Earlier in the day we would attend, or sometimes host our neighborhood’s famous backyard pancake breakfast. The hosts made the pancakes, and everyone brought another dish, usually bacon (I swear you’ve never seen so many plates of bacon!). Afterwards we would go to the town fair - jump in the moonwalk until we were sick, have our faces painted, get soaked in the water balloon toss, and maybe take a whirl on the miniature ponies. Depending on the leniency of my mom that particular year my brother and I may have even split a funnel cake or a root beer float. Regardless, by late afternoon, our minds inevitably turned to fried chicken. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, coleslaw and from-the-box brownies to be exact.”

I remember feeling that I needed to capture something about years past with my post. Something sweet to hold on to in case the America I yearned for was swept away. Certainly we knew what was to come; like the smell of rain before the storm, the winds of change were already blowing.

At that point the possibility of a black president was still an apprehensive hope. Bernie Madoff’s investors were blissfully unaware that they had lost billions. Sarah Palin had not yet begun torturing the American people. Michael Jackson was planning a comeback. Elliot Spitzer, John Edwards, Gov. Sanford, and John Ensign still had bright political futures and wives who loved them. “Bailout” and “stimulus package” were not yet dropped into casual conversation. Our dinosaur TVs still worked. Swine flu had not yet caused mass panic and just as quickly, disinterest. Pirates were associated with Johnny Depp, and tea parties remained a proud reference to American Independence.

It’s been a big year for America. One of hardship and indeed “hope”. Some survived against all odds and many did not. At Imagine 2050 we have watched tragedies unfold that stretched the emotional endurance of our writers, celebrated our heroes, and exposed threats to our freedom. At this moment we are struggling and the outcomes are still unclear. Will we emerge a better nation, a multicultural, tolerant nation?  Or will we fall short, unable to fully embrace the changing face of America? Today we don’t have an answer, but we do have the opportunity to reflect, to celebrate, and yes, even be proud, of a nation that is redefining freedom, mourning our mistakes, finally shedding the bonds of apathy.

Happy Independence Day.

Francine Busby is a Democratic candidate running in 2010 for congress in California’s 50th District (including San Diego). In 2006 she lost the same seat in a controversial race against Republican Brian Bilbray. The Republican National Convention put 5 million dollars behind Bilbray’s campaign because of Busby’s growing popularity. Brian Bilbray is the chairman of the anti-immigrant House Immigration Reform Caucus and a staunch advocate of John Tanton’s anti-immigrant movement. The local minutemen chapter often praises him on their website.

Last Friday, one of Francine Busby’s supporters hosted a fundraiser in her home for the campaign. Ms. Busby made a brief speech in the host’s backyard, which ended at around 8:45 pm. The noise caught the attention of a neighbor who was so angered by their gathering, that he felt it necessary to shout derogatory comments about the candidate and homosexuals.

Around 9:30 pm a police officer named Marshall Abbott walked into Shari Barman’s home without warning, and asked for the homeowner. The host gave him her name but declined to share her date of birth, and the officer became aggressive towards her.

According to the Barman, “He told me I was under arrest, grabbed my right arm, twisted it behind me and threw me on the ground. Some of the 25 or so people who were still in attendance observed what was happening and started asking the deputy what was going on. My partner, Jane Stratton, asked him to please be careful as I had recently had right shoulder surgery. His response was to knock her to the ground. At this point, some of the guests attempted to come to my aid and to Ms. Stratton’s. Without warning the deputy started pepper spraying everyone, even those who were simply standing in the area.”

A neighbor that attended the gathering said she was taken back by the police officer’s overreaction. She left before the deputy arrived and was shocked to find eight to 10 patrol cars and a helicopter outside.

Ms. Barman believes that she is being charged not because of the volume of her gathering, but because a politically motivated complaint sparked unlawful violence from an officer. She suspects charges were brought only in order to cover up Deputy Abbott’s unprofessional behavior.

I called it a “can opened, worms everywhere” type of situation and as predicted the more the can opens the more worms come out.

Not only has he admitted to an ongoing affair with his mistress but confessed to “crossing the lines” with a handful of other women throughout his 20 years of marriage.

Oh Gov. Sanford, was it hard to be so pious during the Clinton affair while “crossing the lines” with these other women?

I digress. Focus should now be on the fact that he funded at least one trip to Argentina on his state’s dime. Yep, that’s right; the people of South Carolina got to send the good governor to Argentina to rendezvous with his “soul mate”. That’s a lot for a state suffering the second highest unemployment rate in the U.S. Good thing the governor had their back when he formally rejected a portion of the federal stimulus money earmarked by Congress for the state (South Carolina has since received part of the money but not after Sanford had a chance to make a name for himself).

He has said he will reimburse the state an undetermined amount of the more-than $8,000 in taxpayer money spent on the trip, and he insists that no other public money was used for other trips involving his mistress. Pardon my skepticism but I’m guessing this might prove untrue.

Critics have charged that Sanford should resign or be impeached because he was unreachable during the latest Argentina trip and that no one was in charge of state government during his secret absence. Yet no one seems to be moving quickly on this.

State Democratic Party Carol Fowler called Saturday for legislative leaders to set up a bipartisan committee to investigate and criticized law enforcement, particularly the attorney general, for not launching a probe.

“Mark Sanford abandoned his official duties, deceived the public and misled the family. He has even admitted to using public funds to support his extramarital affair,” she said. “But in spite of 10 days of full national humiliation, South Carolinians still don’t know the whole truth. Is Mark Sanford simply an irresponsible public official or guilty of something criminal?”

