Politics

Race, and the Race for 2012

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

As the race for 2012 heats up, and as showcase “debates” proliferate to select the Republican challenger to President Obama, countless questions on race linger unspoken by media interlocutors and pundits.  Here are a few for consideration.

To Mitt Romney: You have expressed untold times that job creation is the primary issue before the nation.  Black unemployment stands at an unconscionable level of 17%, double the rate for whites, and Black teenage unemployment is at 38%.  What would you do as President to address this crisis?

Politics

The Musings of Mark Krikorian: Microcosms of Bigotry

Written by Guest Blogger

by Michael Dranove

In a June 1st blog post, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) Mark Krikorian questioned U.S. immigration policies in regards to Iraqi refugees.

With this recent post, Krikorian continues what is an ever-present pattern within his particular strain of bigoted logic so oft evidenced on his blog—stretching and straining any and all news into paper drones he aims and deploys at denigrating all-things “immigrant.” In a real sense, this post is a concrete microcosm of his anti-immigrant, Islamaphobic body of work.

In the post, he discussed the recent arrest of two Iraqi refugees for

Immigration

Pseudo-Conservation Group Peddles Anti-Immigrant Agenda

Written by Guest Blogger

By Nina Masters

Negative Population Growth, an anti-immigrant group financed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) recently published a piece by NPG president, Donald Mann.

Mann, once stated, “We should give incentives to low-income people who agree to sterilization.”

Published on May 25, 2011, the piece by Mann voices intensely critical perspectives on how President Obama is addressing the border issue in the United States:

Council of Conservative Citizens Reaches Out To Student Group

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Last month, we reported that John Wolfe, an activist for the far right student group Youth for Western Civilization (YWC), was due to speak at a meeting of the DC area chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), a white nationalist organization which has called African Americans a “retrograde species of humanity.” The Southern Poverty Law Center contacted YWC’s leader Kevin DeAnna and he categorically denied these allegations, stating, “I have no colleague named John Wolfe. I don’t know who that is and there is no YWC member speaking at [the CCC] event.”

DeAnna may be quick to distance himself from the openly racist CofCC, but apparently the CofCC is very… Read more

Health

Blame a Poisoned, Inhumane Food System . . . Not Sprouts

Written by Jessica Acee

Health officials and news pundits are blaming bean sprouts for the latest outbreak of E.coli in Europe, which has killed at least 22 and sickened over 2000. But the real culprit is a diseased and dysfunctional food system where the earth is plowed and crops are picked by workers lacking in the most basic of safe working conditions.

As the “foodie” and “locavore” movements keep growing, it’s shocking that there has been no loud public outcry about our broken and poisonous food system.  It seems that the people buying their vegetables at Whole Foods and curing their own gourmet meats think they can buy their way out of food deserts and diseased… Read more

‘I AM,’ Reviewed

Written by George Garza

I saw the film ‘I Am’ with my twelve-year-old brother. The documentary comes from the director of several Jim Carrey classics (Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty) among other similar comedy gems. This time, however, fart jokes get left aside to tackle some very serious issues.

The film trails Tom Shadyac following a near-death experience from a biking accident that left him with a concussion and out of commission for two months. In his own words, “Facing my own death brought an instant sense of clarity and purpose.” He comes to question the millionaire lifestyle in a world so far removed from sanity. Thus, he seeks out great minds from around the world… Read more

Ecopolitics

Cross-Post: Climate sceptics flirt with intelligent design and Islamophobic group

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

From the Guardian’s Environment Blog comes this revealing article about the American Freedom Alliance and its conference of prominent climate skeptics who will gather to debate ‘green tyranny.’

The ‘Big Footprint’ conference takes place in Los Angeles, 12-13 June, 2011. Photograph: americanfreedomalliance.org

Here we go again: prominent climate sceptics gathering together to meet under the welcoming awning of a right-wing, libertarian thinktank. And some people still choose to question the notion that climate scepticism tends to be far more motivated by rigid ideology rather than reasoned objections to the science?

This time the event is being held in Los Angeles and has been organised by a group called the American Freedom Alliance,

… Read more

Politics

SB1070: A Story of Resistance and the Demise of Russell Pearce (Part II)

Written by Chris Griffin

(Read Part I of this series here)

The day before SB1070 was supposed to take effect, a federal judge ruled unconstitutional several of the more extreme portions of the law.   Despite hearing the news that SB1070 had been crippled by the decision, Pearce and supporters tried to talk up the law; reframing the argument away from the loss by arguing that most of the law was found constitutional and would go into effect.

A huge supporter of the law, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, also announced he would begin enforcing the law by launching a major raid in various communities in Maricopa County on the day it went into effect.  It was an obvious attempt to… Read more

Politics

Islamophobic Leaders Continue Quest to Demonize Muslims

Written by Guest Blogger

By Jerry Higgins

Two of the highest profile Islamophobes in the US at the moment have had very busy weeks. Pamela Geller, of the Atlas Shrugs blog, and Robert Spencer, of the Jihad Watch blog, are well known in the world of Islamophobia.
Together Geller and Spencer seem to have a good partnership—last year they published a book about Obama’s presidency. Unfortunately for them at this particular book signing only eight people turned up!

Read more

A Closer Look at the Board and Staff of Progressives for Immigration Reform

Written by Stephen Piggott

After the departure of president William Ryerson in recent weeks, a major reshuffle has taken place over at Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR), just one of the spin-offs of controversial anti-immigrant group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

As we noted yesterday, anti-immigrant “environmentalist” Phil Cafaro has taken over as president of PFIR, but who makes up the rest of PFIR’s board? A closer look reveals that the board members, like the organization itself, are far from “progressive.”

First up is Frank Morris, the current vice president of PFIR. Morris has had a close relationship with the John Tanton Network – i.e. the modern day anti-immigrant movement – for decades.… Read more