Arrests Double in Crackdown on Immigration in New Jersey

Arrests of "illegal"(I subscribe to the notion that no person is illegal) immigrants has more than doubled in New Jersey in the last two years. It is likely to continue with more agents on the streets and the new program "Operation Return to Sender" (oh, they are so clever) in place. In the last year, immigration agents arrested 1,772 people in New Jersey living in the country illegally. The year before -- May 2005 to May 2006 -- they arrested 860. The article heeds attention that only Los Angelas and Miami are arresting more immigrants. As delightful as many think this is there is another side to the story.

The author Elizabeth Llorente of North Jersey.com argues: the raids are over the top, with teams of more than a dozen agents sometimes showing up to arrest a single person with no known criminal record. They bitterly complain that the raids separate families, often taking away the male breadwinner, leaving behind mothers and children who, in some cases, are U.S. citizens.

'These raids are done in front of children, who see their parents handcuffed and taken away,' said Daniel Santo-Pietro, head of the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey. "Most of these people are not criminals; they're people who tried to legalize their status and either because their lawyers didn't do something right, or they were misguided by one of the many scammers who take advantage of immigrants, had their applications denied and were ordered deported. The majority are not the criminals and terrorists that ICE says they're targeting with these raids," Santo-Pietro said. "They're laborers, hardworking people."

Out of 1,610 of the 1,772 people arrested for immigration violations most either were avoiding deportation (lawyers not doing thier job) or could not show their papers in a raid by the immigration agents. We can only expect more and more of this as we seek to criminalize people for leaving homelands that either offer no opportunity (especially for women) and no hope for a better life. We ask ourselves what would we do in their situation?

Also here is an article by the Washington Post regarding a study that completely debunks all of the nightmarish Lou Dobbsian xenophobic mentality that immigrants drain our economy.

In the photo above two daughters who are American citizens endured the deportation of their father to Chile after he lived in the United States for 22 years.

Walking the Walk

I have recently been recruited to run as a committee person in the local democratic party election as a write-in candidate by an Assembly candidate. After many discussions here and countless discussions over the last two and a half years since the debauchery that took place in November 2004, I have thought about jumping into politics. This is not a jump of course, this is a half-step. There is no campaigning, just telling my friends to write me in. If I get in who knows? But, changing Hudson county politics might be as difficult as convincing Bush to withdraw from Iraq.

Hudson County is known for its machine politics completely controlled by the Hudson County Democratic Organization, but this year there is a schism. After Menendez was elected Senator a whole chain of events occurred, Sires was elected to Congress and then Bernard Kenney stepped down because of pressure from the ethically challenged (it seems) Brian Stack and now there are several seats open for assembly as well as the Senate seat. The machine is lacking oil and many think now is the time to challenge it.

It is worth a try. I will let you all know how it turns out. Election is Tuesday, June 5th. If anyone knows anyone in Ward 6 Hoboken, let me know.

Update:

I was elected Hoboken Democratic Committeeman Ward 6, District 1 on Tuesday. Results are still unofficial, but no one ran against me so hopefully that bodes well. Supposedly the organizing worked and the democratic machine now has to negotiate. Anyway, I plan to use this as a vehicle to discuss progressive democratic politics. Brian Stack won with 76% of the vote in district 33 as our State Senator. I have no idea where he stands on anything. No issues were discussed. Does he support universal healthcare? Immigration reform? Property tax reform? He is a dual office holder-- Is he giving that up? No one has any idea because issues were not a part of the campaign. I want to change that and talk about what government is supposed to be doing.

Wish me luck.

The Biggest Hypocrite

The photo to the right best expresses my sentiments this morning towards our fearless, hypocritical and criminally negligent president, George Bush. I cannot believe what I just read in the New York Times, but on the other hand, it makes perfect sense. Just a few days after announcing, with much fanfare, his idea to convene the leaders of the highest-polluting countries, Bush effectively shoots down Angela Merkel's plan to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 50% by 2050 to prevent the Earth's temperature from rising more than 2 degrees in that time period.

From the NYT: "After lunch with Mr. Bush, Mrs. Merkel seemed to concede — without explicitly saying so — that her plan was off the table."

