Sunday, September 8, 2024
Home Blog Page 31

Stop the war that brings no benefit, especially racism

I was perplexed when I heard the news reports of the surprise attack and the massacre perpetrated against children and women against Israel. I could not believe what I was hearing.

The cruel and inhuman way in which Hamas began the attack, killing and beheading infant children, murdering and raping women in a surprising way to the innocent civilian population within their homes showed the excessive evil of its actions. Something diabolical. These were not military targets.

And in a rapid reaction of defense and retribution, Israel declared war and began bombing the Gaza Strip where more than half of the more than 2 million Palestinians live, with hundreds of victims, following the Jewish biblical dogma of ‘ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’.

And while there is no doubt that Palestinians have suffered isolation and loss of freedom within what has been their ancestral land, Palestine, in the course of building the Jewish state, it is not possible to accept the cruelty committed against children and innocent people, by Hamas, according to the Israeli government.

A few days after Israel’s war against Hamas was officially declared, the world is already counting on holding accountable those who commit war crimes, acts considered outside the perimeters that govern wars in the world. And it seems to be from both sides.

And it’s already said. Both sides in the war are possibly committing war crimes.

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry said it has been “collecting and preserving evidence of war crimes committed by all sides” since the violence began last week. That evidence could be added to an International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in past conflicts, the Associated Press reported on Friday, October 13.

When the target of attacks is the civilian population without military motive, then the perpetrator falls under the jurisdiction of international law.

“Intentionally attacking civilians and civilian objects without a necessary military reason to do so is a war crime, period,” said David Crane, an American international law expert and founding chief prosecutor of the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone. “And that is a standard that both sides must meet under international law.”

Hamas militants shot dead entire families, including women and young children, in border communities around the Gaza Strip, according to Israel. Israel’s health service said it removed the bodies of more than a hundred community members from Kibbutz Be’eri. Militants attacked the Tribe of Nova music festival and shot dead people desperately seeking shelter. However, this is being denied by Hamas.

As I write this editorial, Israel is preparing for a total ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to pursue and destroy all members of Hamas, and has called on more than one million Palestinians residing in the conflict area to mobilize. south, in an attempt to avoid unnecessary slaughter.

However, Hamas has asked the population to stay in their homes, which Israel interprets as an action to use the population as hostages or shields. But Palestinians accuse Israel of allowing this event in order to wipe out Palestinians and take over the whole land of Palestine.

The Israeli military has pulverized large areas of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes and blocked supplies of food, water, fuel and electricity ahead of a possible ground invasion. The bombing has already killed about 1,800 people in Gaza, including UN workers, paramedics and journalists. The event threatens the war to spread outside of Palestine.

Experts say the blockade, which affects the territory’s more than 2 million inhabitants, violates international law. “Collective punishment is a war crime. Israel is doing it by cutting off electricity, water, food and blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip,” Shakir said.

In 1947 neither Palestine nor Israel existed, but the Jews gained independence from the British and formed Israel. The idea of a Palestinian nation did not come to light until 1964, with the creation of the PLO.

Those who were born in that land were Palestinians, whether they were Jews or Arabs. Before independence, which brought back the word Israel, Jews called themselves Palestinians. And they talked about “returning to Palestine.”

Destruction and war will not give positive results, but rather, as one expert said: “prevent this crisis from leading to a prolonged confrontation through dialogue and putting the integrity of civil society first.” Let the war stop now and begin a negotiation. This war benefits neither side.

Furthermore, hate due to racism is evil.

Will there be a 2024 presidential election?

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The views of the author do not reflect the views of El Reportero or its editorial staff.

Share/by Paul Craig Roberts

This question arises from the FBI’s designation of Donald Trump and the half or more of the American electorate that supports him as “domestic terrorists” who constitute a “persistent, evolving, and deadly threat” to the United States. As a senior official put it, “Trump’s army constitutes the greatest threat of violence domestically, politically, that’s the reality.” https://www.newsweek.com/2023/10/13/exclusive-fbi-targets-trump-followers-2024-election-nears-1831836.html 

Here we have the FBI causing disunity by splitting the US population into half. The good half are the Democrats. The bad half is comprised of traditional Americans who want their country back from the special interests and support Donald Trump. It is the FBI that has made this division, not the people who want their country back. The FBI has proved itself to be a dangerous domestic terrorist that has created disunity among the population and gone to war against the traditional American population.

How can the FBI permit such a deadly threat to America, as the FBI declares Trump and his supporters to be, to win the election? How can an army of domestic terrorists be allowed to vote Trump into office? The FBI has equated Trump’s election with an insurrection, that is, with the overthrow of the government.

This would seem to commit the FBI to preventing Trump’s election, and the FBI is applying “counterterrorism methods developed over the past decade in response to Al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups” to Trump supporters. In other words, the FBI doesn’t differentiate between Trump and his supporters and Muslin terrorists.

It is reasonable to conclude that if the Democrats’ political prosecutions of Trump fail to prevent him from running for president, the Biden regime will declare a national emergency and suspend the election.

Biden’s Homeland Security also equates Trump supporters with “the use of violence to pursue political ends” and “a threat to our national security.”

