minuteman leader from Florida. 7. Mike Carlucci, Seattle are private investigator. Has dozens of emails showing contact between Forde and numerous Minutemen leaders from around the country. 8. Andre Ong, photographer who joined her on a Border Watch. Ong shared the following disturbing event: "One night, tagging along with a few of Shawna Forde's team, the young photojournalist witnessed something that still troubles him. The patrol stopped to check a brushy area for smugglers. In the dark, Forde picked up a couple of rocks and tossed them over the heads of her Minutemen. One rock hit something hard. It sounded like a ricocheting bullet. Convinced they were being shot at, the Minutemen scrambled for cover. Forde quietly laughed behind their backs. Ong was appalled. "'Have some fun, Andrew,'" he said she told him. "'Have some fun.'" Later, Forde had her group report to the U.S. Border Patrol that they had been shot at. She also posted a video of the incident on YouTube as evidence of the risks Minutemen were taking to protect the nation's borders
Please Read Scott North's entire article on Heraldnet.com for the details:
Here is ANOTHER REASON NOT TO PASS THE "OFFICIAL ENGLISH" legislation supported by the ANTIs!!
Larry Whitten, a retired marine, is used to people following his orders. The Virginia-born Whitten spent 40 years in the hotel business, turning around more than 20 hotels in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and South Carolina, before moving with his wife to Taos, NM. and purchasing the Paragon Inn. Whitten's management style did not work for him in Taos.
Whitten marched into the hotel with a strong arm. He layed down the law immediately! Among his own rules: he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence. He also ORDERED them to CHANGE THEIR NAMES to some Anglicize version. No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark. If employees did NOT follow Whitten's Rule of Law, they were Fired!
In the past, Whitten's "rule of law" worked for him. The 63-year-old Texan, however, wasn't prepared for what followed. His rules and his firing of several Hispanic employees, angered his employees and many in this liberal enclave of 5,000 residents at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, where the most alternative of lifestyles can find a home and where Spanish language, culture and traditions have a long and revered history
Whitten lamented, "I'm doing what I have always done."
Former workers, their relatives and some town residents picketed across the street from the hotel. "I do feel he's a racist, but he's a racist out of ignorance. He doesn't know that what he's doing is wrong," says protester Juanito Burns Jr.
When Whitten initially arrived, he met with employees. Due to his abusive management style, he was afraid that they were talking about him in Spanish. Whitten immediately ordered his employees to speak English Only. To make matters worse, he ordered anyone who had a Hispanic surname to CHANGE THEIR NAME to the anglicized version. Those that DID NOT OBEY both of these rules were immediatly fired.
Fired hotel manager Kathy Archuleta says the workers initially tried to adjust to Whitten's style. "We had already gone through four or five owners before him, so we knew what to expect," Archuleta says. "I told (the workers) we needed to give him a chance." Then Whitten told some employees he was changing their Spanish first names. He said, "It has nothing to do with racism. I'm not doing it for any reason other than for the satisfaction of my guests, because people calling from all over America don't know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything," Whitten says.
Martin Gutierrez, another fired employee, says he felt disrespected when he was told to use the unaccented Martin as his name. He says he told Whitten that Spanish was spoken in New Mexico before English. "He told me he didn't care what I thought because this was his business," Gutierrez says.
The messages and comments Whitten made in interviews with local media, including referring to townsfolk as "mountain people" and "potheads who escaped society," further enflamed tensions. The town was in an uproar and protested against Whitten.
During the AP interview after hearing from the fired employees and the townspeople, Whitten became subsued. He said he was sorry for the misunderstanding and insisted he has never been against any culture. "What kind of fool or idiot or poor businessman would I be to orchestrate this whole crazy thing that's costed me a lot of time, money and aggravation?" Whitten said.(Note:We don't know Mr. Whitten. What kind of racist fool are you?? We know. We know. Some of your best friends are Latino and former Hippies. How could we think otherwise?)
Whitten should have dealt with the situation differently, especially in a majority Hispanic town, said 71-year-old Taos artist Ken O'Neil, while sipping his afternoon coffee on the town's historic plaza. "To make demands like he did just seems over the top," he says. "Nobody won here. It's not always about winning. Sometimes, it's about what you learn." References:
Once the Healthcare Reform package is passed, many in the PRO Immigration Reform ranks are confident the Administration will move on to the Immigration Reform discussion. One PRO Group,
"Immigration Works USA" has sent the PRO Immigration Reform supporters and bloggers "PRO Talking Points." This is significant news. Immigration Works is a very highly regarded PRO Organization.
Their President is long time PRO scholar Tamar Jacoby. All ANTIs and PROs who have been involved in the Immigration Reform discussion are very familiar with Tamar, her writings and her strong support for Immigration Reform. As her bio indicates, her career "has been marked by an outspoken advocacy for policies that would liberalize America's immigration laws-which she believes is an essential policy shift in order to maintain the economic growth of the United States while preventing a brain drain to other nations-specifically, the passage of a broad guest-worker program, which some critics have described as an amnesty proposal. " With such a credible group predicting Immigration Reform discussions are imminent, and their sending all PRO bloggers and supporters talking points, I want to get the ball rolling and share these talking points with all of my readers. I am asking ALL of my viewers to read over these talking points and respond, point for point, with your perspective. I am particularly asking my ANTI readers to study them and respond, point for point. I WANT TO KNOW YOUR PERSPECTIVE!
