So I have treasure troves, yes troves, of pop culture I gather in my travels. While most of it has nothing to do with progressive politics, every Wednesday I promise to offer up a web gem that promises to be a time bandit.
This Week: Illegal Heroes, The Video Game!
From the makers (From Spain):
HOWEVER, THE ADVENTURE DOES NOT STOP THERE. WE WILL CONTINUE ADDING NEW LEVELS TO THE VIDEOGAME. OUR PRIMARY GOAL IS TO HELP INCREASE AWARENESS ABOUT THESE, AND OTHER LESSER KNOWN, ILLEGAL ROUTES OF MIGRATION THAT TOO OFTEN RESULT IN TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES.
Fostering diversity at institutes of higher education has long been the goal of many institutions and thus has been at the forefront of policy making decisions. Those who support the aims and principles of diversity, as well as those who decry them, agree that campuses face a variety of challenges in their efforts to make education a truly inclusive option. However, inequality in America has permeated into too many avenues of life. Most obvious is financial inequality: wages, worker benefits, median salaries of average workers vs. CEO's and here in Texas, educational inequality is setting the stage for intellectual segregation and genocide. Why? Because not being able to afford a college education is vastly different from not being able to excel at one.
Last month, the new Democratically lead Congress provide relief to current and future college students when the House by a vote of 356 to 71, with all Democrats and 124 Republicans, passed H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act of 2007, the bill that would cut the interest rates on student loans.
However, when it comes to higher education here in Texas, Gov Rick Perry marches to a different beat. Earlier this week, he proposed to increase the education gap where rich white kids will continue go to college un-phased and reap the aids of a degree, while poor minorities can't.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Gov Perry is looking to overhaul of the state's financial aid programs, by forcing students to graduate faster. Under his new plan, all higher education grants, which typically don't have to be repaid, would automatically become zero-interest loans for those who do not graduate within the specified time of their certificate or degree program. The policy Gov Perry just sign would penalize students who take longer to obtain a degree. In other words, college students had better not change their majors here in Texas.
The quickest way to either build your career or destroy it is through controversy and for Sen. Joseph Biden, of Delaware, that is something he should have already known. Soon after Biden announced his intentions to run for the presidency, in an interview with the New York Daily, Biden described Sen. Barack Obama as "the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
However, Biden is no stranger to foot-in-mouth controversy, which tells you, he should have known better. He should have known that his biggest enemy has repeatedly been his own mouth. We often hear that "those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it." In his first Presidential bid back in 1988, Biden was also surrounded by controversy. In my opinion, the whole plagiarism scandal is a bit questionable. There was a lot of funny business going on at that time. However, when it comes to Freudian slips, he definitely has not learned from his past mistakes. Last summer, in explaining the demographic shift in Delaware, Biden said, "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking." Later that year, on "Fox News Sunday," he bragged about his potential appeal to Southern voters by noting "You don't know my state. My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country."
Words are needed to construct language and language is needed to express thoughts. It is funny how words often fail to meet the expectations we put on them. That is so true for Joe Biden, soon after he made that remark about Obama, he tried to explain his comment,
Earlier in the day, the Delaware Democrat said during a conference call his comments reflected his mother's expression: "Clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack," he said. Four hours later, he issued a statement saying, "I deeply regret any offense my remark in the New York Observer might have caused anyone. That was not my intent and I expressed that to Senator Obama."
What was supposed to be his be coming out party as he announced his candidacy for President, he probably felt more like he was drowning in a vat of acid as he spent the rest of the explaining himself.
In light of last nights State of the Union speech, it is important we bring this subject up again. Last night, Bush stated he will ask "Congress to authorize an increase in the size of our active Army and Marine Corps by 92,000." This will be done by establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. What is frightening, this is very similar to a previous post I wrote, The Green Card Draft and how there have been mumblings on about the a military draft - CO Republican candidate Rick O'Donnell called for a national service corp. draft for men and Edward Bernard Glick also recently wrote an op-ed article in the Christian Science Monitor, advocating for the reinstatement of the military draft.
And last night, Bush stated he is proposing a plan that would allow the military to "hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad ... in the defining struggle of our time."
The US Military has a long history of targeting people who happen to come from working class families and areas with a large amount of minorities, both urban and rural - otherwise known as a "poverty draft." What makes today's "poverty draft" more devious, given our current immigration issue, the proposed Civilian Reserve Corps is one way "to uphold the great tradition of the melting pot that welcomes and assimilates new arrivals" and it would "resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country - without animosity and without amnesty."
It is a list of the hundred "least-educated" "cities" in the country. The level of education is measured by the percentage of people with high school diplomas or college degrees, and "city" is defined as a place with a population of 5,000 or more. Many are merely "census-designated places" rather than actual cities. The "least-educated city" list, of course, signifies much more than educational attainment level. The cities and places tend to be low-income, low-opportunity and isolated--they are pockets of poverty--the poorest of the poor. Fifty-four are in California, 24 are in Texas. All those in Texas are heavily Hispanic.