Attorney General Garland says “attacks by domestic terrorists are attacks on all of us collectively.” What attacks is Garland talking about? The ones the FBI is about to orchestrate?

It is clear that the Biden regime and security agencies regard half or more of the US electorate as domestic terrorists. In other words, the FBI is now a political police, no longer a criminal police. The FBI and Homeland Security are geared to protecting Washington from the American electorate. Attorney General Garland has made it clear that the “Justice” Department will validate whatever unconstitutional methods are used.

The position of the FBI and Homeland Security is that if you disagree with an official narrative, you are a domestic terrorist.

I do not believe that Trump will be permitted to be President. If he wins, it will be said that he lost, or he will be assassinated, or a state of emergency will be declared. The Establishment will do whatever it takes to keep Trump out of the White House.

I think that the Democrats and their security agencies are demonstrating their Nazi inclinations for no real purpose. If Trump regains the White House, he still doesn’t have the government. Who can he appoint to help him? Who are they? Those who helped him in the past, such as his lawyers, are all indicted by a black woman in Fulton County, Georgia. If Trump is reelected, it will be a repeat of his first term–constant accusations against him repeated endlessly by the presstitutes, constant investigations, more impeachments. Any cabinet secretary who helps him will be a social outcast. His career will be over.

When white Americans themselves are demonized as “aversive racists” and “white supremacists” in US universities and public schools and are investigated by the FBI for protesting the brainwashing of their children at school board meetings, what can anyone do?

Insouciant Americans have been asleep for too long, and they have lost their country. How are they going to get it back?

Consider that those who vote Democrat actually believe that the other half of the electorate are dangerous white supremacist domestic terrorists. They believe this despite the absence of any buildings blown up by Trump supporters, by the absence of assassinations, by the absence of rioting and looting as practiced by the Democrats’ agents, Black Lives Matter and Antifa. Democrats are so indoctrinated that they believe the propaganda in the absence of evidence.

The wedge that has been so successfully driven between Americans makes white people a minority in their own country. They are so divided that they cannot defend themselves or the Constitution that is the shield of their liberty.

Now that the FBI has declared the 85 million Americans who twice elected Trump president to be domestic terrorists, the FBI will have to organize some domestic terrorists events, like it had to organize Muslim terrorist events, in order to validate its proclamation of domestic terrorism from Trump supporters. Will federal agents blow up buildings, stage rioting and looting events, and assassinate Democrats in order to incriminate Trump supporters? Is this the playbook for the Democrats to win the next election?

What do we make of Hillary Clinton’s statement that Trump supporters have to be officially deprogrammed? Are we being set up for reeducation camps?

In America today, all of this is possible.

2 Mexicans reportedly held hostage by Hamas in Gaza

Israel informó al gobierno mexicano que Ilana Gritzewsky y Orión Hernández Radoux habían sido tomados como rehenes. (Imágenes recuperadas de X)

by the MDN staff

Two Mexicans are believed to be among more than 100 people taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas during a weekend of violence in Israel, according to authorities.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena said on X (formerly known as Twitter) that the Mexican Embassy in Israel had informed the government that a Mexican woman and man were “allegedly taken hostage by the Hamas group in Gaza” on Saturday.

They have been identified in media reports as Ilana Gritzewsky and Orión Hernández Radoux.

President López Obrador said on Monday morning that three Mexicans had disappeared during Hamas’ attack on Israel. The third Mexican, David Heiblum, was reported to be alive at midday on Monday.

Gritzewsky and her Israeli partner were captured at the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with the Gaza Strip, according to her father, Benito Gritzewsky, who spoke to the news website Enlace Judío.

Hernández, originally from Tepotzlán, Morelos, was reportedly at a music festival when he was taken hostage. His German-Israeli girlfriend, named on social media as Shani Houk, was reportedly killed by Hamas operatives. Some 260 bodies were reportedly recovered at a desert site near the Gaza Strip where the Supernova festival was underway when gunmen arrived on Saturday morning.

Bárcena said that Mexican authorities were in contact with their Israeli counterparts and the family members of the presumed hostages to monitor the situation and provide support.

According to an Israeli estimate cited by The New York Times, Hamas is holding some 150 hostages in the Gaza Strip. A spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing on Monday threatened to execute a civilian hostage every time an Israeli airstrike hits Gazans “in their homes without warning,” the Times reported.

In another post on X on Sunday, Bárcena said that 500 Mexicans in Israel had registered with Mexican authorities via an “emergency form we opened.”

López Obrador said Monday that about 300 Mexicans of an estimated 5,000 in Israel had sought government assistance to return to Mexico. The president said that one military plane had already departed for Israel and that another will leave on Monday afternoon.

Asked about the acts of violence committed by Hamas, López Obrador said his government is in favor of peace.

“We believe that violence mustn’t be used. The mandate of our constitution with regard to foreign policy is very clear – no intervention [in the affairs of other countries], self-determination and peaceful solution to disputes. That’s our position, we don’t want war, we don’t want violence,” he said.

More than 1,300 people had been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip as of midday Monday. About 800 people have been killed in Israel by Hamas members who infiltrated the country and nearly 2,400 have been wounded, according to Israeli authorities.