It is just amazing how often Bush's words stray from his actions. All over the news, I read praise for the President's about-face, his openness to compromise, his willingness to concede that global warming was actually a crisis, and called for immediate action.

And then this. The G-8 conference, as usual, is more pomp than actual content. You have rock stars, business leaders, kings, presidents, and dictators (read: Bush). You have thousands protesting the current new world order, kept away from the world elite with a 10-foot wall, and plenty of water cannons and tear gas. And, when the most important issue to affect the world and its future comes to the table, you have the US president, leader of the highest-polluter in the world, refusing to get on board with reality, and require change.

I wish I could say I was shocked.

Vermont Wants to Secede

Some Vermonters are serious about seceding from the United States. I first came upon this issue in the Summer of 2005. We were in the great peace and justice store on Church street in Burlington, Vermont. The flyer said: Vermont should secede from the union!! I thought it an interesting idea especially after the debacle in 2004 with no end in sight.

Yesterday, at the Huffington Post I saw the article "Vermont is serious about seceding from the Union." The philosophy goes like this: the United States has become too big and ungovernable and much too corrupt and no longer represents its citizens (nothing to disagree with there). These Vermonters want go back to the time of 1777 - 1791 when Vermont was its own independent government. A various coalition of constituents in Vermont want to try and put the question before the Vermont citizens in March. They even held a convention with 300 attendees back in 2005 with another in the planning stages. Polling suggest that the idea is gaining traction. Thirteen percent support the idea up from nine percent a year ago.

Secession movements have a bit of history the article states: "Key West, Fla., staged a mock secession from America in the 1980s. In Vermont, the town of Killington tried to break away and join New Hampshire in 2004, and Hawaii, Alaska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Texas all have some form of secession organizations today."

The movement began its traction around the time of the Iraq war and maintains itself because of the disastrous war government currently in place. Vermont is known to us (among other activist stances) mostly because of the vast amount of towns around the state calling for Bush's impeachment. The state legislature has also put impeachment on the table. And the only state in the Union that currently elected a socialist in the Senate, Bernie Sanders, my personal favorite Senator.

Frank Bryan, a professor at the University of Vermont who has championed the cause for years, said the cachet of secession would make the new republic a magnet for out of staters.

I always loved Vermont, the beauty and peacefulness of the state and its communities; and this idea is becoming intriguing. Maybe I will check out that job in Burlington, Vermont after all.

Resources to check out of interested: Second Vermont Republic, Middlebury Institute and Free Vermont.net

Totally Consistent!

"The policy of tolerating tyranny is a moral and strategic failure"

"My message to all those who suffer under tyranny is this: We will never excuse your oppressors. We will always stand for your freedom"

Bush - Prague, June 5, 2007

Shut Down Gitmo!

The US prides itself on being a champion of democracy and all of its trappings. One of those trappings just happens to be due process and access to legal representation. The "war on terror" has complicated all of those pretty ideas. Especially since President Bush seems to talk the talk but not exactly walk the walk of democracy. Guantanamo Bay, and the special military commissions set up after 9/11, are anathema to any real democratic belief. As the New York Times editorial today put it, Gitmo is a disgrace--and needs to be shut down. This throwback to the Japanese detention centers of World War II cannot be allowed to continue to function. Read below the piece that puts it much more eloquently:

Ever since President Bush rammed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 through Congress to lend a pretense of legality to his detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, we have urged Congress to amend the law to restore basic human rights and judicial process. Rulings by military judges this week suggest that the special detention system is so fundamentally corrupt that the only solution is to tear it down and start again.
The target of the judges’ rulings were Combatant Status Review Tribunals, panels that determine whether a prisoner is an “unlawful enemy combatant” who can be tried by one of the commissions created by the 2006 law. The tribunals are, in fact, kangaroo courts that give the inmates no chance to defend themselves, allow evidence that was obtained through torture and can be repeated until one produces the answer the Pentagon wants.
On Monday, two military judges dismissed separate war crimes charges against two Guantánamo inmates because of the status review system. They said the Pentagon managed to get them declared “enemy combatants,” but not “unlawful enemy combatants,” and moved to try them anyway under the 2006 law. That law says only unlawful combatants may be tried by military commissions. Lawful combatants (those who wear uniforms and carry weapons openly) fall under the Geneva Conventions.
If the administration loses an appeal, which it certainly should, it will no doubt try to tinker with the review tribunals so they produce the desired verdict. Congress cannot allow that. When you can’t win a bet with loaded dice, something is wrong with the game.
There is only one path likely to lead to a result that would allow Americans to once again hold their heads high when it comes to justice and human rights. First, Congress needs to restore the right of the inmates of Guantánamo Bay to challenge their detentions. By the administration’s own count, only a small minority of the inmates actually deserve a trial. The rest should be sent home or set free.
Second, Congress should repeal the Military Commissions Act and start anew on a just system for determining whether prisoners are unlawful combatants. Among other things, evidence obtained through coercion and torture should be banned.
And Congress should shut down Guantánamo Bay, as called for in bills sponsored by two California Democrats, Representative Jane Harman in the House and Senator Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. Both lawmakers are intimately familiar with the camp and have concluded it is beyond salvaging.
Their bill would close Gitmo in a year and the detainees would be screened by real courts. Those who are truly illegal combatants would be sent to military or civilian jails in the United States, to be tried under time-tested American rules of justice, or sent to an international tribunal. Some would be returned to their native lands for trial, if warranted. The rest would be set free, as they should have been long ago.
The Guantánamo camp was created on a myth — that the American judicial system could not handle prisoners of “the war against terror.” It was built on a lie — that the hundreds of detainees at Gitmo are all dangerous terrorists. And it was organized around a fiction — that Mr. Bush had the power to create this rogue system in the first place.
It is time to get rid of it.

Assclown of the Week: Rudy Giuliani

I was struggling to find an Assclown this week. No one really stood out until this article appeared in my email box (thanks, R. Thelonius). Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone (who is never one to mince words) tears into the opportunist Rudy Giuliani, especially his 9/11 opportunism. Putting aside for the moment his current pandering to the religious right ("Oh I believe in a woman's right to choose...but I have no problem appointing anti-Roe judges...") and focusing on the reports that have come out about his post 9/11 behavior and hiring of everything Bush, he is deserving of Assclown status. Read the article, but here are some excerpts:

• Giuliani in his speeches seems to focus on two things: the free market and national security, and insinuates to crowds as the writer puts it: "the election of a Democratic president will result in certain nuclear attack and the end of the free market as we know it."


• Chris Henick, formerly Karl Rove's most trusted deputy, is now a key aide at Giuliani Partners, the security firm set up by the mayor to cash in on his 9/11 image. One of his top donors, Richard Collins, is a longtime Bush supporter who was instrumental in setting up "Stop Her Now," a 527 group modeled on Swift Boat Veterans.


• To further emulate the Bush-Rove model, Giuliani has recruited some thirty Bush "Pioneers," the key fund-raisers who served as the president's $100,000 bagmen.


• In his years as mayor -- and his subsequent career as a lobbyist -- Rudy jumped into bed with anyone who could afford a rubber. Saudi Arabia, Rupert Murdoch, tobacco interests, pharmaceutical companies, private prisons, Bechtel, ChevronTexaco -- Giuliani took money from them all. You could change Rudy's mind literally in the time it took to write a check. A former prosecutor, Giuliani used to call drug dealers "murderers." But as a lobbyist he agreed to represent Seisint, a security firm run by former cocaine smuggler Hank Asher. "I have a great admiration for what he's doing," Rudy gushed after taking $2 million of Asher's money.


• Then there is the 9/11 hypocrisy and opportunism: For starters, Rudy tried to use the tragedy to shred election rules, pushing to postpone the inauguration of his successor so he could hog the limelight for a few more months. Then, with the dust from the World Trade Center barely settled, he went on the road as the Man With the Bullhorn, pocketing as much as $200,000 for a single speaking engagement. In 2002, he reported $8 million in speaking income; this past year it was more than $11 million. He's traveled in style, at one stop last year requesting a $47,000 flight on a private jet, five hotel rooms and a private suite with a balcony view and a king-size bed.