Excellent question Ms. Fowler. And one that the people of South Carolina deserve to have answered.

However, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, who would chair any forced ouster of the governor by the Republican-controlled Legislature, said it’s premature to heed calls from those in his own party to remove Sanford.

“I want to see what the investigation finds before I’m willing to discuss that topic,” said Harrell, a Charleston Republican.

Perhaps launching an investigation would be a good place to start. Exactly who’s pulling the stings here?

The anti-immigrant movement is deeply rooted in the population control movement of the 1960s/70s—a movement that often wavered between its racially-tinged, eugenics edges and full-bore blame on overly-consumptive “Americans” (i.e., whites) for the environmental crisis of that era. Today the movement has resolutely staked its claim on those old, racially-tinged edges in a disingenuous move to lure environmentalists into its fold. By doing so it has completely abandoned assigning any responsibility for the contemporary environmental crisis on a still-wealthy nation that consumes some forty percent of the world’s resources, regardless of immigration levels.

That FAIR and its allies would lay blame for urban sprawl, water shortages, and a host of other problems on immigrants is utterly ludicrous—as if struggling, low-wage immigrant workers have purchased all those high-cost suburban homes on the nation’s relentlessly expanding metro edges, or generated the tons of waste that characterize the consumer society.

Behind this facade of blame lies the crux of the Tanton Network’s real concern: that whites will soon be a minority among minority populations “in their own country.” The extremes of this concern are posted in publications like the “Citizens Informer”—the newspaper of the white nationalist Council of Conservative Citizens. In a recent letter on “Global Warming and White Birthrate Decline,” a reader postulated that “White Americans are committing suicide by not replacing themselves while importing highly fertile aliens whose goal is to improve their standard of living by consuming and polluting.”

Birthrates in developed (predominantly white) nations worldwide are, indeed, continuing to drop dramatically. Concurrently, the number of ageing is rising—by mid-century those over 60 will comprise 22% of the world’s population, double the current rate. This is what FAIR and the anti-immigrant movement doesn’t want to talk about—the fact that a reduced, ageing white population in the U.S. is going to be compelled to share resources and power with a growing, younger population of immigrants of color.

In a nation where the primary population growth is among immigrants, it is clear that FAIR and CIS share a singular goal around their renewed efforts to link environmental degradation to population. Disregarding the environmentally destructive consumption patterns of white America, the environment/population problem is, in their view…immigration. The solution is, in their view…stop it. Were they truthful, their (white nationalist) argument would be much simpler: Keep America Beautiful. Keep America White.

This is a strange opportunity to see just how being a journalist in this nation differs from being a journalist elsewhere. In other places journalists fear for their lives. Seeking, exposing, and distributing the truth is dangerous work in places with deep issues. But does this mean that we don’t have complicated social issues to deal with in the US? Or does it mean that we’ve been lulled into complacent acceptance of “fluff’ news by media conglomerates that smother the very essence of journalism?

In Somalia a few weeks ago a radio director was shot dead in broad daylight. This is the fifth journalist to die in Somalia in 2009. 14 of Somalia’s leading journalists said they will be forced to flee unless security improves.

In the Philippines, four journalists have been murdered this month alone. A recent report said 124 journalists had died in Russia since 1993. Close to 40 of them were assassinated, while the remainder died in work-related accidents or conflicts.

This doesn’t mean journalists aren’t at risk in the US. According to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, “Between 1976 and 1993, 12 journalists were assassinated in the United States. Ten out of the 12 were immigrant journalists reporting in their first language (Vietnamese, French, Chinese, or Spanish) to immigrant communities, and all but a few of those murders remain unsolved.”

In Iran, determined journalists are risking their lives to show the world courage and truth by any means necessary. Roughly 40 journalists have been arrested by the Iranian government as a result. The media crackdown is unprecedented, Iran has more journalists detained than any other place in the world. Their fate is unknown, and their absence, along with the detention of hundreds more protesters, has had a chilling effect. Proving once again that taking away those who challenge power, speak out, and seek truth, removes the life blood of democracy.

On Monday night, protesters in Tehran again took to the streets in the face of heavy militia forces. But with the world’s eyes turned away, the Iranian government crackdown will only become more effective. This week’s headline? a celebrity is mourned while Iran burns.

On June 26th, 2009, over a hundred people gathered in protest at the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) in Chicago. Beyond the police barricade, the FOP held their 1968 Riot Cop Reunion. Outside, people stood with signs, “Fight Racism, Stop Police Brutality”. The officers who cracked heads at the 1968 Democratic Convention and the Division Street riots of 1966, and murdered Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were celebrating with today’s police. According to the protestors, “the police are still occupying our communities and repressing our rallies”.

Chicago Copwatch in conjunction with other Chicago activists and organizations organized a rally and march to highlight the violence of the Chicago police in the 1960s, as well as their violence today. If you were at the demonstration, you would have seen some of the same anarchist and punk crowds that often attend anti-capitalist, anti-state demonstrations. However, scattered amongst the people who stood in anger outside of the reunion, were survivors of the 1968 riots.

When the chanting “no justice, no peace” started coming to a close, the mic was passed to a woman from the south side. She screamed in rage, facing the barricade of the police. “I hope you feel shame”, she declared. “I hope you feel shame”. Having lived through the 1960’s civil rights era, she shunned the police who “occupy our city and our neighborhoods to this day”. As she spoke in the microphone, a sobriety came over the air.