At least 560 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes by Israel on the Gaza Strip, according to authorities there. At least 2,900 others have been injured in the retaliatory action taken by Israeli forces.

López Obrador said that the United States should “convene a meeting of all countries” to find a peaceful solution to the conflict and “avoid war.”

The Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) said in a statement on Sunday that the government of Mexico “unequivocally condemns the unacceptable attacks against the people of Israel on October 7 by Hamas and other Palestinian organizations in Gaza.”

“Any terrorist act constitutes a threat to international peace and security, which calls for the full cooperation of all states to prevent and punish them. No cause justifies the use of terrorism,” the ministry said.

“Mexico recognizes Israel’s right to legitimate self-defense – which must be governed by the conditions established in international law – while condemning the use of force, regardless of which side uses it, especially when the targets are civilians, in clear violation of international humanitarian law,” it said.

After noting that hundreds of civilians including women and children were killed during an “escalation of violence” over the weekend, the SRE said that “these appalling events should serve as a reminder, once again, of the urgent need to resume negotiations to reach a definitive solution to the conflict in the region.”

“Mexico’s position is clear: Mexico is in favor of a comprehensive, definitive two-state solution to the conflict that addresses Israel’s legitimate security concerns and allows for the consolidation of a politically and economically viable Palestinian State that lives side by side with Israel within secure and internationally recognized borders in accordance with the United Nations resolutions,” the ministry said.

With reports from Milenio, El Financiero and El Economista.

New career pathway program helps CA students with disabilities

by Suzanne Potter

A recently launched program is designed to help California high school and community college students with disabilities identify their career interests, develop work-ready skills, and land paid experiences with local employers.

Career Launchpad – from workforce development organization Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation (IWSI America) and the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) – is currently available to young people ages 16 to 21 in southern California in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Inyo counties.

“We want to develop an individual service plan (ISP) for each student. All the time we’re working with them, we have an eye to helping them build a resume. We ask them to think about characteristics of self-attributes,” explains Deborah Williamson, vice president of operations, IWSI America.

“‘Are you a team player? Are you responsible?’ They’ll come up with a long list about themselves. We’ll ask things like, ‘What subjects do you gravitate to in school? What do you excel in?'”

Williamson continues, “We ask them to link what they’re doing in school with how that’s going to impact a career goal. We ask them to visualize their work life in the future. ‘Where do you see yourself working? What kind of work context?’ There’s a lot of dialogue about what they see themselves doing.”

Career Exploration and Real-World Experiences

The DOR offers five student services including job exploration counseling, paid work-based learning experiences, information about postsecondary education options, workplace readiness training, and self-advocacy training, notes Carol Asch, assistant deputy director for the Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Division with the California DOR.

 

“We wanted to take advantage of IWSI’s relationships with employers and their experience with apprenticeships,” says Asch.

She explains, “With Career Launchpad, before [students] can start to receive services, they need to be registered with the DOR. We can start if they have an IEP (individualized education program) or a 504 Plan with their school, or if they have a disability or a documented disability, then we can start working with them and authorize the services on an individual basis.”

Williamson adds, “They have to be in school. If they graduated from high school, they should be moving towards their first year in college – even if they are on a break.”

Currently there are about 40 students participating in Career Launchpad with another 26 authorizations moving through the pipeline, notes Williamson.

During the initial 90 days, students participate in online sessions and industry-focused workshops. There is also focus on increasing the students’ understanding of social and interpersonal skills before they move onto 300 hours of paid service at a workplace.

Based on coaching sessions, career counselors are recommending two or three career options that students might like to explore.

With Career Launchpad just getting underway in early June, no students have yet been placed in real-world workplaces, but the 16 areas of career focus include health care, manufacturing, construction, hospitality, and agriculture.

Partnership is Key

Career Launchpad stakeholders include parents, guardians, local school, district and postsecondary education partners, local and regional employers, community organizations, and industry groups. Says Williamson, “Key to Career Launchpad is a partnership from Day One.”

She continues, “We could not, without the partnerships, be able to pull that off without the DOR, without the local businesses, without community college providers, without wraparound service providers. It just wouldn’t fly. It really is a true team effort.”

Williamson says the early participants are motivated, “Students are pounding on our website asking, ‘Hey, when can I have my ISP plan? I’m really excited about what you said about me.’ And we’re like, ‘Well, you said it about yourself.’ So the banter of dialogue is really good.”
She notes parents are also very excited about their children’s prospects. “The feedback that we’re getting realistically has been quite positive, quite encouraging to move ahead, that this is important. Parents have said to us, ‘We had no idea. We didn’t know what we were going to do about the employment factor given our situation. This is phenomenal.'”

Laura Aka wrote this article for WorkingNation.

La Llorona 2023 has already started the season on the Xochimilco channels, it turns 30!

Shared/by México Desconocido

La Llorona 2023 has already started its season of presentations on the Xochimilco channels, the premiere took place last Wednesday, Oct. 4. However, the functions open to the public will take place from Oct. 6 to Sunday, Nov. 19.

It should be noted that this work, already traditional in the Day of the Dead celebrations, celebrates 30 years of embodying one of the iconic legends of Mexican culture, which is why it included innovations, cultural precisions and technical improvements, which will make it worth contemplating. an unforgettable experience.

