Thursday, August 6, 2026
Home Blog Page 263

NOTICE OF ELECTION IN BURLINGAME

THIS NOTICE IS TO NOTIFIED that a General Municipal Election will be held in the City of Burlingame on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, for two (2) Councilor positions that will serve for five-year terms.

The deadline for submission begins on Monday, July 15, 2019 at 8:00 a.m. and ends on Friday, August 9, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. If a charge holder does not present his nomination documents before the end of the term (Friday, August 9, 2019 at 5:00 pm), the submission period will be extended five (5) days, ending on Wednesday, August 14 from 2019 at 5:00 pm

All interested candidates must be registered voters of the City of Burlingame at the time the nomination documents are published.

The City of Burlingame charges a $ 25 application fee. Likewise, candidates who wish to submit a candidate statement in the Voter Information Booklet will be charged a fee based on the cost of printing their statement.

Nomination documents for the elective office of City Council of Burlingame must be obtained from the Municipal Secretariat, 501 Primrose Road, Burlingame, California.

For more information, contact the City Clerk, Meaghan Hassel-Shearer, at (650) 558-7203 or mhasselshearer@burlingame.org.

Likewise, it is NOTIFIED that the Voting by Mail and Provisional Ballots for the Election to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 already voted, will be counted in the place indicated below:

County of San Mateo
Registration & Elections Division
40 Tower Road
San Mateo, CA 94402

Also, it is NOTIFIED that in this election the voting places will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. of that day.

Dated: July 2, 2019
/ f / Meaghan Hassel-Shearer
Municipal Secretary of the City of Burlingame
7/19/19
CNS-3274273 #
THE REPORTER

spot_img

PUBLIC NOTICE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS

Notice on Municipal Elections

By this means, it is communicated that next Tuesday, November 5, 2019, the Consolidated Municipal Elections will be held in the City and County of San Francisco to elect the following local officials, each for a four-year term, except as specified. :

Mayor Attorney for the District Attorney’s Office Public Defender – for the remaining unexpired term of a four-year term Sheriff Treasurer Member of the Board of Supervisors, District 5 – for the remaining unexpired period of a four-year term

Voting locations will be open from 7 a.m. at 8 p.m.

For more information, including the requirements and qualifications of candidates, visit sfelections.org or contact the Elections Department at City Hall, room 48, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102, telephone: ( 415) 554-4366.

Notice of District Elections

By this means, it is reported that next Tuesday, November 5, 2019, the Consolidated Municipal Elections will be held in the City and County of San Francisco to elect the following district officials, each for the remaining unexpired term of a term. four years:

A member of the San Francisco Board of Education A member of the San Francisco Community College Council

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

Board of Education: Candidates must be registered to vote and be residents of the City and County of San Francisco at the time of issuing nomination documents (Constitutional Letter of SF § 13.106). No member of this Council may be elected as a member of the Governing Council of the Community College District. Unified School District employees may not be sworn in as elected or appointed members of the Board of Education, unless and until they renounce their status as employees (Constitutional Letter of SF § 8.100; Education Code § 35107).

Community College Council: Candidates must be registered to vote and be residents of the City and County of San Francisco at the time of issuing nomination documents (Constitutional Letter of SF § 13.106). No member of this Council may be elected as a member of the Board of Education. Employees of a community college district may not be sworn in as elected or appointed members of the governing board of that community college district, unless and until they resign from their status as employees.

This restriction does not apply to a person habitually employed in a profession other than teaching and who is also employed part-time of the community college district to teach a maximum one class per semester or quarter in the area of ​​knowledge linked to the profession of said profession. person (Constitutional Letter of SF § 8.101; Education Code § 72103).

The documents for the nomination of those who meet the requirements and who wish to declare a candidacy for the popular election positions of the district can be obtained from the Department of Elections, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, room 48, San Francisco, (415) 554-4366. These forms will be available from July 15 and must be completed by August 9 at 5 p.m. If there is a holder of the position that meets the requirements to be elected and does not present the documents for his nomination before 5 p.m. From August 9, anyone other than the holder will have to present the documents for the nomination to the office of popular election no later than August 14 at 5 p.m.

In the event that there is no candidate or there is not a sufficient number of candidates for that position, and that, for the purpose of holding elections, no petition is filed before the deadline established by law is closed, period that is expires on August 14 at 5 pm, appointments for each position of popular election will be made by the supervisory authority under the Education Code, sections 5326 and 5328, and the Electoral Code, section 10515.

For more information, including the requirements and qualifications of candidates, visit sfelections.org or contact the Elections Department at City Hall, room 48, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102, telephone: ( 415) 554-4366.

John Arntz Director of Elections City and County of San Francisco July 8, 2019

CNS-3266285 #

spot_img

NOTIFICATION OF THE OFFICIAL HEAD ON THE TIME AND PLACE OF THE CONSOLIDATED ELECTION ON MUNICIPAL OFFICES, SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND SPECIAL DISTRICTS FOR WHICH QUALIFIED CANDIDATES WILL BE ELECTED

THROUGH THIS NOTICE, a Consolidated Election of Municipalities, School and Special Districts will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019.

 

THROUGH THIS NOTICE ALL QUALIFIED PERSONS are notified that elections will be held for the following school and special districts of San Mateo County, State of California, for the purpose of electing members to the governing boards and board of directors of the Districts listed below:

 

School Districts Burlingame Elementary School District: Two 3-year periods Portola Valley Elementary School District: Two 3-year periods San Carlos School District: Two 5-year periods San Mateo-Foster City School District: Two periods 3 years old

 

The requirements for the positions of members of the Governing Board, as established by the Education Code, are that any registered voter is a resident of the school district and is not incapacitated in accordance with the Constitution or state laws to hold a civil office.

