Politics

Cross-post: Suspicious white powder sent to Arizona congressman’s office

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Originally published on the New Mexico Independent by Matthew Reichbach 10/22/10 11:50 AM

A suspicious, white powdery substance inside a Swastiska-adorned package was sent to the Tuscon office of U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, CNN is reporting. Grijalva is the chairman of the House Progressive Caucus and has been an outspoken opponent of Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

A FBI spokesman told the news network that the substance was not toxic.

According to various media reports, a “white powdery substance” was sent in an envelope along with two drawings of swastikas.

Politics

Cross-post: Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

NPR broke an incredible story this week that is sure to continue unearthing the shady dealings behind the creation and passage of SB 1070 in Arizona. The following article was published on Oct. 28, 2010 by NPR reporter Laura Sullivan. To listen the podcast of this story click here.

Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Ariz., a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal.

Glenn Nichols, the Benson city manager, remembers the pitch.

“The gentleman that’s the main thrust of this thing has a huge turquoise ring on his finger,” Nichols said. “He’s a great big huge guy and I equated him to a

… Read more

Politics

Election 2010: the Weird, the Bad, the Ugly

Written by MJ Olahafa

The November 2 midterm elections have the anti-immigrant movement up in arms. In a year during which immigration has become a hot button issue, anti-immigrant groups have been working overtime trying to put the message of hate into the ears of whoever is listening. Endorsements have been rampant as an attempt by these groups to nudge voters in the ‘right’ direction.

Anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA put out report cards, grading candidates on their stance on immigration. ‘A’ graders support all anti-immigration measures: “opposing amnesty, attrition through enforcement, mandating E-Verify, assisting local police, funding entry/exit system, defunding sanctuary cities, border security, ending birthright citizenship, ending chain migration, ending visa lotteries, opposing guest worker programs and… Read more

Politics

ALIPAC Leader Featured on Anti-Semitic Broadcast

Written by Stephen Piggott

William Gheen, leader of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), took time out of his busy schedule last week to do an interview with American Free Press, a blatantly anti-Semitic organization founded by infamous holocaust denier and white supremacist Willis Carto.

American Free Press evolved out of The Spotlight, a magazine that stopped printing in 2001 after Carto’s assets were severely diminished due to a lawsuit. This lawsuit may have crippled him and his network financially but it did not dampen their spirits. Along with American Free Press, Carto publishes The Barnes Review which specializes in historical revisionism, including Holocaust denial. Last year, American Free… Read more

Politics

The Thomases and the Emerging Ethical Morass on the Supreme Court

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

In one of the most deflective and deceptive phone messages of the year, Virginia Thomas—spouse of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas—appealed last week to Anita Hill to apologize for the scathing testimony Hill presented at Thomas’ Senate hearing nineteen years ago, in which she accused her former colleague of gross sexual misconduct.  Generating consternation across the country, the phone message seems, more to the point, to be a shrewd political move to shift attention from the Thomases’ links to the hard political right and, in particular, Virginia Thomas’ now-blatant efforts as CEO of “Liberty Central” to bring down the “left wing” Obama Administration.

An October 8 New York Times report… Read more

Politics

Tea Party Bullies Republicans to the Far Right

Written by Chris Bober

Last week, as the Tea Party movement pressed forward with its eerie “we are the people” message, Sarah Palin drew a deeply troubling line in the sand. Her message for mainstream Republicans was: get on board with the Tea Party movement or you will be left behind. While many in the Republican Party have already funded and promoted the Tea Party, it would appear that those few moderate voices that remain have a choice to make. To understand what is at stake for the Republican Party in this upcoming election, I believe we need to take a close look at the recent past.

During the 1980s and ‘90s, there was a similar takeover of the… Read more

Politics

FAIR Hides Ties to Florida-Based Anti-Immigrant Group

Written by Stephen Piggott

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) responded to a blog post by The Florida Independent regarding its relationship to the anti-immigrant group Floridians for Immigration Enforcement (FLIMEN). In an effort to deflect speculation about its relationship to local groups that endorse candidates,  FAIR’s media director, Ira Mehlman, flatly told The Florida Independent, “There is no affiliation between FAIR and FLIMEN.”

FAIR has reason to be jumpy. The organization is a 501(c)3 and therefore shouldn’t be endorsing or helping state-level groups endorse or contribute to political campaigns. Unfortunately for FAIR, it has been working with FLIMEN on legislative issues for some time, and FLIMEN is now aggressively endorsing a Florida candidate for governor.

News

Mineros Rescatados

Written by Axel Fuentes

El 5 de agosto del 2010 el trágico accidente en la mina  “San José” conmociono a la republica de Chile. 33 mineros fueron sepultados a más de 700 metros bajo cientos de toneladas de rocas. Después de 17 días la buena noticia de que los 33 mineros permanecían vivos alegró a la nación y por la esperanza que ésta noticia representaba hizo que los medios de comunicación no prestaran tanta atención a las razones por las cuales este accidente ocurrió.

La compañía minera San Esteban es la propietaria de de la mina San José, es una  explotación de oro y cobre muy Antigua ubicada en Atacama,  Zona del desierto mas árido del mundo,  como toda… Read more

Politics

Crosspost: ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Hurts African-American Women the Most

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Black women and other people of color have been disproportionately affected by the policy — and as one woman’s story illustrates, just the threat of discovery can take a terrible toll.

Originally published on the the Root by Lynette Holloway | Posted: October 6, 2010

During the recent heated debates on Capitol Hill about repealing “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” former Army Sgt. Tracey L. Cooper-Harris sent a poignant letter to President Barack Obama urging him to “do the right thing.”

Cooper-Harris, who is black, wrote in the May 10 letter that her male compatriots sexually blackmailed her as a teenager to guard her secret of being gay. “The signal from command

… Read more

Politics

Isolated in Detention

Written by Joan Flanagan

If you squint at the center of the horizon in the photo on the right, you will see the Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin, Illinois.  It is 354 miles from Chicago and 156 miles from St. Louis.  It is number ten of the ten most isolated detention centers such as the Hardin County Law Enforcement Center in Eldora, Iowa, 212 miles to the nearest city, or Chippewa County Jail in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, 346 miles from a major city.

There are an estimated 32,000 women and men detained every night by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), most in detention centers like this one that are extremely remote from families, friends, clergy, and… Read more