The premiere of this night show, which this year takes on the name “Chokani”, which refers to “La Llorona” in Nahuatl, was attended by the Secretary of Tourism of Mexico City, Nathalie Desplas Puel, who highlighted that this staging It is unique in the world, as it combines legend with various artistic disciplines, while spreading the natural heritage of this area of Xochimilco.

Among the cultural details, there is precisely a greater attachment to the pre-Hispanic origins of the legend, which transmigrated and took on new cultural attire, depending on the region and time of Mexico in which it was transmitted.

“La Llorona 2023 (Chokani), with 30 years of celebrating and disseminating the wonderful culture and tradition of Xochimilco, its mythical channels, is a fusion of art, theater, dance and music, which makes this staging unique in the world,” the capital official said about it.

La Llorona 2023, when and how to see it? Schedules

According to the head of the Tourism Secretariat of Mexico City, the second half of the year represents the most productive period for the tourism industry, which is why events like La Llorona are essential for the offer of travelers, who seek in Mexico the most authentic of its culture. Regarding the work, she described it as “a trip to the past in the unreal place of Xochimilco, where the legend comes to life through music that fuses modern instruments with pre-Hispanic ones.”

With a duration of 150 minutes, the play “La Llorona” takes place on a stage set up on a chinampa, in the middle of the Tlílac Lagoon; To arrive, the public must board a trajinera at the Cuemanco Embarcadero and remain there during the performance. The show ticket includes the trajinera ride.

The darkness over the Cuemanco canals, in Xochimilco, contributes to generating an atmosphere of mystery and expectation before the staging begins, which goes back to the final stage of the confrontation between the Mexica and the Spanish. The scenery includes an illuminated pyramid of various colors, the actors who personify warriors and other invaders, and in the dialogues, the reason for the lament of a mother who has lost her children.

The 2023 Season of “La Llorona 2023”, in Xochimilco, consists of a total of 36 performances from Oct. 6 to Nov. 19, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, in addition to Tuesday, Oct. 31, and Wednesdays, Nov., starting at 7 p.m.

Bukele announces the deployment of 4,000 troops and promises to “capture every last remaining terrorist”

by El Reportero wire services

Salvadoran authorities established fences in three communities in the nation, given the growing number of complaints of criminal activity in those areas

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced early this Wednesday the deployment of 3,500 Army soldiers and 500 police officers to establish fences in three communities in the nation, within the framework of the Government’s fight against gangs.

The measure, which is implemented in execution of the ‘Extraction’ phase of the Territorial Control Plan (PCT), concerns the Valle Verde and Popotlán colonies in the municipality of Apopa, as well as La Campanera, in the municipality of Soyapango.

“We are not going to stop until we capture the last remaining terrorist. We will not allow small remnants to regroup and take away the peace that has cost us so much,” Bukele wrote on his X account, attaching a video with the deployment of the teams. of security.

For his part, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Gustavo Villatoro, stated in a press conference that the fences were established after a “call from the population”, which warned that criminal groups are still active in the area. “This fence will be maintained in the face of a growing number of complaints about gang members who continue to operate in that sector,” said Villatoro, quoted by the local press.

Meanwhile, the National Civil Police (PNC) detailed in a series of publications that its agents have intensified the verification of the legality of housing and car documents, along with other measures.

For his part, the head of Justice reported that the Security Cabinet presented this same day, before the country’s Legislative Assembly, a request to once again extend the emergency regime, which has been in force since March 2022.

Javier Milei accuses Kirchnerism of trying to “outlaw the most voted force” in the primaries

The candidate for president of Argentina for La Libertad Avanza rejected the Government’s complaints against him for promoting a bank run

The Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei, for La Libertad Avanza (LLA), assured this Wednesday that the Government is trying to “outlaw” the far-right party, after President Alberto Fernández denounced it for, allegedly, generating a bank run that increased the price of the parallel dollar abruptly.

“Kirchnerism is trying to dirty the electoral process or even ban the political force that obtained the most votes in the primary elections (PASO), because they know that we are about to win in October and end their Government of criminals forever,” he stated. the economist at a press conference.

Milei thus responded to the accusations that, from both the ruling party and the opposition, hold him responsible for the notable jump in the price of the ‘blue’ dollar, which is traded outside banking channels. This Wednesday, the informal currency reached 1,010 pesos, a fact that worries him considering that its value impacts the real economy and the level of inflation.

“I tell President Fernández, Vice President [Cristina] Kirchner and the acting president (sic), the Minister of Economy [Sergio] Massa, that nothing will be able to prevent the beating that we are going to give them at the polls,” Milei predicted in response to the Peronist Government’s complaint for “public intimidation.”

What is Milei accused of?

The controversy began on Monday, when Milei declared in a radio interview that “the peso is the currency issued by the Argentine politician,” so “it cannot be worth anything.” “That garbage isn’t even good for compost,” she continued.

Additionally, he advised the population that has savings in fixed-term deposits to wait for maturity and immediately buy dollars, in the interest of the foreign currency appreciating due to the increase in demand.

“Telling Argentines to stay in pesos is condemning them to the most absolute poverty,” the candidate reiterated this Wednesday before a group of journalists.