Dee Immigration Works PRO Talking Points:
There are two categories I want to discuss:
I. Immigration Essentials
II. Polling Results
The following are summaries of Immigration Works' two categories. I have provided a bullet point summary for each of these categories. For the detailed results for these 2 categories, CLICK ON THE LINKS PROVIDED. Please read these two categories over and provide your perspective for each bullet point. Thank you! ======================================
I. Immigration Essentials: (CLICK ON LINK FOR DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS) America Needs Foreign Workers Now 1. Some Industries can't find enough workers even in a recession. 2. The downturn hasn't reversed basic demographic trends. 3. Labor shortages could choke the recovery. 4. Employers support Immigration Employers support Immigration Enforcement 1. Fix it now - Congress must restore the rule of law - employers want to be on right side of law - employers need gov't help. need reliable system to verify employees 2. E-Verify has the makings of an effective system, but it needs work. 3. Enforce tougher sanctions against egregious employers. 4. The best antidote to illegal immigration is a workable legal immigration system. What Employers Need in a Reform Bill 1. All versions of Comprehensive Immigration Reform are not equal. Should have 3 pillars: a. effective enforcement in border and workplace b. practical answer for 12M here c. more visas for foreign workers arriving in the future --however-- AFL-CIO wants a bill with fewer add'l visas; instead quotas 2. Why a bill without additional employment-based visas will work for employers or the economy. 3. What employers need to ask about a proposed commission to set immigration quotas. II POLLS Say: Public Opinion on Immigration (CLICK ON LINK FOR DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS) 1. Only a small minority of voters strongly support ANTI Immigration Views. - surveys say only 26% support 12M leaving the country; 85% say its impossible to deport all 12M; Over Half of Dobbs viewers disagree on his immigration stance. 2. Even in the recession, voters want immigration reform. 3. Voters support enforcement and want a legal, orderly immigration process. - greater control at border; 68% think employers knowingly hire illegals; 55% welcome everyone except felonious criminals. 4. Consistent majorities support comprehensive immigration reform that combines better enforcement with a path to citizenship. - more than 60% of voters support path to citizenship. 5. Voters have mixed feelings, but don't blame the immigrants.
Call, Write or Fax Senator Inouye Tell him NOT TO REMOVE the ANTI-Rape Amendment from the Defense Appropriations Bill!! I am very disappointed in Senator Inouye. He is a Democrat. Corruption can occur in either party, but usually it is not this obvious!
http://inouye.senate.gov/Contact/Email-Form.cfm Washington D.C. 722 Hart Building Washington, D.C. 20510-1102 Phone: 202-224-3934 Fax: 202-224-6747 Huffington Post reports: An amendment that would prevent the government from working with contractors who denied victims of assault the right to bring their case to court is in danger of being watered down or stripped entirely from a larger defense appropriations bill. Multiple sources have told the Huffington Post that Sen. Dan Inouye, a longtime Democrat from Hawaii, is considering removing or altering the provision, which was offered by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and passed by the Senate several weeks ago.
Inouye's office, sources say, has been lobbied by defense contractors adamant that the language of the Franken amendment would leave them overly exposed to lawsuits and at constant risk of having contracts dry up. The Senate is considering taking out a provision known as the Title VII claim, which (if removed) would allow victims of assault or rape to bring suit against the individual perpetrator but not the contractor who employed him or her.
"The defense contractors have been storming his office," said a source with knowledge of the situation. "Inouye either will get the amendment taken out altogether, or water it down significantly. If they water it down, they will take out the Title VII claims. This means that in discrimination cases, they will still force you into a secret forced arbitration on KBR's (or other contractors') own terms -- with your chances of prevailing practically zero. The House seems to be very supportive of the original Franken amendment and all in line, but their hands are tied since it originated in the Senate. And since Inouye runs the show on this bill, he can easily take it out to get Republicans and the defense contractors off his back, which looks increasingly likely."
Mattel has released a NEW black Barbie doll. She has fuller lips, curlier hair and other features that the company says more accurately represents African-American women. The doll was created by Stacy McBride-Irby, an African-American who watched her daughter play with dolls and wanted to create a doll that looked more like her. "The new Barbie means so much to me because she came from a positive place," McBride-Irby said. "My daughter loves the doll. I've had dads thank me for creating this line of dolls that represent their little girls. These dolls are for girls all over the world."
This is not the first time Mattell released an ethnic doll. In the 1990s, Mattel released a Latina Barbie and a series of ethnic Barbies. Many parents applaud the release of ethnically diverse dolls. iReporters say their little girls want to play with dolls that "look just like me."
As I was reading this article, I thought about Tom Tancredo's assimilation quote: "Throughout history, people who are NOT WHITE Anglo-Saxon (Northern European) have become American by adopting a WHITE Anglo-Saxon (Northern European) culture." Tom Tancredo wants all minorities to ASSIMILATE to some Mayberrian Vision he has in his mind. He wants minorities to drop their Color. Drop their music. Drop their dance moves. And transform into Alfred E Newman. Just like he did.
Tancredo's problem: He does not understand that our country has continued to evolve ethnically and culturally over the last two centuries. We are not and have never been Northern Europe. Additionally, our cultural identity has NEVER stood still. We are not the America of 1776, 1865, 1950, 1980 or even 2000.
The lesson Barbie is teaching Tom Tancredo: There is BEAUTY IN DIVERSITY! America is a land of Immigrants. We are the world's ideal. We are the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We do not have to assimilate to WHITE Northern Europeans. We are our own unique country. We are NOT going to assimilate to his picture of White European Alfred E Newman. We are going to be ourselves, Americans. And, as minorities grow in number, we want dolls that look like us, food we like to eat and music we enjoy. Every American does.
I love America. We are a melting pot/salad bowl. We are a land of Immigrants. "E pluribus unum: out of many one. One state made of many states. One culture made of many cultures. One tribe made of many tribes. One clan made of many clans. One family made of many families. Made of individuals as unique and precious as life itself. "
Guest Voz: Sen. Robert Menendez Growing American Roots: Why Our Nation Will Thrive As Our Largest Minority Flourishes Across America, the Latino population is growing, and it is now the largest minority group in the country. Latino voices are being heard, and their economic impact is being felt in the marketplace, which is good for the whole of the nation. Contrary to what may be a popular belief, most Latinos in America today are U.S. citizens. Many barely live above the poverty line, but many others have entered the ranks of the middle class and are contributing mightily to the culture as well as the economy.
