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Poetry & Jazz: A mashup concert at Berkeley Public Library

by the El Reportero’s staff

April is National Poetry Month and the Berkeley Library is going all out with our Poetry & Jazz @Central Concert.
We have a great lineup: Al Young  accompanied by John Wiitala on bass; with three more sets of notable poets and musicians as they present the words and music of poetry: Avotcja with Val Serrant on steel drums, Phavia Kujichagulia with Ron Williams on guitar, The Word-Music Continuum with poet Kirk Lumpkin and musicians: Paul Mills, Mark Wieder, and special guest, Q.R. Hand, Jr. For questions regarding this program, call 510-981-6150.
Al Young was named Poet Laureate of California in 2005. “Like jazz, Al Young is an original American voice.” Muriel Johnson, former Director of the California Arts Council is the award-winning author of several screenplays and more than 22 books of poetry and non-fiction. His work has appeared in Paris Review, Ploughshares, Essence, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone.
Avotcja is an award winning poet & multi-instrumentalist. Her writing is published in English and Spanish in the USA, Mexico and Europe.
This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library http://www.berkeleylibraryfriends.orgwww.berkeleylibraryfriends.org
On Saturday, April 18, 2-4 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library at 2090 Kittredge Street in the 3 floor, Community Meeting Room.

MCCLA presents two full hours of original and traditional music
The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) will host “Transcending Borders,” a two-hour concert by local musician Diana Gameros with her band, and special guest artist Edna Vázquez.
Both Gameros and Vázquez are Mexican singer/songwriters and guitarists with music that reflects influences from across the Americas with traditional songs and rhythms bringing the feeling of Mexico’s Folkloric music to their audience. Versatile and authentic with soaring vocals, both Edna and Diana captivate and inspire, uniting communities across borders.
Their talent and growing following has brought them each a steady stream of high profile gigs and appearances with such other artists including: Lila Downs, Gloria Trevi, and Latin Grammy-nominee Ximena Sariñana. The MCCLA invites community members interested in contemporary Mexican-inspired music and Latin Indie folk to join us for this festive event that transcends borders.
In 2014, Diana Gameros was featured in the MEX-I-AM Festival and was the recipient of the Emerging Leader Award from the Chicana Latina Foundation. Recently, Gameros’ Tiny Desk submission was featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered as the video who caught Alt. Latino’s Ear.

For more information visit: www.dianagameros.com.
Edna Vazquez has achieved international exposure by singing in television shows like Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento in Los Angeles and Sábado Gigante Internacional con Don Francisco, where she won first prize with her rendition of Cucurrucucú Paloma accompanied by Mariachi International in Miami, Florida.
More recently, Edna has performed across the country and for national radio audiences on Public Radio International’s Live Wire Radio with Luke Burbank. Edna is currently touring in support of her first full-length album, Ser Abstracto, which was released in November 2014. For more information visit: www.ednavazquez.com.
On Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 7 p.m., Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission Street, San Francisco. Tickets $15 Advance, $20 on the day of the event.

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Ximena Sariñana will be the specal guest performing at Juanes’ “Loco de Amor” U.S. tour

by the El Reportero’s news services

Singer, songwriter and actress Ximena Sariñana will be the special guest for Juanes the Colombian superstar during his US tour Loco de Amor.
Ximena is currently promoting her latest album No Todo Lo Puedes Dar and its first single Sin Ti No Puede Estar Tan Mal topped the radio charts. Her current single “Ruptura” is rapidly becoming a hit.
Her debut album Mediocre was Grammy and Latin Grammy nominee as well as earning gold status in Mexico. Rolling Stone Mexico gave Mediocre four stars and praised her debut as “one of the strongest in 2008”. In 2012 Ximena released her self-titled English album, which also reached gold certification.

Roberto Carlos and Carlos Santana to be honored at Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards will recognize the outstanding contributions of two giants at this year’s ceremony. Brazilian singer/songwriter Roberto Carlos will receive the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding career, and iconic guitarist Carlos Santana will be given the Spirit of Hope Award for his philanthropic and humanitarian contributions beyond his musical work.
Both artists also will perform at the awards ceremony, the longest-running and most prestigious awards show in the Latin music world, produced and broadcast live on Telemundo Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT from BankUnited Center at the University of Miami in Florida.
Roberto Carlos, with a musical career that spans over 50 years and more than 120 million albums sold around the world, has certainly earned the distinction. As one of the top-selling Latin artists in the world, he continues to be relevant for his artistic and personal contributions.
In 2015, the Spirit of Hope Award will be granted to Carlos Santana for his lifelong devotion to social activism and humanitarian causes, and in particular for his work on behalf of children through his Milagro Foundation. Originally established by Carlos Santana and his family in 1998, the Milagro Foundation benefits underserved and vulnerable children around the world by making grants to community based tax-exempt organizations that work with children in the areas of education, health and the arts.