The rally was not just to scream in front of the police and hold signs. The rally was also to remember the lives of many victims of police torture – police torture waged against primarily low income and communities of color in Chicago. The police were celebrating the torture and death of her community. And according to her, the systematic torture of her community is not over yet.

For more on the Rally, please visit Chicago Copwatch, Windy Citizen, or the New York Times.

“You look at the labels and you see farmer this, farmer that. It’s really just three or four companies that are controlling the meat. We’ve never had food companies this big and this powerful in our history.”

– Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation.”

Most of the widely publicized undercover work into meat processing plants has been done by animal rights groups. While Americans should certainly be concerned about the way their food is treated, there has been little to no focus on the workers in these plants who are often treated no better than the animals put up for slaughter. Thankfully, the creators of Food, Inc. took the time to explain the devastating effects of NAFTA and how immigrants to our country are cooperatively used up by food corporations and spit back out by ICE agents. It is a sick and twisted relationship our government has with food corporations in order to maximize profit. Scary, smart, and relevant; I’m recommending it to everyone.

But this isn’t just a movie, it’s a campaign. Learn more at www.takepart.com.

The current Illinois state budget cuts are causing stress and panic in our neighborhoods and communities. Services that are crucial for children, youth, and families are being cut, if not eliminated across the State to balance the state’s $9 billion deficit. Effective July 1, 2009, those agency’s providing critical services to Illinois residents will have to operate with less resources or close their doors altogether.

Specifically to Mujeres Latinas en Acción, budget cuts would drastically cut four of our programs, leaving families without essential services in domestic violence, sexual assault, teen program and child care. This means between 3,000 and 4,500 women that would not receive services including court advocacy, and individual and group counseling for both domestic violence and survivors of rape.

(Spanish version below)

In addition, close to half of Mujeres’ staff would go unemployed. Mujeres would have to close our Cicero office entirely, leaving virtually no services in Domestic Violence, Parent Support, and Leadership Development targeting Latinas in Stickney, Berwyn and Cicero.

Our state contract to provide counseling and help secure orders of protection for victims of domestic violence was reduced by 60%. Why is the answer to the states’ fiscal problems being answered by refusing to help battered women and men?

And we are not alone. Hundreds of organizations like Mujeres that serve our communities would suffer from budget cuts to service provides, and consequently, so would the individuals and families they serve.

For the well being of all citizens of Illinois, Mujeres urges all state legislators who have voted against an increase in income tax to restore funding for human services and remember the children and families that would be so detrimentally affected by the budget cuts to social service programs. So where will new revenue come from to balance the budget?

Some legislators believe an income tax increase is the answer. Some elected officials want to bring gambling back to the table, still others believe social services can be spared by cutting wasteful spending in other areas, but do not identify where those areas exists. Today’s Crain’s Chicago Business reported, “Officials could postpone a decision by extending the current budget for a month or two, or by sticking with the limited new budget they’ve approved and promising to come back in January to do more.” In the meantime, service delivery will have to operate at the reduced funding level until the budget is complete.

Bloggers are ranting the waste is spent on immigrants. Others say those at these rallies are just beneficiaries of the state’s largesse. We were part of the 5,000 people at the capital last Tuesday. There were children present that will lose their day care, and people so weak they passed out from the heat. These were not people receiving the state’s largesse, but people our tax dollars are suppose to protect and serve. I expect the legislators to conduct business on behalf of Illinois residents and this will require new revenue generation using a progressive tax base; and raising the income tax while making some cuts will be the solution.

And finally, we ask all citizens of Illinois to contact your state legislators and ask them to pass a state budget which will cut wasteful spending and include new revenue generation that will save families in Illinois.

Please join Mujeres in our mission to continue to serve our community! Rally Against State Cuts to Social Services on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at Benito Juarez High School Plaza. Marches will begin at three locations: Alivio Medical Center (966 W 21st Street), West Side Tech (2800 S Western) and Mujeres Latinas en Accion (2124 W 21st Place. For more information contact Marty at (312) 829-6303.

Español:

El estado actual de recortes presupuestarios esta causando pánico y estrés en nuestros vecindarios y comunidades. Servicios que son cruciales para niños, jóvenes y familias están siendo recortados o incluso eliminados por completo para equilibrar los $ 9 mil millones de deficit en el estado. A partir del 1 de Julio del 2009, aquellas agencias prestando servicios humanos criticos para los residentes de Illinois tendrán que funcionar con menos recursos o cerrar sus puertas por completo.

Específicamente para Mujeres Latinas en Acción, los recortes presupuestarios reducirian drásticamente a cuatro de nuestros programas, dejando a familias sin servicios esenciales en violencia doméstica, asalto sexual, programas para adolescentes y el programa de cuidado de niños. Esto significa que entre 3.000 y 4.500 mujeres no recibaran servicios, estos incluyen servicios de abogacia en corte y consejeria individual y grupal para sobrevivientes de violencia doméstica y de violación.

Además, cerca de la mitad del personal de Mujeres quedaria sin empleo. Mujeres tendría que cerrar su oficina de Cicero totalmente, dejando prácticamente sin servicios en violencia doméstica, apoyo para padres, y Desarrollo de Liderazgo para Latinas en Stickney, Berwyn y Cícero.

Nuestro contrato de estado para proveer servicios de consejeria y ayudar a asegurar ordenes de proteccion a victimas de violencia domestica seria reducido en un 60%. Porque la crisis fiscal que el estado enfrenta se decide resolver rehusandose a ayudar a mujeres y hombres maltratados?