• While the mayor himself flew out of New York on a magic carpet, thousands of cash-strapped cops, firemen and city workers involved with the cleanup at the World Trade Center were developing cancers, infections and mysterious respiratory ailments like the "WTC cough." This is the dirty little secret lurking underneath Rudy's 9/11 hero image -- the most egregious example of his willingness to shape public policy to suit his donors. While the cleanup effort at the Pentagon was turned over to federal agencies like OSHA, which quickly sealed off the site and required relief workers to wear hazmat suits, the World Trade Center cleanup was handed over to Giuliani. The city's Department of Design and Construction (DDC) promptly farmed out the waste-clearing effort to a smattering of politically connected companies, including Bechtel, Bovis and AMEC construction.

Assclown of the Week: Rudy Giuliani

Scooter Gets Thirty Months in Prison

Libby is sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. "White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters that although Bush 'felt terrible' for Libby's family, the president would be sticking to the sidelines for the time being."

Stories from the Silk City

as hoboken celebrates its first international film festival this week, another city in northern jersey honors its young filmmakers on wednesday june 6th at the 2007 Silk City Digital Storytelling Festival Premiere, held at the community technology center at PCCC.

paterson's own silk city media workshop (SCMW) is an after-school digital media program for 180 inner city middle school students who are at risk of serious problems such as gangs and dropping out of school. Gregg Festa, the Director of the ADP Center for Teacher Preparation and Learning Technologies at Montclair State University and winner of the 2007 NJ Technologist of the Year Award, founded SCMW in partnership with Ron Cope at the Paterson YMCA. check out the program's blog for a viewing of the students' unique stories.

Sixteen U.S. Soldiers Die in the First Weekend in June

A total of 127 troops died in May. This is the third worst total of any month since the invasion of Iraq. A total of 3495 soldiers have died. We are moving in on 3500 which will occur very quickly and pass us by. Civilian deaths in Iraq are moving in on 70,000 that are accountable. This is not to just to remind us all we are in a war, but a memorial to those who are sacrificing everything.

And for some reason I am reminded of this quote this morning: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and never will... The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose."
-Frederick Douglass-

stick figure gal-- the fashion of THIN

the new york times style section has done it again!

first the clavicle nonsense, now the bikini stick figure gal.

i felt nauseous looking at this photo spread from last week, highlighting bathing suit season & wearing one no matter what size you are... this gal needs a hearty meal or many protein shakes.

Time Allotted is Different for Candidates in the 2nd and Third Tiers

Rawstory has an interesting article on the time allotted the Democratic Presidential candidates in the debate last night. It comes from Senator Dodd's website apparently. The photo says it all. Obama is first and Gravel is last. Wolf Blitzer comes in third behind Obama and Clinton. The highlight of the debate everyone is talking about this morning is when Edwards tries to call out Clinton and Obama about leadership and the war. Obama responded 'John, you are about 4 1/2 years too late on leadership." I will see if I can find a clip.

Robert F. Kennedy's Statement on Dr. King's Death - Montage

Robert Kennedy was shot thirty-nine years ago. This is his greatest speech.

Arrested Development- Buster's Mother Rant

If you never watched Arrested Development you should RUN to the video store and rent/buy it. It is irreverant, laugh-out loud, hurt your gut funny and truly subversive. Maybe the best sitcom ever.

MLB Notes: Red Sox/Yankees and God Bless America

As we sit at June 3rd, the Red Sox lead the Yankees by 13 1/2 games (sorry Daddydan). I pray, however this is not another 1978 which would roll everything back to before 2004. Unlikely, but I am still a Red Sox fan and anything is possible. And while we wait for the Sunday night game tonight I thought I would describe my Red Sox/Yankee experience on May 22nd.

We took the D train all the way up to the Bronx, an experience my Boston buddy needed. Because, though I grew up near Boston and root vociferously against the Yankees, indeed there is no other city like New York and nothing in the states even compares. We settled into our seats in deep left field, a beer in hand and enjoying the Bronx and baseball as it should be played, passion everywhere. However, as Manny Ramirez hit a HR in the 1st inning with one out we were pelted with food and drink. I was even stupid enough to turn around...and a young girl asked for the piece of bread still on my shirt. I throw it back and she consequently pelts my friend with it. We thought to ourselves, "This is going to be a long game."