Latinos are no longer on the outside looking in. They are at the table, making a difference. On every major issue before Congress and every major issue before the courts, Latinos, in larger and larger numbers, are engaged in the debate. Our nation will thrive as our largest minority flourishes. It's important to remember that, particularly in tough times such as these. Latinos have many role models, and now we have one more: Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the United States Supreme Court.
Sotomayor and I grew up at the same time in similar circumstances. She was raised in public housing in the Bronx. I was raised poor, in a tenement building in Union City, New Jersey, the son of Cuban immigrants. My mother was a seamstress; my father an itinerant carpenter. I was the first in my family to go to college. I never dreamed that one day, I would be elected as one of 100 United States senators in a country of 300 million people, and be able to cast my vote in favor of the confirmation of an eminently qualified Hispanic judge who lived across the river from that old tenement in Union City. It was a proud moment for me, one I will always remember as a highlight of my time in the Senate.
Being at the heart of the debate, part of the greater American community, is nothing new for Latinos in this nation. In my new book, I write that it is incumbent on us, as Latinos, to remind ourselves and the rest of America about our long presence here and the contribution we have made -- and about how the success of the Latino community is important for the success of the entire country.Latino patriots have served and fought in every war. They are artists, dancers, singers, poets and journalists, teachers and scientists. More and more Latinos are becoming entrepreneurs and businesspeople, contributing to the wealth and economic well-being of the nation. But they have also been characteristically humble, and have not spoken enough about their accomplishments and the contributions they have already made to the fabric of this nation.
From the earliest days of the republic -- indeed well before the Revolution -- Latinos have been an integral part of the establishment of this country. All Americans should have access to that history. In politics alone, Latinos have played a larger role than most realize. Technically, the first Latino in Congress was Jose Marion Hernandez, who served briefly from 1822 to 1823 as a delegate from Florida before it became a state in 1845. Romualdo Pacheco of California won by one vote in 1876 to become the first Hispanic member of the United States Congress.
The first Hispanic senator was Octaviano Larrazolo of New Mexico, who served for a short time in 1928 before resigning because of ill health. There have been three Latino Nobel Prize winners from the United States and 11 Latino astronauts, and the list goes on.We need to enhance the teaching of the story of Hispanic life in America which will, in the end, shed more light than heat on the immigration debate taking place across this nation. Latinos themselves need to fully understand and appreciate their accomplishments, but also to understand, as a community, where we have fallen short. Millions of Latinos are graduating into the middle class. More Latino children are going to colleges and universities than ever before. Latinos are increasingly serving in public office and in key areas of the economy.
But, at the same time, despite this progress in education, too many Latino children are dropping out of school. Too many families are struggling to make ends meet. And too many Latinos suffer from a lack of adequate health care. These are the realities, some we can justifiably be proud of. Others we must honestly confront and address if we are to succeed together as a nation, achieve our full potential and bring the next generation along. Growing roots in America means recognizing our past, acting now and preparing the road for those new generations who will follow. It means engaging in sweeping efforts to improve education for Latinos and all American children, including specific programs to bring along those who have fallen behind in school through no fault of their own. It means comprehensive health care, elder care and economic opportunity -- the same rights that all Americans want and deserve.
We must engage and encourage young Hispanics to enter public service, to be part of the debate, to be at the table and be part of the solution. We must instill in them a sense of history and a belief that it is our duty and obligation to give something back to the community to build a better, stronger nation.
Halloween is just around the corner and retailers are taking advantage of the political atmosphere. This year, retailers are selling Minuteman and Illegal Alien costumes. Retailers are obviously speculating that Immigration Reform is on many people's minds. The motives of costume wearers vary. Last Halloween, Derrick Donchak, one of the perpetrators of the Luis Ramierez - Kick in the Head Murder, wore a Border Patrol costume on Halloween. This came out during courtroom testimony. Imagine Donchak's motives for wearing this costume so soon after the murder of Ramirez. Pictures of Donchak in that shirt laughing tell the whole story.
In an article in USA Today, Immigration Rights Activists are asking retailers not to sell the illegal alien costumes. Why? One look at the illegal alien costume makes the answer obvious. This obviously Latino "illegal alien" has a big "Cheech" style mustache, ballcap and green card. Not only is this disrespectful, but it is racial profiling. Retailers, however, are not taking it off the shelves. Some say it is because it is a big seller. While some people are offended by the costume, others are having a field day, laughing and enjoying the attention. Good Ole Boy Willie Gheen, Alipac's head honcho, said he intends to buy the costume, and calls the reaction unfounded. "The only people getting upset are the hyper-sensitive, over-politically correct, pro-amnesty, illegal alien-supporting nuts," said Gheen. "You can't attack people's freedom in this country."
Obviously ole Willie has some comprehension issues. The PRO Voices have as much right to ask the retailers to stop selling as the Retailers have a right to say No. The PRO Voices also have a choice not to shop at their retail outlets. It's all a matter of choices.
Incidently, I advocate that Latinos wear the Ole Boy Minuteman Costumes this Halloween. I wonder what the Ole Boys in the Illegal Alien outfits will do if the Latinos in MM Costumes harass them at the Home Depot? Hmmmm.. Interesting Thought!
The Department of Homeland Security has made changes to the 287(g) program. DHS changed the program to focus on felonious criminals and drug cartels. The program was NEVER intended to Racially Profile Latinos and to target non-felonious criminals. The changes include requiring law enforcement officers enrolled in the 287(g) program to pledge to observe federal anti-discrimination laws, beefing up its supervision and flagging problems and complaints from the public. DHS officials said Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to expand the program and has renewed agreements with 55 state and local law enforcement agencies. Twelve more, they said, have reached tentative agreements.