 

Special Districts Highlands Recreation District: Three periods of 3 years

 

The requirements for the positions of Member of the Board of Directors, as established by the main law of the district, provide that the candidate is a registered voter of the District, who is not disqualified according to the Constitution or the laws of the state to hold a position civil and all other specifications included in the main district law.

 

Candidate statements and nomination documents for qualified candidates who wish to run for any of the elective positions can be obtained from the Registry and Elections Division, 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, 650.312.5222, as of 15 July 2019, and must be submitted before 5:00 pm from August 9, 2019. If a qualified position holder does not present nomination documents before the established date and time, voters may nominate candidates who do not hold such office until 5:00 p.m. from August 14, 2019.

 

The supervisory authority shall make the appointments to each elective office in accordance with the provisions of sections 5326 and 5328 of the Education Code and section 10515 of the Election Code in the event that there are no candidates or that there is an insufficient number of candidates for such charge, and that a request for election has not been filed within the period prescribed by law, which ends at 5:00 pm from August 14, 2019.

 

I ALSO PROMISE that in such election the constitutional amendments, questions, proposals and proposed legal initiatives that the Constitution and the laws of this State require to be submitted shall be submitted to the vote of the electors.

 

Also, it is NOTIFIED that in such election the voting places will be open between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Election Day

 

Also, it is NOTIFIED that the Voting Ballots by Mail and the Provisional Voting Ballots already voted in the Election to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, will be counted in the place indicated below:

 

San Mateo County Records and Elections Division 40 Tower Road San Mateo, CA 94402

 

Dated: July 12, 2019

 

/F/

 

Mark Church Chief Election Officer and Appraiser-Clerk-County Recorder

 

CNS-3259033 #

spot_img

Special salsa event Tribute to the 70’s!

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

 

Freight & Salvage and Edgardo Cambon (Candela) are producing this special show presenting two sets of very danceable Mambo, Guaracha, Cha-Cha, Son, Bolero, SALSA DURA, in tribute to the Latin music of 70s, featuring a 10-piece Salsa Orchestra, plus special guests!

The repertoire will consist of re-known songs of artist like: Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto, Los Van Van (Cuba), Johnny Pacheco and others, as well as some original compositions of Edgardo, inspired on the 70s-style Salsa.

As a special feature, two very unique “Candombe” songs (music from Uruguay) played with the traditional drums and full orchestration will be also presented.

At Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, on Thursday, Aug. 29, doors open 7 p.m. / Show: 8 p.m. Cover charge $20 ADV / $24 DOOR (plus fees).

 

Check out Films at The Freight: Buena Vista Social Club

Come celebrate a new screen and projector while enjoying our superb sound system composed of speakers and amplifiers exclusively designed and installed by Meyer Sound Labs of Berkeley with the Films at The Freight!

Buena Vista Social Club

This documentary by lauded German filmmaker Wim Wenders follows renowned guitarist Ry Cooder and his son, Joachim, as they travel to Cuba and assemble a group of the country’s finest musicians to record an album. Among the artists included in the project are singer Ibrahim Ferrer and pianist Rubén González, who are both interviewed and featured in studio footage. Eventually the ensemble travels to the United States to perform in front of rapt audiences.

 

Folk dancing Nicaraguan street kids in the Bay to highlight genocide in Nicaragua

Street kids from Nicaragua, as a part of talent development group “The Nicavangelists,” are currently in San Francisco and performing over the next couple of weeks! The Nicavangelists are at-risk youths from the streets of Managua, and through their talent-development program, receive food, housing, clothing, an education and the chance to develop skills in performance arts such as Miskito Folkdance.

The Nicavangelists seek a bright future and to share their hope, talents and culture with the world. They will be performing in the BAY AREA a street theatre production based on the current socio-political crisis in Nicaragua. The production incorporates culturally unique traditional Miskito Folkdances, Tricking (Afro-Caribbean) and Breakdance, which are prevalent dance forms amongst Nicaragua’s youth culture.

The youths (from 9 years old) come from gangs, are orphans, have been prostituted, trafficked, started working before they were 10 years old, haven’t finished school, etc.

The Nicavangelists will be performing at the following time/location:

6-10 p.m., Thursday to Saturday, Aug. 29 – 31 of at Lytton Plaza, Palo Alto; 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1100 Shasta Ave, San Jose.

Contact for further information: (510) 309-6826 Office@Nicavangelists.com.

Learn to improvise with different styles of music!

 

Salsa in the Mission with Emilio Pérez and Tito Thumas and group New Caní

Come and celebrate summer time a great and hot salsa and Latin jazz band with salsa, and tropical music for the soul – on the dance floor with Grupo New Caní.

Featuring in congas Emilio Pérez, timbales Tito Tumas, singer (Cuban) Fidel Hernández González, vibraphone Dan Neville, bass Edilson Martínez, trombone Lizeth Martinez, saxophone Steve Marshall, plus other unexpected guest musicians.

At Cavas-22 Restaurant. Full bar and Mexican and International food, at 22nd Street @ Bartlett – across the street from Café Revolution. Fridays and Saturdays, from 8 to 11:30 p.m.

 

Détente – Oakland Premiere

Détente investigates displacement, the words meaning, and impact. Through dance, video, and story, performers experiment with the act or process of displacing, and what it means to be removed from home.

The Oakland premiere includes a special film screening of the documentary, Alice Street, and a post-show discussion on gentrification and housing rights with organization Causa Justa: Just Cause.