Y no somos los únicos. Cientos de organizaciones como Mujeres, que sirven a nuestras comunidades sufriran de los recortes presupuestarios, y, en consecuencia, los individuos y las familias que sirven se veran severamente afectados.

Por el bienestar de todos los ciudadanos de Illinois, Mujeres insta a todos los legisladores estatales que han votado en contra de un aumento en el impuesto sobre la renta, a restablecer la financiación de los servicios humanos y recordar a los niños y las familias que serían tan negativamente afectados por los recortes presupuestarios en programas de servicio humanos. Entonces, en donde se generaran nuevas fuentes de ingreso para equilibrar el presupuesto?

Algunos legisladores creen que un aumento del impuesto sobre la renta es la respuesta. Algunos funcionarios electos desean abrir casinos, otros creen que los servicios sociales puede ser salvados mediante la reducción de los gastos innecesarios en otras areas, pero no se han identificado cuales son esas areas. La revista Crain’s Chicago Business reporto: “Los funcionarios podrían postponer su decision al extender el presupuesto actual por un mes o dos, o utilizando el nuevo presupuesto limitado temporalmente aprobado y comprometiendose a volver en enero para hacer más.” En el ínterin, la prestación de servicios tendra que operar con un presupuesto limitado hasta que el presupuesto se ha completado.

Algunos comentan que el gasto es destinado a los inmigrantes. Otros dicen los que están en estas manifestaciones son sólo beneficiarios de la generosidad del Estado. Fuimos parte de las 5.000 personas en la capital el martes pasado. Había niños presentes que van a perder los servicios de guarderia, y gente tan débil que se desmayó del calor. Estas no son las personas que reciben la generosidad del estado, sino personas que atraves del pago de nuestros impuestos el estado debe proteger y servir. Esperamos que los legisladores conduzcan sus responsabilidades en nombre de los residentes de Illinois y para ello será necesario la generación de nuevas fuentes de ingresos mediante un impuesto progresivo de base, la recaudación del impuesto sobre la renta y al mismo tiempo hacer pequenos cortes presupuestarios.

Y, por último, pedimos a todos los ciudadanos de Illinois que contacten a su legislador de estado correspondiente y pedirle que vote por un presupuesto estatal que reduzca los gastos innecesarios e incluya la generación de nuevas fuentes de ingresos, que salvara a las familias de Illinois.

Por favor, únase a la mision de Mujeres de continuar sirviendo a nuestra comunidad! Manifestacion contra los recortes de Estado a Servicios Sociales, el martes 30 de junio del 2009 en la Escuela Secundaria Benito Juárez Plaza a las diez de la mañana.

Las marchas comenzarán en tres lugares: Alivio Medical Center (966 W 21st Street), West Side Tech (S Occidental 2800) y Mujeres Latinas en Acción (2124 W 21o lugar. Para mayor información contactar a Marty en el (312) 829-6303.

There was a national day of action to oppose Wells Fargo on Tuesday. In 22 cities across the country religious leaders, union workers, and citizens gathered to stand face to face with a huge bank, to let them know that their irresponsible actions will not go by unnoticed.

In Chicago we gathered outside the North Avenue location at noon. It was a wonderful array of people; diverse in age and ethnicity. Most everyone was smiling and exchanging knowledge, a sentiment of brotherly harmony suspended in the air. We marched in a circular pattern in front of the Wells Fargo building, which was generously fitted with picture windows, shouting “Wells Fargo, Shame On You”. After about 20 minutes, we stopped and gathered around a loud speaker to listen.

First, Carl Rosen from the United Electrical Workers Union (UE) spoke:

“There are 100 workers in the Quad cities who are about to become additional victims of the economic jobicide that’s being carried out by the likes of Wells Fargo right now. Last fall this country gave billions and billions of dollars to banks, with the argument that is what we needed to keep this economy going. That if they got that money, they could keep lending the money out, and keep small and medium sized businesses across this country going. Now Wells Fargo took 25 Billion Dollars, and everybody understood what they were supposed to do with it. And instead what are they doing? They are pulling lines of credit from company after company, including Quad City Die Casting, a sixty year-old family owned business. A high quality die casting plant. They just needed a little help to get through this recession… but instead, Wells Fargo thinks this is a good time to cut them off totally.”

Leah Fried, another UE Representative pointed out the financial impact on the community:

“There was an economic impact study done, and it shows 100 people loosing their jobs in the quad cities. 5.3 million per year in lost wages, and another 1.1 million dollars in tax revenue. That’s a whopping 6.4 million dollars per year, lost in that community. Another 69 people who stand to loose their jobs in retail, manufacturing, and other industries because those people aren’t working. This is devastating. And Wells Fargo needs to be accountable for what they’re doing.”

Elce Redmond of Jobs With Justice followed up, signaling the relationship between banks and home foreclosures,

“Wells Fargo got 25 billion dollars of taxpayers money, but yet they have disregard in terms of preserving jobs, and making communities economically stable. In the communities across this country, Wells Fargo is responsible for many of the defaults and foreclosures. This bank has billions of dollars in tax-payers money, yet families are loosing their homes, companies are losing their jobs, and communities are not being economically sustained. This is absolutely wrong. Wells Fargo go bailed out, the people got sold out.”

More photos from the event:

With their immense wealth, Reynolds could easily make a difference, but has chosen not to respond to the pleas of workers. Farmworkers Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) has repeatedly requested that Reynolds CEO, Suan Ivey meet with workers and she has not responded. FLOC then requested that Reynolds Director Holly Koeppel take the lead in moving the corporation to work with FLOC in resolving this issue. She also has refused to confront the issue.