As the changes have been rolled out, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stripped Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who flagrantly abused the program racially profiling countless Latino neighborhoods, of his power to let 100 deputies make federal immigration arrests.
Yesterday, flagrantly thumbing his nose at DHS officials, Arpaio dispatched deputies on a two-day, racially profiling, "crime suppression" operation in the western Phoenix valley, stopping and racially profiling and arresting at least eight Latinos who did not have their passport and social security card on them to provide evidence they were in Arizona legally. Arpaio, whose sweeps have led to allegations of racial profiling, said he is carrying out these racially profiling operations under Arizona state laws which supposedly target smugglers and another federal law he SAYS allows him to detain illegal immigrants.
The outrageous Arpaio said while overseeing the operation in Surprise, Arizona, "Nothing has changed. We're still going to be doing what we've been doing tonight and during the last two and a half years. I don't take orders from anyone." Reference: DHS Changes Immigrant Policies Arizona sheriff conducts migrant sweeps despite curb
On Wednesday, Sept 23 at about 1:00 am, racial slurs were shouted as three men beat, robbed and stripped the clothing from Derrick Thomas (18), who is autistic. The three men were standing over Thomas, armed with an ax, brass knuckles and a gun. They beat and kicked the 18-year-old while screaming racial epithets, ordering him to strip naked. Then they robbed him of everything he had, including his Air Jordans, blue jeans and shirt. "They were saying stuff like, 'Wehate the president; we're gonna kill the president, his wife and his kids,'" Thomas recalled, his left eye puffy and discolored. "They said every black person that comes through our park, we're gonna kick their butt. We don't like black people, period." A little later that night, police caught the three perpetrators in the act of attacking a second black man -- Thomas' uncle -- just blocks away. Authorities filed assault and robbery charges against Anthony P. Kilpela and Bryan C. Westerlund, both 21, of Minneapolis. A week later, police arrested the third perp, Tyler Kai Ketz.
Both victims are black, the suspects are white, and authorities say both crimes are believed to be motivated by racial bias. The U.S. Secret Service is also investigating the men for allegedly threatening to kill the Obamas.
Usual Hate Crime Excuses: Tania Kilpela looks down and shakes her head, her voice trembling when she talks about the accusations against her older brother, Tony. "He's not a bad person, and I'm just in shock. He's not like that at all," she said on the back patio of her south Minneapolis home Saturday. "We have foster cousins that are black. One of his best friends is black. Tony is very funny and very caring. It's all just not making sense to me." References: Beaten, Robbed, a Victim of Hate Third Man Arrested Family Struggles with Accusations of Hate Crime
In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her Halliburton/KBR co-workers while working in Iraq and locked in a shipping container for over a day to prevent her from reporting her attack. The rape occurred outside of U.S. criminal jurisdiction, but to add serious insult to serious injury she was not allowed to sue KBR because her employment contract said that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration--a process that overwhelmingly favors corporations.
This year, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) introduced an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would punish contractors if they "restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." You'd think that this would be a no-brainer and all senators would vote in support of this ANTI-RAPE amendment. WRONG!30 Republicans VOTED AGAINST IT!!
In fact, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) argued that it's NOT the GOVERNMENT's place to DECIDE who the GOVERNMENT does business with. UNBELIEVABLE!! And these Republican Senators are the same ones who went absolutely cross-eyed with white-hot, impotent rage when 4 Acorn employees were hoodwinked by a fake prostitute and pimp and Voted to STOP Funding to ACORN. Duplicitous!
Here are the names of the 30 Republican Senators who voted AGAINST the ANTI-RAPE Amendment. Remember to VOTE AGAINST THEM when they are up for re-election: Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Gregg (R-NH), Inhofe (R-OK), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Kyl (R-AZ), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL) , Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)
The White House hosted “Fiesta Latina” last night, and were joined by Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Eva Longoria Parker, George Lopez, and Jimmy Smits, among many others. As part of their ongoing series of parties and events at the White House, the Obamas hosted a Latin music celebration (or, "Fiesta Latina") on Tuesday night. The performers included Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, Jose Feliciano, Los Lobos, the New York bachata band Aventura, the Mexican singer Thalia, among others.
Obama said a few words to the audience, then proceeded to bring the whole family up for some impromptu salsa.
Washington Examiner reports: Thanks to her "frivolous arguments and disrespectful personal attacks" in court, Orly Taitz, the part-time lawyer who leads the so-called "birther" movement has been slapped with a hefty fine today for abusing her privileges as a lawyer.
In levying sanctions and a $20,000 fine against attorney Orly Taitz, Judge Clay Land wrote that Taitz's most recent court filing, meant to defend herself against sanctions, "is breathtaking in its arrogance and borders on delusional."
Taitz had brought suit on behalf of two members of the military who did not want to be deployed under a supposedly illegitimate president. The purpose of the cases, as she made clear in several press conferences, was to compel the White House to produce President Obama's "real" birth certificate.
In the course of her second military case -- which the plaintiff, an Army doctor, quickly abandoned -- Taitz even alleged that Judge Land had met secretly with Attorney General Eric Holder in Columbus, Ga. Holder was thousands of miles away in Los Angeles on the day of the alleged ex parte meeting.
Judge Land wrote that court precedent dictates abstention from matters related to the running of the armed forces except in very special cases. He also offered an acid reply to Taitz's demands for further proof of President Obama's birthplace:
[P]erhaps the Court should issue a nationwide injunction that prevents the U.S. Army from sending any soldier to Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere else until Ms. Taitz is permitted to depose the President in the Oval Office.