Dance Show Alert!! Premiere in Oakland! Choreography by Cherie Hill. Featuring Rose Rothfeder and Andreina Maldonado.

On Thursday, Aug. 22 & Saturday Aug. 24, 8 p.m., at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St., Oakland. Cover $10-20 Sliding Scale (no one turned away for lack of funds)

Tickets: https://detente-oakland.brownpapertickets.com/ More info: http://www.iriedance.com/deacutetente.html

spot_img

 El Puma, Joan Báez, Omara Portuondo to receive Latin Recording Academy awards

by the El Reportero’s news services

 

Eva Ayllón, Joan Baez, José Cid, Lupita D’Alessio, Hugo Fattoruso, Pimpinela, Omara Portuondo, and José Luis Rodríguez “El Puma” will receive the Latin Recording Academy’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Awards, the academy has announced.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards “presented to performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to Latin music” according to a vote by the Latin Academy’s board of trustees, nods to the careers of notable, and diverse, women artists this year.

“Father of rock en español” Mario Kaminsky will receive the Academy’s Trustees Award. A ceremony to honor the awardees is to be held Nov. 13 — the day before the Latin Grammys — at a private lunch event at the Waldorf Astoria in Las Vegas.

Baez, whose father was born in Puebla, Mexico, is being honored for having “bravely embraced her Latin roots” by performing and making recordings in Spanish, including those on her 1974 album Gracias a la Vida, and supporting Latin American social causes.

Eva Allyón is known for keeping the traditions of Afro-Peruvian music alive, performing at Carnegie Hall among myriad other international venues.

 

Triggering coming of age short “Me 3.769”

A child victim of sexual abuse is at the center of award-winning filmmaker Elaine Del Valle’s Poignant Storyline

 

Me 3.769, a short by award-winning filmmaker Elaine Del Valle exclusively premiered on Aug. 1. The critically acclaimed film came about in a time when child sexual abuse is at the forefront of the news, and the #MeToo movement is in full throws.

Inspired, in part, by true events, the numerically titled film, Me 3.769, tells the story of a pubescent girl from Miami that endured sexual abuse by a trusted male figure. The searing script was adapted from Del Valle’s celebrated one-woman play Brownsville Bred, an off-Broadway show that debuted in New York City in 2011.

The triggering nine-minute short, starring Rodolfo Salas (Betty en New York) and debuting actress, Samantha López, screens at the HBO Latino-sponsored New York Latino Film Festival (NYLFF), one of the nation’s premier Urban Latino film events, Saturday, Aug. 17 at AMC Theatre in Manhattan. Tickets: https://nylatinofilmfestival.com/2019/movies/me-3-769.

The HBO acquisition Me 3.769 comes on the heels of a successful film festival circuit tour, with stops at the Miami Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, The Maryland International Film Festival, and The Borrego Springs Film Festival, to the forthcoming Harlem Hip-Hop Film Festival and the Oscar-qualifying Holly Shorts.

Elaine Del Valle has worked as a casting director for nearly a decade. In recent years, she’s manifested her passion for storytelling through directing and producing. In 2017 the short film Victor & Isolina, which she produced, screened at Sundance.

In 2015, Del Valle became the first person ever to license an interstitial series to HBO when the network acquired thirty episodes of the web series she produced, Gran’pa Knows Best.” Since then, Elaine has licensed several films to the network, but Me 3.769 marks her first as writer and director on the channel.

 

Sabino exposes Mexican #SabHop movement and explores love and feelings

The new rapper and main exponent of the Mexican #SabHop movement, Sabino, presented the official video for his latest single “Tú”, a track that explores love and describes feelings towards an idyllic character, confirming the existence of intense and pure love.

 

The endearing video for “Tú”, follows a couple and their simple acts of love being with one another that from the outside look like every day commonalities but root from a deep sense of comfortability with each other. With “Tú”, the Tapatío (Guadalajara native) rapper and musician continues to demonstrate his quickly increasing capacity as an artist, reaching already over a million views and streams on digital platforms in only three weeks since its release. This new video was directed by previous collaborator Jos, for the production house “El Chiste es Hacer” in his home city of Guadalajara.

 

“Tú” continues to distinguish Sabino as a chameleon-like artist: being able to be as diverse as he pleases and by creating his own pathway with his #SabHop subgenre. In parallel to working on the second part of “Yin”, appropriately named “Yang” due next year, Sabino is currently touring Mexico and will be soon making his way to the U.S.

 

 

spot_img

The media have ignored pedophilia in the elite

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

 

Dear readers:

 

The news of the death of billionaire Jeffery in jail, opened the hell for the until now a pedophilia world hidden in the darkroom of mainstream media – untouched. The following article, written by without-mincing-words writer, Matt Agoris, gives us a more explained – with logic and direct to the point words, a perspective to many unanswered questions behind this occult elite culture of child trafficking – for sex. – Marvin Ramírez.

It took a billionaire pedophile to die in jail for the mainstream media to finally report on elite child sex trafficking

 

by Matt Agoris

 

Adult and child sex trafficking is an unfortunate and horrifying reality that plagues countries around the world—including the United States. As TFTP has reported, people have been arrested attempting to purchase children as young as three-months-old to abuse them, including police officers. Even former child sex slaves have come forward to tell their stories and provide insight into the elite sickos who have the money and resources to deal in the lives of children. This has been ongoing for decades, yet the media and Americans alike, have largely ignored it, until now.