After his statements, multiple sectors accused Milei of encouraging hyperinflation to win the presidential elections in the first round.

In the complaint presented by President Alberto Fernández it is admitted that the exchange instability originates from a set of factors, although the “decisive” effect of Milei’s incendiary statements on the rise of the national currency is highlighted, since the scenario of high economic uncertainty added the weight of his word as a candidate who leads in the polls for the first round of the elections scheduled for October 22.

Among his electoral proposals, Milei promotes the dollarization of the Argentine monetary system, a measure that both the ruling party and the rest of the opposition candidates reject as inconvenient, and, furthermore, impossible to put into practice due to the shortage of foreign currency.

CA governor signs law boosting minimum wage for fast-food workers. Is $20 enough?

Yolanda Santiago, empleada de Burger King, grita “¡Si Se Pudo!” o “¡Sí, podríamos!”, con compañeros de trabajo antes de que el gobernador Gavin Newsom firme una legislación que apoya los derechos de los trabajadores de comida rápida y aumenta los salarios a $20 la hora durante una conferencia de prensa en SEIU Local 721 en Los Ángeles el 28 de septiembre de 2023. Foto de Alisha Jucevic para CalMatters

More than half a million fast food workers, mostly minorities and women, will earn higher minimum wage because Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a fast food bill Thursday. But some say that’s not a living wage

by Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

Earning $17 an hour at a Los Angeles Jack-in-the-Box, Anneisha Williams has struggled for years to keep up with rent and bills. The Inglewood native is facing eviction, she said.

She teared up describing how Assembly Bill 1228, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in Los Angeles on Thursday, will affect her life by raising her hourly minimum wage to $20 in April. 

More than half a million fast food workers will get the wage increase, most of them minorities and women, Newsom said during the signing event.

Williiams said she hopes it’ll allow her to save some money and maybe take her six children to Disneyland someday.

But not all fast food workers are as hopeful about the financial impact of the new law on their lives. Some workers said the wage hike will allow them to keep up with basic bills and rent, but no more than that.

“It’s a relief, yes, but our fight continues,” said Laura Pozos, who works in an East L.A. McDonald’s.

The average hourly wage for fast food workers in California last year was $16.21, according to a report by the Harvard Kennedy School and UC San Francisco.

The new law would raise base wages for so-called quick-serve restaurants with 60 locations or more to at least $20 an hour and create a restaurant industry council that would set future pay raises and advise on working conditions.

Minimum wage deal

The law is the product of compromise. Restaurateurs agreed to withdraw a proposed November 2024 ballot measure that would have undone a just approved, landmark law creating a fast food industry council.

In exchange, labor advocates withdrew a proposed bill that would have linked the legal liability of franchisees’ labor violations to the franchisor corporations.

Newsom said negotiating to get the restaurant industry referendum off the ballot was like moving “a tectonic plate.”

“I can assure you, this wasn’t easy,” Newsom said. “It was a profoundly consequential prospect. Tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars, would have been spent on that ballot to roll back the progress that the Assembly members had made.”

The law establishes a state-run council for five years, with business and worker representatives and a member of the public. They will set wage standards and advise on work conditions, scheduling, and health and safety standards in fast food restaurants, which labor organizers have mostly failed to unionize.

The state’s labor and commerce staff can sit in but cannot vote.

Restaurant industry officials said the newly signed law is the best outcome possible. The industry had been preparing to spend $120 million on the referendum.

Matt Haller, president of the International Franchise Association, said in a statement  the new law “preserves the franchise business model.”

“Common sense has prevailed, as franchising is responsible for creating opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people to become small business owners, and this agreement eliminates the existential threats our members faced,” he said.

Working for change

Assemblymember Chris Holden, a Democrat from Pasadena who authored the original and compromise legislation, thanked franchise owners for their willingness to negotiate a deal and the workers who advocated for the law.

“I saw firsthand all of you who gave your blood, sweat and tears,” he said. “To see so many of you today who were there through the process, knocking on members’ doors, sleeping out on Capitol Park, walking out in the morning with bells and whistles to make sure all of us were paying attention. I say, to God be the glory.”

Some workers said they were proud their hard work finally paid off.

“Little old me, Anneisha Williams, mother of six, never thought I could move mountains with the help and support of so many people,” Williams said. “There were so many people against us that told us ‘No.’ They sent these people out there with this referendum and told us ‘No.’ But guess what? We told them ‘Yes we can.’”

While the wage increase was welcome, some workers said they were more excited about getting a seat at the table with the fast food council, even though the deal pared back some of the council’s power. Now the fast food council has authority over minimum wage increases, but it has an advisory role over other issues.

A living wage?

Pozos, the McDonald’s worker, said that $20 an hour is still not enough to thrive — it won’t even help her save money — but the legislation was about winning against multi-million-dollar corporations like her employer.

Pozos lives with her husband, a teenager and an adult daughter with special needs.  The family struggles to pay the $3,600 rent, she said.

“This is going to help me to be able to pay the bills with my husband, to have more groceries for my daughters and, more than anything, it’s an important accomplishment since we’ve been going out on strikes, going door to door to talk to legislators, visiting Sacramento for this law to be passed,” she said. But “my life will continue as normal.”