The tobacco industry is perhaps the worst offender when it comes to corporations putting profit over people. For years tobacco executives lied to the their own consumers, one can only imagine how little they value the lives of poor workers.

Here is a short excerpt from the FLOC website, describing the fate of just one worker:

Urbano Ramirez came to N.C. to support his family living in poverty in the mountains of Guerrero. One of his greatest dreams was that his children be able to go to school. When he complained of symptoms of heat stroke, the supervisor told him to go rest under a tree, and was forgotten when the crew moved on. Two weeks later, his decomposing body was found under the same tree.

Want to prevent more death? Write, fax, and/or call Reynolds Tobacco, and ask them to meet with FLOC:

Susan Ivey, CEO
Reynolds American Inc.
401 North Main Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-28066
336-741-5000
FAX: 336-728-8973

(Please send a copy to FLOC, 1221 Broadway, Toledo OH 43609 or to FLOC Reynolds Campaign)

A gem of a quote from South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford in a news conference addressing his week-long disappearance. Really, you don’t? Kind of a skewed perspective. Let’s break it down:
You just admitted to lying to your staff, the media, the lieutenant governor, and the people of South Carolina.

• You admitted to having an ongoing affair of over a year with a woman you’ve been working with on a Christian Bible Study no less.
• You left your state without a leader or a plan for a transfer of power in the event of an emergency.
• You showed not just egregious judgment but also complete disregard to your position as governor of South Carolina.
• You didn’t seem to know that the Appalachian Trail does not in fact go through the state you govern (is this possible?)
• You found it plausible to think there would be no paper-trail of an out-of-the-country flight, and in turn no consequences.
• Your wife couldn’t have seemed less concerned about the fact that she didn’t know where you were.
• Before admitting at the news conference that you were actually in Argentina you spoke of your love of hiking and how you used to guide hiking trips (lovely sentiment)

It doesn’t seem all that blown out of proportion to me. Kind of seems to me it’s more of a ‘can open, worms everywhere’ situation. My guess is the wider the can opens, the more worms might come out.

As a member of the U.S. House in 1998, Sanford suggested that then-President Bill Clinton resign over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, saying: “Based on the evidence I’ve seen, [a Senate trial] is not going to be a pleasant process for the country.”

So far Sanford has only resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

In actuality his personal life is not of concern. His politics however are.

Besides being against gay marriage and gay adoption, Sanford is also pro-life and has disconcerting voting records when it comes to issues of women’s health (such as voting against Medicaid coverage for breast and cervical cancer treatments). I know, pause for the irony as none of these things even remotely affect him.

But more recently Sanford lost a high-profile battle to reject $700 million in federal stimulus funding. He challenged the Obama administration, federal courts and even his own state legislature on the issue before backing down on June 8 and requesting the funding.

When he was asked how he could reject federal money when his state’s unemployment rate was cresting 10 percent, he responded: “There will be no immediate answer. . . . Reforming state government: that can lead to job growth in the state.” That, Governor, is a weak answer. You should have more answers and alternatives before taking such a strong, ironclad stance against something that has the potential to stimulate the state’s economy and create jobs. Both particularly important considering South Carolina has the second highest unemployment rate in the U.S.

Sanford denied that his decision is tied to his political aspirations. It’s an asinine comment; aren’t most decisions politicians make in one way or another tied to their aspirations? It’s been no secret that he was gearing up for a possible 2012 Presidential bid. However, it seems unlikely now. Although it seems like his resignation is not being called for, at least not yet.

Throughout the last three months, Sanford’s criticism of the stimulus plan had transformed him from a little known conservative Republican governor to an outspoken powerhouse with a growing profile among party stalwarts nationwide. Now with this bizarre behavior he has secured a place in political infamacy.

But to move this beyond just a few high-profile meetings and turn it into workable solutions, Congress needs to continue to hear from you. I sent a personal email to my representative today:

Dear Representative,

Working as a school administrator three years ago I watched helplessly as the family of one of my students was ripped apart by the immigration system. The young boy’s mother was deported while his father, who was a legal resident, stayed behind in the US to maintain the family’s small business and ensure that he could continue to support his family.

Like a majority of immigrants to this country this young family was hard-working and law-abiding. They were active in the community and their son was a happy, all-American kid. The best option for the family was for him to go with his mother back to her native country. He left behind his home, friends, school, and father at just 5-years-old. It wasn’t just the family that was devastated, it was an entire community who had grown to love this family.

It’s un-American to deport or drive out 12,000,000 undocumented immigrants — and the status quo is unacceptable. So now is the time for you to lead. We deserve comprehensive immigration reform that gets immigrants into the legal system, holds employers accountable, strengthens the rights of all workers, reunites families, and offers solutions that move us forward together.

This week some members of Congress are going to meet with President Obama to discuss reforming our immigration system. I am glad to hear it! The current system is broken and won’t fix itself unless you choose to act. Please do everything you can to see to it that comprehensive immigration reform is addressed this year.

We all need to tell Congress and the White House in our own words why this is so important. We must continue communicating our expectation that they find workable solutions that are consistent with our values and move us forward together.

At a press briefing today, leaders from faith, business, labor, and immigration reform organizations discussed not just the need for reform, but the viability of getting it done in 2009.