The arrest of Jeffery Epstein and his subsequent demise in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York has catapulted the massive problem of elite child sex trafficking into the limelight. Naturally, politicians on both sides — including the president — are attempting to use Epstein’s death for political advantage which has skewed the discourse. However, for the first time, Americans are actually talking about the problem of child sexual abuse among the elite, and this is healthy.

While some Americans are hearing Epstein’s name for the first time, TFTP has been reporting on his special treatment and ties to the elite for years. The child trafficking scandal doesn’t stop at the White House either, it crosses the pond and implicates the royal family too. Last year, a photo of the Queen’s son, Prince Andrew, surfaced as evidence during legal proceedings, showing him with his arm around one of the underage victims.

Epstein is a convicted child molester and sexually abused no less than 40 underage girls. Despite this fact, Alexander Acosta protected him while serving as a U.S. Attorney in Florida. After letting an admitted pedophile off with a wrist slap, instead of being fired, Acosta was then appointed to Trump’s labor secretary in 2017 before resigning last month amid the Epstein controversy.

Instead of going to prison for life, as he should’ve considering the evidence against him, Epstein only got 13 months and was allowed to stay in the Palm Beach County Jail in his own private cell where he was allowed to leave the prison six days a week for “work release”. Epstein was forced to register as a sex offender for life, but with his money and his connections he wasn’t too bothered—until last month.

Despite the left and the right pitting Epstein against their political foes, this pedophile was tied to all sides of the political spectrum.

Just in case you thought sex abuse was a partisan thing, here’s a picture of @POTUS with convicted child rapist and @BillClinton Lolita Express chauffer, Jeffrey Epstein. #ItsABigFuckingClubAndYouAreNotInIt pic.twitter.com/qpNxcdzT6W

— Matt Agorist (@MattAgorist) November 29, 2017

As a report in the Miami Herald noted:

The eccentric hedge fund manager, whose friends included former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, was also suspected of trafficking minor girls, often from overseas, for sex parties at his other homes in Manhattan, New Mexico and the Caribbean, FBI and court records show.

However, he was never held accountable until last month — only after his victims and dedicated reporters pushed for justice for nearly a decade.

Now, as a tornado of conspiracy theories over Epstein’s death continues to travel across the internet like wildfire, the media can no longer ignore the problem, nor Epstein’s connections.

Maybe now, as the DOJ investigates, the media may start to actually report on this massive problem. This is not the first time high profile figures have been arrested for sick crimes against children and let off with a wrist slap, but it is the first time the media is giving it so much attention—because this sicko is now dead.

As TFTP reported, in April of 2016, Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the House under Clinton and Bush — and admitted child rapist — was sentenced to 15 months in prison after he was caught paying his victims to keep quiet. However, he was released in 2017 — two months before finishing his already insultingly lenient sentence.

Hastert was sentenced, not for raping children, but for illegally structuring bank transactions in an effort to cover up his sexual abuse of young boys.

Just like Epstein, Hastert was an admitted serial child rapist, yet because he is a well-connected politician and former Speaker of the House, this vile man’s victims received no justice. In fact, Hastert attempted to sue his victims for speaking out after he paid them to stay silent about their abuse.

As TFTP has reported, Washington D.C. not only protects sex abusers but they use your tax dollars to silence their victims. Sadly, most people ignore at least half of all the abuse because blowhards in the media try to turn sex abuse into a partisan issue. Those on the left ignore the crimes of their party, just like those on the right claim sex abuse is a liberal issue. But as we’ve shown, there is no difference between a blue child rapist and a red one.

As the Free Thought Project has previously reported, the problem of child sex trafficking goes all the way to the top in the UK as well. Sir Edward Heath, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was found by the police chief to be a pedophile. Just like what happens in the US, his vile crimes against children were allegedly ‘covered up by the establishment.’

Unfortunately, pedophilia and human trafficking is all too common among those in power. Sadly, however, those who attempt to draw attention to this problem are labeled as conspiracy nuts or perpetrators of fake news. Hopefully, as the truth comes out in regard to Jeffrey Epstein, the establishment will have a harder time protecting society’s worst.

spot_img

Social media: Information overload is a weapon of control

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

 

Dear readers:

 

Have you ever felt overwhelmed and that you had wasted so much of your precious time on social media every time you check your notifications on your cell phone – but didn’t know why and what to do? The following article by research journalist show us all how all this technology is like a gun pointing to our head. – Marvin Ramírez

 

by James Corbett

 

Do you feel confused? Listless? Overwhelmed? Have you ever found yourself scrolling through news feeds and flicking mindlessly through social media posts with a strange mixture of outrage, dread, and boredom? Is your disgust at the thought of going online consistently overwhelmed by your compulsion to pick up your fondleslab?

Don’t worry. You’re not alone. More and more people are finding it harder and harder to put their devices down even though it leaves them feeling restless, angry or empty. As a result, some are seeking ways to disconnect and unplug from the 24/7 siren song of never-ending news feeds, instant messaging and social media distractions, whether by ditching their smartphone in favor of a “dumb” phone or taking device-free holidays.

Yes, we all succumb to information overload, and yes, we all need a break from the online maelstrom every now and then.

But what if this state of information overload—the malaise we experience when we find ourselves paralyzed by a ceaseless stream of noise and nonsense—is not a mere byproduct of this vaunted “Information Age” but the actual point of it? Has it ever occurred to you that these devices have been weaponized against us? Or that the confusion and exhaustion we feel after spending an hour mindlessly scrolling on our smartphone is the effect that this weaponized technology has on our psyche?

And, more to the point, what can we do to protect ourselves from these daggers of digital distraction?

First, let’s examine the problem.