Under the court's order, Taitz has 30 days to pay the $20,000 fine. In addition to poisoning the public airwaves with the worst television interview of all time, Taitz and her kookery can also be blamed for ruining the careers of two soldiers whose naivete got the better of them.
NY Times reports: Wrong Path to Immigration Reform All last week the people of Phoenix witnessed public outbursts by their sheriff, Joe Arpaio, as he railed against the Department of Homeland Security for supposedly trying to limit his ability to enforce federal immigration laws. He vowed to keep scouring Maricopa County for (Latinos) people whose clothing, accents and behavior betrayed them as likely illegal immigrants. He said he had already nabbed more than 32,000 people that way, and announced his next immigrant sweep for Oct. 16. The spectacle raises two critical questions that the Obama administration is in danger of getting wrong.
One is the specific question of whether the federal government should keep Sheriff Arpaio in its 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to act as immigration agents in street patrols and in jails. The answer is absolutely not. Sheriff Arpaio has a long, ugly record of abusing and humiliating inmates. His scandal-ridden desert jails have lost accreditation and are notorious places of cruelty and injury. His indiscriminate neighborhood raids use minor infractions like broken taillights as pretexts for mass immigration arrests. To the broader question of whether federal immigration enforcement should be outsourced en masse in the first place, the answer again is no.
It was only days ago that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled a plan to repair the rotting immigration detention system. The Bush administration had outsourced the job to state, local and private jailers, with terrible results: inadequate supervision, appalling conditions, injuries and deaths. Ms. Napolitano wants to centralize federal control over the system that handles detainees. But she insists on continuing to outsource and expand the flawed machinery that catches them, including 287(g) and a system of jailhouse fingerprint checks called Secure Communities, which increase the likelihood that local enforcers will abuse their authority and undermine the law.
Rather than broadening the reach of law enforcement, using local police can cause immigrant crime victims to fear the police and divert the police from fighting crime. It leads to racial profiling, to Latino citizens and legal residents being asked for their papers. Responsible sheriffs and police chiefs across the country have looked at 287(g) and said no thanks. Programs like 287(g) rest on the dishonest premise that illegal immigrants are a vast criminal threat. But only a small percentage are dangerous felons. The vast majority are those whom President Obama has vowed to help get right with the law, by paying fines and earning citizenship. Treating the majority of illegal immigrants as potential Americans, not a criminal horde, is the right response to the problem.
We've all known a "Big Talker" with delusions of grandeur who talks about the famous people they know and how important they are. In the above video taped last February by Scott North from heraldnet daily, Shawna Forde talks about the "covert operations" into drug cartels she and other minutemen are involved with and her contacts with CIA Operatives.
Well maybe be wasn't such a big blowhard afterall. AZStarnet is reporting Shawna Forde's involvement with a former CIA Operative and Minuteman Member Joe Adams. In March of 2008, she camped out with other minutemen at a campsite north of Sasabe, Arizona known as Caballo Loco. There she met the notorious CIA covert operative Joseph Adams of "Nicaraguan Contra/Crack Cocaine Scandal" fame. Joseph Adams also presently operates a domestic as well as an "international private security company" and has travelled extensively throughout the world on covert missions. Also present at the camp was Wes Fleming, an employee of the infamous anti-Mexican bigot Glenn Spencer, according to journalist Art Ricker of the Galena Gazette in a report he published on April of 2008.
Listen to what Shawna Forde is saying on the above video, especially towards the end. She is talking about Joe Adams when she said her contact "worked for the government and has contacts in homeland, epa and has his own crew."
Check the Azstarnet interviews with Joe Adams. Adams attempts to distance himself from Forde. However, he does acknowledge the relationship. Additionally, if you go to the comment section, comment #8, Christie C (Jeff Schwilk's ex-girlfriend), Christie appears to confirm a sexual relationship between Forde and Adams.
In the past few months, Arizona has had numerous hijackings of suspected drugs smugglers along its major highways involving well armed vigilantes. There have also been numerous home invasions of the type that took place in Arivaca, Arizona by the Minutemen American Defense vigilantes. These raids have been carried out with paramilitary precision utilizing assaults rifles and military style gear. Are these simply CIA covert operations led by the likes of Joe Adams which are utilizing the Minutemen in order to raise funds for unauthorized projects in the same manner as they were raising funds to fund the Contras in Nicaragua? The American Public has a right to konw. A 9-year-old innocent Mexican-American child has been murdered. These types of activities cannot happen again here in America. References: To ex-mercenary, Shawna Forde 'was just a pain' Forde describes investigative activities, including ties to somebody she says is linked to the CIA. Minutemen killers, drugs and the CIA
Guest Voz - Maegan 'La Mamita Mala': Hate Crime Act Passes in the House On Thursday the House of Representatives passed the Defense Authorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 2467), including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which extends the definition of violent hate crimes to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
From Rep. Barney Frank:
The Hate Crimes provision in the legislation passed today will allow the federal government to assist local and state law enforcement authorities, which prosecute the overwhelming majority of Hate Crimes cases. It permits the federal government to share resources and enforcement tools. It also authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to make grants to state and local law enforcement authorities which have incurred especially high expenses in connection with the investigation and prosecution of these crimes.
In some ways this is good news. However I am always wary of looking at enforcement legislation as a solution. Will this mean, for example that hate crimes will be more vigorously investigated and prosecuted on the state and local level? Does this mean that there will be one actual standard for what constitutes a hate crime? Looking at Suffolk County, NY, where Marcelo Lucero was killed, it was just this week that the Federal Department of Justice announced that they would officially investigate the Suffolk County police department for “discriminatory policing” against Latinos, meaning ignoring a pattern and practice of hate crimes while creating their own pattern and practice of giving a green light to these acts. Will the new hate crimes law, which is expected to pass in the Senate and be signed by President Obama, be enough to force local law enforcement to act or will they be too busy looking at other enforcement programs like 287(g) which target immigrant communities and lead to racial profiling no even care? Wouldn’t it be more effective for the Federal and local government to create some consistency. After all, can you protect with one hand what you are trying to destroy with the other?