It was nonetheless, ok. A few scary moments with crazy, angry Yankee fans, but for the most part we were treated with respect. A few unwelcome fools that spoil it for everyone. But, in the seventh inning as Kate Jackson belted out God Bless America I did not stand. I took my Red Sox hat off as not to attain too much attention. But, the entire row behind us began to tell me to stand up. "Have some respect." I looked in my friend's eyes and could tell I was alone with this one. "Come on man, it is a matter of respect." I turned and said, "Dude, I grew up in the military, I have respect, but this is an inherently political song." No answer - the same vitriol that seemed to increase.

What saved me, however my shirt that has RCAF on the front, which stands for Royal Canadian Air Force, became more visible to them. I heard one say to the other, "He's Canadian that explains it." I didn't stand and I avoided catastrophe. Whew. The only other scary moment was the walk to the subway where we definitely began to fear for our lives. We walked with some older men in their seventies who were there to see a baseball game (from Texas). We hope to be them someday seeing baseball in every park in the majors. But, a chant of Red Sox suck began, louder and louder. It would have been easy to get into trouble. But, we didn't. Red Sox 7 - 3.

Other notes: Griffey, Jr. is having a great year and on Friday hit #575... His teammate Josh Hamilton is on the D.L. He is the phenom with the former drug problem. He had a stomach problem, but is back in the minors and in three games has hit three homers. He will be back Tuesday...Bonds is in a bit of a slump at 746. He is looking older and older as the season progresses, much like a soon to be 43 year older should. I am probably the first to say this, but if this keeps up it is not a sure thing he hits 756 this year. I guess age no matter what you use catches up with you. He made a big error last night and has looked terribly slow in the field. Frank Thomas is nearing 500 homers very soon. Glavine is stuck at 295 wins for the time being and Roger Clemens is sidelined until further notice with a groin injury. Is he still collecting his 18+ million? And the Cubs seemto be in disarray, yet again. Carlos Zambrano, a pitcher with the Cubs put an ass whooping on his own catcher, Michael Barrett (who has seen plenty of fights) splitting his lip and giving him black eyes because Barrett made a bone head play.

All in a weekend of baseball. The greatest game on the planet.

Sorry, by Wearei - Mike Salois on Drums and Back-up Vocals

This is a cheesy video and a short clip of my brother's band Wearei, the song Sorry. I hope they get back together. Amazing stuff.

Profit Over People: Pfizer is Charged With Killing African Children Over a Decade Ago.

I saw this article about Nigerian children given an untested drug, Trovan by an American drug company on Common Dreams (and the Independent in the U.K.) and thought to myself how is this not being covered by our media. I will summarize, but you should go read the article.

Pfizer will be answering to criminal charges in Nigeria (the first of their kind against a multinational drug company) over a clinical trial in Kano, Nigeria over a bacterial meningitis outbreak ten years ago. The scenario goes like this: a meningitis outbreak in Nigeria occurs, Pfizer enters an outbreak camp and selects 200 children and infants for test trials of the drug Trovan, an untested antibiotic. Trovan has never been approved for U.S. children and in 1997 was restricted for adults because of reports of liver damage and death. The Nigerian lawsuit further alleges that Pfizer did not receive consent from the children's families though it was known to have life threatening side effects and according to their own research was "unfit for human use."

The lawsuit further contends: "Pfizer agreed to do an illegal act...in a manner so rash and negligent as to endanger human life." The lawsuit continues that Pfizer destroyed all evidence of the drug trials and the medical records and left the area. In addition to not informing the children's parents of the clinical trial Pfizer is also accused of not providing information as to safe alternative treatments, the drug chloramphenicol, "a relatively cheap antibiotic recommended for bacterial meningitis."

The Nigerian government report found 11 children died and an unknown amount suffered, blindness, deafness, paralysis and other disabilities. Pfizer is charged with eight counts of criminal conspiracy and voluntarily causing grievous harm. Nigeria also filed a civil suit seeking more than 2.7 billion dollars.