Suppose you start your day by checking your friends’ social media profiles. The stream of dream vacation pictures and posts about happy relationships and fun parties leaves you feeling miserable as you head out the door for work.

Later that morning you take a break from your desk job (entering information on a computer, of course) to check the news. Clickbait nonsense battles with atrocity porn for your attention in the news feed. You finally find something interesting and informative only to scroll down to the comment section and find it populated by trolls bent on starting flame wars and disinformation operatives deploying every trick in the book to derail thoughtful conversation.

Closing the browser window you get back to work and discover an angry email from your boss in your inbox reminding you that your latest report was due yesterday and several messages from your coworkers asking for your help with their own projects.

Running to the one place you know you can get away from it all—the washroom—you lock the stall door . . . only to feel a buzzing in your pocket. You got a new message on Facebook! You pull your phone out of your pocket and start the whole process over again.

The worst part is that you know that this constant flow of information is making you miserable, but you can’t help yourself. It’s harder and harder to leave the phone at home when you go out to the store or turn the TV off when you’re eating dinner. You’ve become a slave to the technology that once promised to free you.

Now this may not be a description of your average day, but we all know people to whom this description applies. And if you use electronic devices on a daily basis, it’s getting harder and harder to deny that you’ve experienced the strange mixture of compulsion and depression that those devices bring.

This is not even controversial at this point. We hardly need a scientific study to tell us that social media is making us dumb, angry and addicted, but in case you missed it here’s a scientific study telling us that social media is making us dumb, angry and addicted. As you might expect, people who compare their mundane, humdrum existence to the idealized lives that people present online—fun parties, great food, perfect vacations, happy families—are more likely to develop depressive symptoms.

But it’s important to note that this state of affairs has not come about by accident. This technology has been weaponized against you. This is not conspiracy theory or conjecture; as I pointed out in my podcast on The Weaponization of Social Media, many of the founders of the social media giants don’t even use social media themselves and they actively keep it away from their children. If you haven’t seen it yet, watch Facebook co-founder Sean Parker admitting that they designed their product to keep you addicted by exploiting vulnerabilities in human psychology.

When you realize that all aspects of our online experience—like the red badges and phone buzzers that alert us to new social media notifications—have been precisely fine-tuned to keep you clicking indefinitely, you can at least appreciate that it is not merely a matter of weak will that has led you to this spot.

It is also important to realize that this is not merely a ploy to earn more advertising revenue for the big internet companies. It does do that, of course, but this addiction to (and, ultimately, enslavement to) the very source of our unhappiness if part of a much more insidious agenda. We are being groomed by the hucksters and charlatans of our era to accept the coming integration of man and machine. Or, worse yet, to embrace it.

Never mind that the Borg-like vision of the future propounded by these transhumanists is a nightmare beyond comprehension. Never mind that free will will be rendered meaningless in a world where we are nudged by devices along pre-determined paths. Never mind that privacy will be unthinkable when our every thought will be monitored and analyzed in real time. Never mind that dissent will be impossible when our ability to access the networks upon which our lives are built can be turned off at the flip of the switch. We’ll be able to surf the internet in our head! Where do I sign up?

If you think information overload is bad now, wait until you’re interacting with avatars of your friends in augmented reality while listening to music that only you can hear and ordering your Alexa to adjust the thermostat and order you a pizza for dinner.

So what do we do about this?

If this were just another clickbait listicle designed to give you some trite pieces of warm and fuzzy advice and keep you coming back for more, this is the point where I’d give you a few bullet points about setting a screen time limit on your phone or practicing mindful browsing (searching for something specific instead of scrolling and clicking aimlessly). These things are all well and good, as far as they go . . . but they don’t go far enough, do they?

Because if we really face up to the fact that these devices have been weaponized against us, and that they are leading us into a transhuman future, then we arrive pretty quickly at a conclusion that might put you into a cold sweat: Every time you pick up your device, every time you check that news feed, every time you scroll through your social media notifications, you are putting a loaded gun to your head.

Or, even worse, you are ingesting a little bit of poison. One or two doses won’t hurt. A thousand doses might make you sick, but you can probably handle it. The fatal dose might be the millionth. And if the poison is sweet enough, then, like any addict, you’ll convince yourself that it’s OK to keep taking it; after all, we’ll be able to quit before we get to that millionth hit, won’t we?

And what’s the alternative, anyway? Giving up on this tech altogether? Is that even possible?

These are not rhetorical questions. They are very real questions with answers that have very real consequences for our lives. And I’m not posing these questions from up in the clouds. I make my living online. My life right now revolves around the very information overload that I’m writing about. Will I know where to draw that line in the sand and stop using the tech before it becomes an implantable brain chip? Will you?

Feel free to tell me that I’m being overly dramatic and that there’s nothing to worry about here. But the next time you feel yourself reaching for your phone in a moment of silence or scrolling aimlessly through a news feed with a gnawing sense of emptiness in the pit of your stomach, take a moment to reflect on that sensation. And then see if you can put the phone down.

spot_img

The brutal history of anti-Latino discrimination in America

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

 

Dear readers:

 

Many of us know that discrimination in the past was terrible for Latino people in the US, but this article, written by Erin Blakemore, describes it in more detail and historically. I hope you enrich yourself in history that has been omitted in our school system. – Marvin Ramírez.

 

School segregation, lynchings and mass deportations of Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are just some of the injustices Latinos have faced

 

by Erin Blakemore

 

Olvera Street is a Los Angeles icon—a thriving Mexican market filled with colorful souvenirs, restaurants and remnants of the oldest buildings in Los Angeles. But though the bright tourist destination teems with visitors, few realize it was once the site of a terrifying raid.