Bishop Soto of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration warned that delaying immigration reform will undermine our economy and our security. Speaking on behalf of all the US Bishops working on this issue, he urged President Obama and congressional leaders to enact immigration reform.

Tamar Jacoby of ImmigrationWorks USA spoke on behalf employers who have a strong stake in legalizing workers and growing the economy. “There is a need for workers at the top and the bottom of the economy,” Jacoby said. Low-skilled and highly educated immigrants are necessary in the US and we will need a legal way for immigrants to work as our economy recovers.

Mark Lauritsen of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) said members “expect action on immigration reform and they expect action now”. Their membership want to know that they will no longer be criminalized for going to work.

Janet Murguía of National Council of La Raza (NCLR) expects this to be the first in a series of steps that will lead to a legislative debate this Fall. She said voters rejected anti-immigrant candidates this past election cycle, “the Latino community understands the painful consequences of allowing this issue to fester…lives have literally been at stake.”

Frank Sharry of America’s Voice pointed out that Senate majority leader Harry Reid is committed to passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and that he should be called upon to make this a priority on the legislative calendar. Will Republicans stand up to cooperate on this? That remains to be seen. But with changing demographics the Latino vote is increasingly vital to Republican officials. Tamar Jacoby said, “Republicans are seeing the writing on the wall.”

Lauritsen encouraged enacting real policies that positively impact hard-working immigrants, “once they come in, let’s let them be full participants in our society…that’s what makes this country great.”

Indeed it is. Write to your Representative today and tell them why you support reform.

A half-mile of roadsides outside Springfield will still be the Klan’s to clean in the adopt-a-highway program, complete (we presume) with a nice rainbow sign denoting their obligation. Naturally, Missouri officials have never been too supportive of the idea, but they lost that battle some time ago in the courts. Their most recent efforts to undercut the Klan by renaming the stretch of highway after the venerable Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, an icon of American theology and human rights, was kindly but firmly declined by Rabbi Heschel’s esteemed daughter, Susannah. Her decision should be deeply respected.

This is not the first time the Klan and other equally nefarious groups have sought to take advantage of such a public program in order to advance their “image,” as if it could be “advanced.” As before, we believe the Klan ought to be afforded this opportunity. After all, the roadsides do need cleaning, and the Klan might as well do it as anyone else… better to keep them busy picking up trash than purveying it. In fact, we would propose helping the Klan uphold its commitment.

All the good people of Missouri (and visitors!) have to do is drive along the Klan’s stretch of adopted roadside and dump all their trash out the windows of their vehicles: it’s the Keep the Klan Kleaning Kampaign!! While we certainly don’t advocate littering or trash dumping, this may be the exception to the rule—a little low-level civil disobedience to keep the law-abiding neo-Nazis occupied, as is their wish. It would be a great story, and the photographs would be wonderful! A half-mile of trashed-out highway. Huffing and puffing Klansmen laden with their trash-filled plastic bags. Well-wishers cheering them on!! Law enforcement idly keeping watch. It could become the most famous stretch of highway in America.

Maybe the good folk of Missouri have already tried this. If so, kudos. If not, best wishes. Keep the Klan Kleaning!

Leah Durant, PFIR executive director, quoted herself in PFIR’s press release saying:

“The results of this poll demonstrate what many on the political left have known for some time. Immigration is not a partisan issue. There are many progressives and liberals that are concerned about the unintended consequences that large scale immigration has on the environment, economy, and other issues that many liberals are concerned about,”

I couldn’t agree more Leah! This certainly is not a partisan issue. So why did PFIR’s parent group, FAIR, build the House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC), that is overwhelmingly Republican? Why does HIRC support immigration policies that do not in any way align with liberal or progressive politics? Congratulations on finding out that progressives are concerned about immigration, Leah! You could have saved yourself a bit of money by just calling me up. You see, over here at Imagine 2050 we are actually progressive. And therefore not associated with white nationalism. You are. Do you think progressives will still want to talk to you once they find out your not-so-progressive past?

Let’s find out. Here is the real deal on Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR):

• John Tanton’s colleague Roy Beck (and former consultant and editor of Tanton’s quarterly journal, The Social Contract Press) helped staff PFIR by circulating an employment letter for PFIR’s executive director in June 2008.

FAIR, Eugenics, & John Tanton:

“I have been meeting with Dr. Robert Klerk Graham, founder of the foundation of germinal choice…we have been having discussions about trying to revitalize the eugenics theme, though perhaps not under that name”

*Source http://www.newcomm.org/content/view/59/88/1/8/

The three suspects belong to the Minutemen American Defense (MAD), a vigilante anti-immigrant group. Shawna Forde is the leader, and has been tied to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), named a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. FAIR is frantically attempting to distance themselves from this horrible act of violence, which is proving a difficult task considering Shawna Forde was named as a representative of FAIR in 2006.

Nativist groups appear unrepentant in the aftermath of a tragedy they helped create. Jim Gilchrist’s group, Minuteman Project (which supported Forde), even had the nerve to post this article on father’s day.

This is not just insensitive, it’s a clear signal that these extremist groups will not stop inciting hatred and violence. Not until reasonable Americans demand it.

Presente.org has started a campaign to renounce this hateful rhetoric. They wrote to their members and asked them to demand that Congress renounce FAIR, the Minutemen, and other anti-immigrant hate groups. Presente points out the scary relationship between anti-immigrant groups and politicians who spread their hateful messages:

FAIR and the Minutemen groups are regularly quoted in the mainstream media—FAIR more than 500 times in 2008—giving them a megaphone to broadcast their hateful beliefs and rhetoric: like FAIR executive director Dan Stein’s claim that “illegal aliens are more prone to criminal activity than the rest of the population,” or Minutemen co-founder Jim Gilchrist’s assertion that it is “okay to say ‘rapist,’ ‘robber’ and ‘murderer’” when describing “illegal aliens.”