In general, $20 an hour is not considered a living wage in California. For a working couple with one child, that would be $23.81 an hour and for a single adult with no children, it would be $21.24, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator.

Pozos said she still hopes her workplace, and the fast food industry in general, will one day be unionized, so workers gain power over schedules and working conditions and can fight workplace retaliation and wage theft.

Pozos added she is worried that the wage increase will motivate employers to reduce workers’ hours.

Living free

After Newsom signed the bill, Pozos celebrated with her friend Angelica Hernandez and other workers as a mariachi band played at the Service Employees International Union Local 721 office in downtown Los Angeles.

Hernandez said she was “super happy, super proud” to have supported the legislation. A fast food worker in Monterey Park, Hernandez said she has worked for McDonald’s for 19 years, earned minimum wage at times, and struggled to stay housed.

“I’ve lived with my children and husband in a car or a cheap hotel that had cockroaches,” she said. “Sometimes I didn’t have enough to feed my children. Honestly, it’s so sad to go through that, to be in a country that is rich in everything and to go through that.”

Hernandez said a raise from her current $18.18 hourly to $20 won’t be life-changing, but it’ll allow her to buy a candy bar while grocery shopping without overdrawing her account.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to save with this, but I’ll be able to live more freely,” she said.

– Alejandra Reyes-Velarde is a California Divide reporter writing about inequality in Los Angeles. She previously covered breaking news, the pandemic and Latino communities for the Los Angeles Times. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UCLA and is pursuing a master’s degree in legal studies at the university’s law school.

Play “My husband’s horns” presented at the Teatro Nahual, with participation of Blanca Salguero (previously know as Blanca Nieto)

After the successful performance of the actors in the play “Los Cuernos de mi Husband” on Saturday, October 14, 2013. Center for the Performing Arts in Mountain View, California.

by Magdy Zara

With a talented cast, the Teatro Nahual premiered the play “The Horns of My Husband” by the famous French writer Moliere (1668), who with fine humor presents a social critique, where money is more important than morality and dignity: human.

The staging, which includes live music, is directed by Verónica Meza, founder of Teatro Nahual. The play will be staged by renowned actors: Abraham Mijangos, Umbelina Martínez, Luis Nicolás, Victoria Valencia, Alberto Arias, John Cabrera, Grace Grullón and the Guatemalan actress Blanca Salguero (previously known as Blanca Nieto), who is remembered for her performance in the play La Malinche and for having participated in many plays and several Mexican films among other performances.

Guatemalan actress Blanca Salguero (previously known as Blanca Nieto.)

The Nahual theater has been founded for 20 years and is the only Spanish-speaking theater in San Francisco, and for this occasion it will present this play, a theatrical adaptation in which “Jorge,” a rich peasant, seeks to raise his social status by marrying the beautiful daughter of Messrs. Sostenes de Varilla, economically ruined bourgeois, who despite their poverty refuse to accept their new reality. They pretend to belong to the high society of the town in which they live, and they despise their son-in-law Jorge for his humble origins and for not being on par with his daughter Angelica.

The play focuses on Jorge, who admits to being a cuckold, but his own wisdom does not help him to unmask his wife who cunningly reverses any evidence of infidelity against Jorge Dandín.

The premiere took place on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Center for the Performing Arts, Second Stage, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041.

Tickets: mvcpa.com or by calling 650 903 6000

Functions at MACLA, 501 South First Street, San Jose, CA 95113:

Saturday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 22 at 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket sales at the theater door. Reserve your ticket in advance: www.teatronahual.org

Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in Mountain View.

Visions of Guadalupe: Image and Sound

As a tribute to Chicana artist Yolanda López, the Voces de Silicon Valley choir will present Visions of Guadalupe: Image and Sound, to highlight the artistic achievements and lifelong activism of said artist.

The performance will include the world premiere of a new original five-part composition for instruments and voices by artistic director Dr. Cyril Deaconoff, which has been titled Visions of Guadalupe.

The piece is inspired by the words of a beautiful 17th-century poem by the Mexican writer, composer and visionary Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, whose work was surprisingly brave for the time, affirming women’s rights and gender equality. Aiming to reflect on the connections between music, art and images, the program will also include short pieces by well-known composers Kaija Saariaho, Pamela Z and Flannery Cunningham.

The presentation of Visiones de Guadalupe will take place on Sunday, Oct. 22, at the Mission Cultural Center for Latina Arts in San Francisco, tickets start at $15.

Momotombo SF presents itself in Sausalito Seahorse

To spend a different night, full of good music, Sausalito Seahorse presents Momotombo SF, a group that is made up of former members of the Malo and Santana bands.

Momotombo SF is renowned for its exciting interplay of Latin jazz and rock, driven by Latin rhythms and Afro-Cuban rhythms, creating a powerful and authentic Latin rock sound straight from the adventurous and psychedelic days of Winterland and The Fillmore.

The presentation will be this Saturday, Oct. 21, starting at 8 p.m., general admission costs $25, to purchase tickets through https://sausalitoseahorse.ticketleap.com/momotombo-sf

Works by Latin artists accompany the SF Symphony Orchestra

Mexican artists Liz Hernández (painter and sculptor) and Fernando Escartiz (sculptor) will present their works during the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra concert.