In 1931, police officers grabbed Mexican-Americans in the area, many of them U.S. citizens, and shoved them into waiting vans. Immigration agents blocked exits and arrested around 400 people, who were then deported to Mexico, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status.

The raid was just one incident in a long history of discrimination against Latino people in the United States. Since the 1840s, anti-Latino prejudice has led to illegal deportations, school segregation and even lynching—often-forgotten events that echo the civil-rights violations of African-Americans in the Jim Crow-era South.

The story of Latino-American discrimination largely begins in 1848, when the United States won the Mexican-American War. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which marked the war’s end, granted 55 percent of Mexican territory to the United States. With that land came new citizens. The Mexicans who decided to stay in what was now U.S. territory were granted citizenship and the country gained a considerable Mexican-American population.

As the 19th century wore on, political events in Mexico made emigration to the United States popular. This was welcome news to American employers like the Southern Pacific Railroad, which desperately needed cheap labor to help build new tracks. The railroad and other companies flouted existing immigration laws that banned importing contracted labor and sent recruiters into Mexico to convince Mexicans to emigrate.

Anti-Latino sentiment grew along with immigration. Latinos were barred entry into Anglo establishments and segregated into urban barrios in poor areas. Though Latinos were critical to the U.S. economy and often were American citizens, everything from their language to the color of their skin to their countries of origin could be used as a pretext for discrimination. Anglo-Americans treated them as a foreign underclass and perpetuated stereotypes that those who spoke Spanish were lazy, stupid and undeserving. In some cases, that prejudice turned fatal.

According to historians William D. Carrigan and Clive Webb, mob violence against Spanish-speaking people was common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They estimate that the number of Latinos killed by mobs reach well into the thousands, though definitive documentation only exists for 547 cases.

The violence began during California’s Gold Rush just after California became part of the United States. At the time, white miners begrudged former Mexicans a share of the wealth yielded by Californian mines—and sometimes enacted vigilante justice. In 1851, for example, a mob of vigilantes accused Josefa Segovia of murdering a white man. After a fake trial, they marched her through the streets and lynched her. Over 2,000 men gathered to watch, shouting racial slurs. Others were attacked on suspicion of fraternizing with white women or insulting white people.

Even children became the victims of this violence. In 1911, a mob of over 100 people hanged a 14-year-old boy, Antonio Gómez, after he was arrested for murder. Rather than let him serve time in jail, townspeople lynched him and dragged his body through the streets of Thorndale, Texas.

These and other horrific acts of cruelty lasted until the 1920s, when the Mexican government began pressuring the United States to stop the violence. But though mob brutality eventually quelled, hatred of Spanish-speaking Americans did not.

In the late 1920s, anti-Mexican sentiment spiked as the Great Depression began. As the stock market tanked and unemployment grew, Anglo-Americans accused Mexicans and other foreigners of stealing American jobs. Mexican-Americans were discouraged and even forbidden from accepting charitable aid.

As fears about jobs and the economy spread, the United States forcibly removed up to 2 million people of Mexican descent from the country—up to 60 percent of whom were American citizens.

Euphemistically referred to as “repatriations,” the removals were anything but voluntary. Sometimes, private employers drove their employees to the border and kicked them out. In other cases, local governments cut off relief, raided gathering places or offered free train fare to Mexico. Colorado even ordered all of its “Mexicans”—in reality, anyone who spoke Spanish or seemed to be of Latin descent—to leave the state in 1936 and blockaded its southern border to keep people from leaving. Though no formal decree was ever issued by immigration authorities, INS officials deported about 82,000 people during the period.

The impact on Spanish-speaking communities was devastating. Some light-skinned Mexican-Americans attempted to pass themselves off as Spanish, not Mexican, in an attempt to evade enforcement. People with disabilities and active illnesses were removed from hospitals and dumped at the border. As one victim of “repatriation” told Raymond Rodríguez, who wrote a history of the period, Decade of Betrayal, “They might as well have sent us to Mars.”

Others, like Rodríguez’s father, did not wait for raids or enforcement and returned to Mexico independently to escape discrimination and the fear of removal. His wife refused to accompany him and the family never saw him again.

When deportations finally ended around 1936, up to 2 million Mexican-Americans had been “repatriated.” (Because many of the repatriation attempts were informal or conducted by private companies, it is nearly impossible to quantify the exact number of people who were deported.) Around one third of Los Angeles’ Mexican population left the country, as did a third of Texas’ Mexican-born population. Though both the state of California and the city of Los Angeles apologized for repatriation in the early 2000s, the deportations have largely faded from public memory.

Another little-remembered facet of anti-Latino discrimination in the United States is school segregation. Unlike the South, which had explicit laws barring African-American children from white schools, segregation was not enshrined in the laws of the southwestern United States. Nevertheless, Latino people were excluded from restaurants, movie theaters and schools.

Latino students were expected to attend separate “Mexican schools” throughout the southwest beginning in the 1870s. At first, the schools were set up to serve the children of Spanish-speaking laborers at rural ranches. Soon, they spread into cities, too.

By the 1940s, as many as 80 percent of Latino children in places like Orange County, California attended separate schools. Among them was Sylvia Mendez, a young girl who was turned away from an all-white school in the county. Instead of going to the pristine, well-appointed 17th Street Elementary, she was told to attend Hoover Elementary—a dilapidated, two-room shack.

Today, an estimated 54 million Latinos live in the U.S. and around 43 million people speak Spanish. But though Latinos are the country’s largest minority, anti-Latino prejudice is still common. In 2016, 52 percent of Latinos surveyed by Pew said they had experienced discrimination. Lynchings, “repatriation” programs and school segregation may be in the past, but anti-Latino discrimination in the U.S. is far from over.