As vile as their rhetoric is, even more disturbing is when our elected representatives applaud their efforts and parrot their messages. Take Ranking Republican Congressman on the House Immigration Sub-Committee, Rep. Steve King, a long-time friend of extremist groups, who wrote that a day without immigrants in America would mean “the lives of 12 U.S. citizens would be saved who otherwise die a violent death at the hands of murderous illegal aliens each day.” Those debunked claims were then repeated hundreds of times by FAIR and others, creating an echo chamber of racism and hate.

Or take Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has likened immigrants to terrorists and child molesters, as well as taking money from a group with white-supremacist ties.

Please add you voice to this important campaign, before more innocent children and fathers lose their lives to hate.

While the Senate still has to tackle their own version of the bill, paid maternity leave and the specter of Obama’s health care reform are promising first steps towards assuring that disparities in health care will no longer be tolerated.

“As the nation’s largest employer with 1.8 million employees, this sends a strong message loud and clear that healthy and happy families are central to the well-being of this country,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., co-author of the bill. “It ensures no parent ever has to make the terrible decision between getting a paycheck and taking care of a newborn child.”

With the rise in women’s paid employment—women are now just less than half of all paid workers, whereas in 1960 they were only one-third—has been a corresponding rise in women-headed households. In 1960, 18% of households were headed by a woman who was divorced, widowed or had never married; by 2007 women-headed households had risen to 30% of all households.

Put another way, for a woman who is sole provider for her family, spending time with her newborn means no income to feed, clothe, and shelter her family. Even within married-couple households, women’s earnings comprise an ever-larger share of total income: In 1970, women contributed 27% of household earnings, but by 2006 the percentage had risen to 37%.

Republicans said federal benefits shouldn’t be increased during a time when families are struggling with less. “There is no way Congress can justify granting a costly benefit to government workers at the expense of a nation that is struggling to survive the effects of a deep recession,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. This makes absolutely no sense to me. It seems now would be precisely the time to invest in healthy women, and in turn, healthy families.

A new study from UC Berkeley suggests that providing mothers with pay and job security both before and after childbirth brings economic benefits for everyone in the form of lower health care costs passed down to taxpayers. Not to mention that babies who have constant contact with their mothers the first few months of life are healthier, have higher self esteem, and improved cognitive development. ”Maternity leave makes good economic sense,” says Sylvia Guendelman, the public health professor who led the study.

The United States is far behind the times as one of only five countries that still does not guarantee paid maternity leave. Whatever reforms are made with regard to paid leave, and the larger issue of health care coverage, will have a profound impact on women, who spend more on medical care, and are gatekeepers of their families health. We must demand a health policy that reflects women equally.

Suggesting that society put business aside and take care of mankind first might be asking too much. Instead, consider this; most of the people without cable are the same people without computers and cell phones, which means they rely on easy access media for their news. In the case of a major emergency, i.e. a natural disaster, being left out of the loop can easily prove fatal.

Unacceptable by all standards, but of course, that’s just the way it goes around here.

Potentially unassuming field reporter and close personal friend @nykcsa has long stood as my personal No.1 news guy. Most recently @nykcsa has been logging his experiences at the forefront of a nationwide movement to ensure that our under served, low or fixed-income community members are not left behind in the digital transition. In San Antonio, as with the rest of the country, the communities most effected by the switch include the elderly and a large cross-section of those most affected represent an ethnic minority.

Even before being approved for federal grants to head up the DTV campaign here in San Antonio, Texas Media Empowerment Project (the grassroots org for which @nykcsa serves on the board of director’s) could foresee the potential debacle ahead. Though a national DTV converter box voucher program had been set in place early last year, assuming the system would operate effectively was a mistake on the part of Congress. @deannecuellar, head of Texas MEP, warned Tony Wilhelm of the NTIA that the underfunded program would leave millions in the dark.

Just as predicted, the DTV coupon program temporarily ran out of money, providing even more incentive for Texas MEP and media justice groups around the country to stand in solidarity as they pushed to assist those in need. In conjunction with local media and other concerned non-profits, many steps were taken to raise awareness about the program including bilingual television spots, workshops, demonstrations, phone banks, and rallies, not to mention hundreds of house calls. This was only phase one; getting people registered for the $40 coupons promised to each household.

The problems being reported to @nykcsa now that the transition has taken place are mostly complaints that television stations are not streaming as promised. Reason being is that some of our local television stations have yet to output their digital signals at full-power. Given the fact that great efforts were exhausted over the last five months to inform the public of a pushed back switch date, originally set for February 17, residents are understandably upset.

|@TexasMEP spent 30 min. on phone w/ Lynn from SEside-she & friends disgusted by stations not being ready, cable poaching, RCA antennas #DTV|

- via @nykcsa

With a national transition of this caliber, a proper amount of attention and concern would be ideal, and our government officials would not be able to place the burden on the backs of hundreds of volunteers. Luckily, for thousands of families in our United States, an honorable bunch of media mavens and their respective community members are driven by a common heart and have vowed to help lift those who are seemingly held down time and again.

P.S. If you’d like to follow my friends and I on Twitter, my handle is @POPBASS
Thanks for reading.