Have you ever seen the movie "Born in East L.A.?" It is one of the funniest movies ever made. The movie was made in 1987. It stars Cheech Marin. It's about a Mexican American man who is racially profiled, caught up in an Immigration Raid, and deported to Mexico. This movie is as relevant today as it was when it was made. My family has seen it hundreds of times, yet it never gets old. For all my viewers: Rent It! Buy It! Just See It!!
Glenn Beck's ONE Good Thing: While interviewing Joe Arpaio, skillfully got him to out himself as a RACIAL PROFILER! Beck's Motivation? My guess is, he sees that Arpaio is "going down" and as we know, Beck will do ANYTHING for ratings! Even attack his own side!
From the video: (at minute: 4:30) "I'm just trying to understand this," Beck wonders at one point. "They say you can't enforce the federal laws. So how are you going to enforce it and still be a man of your word?"
"Because I'm going to enforce the state laws," responds Arpaio. "And there is a federal law that they don't seem to understand is there, that I will enforce also."
"Which is what?" asks Beck.
"Which is, if local law enforcement comes across some people, that have a erratic, or scared, or whatever, you know, they're worried," Joe responds, "and if they have, their speech, what they look like (Latino), if they just look like they came from another country, we can take care of that situation. But I don't need that anyway, Glenn, I can still do the job."
"Hang on," says Beck. "When was that law written? Because all I hear about is that sounds like profiling. And the government is saying you can't profile anybody."
at minute 6:30: Beck: What are they doing, wearing sombreros??
In Maricopa County, Anthony and Lesley Arambula called 911 to report an armed intruder "crashed through the front window" of their home and ran into one of their son's bedrooms. Latino homeowner Anthony Arambula, worried about his son who was still in his bedroom, says he "held the intruder calmly at gunpoint" and called 911.
Before Phoenix Police officers approached the house, Anthony's wife, Lesley, told Sgt. Sean Coutts her husband was inside holding the intruder at gunpoint. Inside the house, White Officer Brian Lilly shot (Latino) Anthony six times in the BACK while he was still on the phone with the 911 operator - twice when he was on the ground.
The officers ran into the bedroom after Anthony told them, "You just killed (me)... you just killed the homeowner. The bad guy is in there." The complaint states that Officer Lilly "admitted that it was only AFTER Tony was laying, bullet-ridden, on the ground that he assessed the situation. The 911 tape continued to record what happened even after Officer Lilly unloaded his weapon into Tony, including Officer Lilly's post-shooting, one-word 'assessment': 'Fuck.'
"Tony believed he was going to die; the 911 tape records his plaintive goodbye to his family: '... I love you ... I love you.' Then Tony made what he believed was a dying request to the officers; he did not want his young family to see him shot and bloodied. Officers callously ignored his request and painfully DRAGGED Tony BY HIS INJURED LEG, through the home and out to his backyard patio, where they left him bloodied and shot right IN FRONT of Lesley, AND HIS YOUNG SONS Matthew and Zachary."
The officers later DRAGGED Anthony onto gravel, then put him on top of the hot hood of a squad car, and "drove the squad car down the street with Tony lying on top, writhing in pain." According to the complaint, Lilly can be heard on the 911 tape telling Coutts, "We fucked up." Lilly says on the tape that he did not know where Anthony's gun was when he shot him and that he "opened fire because he heard loud noises and saw someone who looked like he might be the 'HISPANIC' male they were pursuing" before getting to the Arambulas' house, according to the complaint. The complaint states: "Sgt. Coutts knew that officers has just shot up and likely killed an INNOCENT homeowner and the husband of Lesley, with whom he had spoken BEFORE entering the home, instead of the armed intruder. Sgt. Coutts was quick to commence the COVER-UP of their terrible mistake. Sgt. Coutts asked Office Lilly where Tony's gun was at the time Officer Lilly had opened fire on Tony. Officer Lilly admitted that he did not know where Tony's gun was: 'I don't know. I heard screaming and I fired.'" Lilly later LIED and told a police internal affairs investigator that Anthony had pointed his gun in his direction, "in the 'ready' position," the complaint states. But Anthony Arambula says he was facing away from the officers, who could not have even seen his gun.
The complaint continues: "Still not knowing that he is being recorded on the 911 tape, Sgt. Coutts interrupted Officer Lilly's admission and apology with his assurance that the cover-up would commence: 'That's all right. Don't worry about it. I GOT YOUR BACK. ... We clear?'"
After the shooting, the Phoenix Police Department treated them "like suspects in a drug bust," denying Lesley, Michael and Zachary information about Anthony's condition and denying friends and family members access to him at the hospital.
Anthony Arambula survived, but continues to suffer pain, which he expects will last for the rest of his life. The Arambulas have filed a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix. Officer Lilly, Sgt. Coutts and Officer Dzenan Ahmetovic are named as defendants. The Arambulas seek punitive damages for gross negligence, civil rights violations, failure to supervise, excessive force, deliberate indifference to medical needs, false arrest, and emotional distress. Tony Arambula may still need to have a hand amputated, and "doctors have told him to expect a lifetime of pain and arthritis..." in his wrist and knee. Another source of pain is Arambula's hip -- surgeons busted it apart to obtain material for a bone graft in his wrist. Note: They should ALSO be charged with a HATE CRIME!!
President Barack Obama hs been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee said the award was for Obama's efforts to bring "a new climate in international politics," for which the American leader is "the world's leading spokesman."
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, President Obama said he was "deeply humbled" by the decision of the Nobel Committee. "I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize — men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace. But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build."