Back in April, Texas became home of Americas concentration camp when Williamson County's T. Don Hutto Correctional Residential Center, a private detention facility in Taylor, Texas, became the newest facility for Homeland Security that would house "immigrants not from Mexico, but caught in Texas." It was reported that around Christmas time, that T. Don Hutto Residential Center was housing 400 immigrants, and out those, 200 of them are children.
Fellow Houstonian and documentarian, Jesse Salmeron, has provided the a video on YouTube of Jay J. Johnson-Castro's Christmas Eve vigil that took place outside Williamson County's T. Don Hutto Residential Center Concentration Camp. (hat tip to Latina Lista)
It's been a rough week for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Although the Hammer's downfall has been widely documented for months, some recent developments reinforce the notion that he has prompted not only his own demise but new headaches for his party, both locally and nationally.
After millions of immigrants stood united for their rights, the government had decided it was time to put an end to their protest by conducting raids throughout the country. Throughout this year, I have said it countless of times, as long as there is a "round them all up, ask questions later" policy - it is open season on all Hispanics.
Time and time again, having this view, I was told "oh, you're being too paranoid." Tell that to the US born Latinos who are suing the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
Last month, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPL) filed a lawsuit against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), - La Migra - for one of their Gestapo-like raids gone wrong. The lawsuit accuses that the Migra illegally detained, searched and harassed her, her US-born mother and other Latinos solely because they looked "illegal" during one of Fatherland Homeland Security's mass deportation campaign to rid this country from people with brown skin.
Looks like the disease that's inflicting Farmers' Branch has spread to the city of Friendswood, near Houston. The mayor has proposed making the city an "English-only" city. It's no wonder considering Farmers' Branch actually sent their proposal to Friendswood. LULAC (the League of United Latin American Citizens) has denounced the proposal and has threatened to take legal actions against the city if the measure is approved.
Some of the locals already are showing symptoms of this disease which is marked by a fever of the mind and thick coating of stupid on their tongues:
"You're free to leave if you want to speak another language," said Chris Reeves, 38, a mortgage broker who has lived in Friendswood for four years.
See it's statements like that which give the whole "English-only" movement a bad rap. But it doesn't matter what language you choose - English, Spanish, German, Swahili - ignorance always sounds stupid.
Um, Mr. Reeves, are you really saying that people can't speak another language in Friendswood? Are you proposing they get fined or should we go ahead and Gitmo their furren butts?
The thing these "English-only" patriots don't get is that in their vanity to build a wall around their small little worlds, they doom our nation and their kids to mediocrity.
From a headsup email and from the Blog, View From 22, this sad note. Is this kind of take no prisoners , just win now strategy advisable, smart or just inept and suicidal?
The end is in sight. While nothing is certain, the Foley scandal has legs and it carries a real punch. In politics it is the kiss of death to be associated with a dead girl or a live boy (even if only by implication or vague intention).
But before we sit back and let it happen, we should take a deep breathe and realize that 5 weeks is an eternity, especially when the Repugs have their mighty Noise Machine oiled and ready to spring into action. They will do all in their power to turn the conversation back to immigrants and terrorists and national security. REVISED! The link should work now......
Yes, the anti-immigrants are being played for a fool and they don't even know. As anti-immigrant proponents lavish and complimentary media attention orchestrated by rabid nativist crying out how the "Mexicans" are intent on destroying America as we know it, they soon will enter their own matrix of public spin.
Mexican President Vicente Fox has rehired Rob Allyn's lobbying firm to ease the political sentiment in the US towards Mexicans and the immigration issue. This is the same PR firm and GOP political consultant that helped Dudya defeat Ann Richards for the governor back in 1994. He also worked on both Bush's presidential campaigns. And he also helped engineer Fox's 2000 presidential victory and he has close ties with Dudya.
Fox hired Allyn to create a mechanism to sway public opinion in favor of Mexico and Mexican immigrants into the US at the same moment public concern over border security has reached a fever pitch. The timing is impeccable because as Fox reign is over, a new sheriff will take over - Felipe Calderón.
Funding across the nation for public education, day care, after-school programs, and job training have been severely cut because of Dudya’s thirst for war. Moreover, as all this is happening, Congress continues to throw billions of dollars into the military budget.
But what happens when the US decides to participate in too many international conflicts and commitments? The outcome, there are too few soldiers.
That's why it's time to reinstate the draft. A draft would do more than just harness the energy and idealism of the nation's youth to meet the military's unmet personnel needs. It would also tap more of the resources of the nation's women, heeding their demands for more gender equality by making their obligations more consonant with their rights.
