http://imagine2050.newcomm.org United We Stand Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:30:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This week, nearly sixty years ago, American men and women formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigades to stand against the political ideology of fascism in Spain. On January 6, 1937 over 2,500 U.S. volunteers left behind their homes and friends to defend a fledgling Spanish democracy that was under attack. With Nazi ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2009/01/05/the-abraham-lincoln-brigades%e2%80%99-biggest-victory/ As I organized my bookshelves the last couple of days, I came across a dozen or so old journals, each unique in its size, design and color. Some are thinner, hard cover bound with lined pages, and some are wrapped in a cloth or vinyl, with unlined sketch book pages. ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2009/01/04/finding-my-voice-in-language/ A family of nine traveling to Florida on New Year's had a very unpleasant holiday. The family was benignly discussing the safest place to sit on a plane when fellow passengers became "suspicious". The family, including three children, was escorted from the plane by federal marshals and questioned extensively. Once ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2009/01/03/muslim-americans-wronged-by-airline-and-passengers/ The Ecuadorian rain forests are suffering, and so are its inhabitants. Texaco (currently owned by Chevron Corporation) began prospecting for oil in Ecuador in 1964. They found what they were looking for, and built the invasive petroleum extraction infrastructure that still oppresses the local indigenous people and the Amazon. Chevron insists ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2009/01/02/big-oil-causes-big-mess-in-ecuador/ As anticipation surges for January 20th and the possibilities for an Obama Administration, short-term solutions to long-standing problems dance illusively and elusively before our eyes: we did not get to this precipice overnight and we will not get off of it soon. Tens of thousands of families are newly unemployed; home ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2009/01/01/the-coming-year-of-complex-intersections/ In February 2009 the English national football team is slated to play Spain in a high-profile exhibition match. The match was originally to be played in Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium home of Real Madrid. However, the last time England and Spain locked horns at the Bernabau stadium in 2005; ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/31/racism-alive-and-well-in-spanish-football/ I've received several email alerts urging me to attend rallies protesting the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, and while I do lend my voice to condemning Israel's actions, I won't attend any rallies. Israel is ruled by a far right-winged government, much like our current administration, so it is unsurprising that ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/30/attention-to-israeli-attacks-should-be-examined-for-anti-semitic-undertones/ The Republican Party is in disarray after its loss to Barack Obama, and on the sidelines white nationalists are skillfully preparing political attacks on the new American president. Since the weeks leading up to the most significant elections ever to take place in the United States, federal law enforcement agencies, the ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/29/white-nationalists-prepare-to-oppose-obama-administration/ Jorge G. Castañeda wrote a powerfully truthful op-ed on immigration in Saturday's New York Times. In it he spelled out the cruelty of our immigration system as it stands under the Bush administration, saying: Since late 2006, the Bush administration has been carrying out the “tough love” side of immigration reform ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/28/stop-hunting-immigrants/ There is something about the season that always makes me nostalgic for Christmas back home. Especially Christmas Eve, which was the main event in my family. My sister and I would wake up early, excited about setting up the tree that day. We would wait impatiently for mom to finish ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/27/spark-the-love-in-our-hearts/ I'm always thrown by the Holidays.  This year I said that I would not fall into that whole retail trap, that I would instead focus on spending time with my children and appreciating each moment with them, but I get stuck.  I start to feel sorry for myself for not ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/26/joy-and-gratitude/ One of the most beautiful and powerful texts in Christian scriptures is the Magnificat recorded in the Gospel of Luke, the joyous and searing response to the birth of Jesus, reprised from the equally powerful Song of Hannah in the Hebrew scripture of Samuel. This is not the more familiar image ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/25/of-joy-and-justice/ David Neiwert at Crooks & Liars posted a video and article about the Sheriff Arpaio's ever more oppressive activities in Maricopa County, AZ: I'm spending my Christmas vacation in lovely Maricopa County, AZ, this week with my in-laws. And I have to tell you that, thanks to Sheriff Joe Arpaio and ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/25/blog-highlight-az-sheriff-exercises-fascism/ As mentioned in a previous blog I wrote on Imagine 2050, I moved to the USA from Ireland in 1997. My family have become well immersed in American society but we still hold onto many traditions and customs from Ireland. During the Christmas period, there are many customs that we ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/24/nollaig-shona-duit-%e2%80%93-merry-christmas-from-ireland/ National Public Radio airs ads for E-Verify and draws sharp criticism. The ad spots were purchased by the Department of Homeland Security and promote their E-Verify program, a controversial employee verification system. The ads run at the end of a segment and say, "'Support for NPR comes from NPR stations, and ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/23/dept-of-homeland-security-promotes-racist-e-verify-on-npr/ By Jessica Acee To counteract the growing momentum for realistic immigration reform anti-immigrant bigots seek to inject false data into the conversation. A new report entitled “The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Coloradans” was released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). It’s apparent that FAIR prefers to dump their ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/22/suspect-data-used-to-blame-immigrants-for-economic-crisis/ Henry Fernandez wrote a nice piece on Think Progress a few days ago about Fox's newest reality show star, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Fernandez says: Arpaio has diverted deputies from solving crimes to chasing immigrants — and done so with no real strategy other than to attract television cameras. Arpaio’s deputies carry ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/21/blog-highlight-fox-reality-show-glorifies-toughest-racial-profiler/ I love snow. My early memories of snow are steeped in feelings of hope and wonder. There is something magical about how excited I felt as a child during snow storms in Sarajevo. Snow would come in abundance, brought from the mountains that surround the city. It would always announce ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/20/frost-bite/ The immigration debate in the US has no relevance to the environmental issues that we are facing today. However, hate groups like Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) and Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) would like U.S. citizens to believe otherwise. The anti-immigrant movement's argument that immigrants are to blame for ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/19/thinking-beyond-borders-part-four/ By Christina Iturralde It is obvious that the United States is violating the human rights of Latinos living within the country's borders by failing to protect its Latino residents. Latinos have been targeted, attacked, brutalized and murdered because of their race and ethnicity in incidents with rising frequency and severity throughout ... http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/12/19/united-states-charged-with-human-rights-violations/