In the meantime, Republican advocates are slitting their wrists and lamenting the award. Treasonous Rush Limbaugh said he is on the side of the terrorist Taliban groups: "Folks, do you realize something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award. Now that's hilarious, that I'm on the same side of something that the Taliban, and that we all are on the same side as the Taliban." Beck, Bill Krystol, Redstates Erick Erickson, John Bolton, and Fox News all agreed with Limbaugh and the Taliban that Obama was undeserving. These treasonous, traitorous domestic terrorist side with the Taliban in NOT supporting OUR President nor our Great USA! What is WRONG with the Extreme Right Wing that they SIDE with the Terrorists!! Despicable!!
NASA is “bombing” the Moon tomorrow morning -- not once, but twice. The NASA LCROSS mission will slam a spacecraft into the Moon’s Cabeus crater at 7:31AM EST time on Friday morning (that's 6:31 Central -- Texas time).
The mission will happen in two stages: a rocket delivering the "bomb" will send the payload craft at close to 6,000 miles per hour into the moon crater. The delivery rocket, specially equipped to detect the presence of water will chase behind, fly through the debris cloud, and then smack into the crater approximately four minutes later. The hope is, that by kicking up enough Moon stuff into the “air,” scientists will be able to detect the presence of water that may be hidden just under the surface. The Moon's Cabeus crater was chosen as a likely candidate because it lives in the shadows and hasn’t seen sunlight in millions of years. It’s cold temperatures may have allowed for frozen water to remain locked away, whereas moisture exposed to the heat and light would have boiled off into space countless ages ago. It’s likely the moisture itself was delivered from violent impacts in the past, when ice laden meteorites crashed into the lunar surface.
So what’s the point? The discovery of water on the Moon may mean it can support life. Not life native to the Moon of course but it could help support HUMAN LIFE e.g. Illegal Aliens on the Moon! (Note to ANTIS: We are ALL Illegal Aliens on the Moon!)
A “Space Base” on the Moon may some day make use of the moisture for drinking water, and even splitting it into its constituent parts to make breathable air. If moisture is detected, NASA has plans for follow up missions to drill several feet into the Moon to get a better look.
Aside from being able to detect moisture, the chase craft is also equipped with high definition video cameras. NASA has an entire event planned, including a stream of the live footage. The event can be seen on the NASA channel on cable, or live at the NASA LCROSS website. It begins at 6:15AM CT. The debris cloud from the impact is expected to be large enough that it should be visible to the amateur astronomer with a typical hobby telescope.
José Moreno Hernández was born on August 7, 1962, in California. He is an American engineer of Mexican descent and a NASA astronaut. Hernandez grew up picking cucumbers and tomatoes in the fields of California's San Joaquin Valley. His parents, Salvador and Julia, had migrated from Mexico to Northern California in the 1950s in search of work. They eventually became U.S. citizens and raised four children, including Jose, the youngest. As a child, Hernandez continued to visit his parents' home state of Michoacan and lived what he has called the typical life of a migrant worker, moving constantly with his family to follow the crops. In an August 25, 2009 conversation with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico, Hernández stated that as a child, he lived half the year in La Piedad and half in the United States. As a child, Hernández worked alongside his family throughout the fields of California, harvesting crops and moving from one town to another. He attended many schools and didn't learn to speak English until he was 12.
It was a second-grade teacher who persuaded Hernandez's parents to set down roots near Stockton to give their children a better education and more stable life. Young Jose excelled in math and today traces his dream of becoming an astronaut to the Apollo spacewalks he watched on TV. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering, Hernandez applied every year for 12 years to enter the space program, finally being chosen in 2004. Hernandez, a father of five, cited two crucial factors: a good education and parents who forced him to study, who checked his homework and stayed involved in his schooling. It is clear that Education is the great equalizer and together with strong family support, persistence and resilience created the recipe for success for Hernandez. "What I always say to Latino parents, is that we shouldn't spend so much time going out with friends drinking beer and watching telenovelas, and should spend more time with our families and kids . . . challenging our kids to pursue dreams that may seem unreachable," he said. At NASA, Hernandez worked various technical assignments until his selection on July 15, 2008, as a mission specialist of the STS-128 mission, which launched on August 28, 2009. While in orbit, Hernandez became the first person to use the Spanish language in space on Twitter. STS-128 mission ended its 14 days journey on September 11, 2009 at Edwards Air Force Base, California at 5:53 pm PST. Hernandez is a full-fledged media star in Mexico and in Mexican-American neighborhoods. Fans followed his every floating, gravity-free move during his two-week journey in space as he Twittered from the shuttle Discovery and gave live interviews to local TV programs.
After the shuttle returned, Hernandez told Spanish television that he thought the U.S. should pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform and allow the millions of undocumented immigrants living here to become legalized so that they can work openly because they are important to the American economy. Hernandez is currently assigned to the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-128. Hernandez also served as chief of the Materials and Processes branch of Johnson Space Center. He previously developed equipment for full-field digital mammography at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Hernandez is married and has five children, ages 6 to 14. His wife, Adela, runs a Mexican restaurant just outside the Johnson Space Center gates, called Tierra Luna Grill, Spanish for Earth Moon Grill. In September 2009, Hernandez began speaking out to support a legalization path for immigrants: "Having 12 million undocumented people here means there's something wrong with the system, and the system needs to be fixed. Awards and Honors: NASA Service Awards (2002, 2003), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory “Outstanding Engineer Award” (2001), Upward Bound National TRIO Achiever Award (2001), U.S. Department of Energy “Outstanding Performance Commendation” (2000), Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) “Medalla de Oro” recipient for professional and community contributions (1999), Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award, “Outstanding Technical Contribution” (1995), Graduate Engineering Minority Fellow (GEM) (1985), Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society member and awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from University of California-Santa Barbara.