I know I have writing about Mexico and not much about Tejano issues. However, the question is how long can we keep ignoring what is going on to our neighbor to the South. We have a Governor's race and I have yet to see Chris Bell's position on the immigration debate. Yet last week, Texas hosted the 24th annual meeting of the Border Governors Conference. The agenda had to do with border security. Another concern that deals with Mexico is the Texas Trans Corridor.
Regardless where you stand on the issue, the fact is, Mexico right now is at a boiling point. Oaxaca is a war zone, hundreds of Oaxacan schools, supermarkets, banks, bakeries and restaurants closed their doors in an one-day strike organized by business leaders to protest the ongoing disruption of their everyday lives and commerce.
Now that the court rejected the presidential election fraud charges, Andrés Manuel López Obrador is now planning a National Democratic Convention on Sept 16, which AMLO proclaimed that Mexico could wake up to "two presidents" on Sept 17. For those of you who are worried about the increase of undocumented immigrants coming here, your anxiety will be kicked up a notch now. We know where Perry stands on this the immigration debate, what are Chris Bell’s views?
In a 7-0 ruling, the Electoral Court of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF), Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal, ruled that Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) had failed to prove that the irregularities in many of the polling places did not stem from fraud, nor had he successfully demonstrated that the errors affected him more than his opponent. Once the Mexican electoral tribunal threw out almost every legal challenge from AMLO, the Mexican electoral tribunal stated it had recognized only a minor mathematical and administrative error in the new vote count of the July 2 presidential election.
I was prompted to write this because of a recent experience I had when I decided I would venture to post a comment on one of the big named community blogs. The issue boils down to institutionalized racism regarding Hispanic credibility based on my perception in today's society.
What I find amusing is how people on the left cherry pick the articles to blast la raza. These are the same people who will cry out on the mountain tops saying that the MSM is a tool of the corporatist and they lie about anything. But when it comes to minorities and la raza from South of border, they take what the MSM says as the gospel truth. What is worse, no matter what WE say, it will always be looked at as questionable. And if we espeak Espanish berry well, pues forget it, its not good enough, we must not know what we are talking about.
Considering where I was, I was not surprised to get the response I did.
True leftists dont fit your model.
Don't shit on those who really love you.
While it was just another defensiveness knee-jerk reaction, which I should have let it go, I, however, responded by asking the commenter to define the meaning of a "true leftist."
"Some say, 'Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.' I say, 'Those who ignore history are in for a big surprise.'" - Stephen Colbert (2006)
History does have an unforgiving way of cyclically blind siding us when we often times choose to ignore it. When it comes to mass deportation, history shows us it has not been kind to Hispanic here in the US. Well - SURPRISE! History is now knocking at the door again!
It seems that the Pro-Immigrant marches in America (April and May 2006) inspired waves of xenophobia with cries on how "we" have to "send" "them" all "back where they came from." In a society where the few and the powerful exploit and lie to the majority of citizens, this is just. But in America, this sort of action strikes fear into the hearts of Armchair Patriots everywhere because in this country, the word "ILLEGAL" conjures up the idea that Mexicans are poor, uneducated, and often criminal - making them undesirable to live in this country.
Today the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the Republican Party’s transparent attempt to protect Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla by decreasing the Latino population in Bonilla’s 23rd Congressional District. The Court held that the redrawing of District 23 violated the voting rights of the district’s Latino population under the Voting Rights Act. The justices’ analysis of voting trends showed conclusively that a clear majority of Latino voters do not support Bonilla, and that the DeLay redistricting plan had removed a large chunk of Latino voters from the district in order to protect Bonilla from the political threat to his incumbency represented by the growing Latino voting strength in the district.
With less than six months to go before the midterm elections, the Decider decided to address the immigration issue. Duke at Migra Matters wrote:
With less than six month to go before the midterm elections, and Republicans fearing catastrophic losses, President Bush tonight took to the airwaves to try to throw some water on the rapidly growing brushfire of immigration reform that threatens to destroy his party. With poll numbers below 30%, a near mutiny brewing from House Republicans, and a loss of support amongst his conservative base, Bush attempted a political high wire act that would have tested even the most skilled political acrobat. For the feeble footed Boy King, it was nothing more than an exercise in futility.
The quickest way to either build your career or destroy it is through controversy and for Sen. Joseph Biden, of Delaware, that is something he should have already known. Soon after Biden announced his intentions to run for the presidency, in an interview with the New York Daily, Biden described Sen. Barack Obama as "the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
After millions of immigrants stood united for their rights, the government had decided it was time to put an end to their protest by conducting raids throughout the country. Throughout this year, I have said it 
Yes, the anti-immigrants are being played for a fool and they don't even know. As anti-immigrant proponents lavish and complimentary media attention orchestrated by rabid nativist crying out how the "Mexicans" are intent on destroying America as we know it, they soon will enter their own matrix of public spin.