 

spot_img

The truth about Iran’s nuclear program

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

 

Dear readers:

 

As you have been hearing the drum of war in the mainstream lately about the US about to attack Iran for doing this and doing that, well, if you don’t have an idea of your own of why should we attach the Persian nation, here’s a well-researched article written by investigative journalist, James Corbett, of what is really happening behind real deal in wanting war with Iran. – Marvin Ramírez.

 

by by James Corbett

corbettreport

 

“Be afraid!” say the repeaters of mockingbird media. Afraid of who? Afraid of Iran, of course.

Oh, haven’t you heard? The Iranian government’s stockpile of enriched uranium is about to surpass 300 kilograms! And Iran’s store of heavy water is about to surpass 130 metric tons! Don’t you understand? This will exceed the limits on these materials set out in the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)! And the dastardly Iranian government is not only embarrassed by these actions, but openly taking steps to end (some of) their commitments under the JCPOA!

Sounds chilling, doesn’t it? But there’s one little disclaimer that seems missing from a lot of the MSM’s scaremongering coverage of these developments: None of this has anything to do with an offensive nuclear weapons program.

Confused? Of course you are. The highly-technical details of the 159-page nuclear agreement were never meant to be scrutinized by (much less understood by) the average Joe Sixpack and Jane Soccermom. Words like “enriched” and “highly enriched,” “heavy water” and “tritium,” “nuclear program” and “nuclear weapons program” are thrown around by the media as if these terms are all the same, even though they describe fundamentally different materials and processes. And the whole point is to make the public afraid of a nuclear weapons program that both US and Israeli intelligence has confirmed doesn’t exist.

So what’s the real story on the Iran nuclear deal?

Well, as I had cause to point out on The Corbett Report podcast quite recently, defining our terms is the first step toward understanding the world. So let’s do some defining.

First, “enrichment.” As the World Nuclear Association explains:

Natural uranium contains 0.7 percent of the U-235 isotope. The remaining 99.3 percent is mostly the U-238 isotope which does not contribute directly to the fission process (though it does so indirectly by the formation of fissile isotopes of plutonium). Isotope separation is a physical process to concentrate (‘enrich’) one isotope relative to others. Most reactors are light water reactors (of two types—PWR and BWR) and require uranium to be enriched from 0.7 percent to 3-5 percent U-235 in their fuel. This is normal low-enriched uranium (LEU). There is some interest in taking enrichment levels to about 7 percent, and even close to 20 percent for certain special power reactor fuels, as high-assay LEU (HALEU).

Note that there is a large difference between low-enriched uranium (less than 20 percent U-235) used for fuel in nuclear power plants and research reactors, and high-enriched uranium (over 90 percent U-235) used for nuclear weapons. One guess which kind Iran is producing. That’s right: low-enriched uranium! To be precise, 3.67 percent U-235 enriched uranium, also known as ” not even close to being used in a nuclear weapon” enriched uranium.

Sadly, if predictably, this distinction seldom makes it into media reports concerning Iran’s “threats” to break the 300 kilogram stockpile limit. For every article specifically noting that Iran is producing “low-enriched uranium,” there are a hundred articles that elide this fact by merely referring to it as “enriched uranium.”

Take this gem from the Big Brother Corporation, for example: “Enriched uranium is used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons.” That kind of “journalism” is precisely what enables the war hawks to get away with their lies.

Then what about “heavy water?” As the Wide Asleep in America blog detailed in a post on misleading reporting about the Iran nuclear deal:

“Heavy water is actually just a denser form of normal water, containing a hydrogen isotope called deuterium, which acts as both a moderator and coolant in the nuclear fuel process. It is not fissile material. It poses absolutely no danger and has no military capabilities. It cannot make bombs, nor is it a necessary component of the bomb-making process. Heavy water can literally be consumed just as regular H2O, although that would be a particularly pricey way to quench one’s thirst.”

In other words, heavy water is not radioactive and, let’s reiterate, it “cannot make bombs, nor is it a necessary component of the bomb-making process.” It is, however, a key ingredient in heavy water reactors.

Why, then, does the Iran deal set a limit on heavy water storage? Because at the time that the JCPOA was being negotiated, the Iranians were working on building a research reactor, the Arak Nuclear Plant, which was to be a natural uranium heavy water reactor. While the heavy water itself is not militarily capable, the concern at the time was that the then-still-under-construction Arak reactor could be used to breed weapons-grade plutonium from non-enriched uranium.

So there you go. Clearly the Iranians are stockpiling heavy water as part of their plan to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, right? Wrong. Firstly, the Arak plant never had a so-called “hot cell facility” that could separate plutonium from the reactor’s irradiated fuel. And secondly (but rather more importantly), Iran removed the reactor core from the Arak plant in 2016 and filled it with concrete. That’s right, they don’t even have a heavy water reactor, let alone the ability to separate plutonium from such a reactor, let alone the intention to do so.

So why are they “stockpiling” heavy water and uranium, anyway? Because they can’t get rid of it anymore. As the Moon Of Alabama blog points out:

“When the Trump administration left the nuclear agreement a year ago it renewed sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program. But it also issued waivers for the export of heavy water and enriched uranium. Iran continued to sell these products or to stockpile them outside of the country.”

But then, in May of this year, the US State Department suddenly stopped issuing these waivers. As a result, for the past two months Iran has had no legal way to offload its extra heavy water and uranium.