Preliminary reports indicate Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have chosen not to renew their federal immigration arrest authority agreement (287(g) with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpiao indicated he will no longer be able to complete his "suppression sweeps" however he continues to maintain his authority over the jails. Apraio said of the changes, "this (ICE agreement) just includes the jail, and deep down, I feel that I ought to take it and rip it all up," Arpaio said. Federal officials also refused to comment further.
Under the new agreement deputies and detention officers could continue screening individuals once they are booked into the Maricopa County jail, but federal authorities had not offered to allow Arpaio's street-level "suppression sweeps" to continue. The Racial Profiling Sheriff said in a radio interview last night: "They (ICE) just don't want me, I'm the poster boy," snarled Arpaio. "I say, `they,' that's the Obama administration, the White House, certain members of congress, certain politicians here, [DHS honcho Janet] Napolitano, don't want me enforcing the 287 federal immigration laws on the streets. So they came down here last week. I shocked them by signing both parts of that agreement, on the streets and in the jails. They sent their top guy down the next day -- he took away my street operations and stuck us with the jails."
Without an agreement that authorizes immigration "suppression sweeps" screenings on the street, deputies will need probable cause to detain a suspected illegal immigrant until federal agents can determine the suspect's immigration status.
"He's not going to be able to arrest people for those kind of routine civil-immigration violations," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Arizona. The news was met with cautious optimism at the ACLU, which is working with plaintiffs in two lawsuits that accuse Arpaio's deputies of racial profiling in the normal course of their duties and in the "crime-suppression operations" the Sheriff's Office has conducted during the past 18 months.
A Republic analysis of arrest records from 10 of the sheriff's crime-suppression operations showed that MORE THAN HALF of the illegal immigrants arrested during the sweeps were held on federal immigration violations and hadn't committed another crime. During a crime-suppression operation in Chandler this summer, ICE agents told sheriff's deputies that they could not arrest suspected illegal immigrants who met that criteria and instead had to free them after giving them a "notice to appear" at ICE for processing. References: Sheriff Arpaio may lose some immigration authority arpaio defiant on 287(g)
The brave members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) are taking a stand against Racial Profiling. They have sent a letter to President Obama asking him to terminate the 287(g) program -- which has been so rife with Racial Profiling! Members of the conservative community and the conservative MSM are already attacking the brave members of the CHC. We need the CHC to stand strong against their attackers and follow through until this program is terminated! STOP THE HATE!!! From Phoenix New Times: In a letter to Barack Obama dated Monday, September 28, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called on the President to terminate the 287(g) program, and cease all of the so-called Memorandums of Understanding authorizing local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law. The letter -- which is signed by Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, Representative from New York, and Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Chair of the CHC's Immigration Task Force -- takes note of efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to reform the program with supposedly new and improved agreements with local cops. But the missive makes it clear that the CHC, an influential group of lawmakers in a majority Democratic Congress, sees the 287(g) program as fatally flawed. (You can read the letter in its entirety, here.)
"Although its stated purpose is to provide law enforcement a tool to pursue criminals," notes the letter, "it is our experience that state and local law enforcement officials actually use their expanded and often unchecked powers under the program to target immigrants and persons of color. It is our opinion that no amount of reforms, no matter how well-intentioned, will change this disturbing reality." The letter continues, with this verbal coup de grace: "For these reasons we ask you to reconsider your evaluation of 287(g) and instead of reforming it, end it entirely."
This communication comes less than a month after 521 organizations -- including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the ADL, and the ACLU -- signed a letter pressuring the Obama administration to end the much-hated 287(g) program. That letter and this recently-released one from the CHC, which can be viewed on the Web site of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, each cite the current U.S. Department of Justice investigation into 287(g)-poster boy Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office's racial and ethnic profiling ways.
In July, DHS honcho Janet Napolitano announced new agreements for the scores of local law enforcement agencies that DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have partnered with. The new rules were seen as aimed at Arpaio and as a sop to the Hispanic community over concerns that Latinos are being treated as second-class citizens by 287(g)-empowered cops. The new agreements have to be re-signed by the 60-plus agencies already involved within 90 days of the announcement. Those 90 days are almost up. Arpaio stated recently that he would sign the new agreement. But my sources inform me that negotiations are ongoing, and that Arpaio's side has sent DHS a "revised" version of the new agreement that would be acceptable to the sheriff.
Though federal worksite raids have generally been brought to heel under Napolitano, Arpaio continues to violate the terms of his old agreement with constitutionally questionable raids on businesses and neighborhood sweeps seeking undocumented Mexicans. This is why Arpaio remains a lightning rod for pro-immigrant and civil rights groups nationwide. But Arpaio is a symptom of the disease, not the disease itself, which is a deadly mixture racism and xenophobia. The Obama administration has allowed -- under the counsel of DHS secretary Napolitano -- this fever to strengthen. Now they are left with a metaphorical dilemma: Either sever a pox-ridden limb (Arpaio) from the corpus; or once and for all battle the infection to its core.
Whether the Obama-ites have the courage to lance the blisters of this grotesque pandemic remains to be seen. Phoenix civil rights activist Salvador Reza of the Puente movement alerted me to this letter to the President. Thursday morning, he and others in this struggle will demand that the Department of Homeland Security release -- under the Freedom of Information Act (if that still means anything) all correspondence between the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and ICE/DHS. The purpose of the request is to discover what back-room wheeling and dealing has been going on between the sheriff and the feds. If DHS and ICE do not cough up the docs, then you can safely assume they have something too hide.
The FBI is investigating Sheriff Arpaio for Abuse of Power. Last year, Mayor Phil Gordon wrote Congress a letter requesting an investigation. Congress wrote a letter to the FBI and the DHS requesting an investigation/indictment. The FBI is not only investigating Arpaio's racial profiling and abuse of 287(g) policies, but additionally for his targetting his enemies list.