It’s been a week since anti-immigrant activist Shawna Forde was charged with the murder of nine-year old Brisenia Flores in Arizona. In the days following, reports surfaced that Shawna Forde may have been a representative for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Since then, FAIR’s spin machine has been working overtime to deny any connection to Forde or white supremacy.

It appears that defending the organization from charges that it associates with political extremists will be a difficult task with individuals like Collins stepping forward. In an essay published on the VDARE website, Collins argues that it is unfair to draw connections between anti-immigration organizations like FAIR and the racist motivations of accused murderer, Shawna Forde. Doing so, claims Collins, will stop real dialogue on issues such as “immigration” and “racial hatred” from emerging. Forde’s extremism, Collins assures us, doesn’t represent “mainstream” organizations such as FAIR.

What is both ironic and telling about this call to “judge fairly” is that Collins had it published on a well known white nationalist’s website. VDARE, published by the Center for American Unity, well known for its racist and anti-Semitic writings, is named after Virginia Dare who is allegedly the first white child to be born in North America.

That Collins would choose to write his call for “reason” from a white nationalist website says much about his and FAIR’s definition of “mainstream”. While ironic that Collins chose to publish on VDARE, it is not surprising. Collins has been a regular contributor since 2005. He has also published in the white nationalist Social Contract Press whose editor, Wayne Lutton, is also a member of the racist Council of Conservative Citizens.

Collins also publishes writings in The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies headed by far right organizer Roger Pearson. Pearson was active with Noontide Press the neo-Nazi organization where D.C. Holocaust Museum shooter James Von Brunn worked.

FAIR’s alleged “30-year record of responsible advocacy” is nothing more than a record far outside the realm of mainstream America. That individuals like Collins make up the leadership of this organization says much about FAIR’s comfort with white nationalism. That Collins is allowed to publicly defend FAIR says much about its current desperation.

BBC News covered the conflict in Colombia on June 3, exposing the human rights violations of the Colombian biofuel industry. An excerpt from the report states:

In rural areas, there is evidence that some people have been forcibly displaced to make way for biofuel production. Last year, the United Nations stopped its investment in the sector in Colombia. But while ethanol production in Brazil has been pored over by experts and activists, the challenges faced by Colombia remain relatively unexamined.

Inhabitants standing in the way of the biofuel industry are subject to paramilitaries arriving at their property and forcibly displacing them. One Colombian worker named Eustaquio Polo Rivera reported to BBC Mundo,

“They used the argument that they were there to remove the guerrillas but we later realized that their objective was to kick us off our land,” he said. “We resisted leaving but the army told us that they wouldn’t help families who stayed.”

“When we tried to return to our land, it was full of palm trees…There has been no willingness on the part of government to ensure the return of our territories, because the paramilitaries are still there and they are in partnership with the business.”

Rivera also told the BBC that in 1996 they were growing bananas, corn, and rice, but the farmers were murdered and their land was planted with palm oil for fuel. Human rights organizations and the United Nations have denounced the production of biofuels as a threat to the lives and livlihoods of Afro-Colombians, farmers and indigenous Colombians. The ramifications are tremendous for Colombians, but also have a ripple effect on the global food supply.

Supporters of green energy should demand that it be produced in a sustainable and humane manner, that includes high-profile politicians and celebrities who’ve touted biofuels. Our ‘Green’ future should save more than the environment.

Health care access is an important issue in today’s America. Billions of dollars are poured into the industry every year – dollars spent to develop pharmaceutical wonders for every ache and pain. The question is who controls access to health care products and are they distributed fairly?

Communities are supposed to be provided equal access by companies like CVS drug stores. It turns out CVS, the largest supplier of prescription drugs in the United States, operates 37% more stores in white communities than in communities of color. Moreover, CVS stores in low-income areas are more likely to violate local health codes than stores in affluent or mostly white areas. These are discriminatory practices in health care across racial and class lines. That much is not new to me. However, what is new is that CVS is being exposed as a health care supplier that doesn’t care about the communities it serves.

CURE CVS, developed as a direct result of a 14-month investigation of CVS’s discriminatory practices, is a campaign to educate and advocate for equal access to health care.

Today, people will be passing out leaflets in major cities across the nation to warn CVS customers of their notoriously unfair treatment and questionable service. Specifically, this segment of the campaign will focus on expired drugs, food and infant formula. An investigation recently found over 142 expired products in CVS stores across New York State alone. The expired products ranged from milk to infant formula to pharmaceutical drugs – all products that have adverse health effects when expired.

CURE CVS campaign has also focused on CVS’s chain lockup of condoms. CVS locks up condom cases with chains in low income and communities of color. CVS describes this practice as a means to protect the store against theft. In white affluent communities, condoms are offered on the shelf or over the counter, just as they are in all Walgreens and Rite Aid stores. While CVS is taking heed to protect the company against customer violations, I wonder if they are measuring their actions against their potential repercussions.

HIV/AIDS is the No. 1 killer of black American women between 25 and 34 and rates of infection for Hispanic women are four times those of white women. CVS limits these women access to STD prevention because of the unfounded perception that they may be stolen? Or, are they worried about access for some at the risk of others? Other drug companies rightly value the health of their customers over the unfounded risk of profit loss through theft. Other drug companies make condoms accessible to those who shop in their stores.

CVS is a company that cares more about profit than the health of communities.

CURE CVS is taking action to fight for equal and fair access to CVS. For more on the campaign, please visit: www.CureCVSNow.org.