For the months of October and November, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, together with the San Francisco Symphony Choir, have scheduled a series of concerts called The Planets and The Illuminations.

Elim Chan, chief conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, conducts the San Francisco Symphony in Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations, featuring tenor Andrew Staples in his Orchestral Series debut. The work features texts from Arthur Rimbaud’s poetry collection of the same name and is a rare foray into the French language for a composer celebrated for his contributions to English music.

The program includes an exhibition of paintings by Modest Mussorgsky, in homage to the artwork of Viktor Hartmann. Each of the ten movements is based on a different work by Hartmann. Inspired by images from an exhibition, newly commissioned artworks by Bay Area artists Liz Hernández and Fernando Escartiz (both Mexican) will be displayed in the lobby of Davies Symphony Hall and on screen during the concert. Before the presentation of the piece, a short video will be shown that will include an interview with the artists about how they found inspiration in paintings in an exhibition.

On Thursday, Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m., attendees can arrive early for a space-themed pre-concert discussion with special guest Bing Quock, deputy director of the California Academy of Sciences’ Morrison Planetarium, which will be held on stage at Davies Symphony Hall. one hour before the concert. (Free for all concert ticket holders).

An open rehearsal will take place on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m., while performances on Oct. 26, 27 and 28 will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for concerts at Davies Symphony Hall can be purchased through sfsymphony.org or by calling the San Francisco Symphony Box Office at 415.864.6000.

Davies Symphony Hall is located at 201 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.

Celebrate “The Day of the Four and the Troubadour”

by Magdy Zara

The Puerto Rican Club of San Francisco holds its annual celebration of jíbara music: “El Día del Cuatro y la Trovadora”, this year honoring the divine feminine legacy of Puerto Rican musical heritage.

For this year they present two outstanding artists brought directly from Puerto Rico, such as: Fabiola Méndez and Rosaura Batista.

The concert will feature Fabiola Méndez, playing the cuatro, a small Puerto Rican guitar, the national instrument of Puerto Rico.

The event will also showcase the freestyle skills of troubadour Rosaura Batista, a lyricist specializing in the musical traditions of the Puerto Rican countryside.

The evening will include a performance by wonderful local talent, such as: La Mixta Criolla, a dynamic band from the Bay Area, with deep roots in the musical traditions of Puerto Rico.

The event begins at 2 p.m., with the presentation of La Mixta Criolla, on November 12, at the Puerto Rican Club of San Francisco, located at 3249 – A Mission Street. Tickets are $20 to $30.

The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra begins the Christmas season

The San Francisco Symphony’s 2023 holiday season begins Nov. 30 and concludes Dec. 23, featuring a variety of holiday programs, including traditional Christmas classical music performances, family events, and film screenings with Christmas themes and a star-studded party.

The foyers of Davies Symphony Hall are transformed into a Christmas wonderland, with towering trees decorated with ornaments handmade by children and volunteers from local schools and non-profit community organizations, while talented performers will shine on its stages.

Some of the special guest artists will be: vocalists Oleta Adams, Peabo Bryson, Jennifer Holliday and Ruben Studdard on The Colors of Christmas; Mariachi Sol de México® by José Hernández in A Merry-Achi Christmas; Vertigo Company at the Nutcracker Circus; and Peaches Christ, Rory Davies, Bianca Del Rio, Renée Lubin, Dylan Mulvaney, Edwin Outwater, Michael Phillis, Nikola Printz, Sister Roma of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, among others.

Family-friendly performances include the Symphony’s annual Deck the Hall celebrations, Cirque Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf performed by the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra with guest narrator Tom Kenny, the holiday films The Nightmare Before Christmas and Home Alone, and A Charlie Brown Christmas—Live.

The SF Symphony accompanies three iconic Christmas movies live: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Love Actually and Home Alone.

Conductor Jonathan Cohen leads the SF Symphony, chorus, and vocal soloists in the return of George Frideric Handel’s popular Holiday Brass program Messiah and Symphony.

The Feast of the Last Supper will be this November 15

The Last Supper Party returns this November with the masterful participation of four renowned artists, who between poetry and music will be giving their opinion on various topics.

The Feast of the Last Supper is a series of presentations featuring the voices of various artists and writers who denounce the countless injustices and impacts of corruption, unbridled power and greed.

Event organizers invite audiences to share ideas and bread and find inspiration in the thoughts and words of artists whose perspectives are drawn from a kaleidoscope of cultures. But they are united by compassion and a common desire to seek justice, equity and truth.

The artists present in this edition are:

Shizue Seigel; who is a writer, performer, educator and activist. Her work explores complex intersections of history, culture, and spirituality through prose, poetry, and visual art.

Tureeda Mikel: (also known as Ture Ade’ or Story Medicine Woman), is an award-winning poet with her work published in four languages. Tureeda has also been known as a holism activist.

Cadence Myles – An Oakland-based multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, Cadence Myles was born to make music. She combines the styles and influences of Alicia Keys, Michael Jackson, Jill Scott, 311, Prince and Usher and channels them into one human being.