This is why we are now inundated with the “Iran hell-bent on breaking the agreement” stories. What’s more, Iran’s current conundrum is the perfectly predictable result of State having halted those waivers. Pompeo and the war cabal knew that these pressures they exerted would force Iran into non-compliance. That’s precisely why they did it.

So let’s get this straight:

  • Iran is “stockpiling” uranium and heavy water not by choice, but because they are legally forbidden from doing anything else with it.
  • They are not “stockpiling” highly-enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, but low-enriched uranium for power plants.
  • They do not even have a heavy water reactor, let alone the facilities that would be required to separate plutonium out of that reactor.
  • Iran is in violation of the JCPOA because they literally cannot comply with it anymore.
  • The US pulled out of the JCPOA anyway, which raises questions as to why the US is interested in Iranian compliance with the deal at all.
  • Oh, and let’s not forget that not only has the IAEA repeatedly confirmed that Iran never diverted any nuclear material into any military program, but the US intelligence community itself conceded in 2011 that Iran was not trying to build a nuclear bomb. (Bonus: even the Mossad made an assessment in 2012 that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons.”)

Alright, enough of this nonsense. We all know that this is not really about the JCPOA or Iran’s compliance or non-compliance with that agreement. Nor is this about the threat of a non-existent nuclear weapons program. No, this is about ginning up another phony casus belli—a convenient excuse for war that the public might buy into more readily than the recent ridiculous false flag shenanigans in the Gulf of Oman.

For those who may still be naïve enough to think that we can be saved from the warmongers by a cool and level-headed Congress, here’s a reality check: Congress has completely abrogated their constitutional authority to declare war. Famously, the US has never formally declared war since WWII (despite having been in a few “kinetic military actions” since then), and since 2001 and the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), whatever warmongers happen to be populating the White House have had carte blanche to use any excuse to go after any perceived terrorist threat anywhere in the world at any time with whatever military response they like.

And don’t think the current clique of neo-neocons in the Trump administration won’t abuse this power. As Heather Brandon-Smith notes in her article on the subject:

“Now we know that the Trump Administration is looking to use it [the AUMF] for its own means as well. After a grilling by Senator Rand Paul during an April Senate hearing, Secretary Pompeo refused to concede that the 2001 AUMF would not apply to Iran. Despite President Trump’s State of the Union declaration that ‘great nations do not fight endless wars,’ with every passing day the administration continues to inch towards conflict with Iran—and using the 2001 law to justify it.”

It’s hard to talk about the imminent “kinetic military action” with Iran without sounding like a broken record. Many have been warning about it since the days of Bush 43 and the original neocon crew. But just because you’ve heard it before doesn’t mean it’s not worth talking about anymore. On the contrary, as I argued 12 years ago and as seems even more evident today: WWIII Starts in Iran.

Don’t fall for the simplistic tricks that are being used to lead the public into that war.

spot_img

A night of jazz by two great musicians in Sausalito

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

 

Walter Earl and Arlington Houston form a great two-people team jamming to the heart. Walter’s piano accompanied by Arlinton’s bass make a perfect jazz duet for a night of inspiration and fun. You won’t be disappointed, come and see them play and enjoy fine jazz.

By the way, this restaurant/club has been the host of several renown musician such as pianist, composer, and arranger Jesúss “Chuchito” Valdés, Jr., who is the third-generation manifestation of a Cuban jazz piano dynasty that includes his father, Chucho Valdés, and grandfather, Bebo Valdés.

To afford live entertainment, the Elizabeth, the owner of this divine Italian Restaurant, charges a small $5 cover charge.

On Saturday, Aug. 17, from 8 – 11 p.m., at Osteria Divino, 37 Caledonia St., Sausalito, California.

 

Salsa in the Mission with Emilio Pérez and his New Caní band

Come and celebrate summer time with salsa, Latin jazz and tropical music for the soul on the dance floor, with Grupo New Caní. In the congas Emilio Pérez, in timbales Tito Thumas and his aunt Patricia Thumas on the piano.

At Cavas-22 Restaurant. Full bar and Mexican and International food, 22nd Street @ Bartlett – across the street from Café Revolution. Fridays and Saturdays, from 8 to 11:30 p.m.

 

Re-Invent opportunities of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce

As our 40th CHCC Annual Statewide Convention approaches, you are urged to take advantage of the incredible opportunities that are in store for you!

Whether you are an entrepreneur, corporate partner, community leader, elected official, or a small business owner, we pride ourselves in ensuring there is information and resources that will give you significant value on your investment.

Your registration not only gives you access to executive workshops, matchmaking services, and industry experts, but also includes free technical assistance for small business, saving you hundreds of dollars an hour.

On top of all that, you are also invited to the opening night reception at the Port of Stockton, three special luncheons catered by local chefs, the Awards Breakfast, the Millennial Party and the CHCC Awards Gala and Dinner!

On Aug. 21 –23 at the Port of Stockton, California.

 

Come celebrate 30 years of democratizing power

Help us celebrate our 30th anniversary over food, drinks, and music at the Oakland Museum of California on Thursday, Sept. 12.

Urban Habitat launched our regional equity programs in 1989 with the goal of creating a just and connected Bay Area for all who call this region home. We have worked to increase the power of low-income communities and communities of color so they can determine their own destinies, live in their homes without fear of displacement, and ride reliable and affordable transit that takes them where they need to go.

Your partnership has been integral to our success. We’re proud of all that we have accomplished together, and we hope you will join us on this special occasion! Thursday, Sept. 12, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., Oakland Museum of California, Koret Plaza, 1000 Oak Street, Oakland

 

spot_img