Pfizer contends after a US government audit of the records on Trovan they produced a letter from a hospital in Kano, Nigeria that approved the study by the hospital's ethics committee. Nigeria claims, however the letter was forged; the hospital has no ethics committee.

Public anger in Kano is extremely high as well as assurances by any pharmaceutical company. The people of Kano will not trust the Nigerian government to immunize their children against polio. Can we blame them? Could American Pharmaceutical companies be so brazen and have such a disrespect for poor African lives to do such a thing? I will be following up on this story.

Ever Wonder What Kind of Person You Are?

A friend sent this to me. It is kind of fun. Try it. Click on the request and find out.

The Balance of the Court Has Shifted

The New York Times Editors wrote a scathing editorial yesterday regarding the Supreme Court and the recent decision in a sex discrimination case that marks a dramatic turn for the Supreme Court of the United States in which the "Court once stood for the advantaged, but now protects the powerful." Alito ( did not he belong to a society at Princeton that excluded women?)delivered the opinion of the court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in a 5-4 decision that makes it more difficult for employees to sue their employer in pay discrimination cases (Title VII).

A supervisor who happened to be a woman (the only woman among that management level) at a Gadsen, Alabama tire plant worked for the company for 20 years and was paid less than all other 16 supervisors at her level including people (MEN) with less seniority. She learned this fact late in her career, 20 years in in fact. The court held (and this is worth quoting Linda Greenhouse at the NY Times): "that employees may not bring suit under the principal federal anti-discrimination law unless they have filed a formal complaint with a federal agency within 180 days after their pay was set. The time line applies, according to the decision, even if the effects of the initial discriminatory act were not immediately apparent to the worker and even if they continue to the present day."

Title VII requires that employees file their discriminatory claim within 180 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice. The Court in the face of precedent calculated the time back to the last raise Ledbetter received and argued it did not matter that she was still receiving far less than her male counterparts. The editors argued that the Supreme Court ignored the realities of the workplace; employees do not know how much other employees earn enough to exact when the discrimination is occurring. Ledbetter's salary was initially the same as the men, but received smaller raises than her male counterparts earning (in 1998 when she originally filed suit) $3,727 a month, while the lowest-paid man was making $4,286.

In her dissent Justice Ginsberg argued there is clear Supreme Court precedent (in a race discrimination case) that every pay check calculated under the basis of discrimination is unlawaful under Title VII. Federal courts overwhelmingly agree as well as the EEOC, the agency charged with enforcing Title VII. The balance of the court has clearly shifted with Alito and Roberts added to the court.

In her dissent Ginsberg invited Congress to overturn the decision. She said "once again the ball is in Congress' court." Senator Clinton declared she intended to file a bill overturning the ruling.

High Crimes

Im playing a fun game called "Grounds for impeachment". You can play along too. I am simply listing potentially impeachable offenses. We should not be intimidated by the daunting number of potential grounds for impeachment, just methodically list them.

1. Lying to Congress on the pre-war intelligence.
2. Weapons of Mass Destruction
3. Lied about Saddam/Bin Laden connections
4. Lying in the State of the Union about yellowcake from Niger
5. Unilaterally invaded a nation
6. Geneva Convention no longer applies to various categories of people
7. Habeas Corpus no longer applies to various categories of people
8. Wiretapping citizens without a warrant
9. Outing a CIA Agent
10. Firing federal prosecutors for political reasons
11. Illegally discussing highly classified information in a public setting (hospital room)
12. Illegally using political affiliations in civil service hiring
13. Abhu Ghraib - fostered an environment of torture
14. Guantanamo Bay abuses
15. Extraordinary rendition (sending people to other countries to be tortured)
16. Secret CIA torture methods just revealed after 5 years
17. Silencing or firing of scientists on global warming
18. Silencing or firing of generals who disagreed with the Iraq Strategy
19. Katrina failures – “heck of a job, Brownie”
20. Walter Reed Neglect
21. $13 Billion of Iraq reconstruction money missing
22. No-bid contracts to companies in Iraq and Afghanistan