Kimi Sugioka: is a poet, composer and educator. She is the current Poet Laureate of the City of Alameda, a position that includes creating platforms for the presentation of a diverse variety of poets and spoken word artists. Kimi also performs her own work frequently throughout the Bay Area.

Fe Bongolan: (Creator of the painting The Last Supper) is a visual and performing artist from the Bay Area. She is an alumna of San Francisco State University with a bachelor’s degree in Craft and Design. She found theater arts her senior year at SFSU and to this day it consumes her life.

The Feast of the Last Supper will take place next Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m., at 3036 24th St, San Francsico.

El Cerrito presents “Neighborhood World Music Sessions”

Since last October 25, El Cerrito presents the “Neighborhood World Music Sessions”, an inspiring series of live music, which will take place every Wednesday until the end of the year, completely free, presenting this Nov. 15 to Melissa Cruz and Madness Trio.

Javier Navarrette Music Production, is proud to co-produce “The Annex Sessions”, with Amer Burdyer (SunJams Foundation for Music in Schools), José Ruiz (DJ) and The El Cerrito Grocery Annex.

For the third year in a row, Navarrete brings world-class musicians from the Bay Area to perform free shows for the community.

As Javier Navarrete may recall, he is a Bay Area-based percussionist/educator who has dedicated himself to the study and performance of music, specializing in Afro-Caribbean rhythms. He has studied in Cuba with musicians from the National Folkloric of Cuba and has had the opportunity to play with greats such as Aretha Franklin, Poncho Sanchez, Los Van Van, The “Conga Kings”: Francisco Aguabella, Carlos “Patáto” Valdez, Armando Peraza, among others.

The shows will be at El Annex in El Cerrito, every Wednesday in 2023, starting at 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. At the Natural El Cerrito Grocery company. For this Nov. 15, Melissa Cruz and Locura Trio will perform

New deadline looms as student loan payments restart

by Suzanne Potter

California News Service

Oct. 4, 2023 – Federal student loan payments resume this month after a three-year pause, but people in public service have until the end of the year to benefit from recent repayment reforms.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program will forgive the remainder of your federal student loan after you have worked for a public agency or certain nonprofits for 10 years and made 120 payments.

Jessica Saint-Paul, a physician assistant, public health educator and member of the American Federation of Teachers Local 1521, helps run student loan clinics for her union.

“They can come back and apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness,” Saint-Paul explained. “And consolidate their loans to get into an income-driven repayment plan all on the same website: StudentAid.gov.”

During the Trump administration, the Department of Education rejected 98% of Public Service Loan Forgiveness applications. The American Federation of Teachers sued, and now the agency has to review every single application filed since 2007.

Reforms under the Biden administration mean people can get credit for the years they have already worked since October 2007, even if their loan was in forbearance and they had stopped making payments. Some of the most favorable terms expire Dec. 31.

Saint-Paul attended an American Federation of Teachers student debt clinic in 2018 and discovered she had the wrong repayment plan and faced the reset of her loan payment count to zero. She joined a class-action lawsuit against loan servicer Navient, which forced major changes to the industry. She noted once the feds finally forgave her loans, it gave her the financial freedom to secure her retirement and focus on getting married and starting a family.

“This allows freedom, for you to be able to live your life,” Saint-Paul contended. “You’re doing the work for the community, I can still do that and not have to worry about a $1,200 a month payment for the next 25 years. This has changed my life tremendously.”

American Federation of Teachers Local 1521 members have achieved more than $4 million of student loan forgiveness through Public Service Loan Forgiveness since March of last year.

 

Advocates for Hispanic community sponsor free financial literacy training

Free financial literacy training is now available in low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles, hosted by two nonprofits: The Hispanic Access Foundation and Thrivent Financial Services.

The classes partner with Latino churches and come with a meal and child care, to make them as accessible as possible.

Christine Tamara, director of partnership engagement for the Hispanic Access Foundation, said 95% of participants said they have never had any kind of financial education.

“The Latino community works really hard,” Tamara pointed out. “We’re really trying to train them to make their money work for them. We’re really wanting to educate the community on the importance of financial literacy and planning, having a budget and investing.”

A report from the Latino Community Foundation found Latinos in California have $92 billion in spending power. The classes are called “Prepare for a Better Future,” and the next class is tomorrow night in South Los Angeles.

Tamara explained financial counselors help people use a tool on the Social Security website to predict what their benefits will be, come retirement age.

“We encourage them to put in their information and go to the government’s website,” Tamara noted. “So they kind of have an idea right now, if they were to retire, or at a certain age, what would be their Social Security check. And a lot of them are really shocked.”

The idea is to help people list out their sources of income and what they’re spending and then determine which things are a “need” and which are a “want.” Students are shown estimates that find if a person invests $50 a month in stocks, assuming a 10% return, in 40 years it would add up to almost $280,000.

1...303132...599Page 31 of 599

SELECTIONS

POPULAR TICKETS

POPULAR CATEGORY

ABOUT US

Welcome to our Marvin J. Ramirez website! We are an innovative newspaper located in the heart of San Francisco. With a relentless passion for telling powerful stories, we inform our community with truthful news, insightful analysis, and compelling reporting.

Contacto: lreportero@aol.com

FOLLOW US

© Copyright 2023. Agenciadigital.pw. All rights reserved.