La Obra del Siglo, a filmic look at Cuba’’s nuclear project
La Obra del Siglo, Carlos Quintela’’s second film, opened in Havana this film marathon known as Muestra Joven, a melting pot of new generations of Cuban filmmakers.
The film was screened at the movies Chaplin as the centerpiece of the inauguration of the Film Festival, which recreated a vaccine clinic for physical and spiritual ills.
Three personal dramas are the pretext to reflect on dreams and destinies of what purported to be a nuclear city, in the Cuban southern town of Juraguá.
This community was part of the Soviet-Cuban project commissioned to build the first nuclear reactor in the Caribbean, an undertaken halted after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Muestra Joven has the aim to bring works which ignite the flames of discord and this film is one of them”, said the critic Dean Luis Reyes when presenting Quintela’s work.
Renowned actors like Mario Balmaseda, Mario Guerra, Manuel Porto and Jorge Molina, make up the cast of this award-winning movie in the Film Festivals of Toulouse and Rotterdam.
La Obra del Siglo marks Quintela’s return, following the success of La Piscina (2011), his debut feature awarded in various international events, including Marrakech International Film Festival.

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The psychological crossroads of an unhappy life

by Jon Rappoport
www.nomorefakenews.com

There is a point at which a life becomes unsatisfying. Regardless of the reasons, a person begins to place too much emphasis on: what already exists; and what he believes.
That may sound like a strange thing to say.
There is nothing automatically wrong with what exists or with what he believes, but the key term here is “too much emphasis.”
A person makes a castle and fortress out of what was once flowing, energetic, and alive.
This is one of those unfair facts of existence, because it would seem, on cursory examination, that to believe what is good, right, and true should be tethered down with the strongest possible ropes. It should be permanently imprinted in the mind, engraved deeply.
But then something happens. The beliefs lose their dynamism. They sit there. They turn into dead stars.
The person, from that point on, can speak and act from these beliefs, but his actions and words take on a mechanical hue. He becomes a one-trick pony. The people around him know how he is going to respond. They know what he’s going to say.
He himself knows what he’s going to say.
His life now resembles a machine.
To one degree or another, everyone can fall into this trap. The sap of life becomes sour.
“Whatever already exists,” rather than “what could possibly be” takes center stage.
And, another irony: what already exists could be the most cogent position in the world, yet it returns no psychological or spiritual dividends.
What happened? How did things come to this?
The classic case, because it is so visible, is the artist who winds up repeating the same themes again and again in his work, the force of them deadening as he grows more “mature.”
But we could be talking about anyone.
The person becomes bored with himself. And then, he thinks, he has nowhere to go. It’s time for old age.
That old age can come at 30, at 50, at 70. It doesn’t matter when. The door seems to close. The walls are permanently set.
Wisdom, intellectual prowess, success, insight, strength no longer seem to matter. Being correct and right about the most important things has worn out like old shoes.
A person can tout his own beliefs to the rooftops, but it has no effect, no salutary effect on himself.
The search for what is deeply true and what beliefs are most important has succeeded, but the result is ashes.
What I’m describing here is a central aspect of the Matrix, an aspect most people would rather not consider.
They would prefer to say, “Nothing’s wrong,” and simply turn up the decibel count on their all-too-familiar assertions, which by now have taken on the coloration of slogans.
And there are millions of so-called professionals who are ready to jump into the breach and analyze this existential situation as a collection of symptoms which refer to some pseudo-disorder.
Yet there is help. There has always been help. It waits on the sidelines, and if the call comes, everything transforms. The person mired in his own stagnant juices doesn’t have to consciously change a thing about his beliefs. He doesn’t have to try to manipulate his mind or reorganize its contents.
This help, which is waiting for the call to action, doesn’t function on the basis of what already exists. It never has. That’s why it has been rejected. It doesn’t seem to be practical. It doesn’t seem to be the drill that can bore a hole in the lock of the door and let the prisoner out of his cell.
This help isn’t “true” or “right” or “correct.” It isn’t “harmonious” or “perfect.”
It’s oceanic.
It is the imagination.
Consigned as a mere toy for children, a distraction, a useless appendage for adults, a minor preoccupation, it is actually the faculty that surpasses what already exists in any dimension.
It doesn’t rely on the past. It doesn’t operate as a system. It doesn’t make calculations in accounting books. It isn’t a pattern.
It’s free.
Imagination wakes up the psyche. It wakes up the cells of the body. It invents the space of an open future. It sweeps the deck clean of morbid boredom. It solves problems in unforeseen ways. It moves out ahead of problems and creates new avenues along which old conflicts dissolve.
Imagination can be deployed to express deep beliefs and make them impact the world. It brings those beliefs back to life. It develops ingenious strategies to forward plans that were dying on the vine.
Imagination changes what already exists for the better. It can leap ahead of reality and build futures that shatter moribund consensus.
Imagination awakens abilities beyond the five senses and beyond structured consciousness.
When a life turns sour, stolid, and old, imagination injects the fire of youth.
Imagination says, “It’s never too late.”
“Late” turns out to be a faulty proposition that was omitting the most powerful force in the individual.
Imagination resides in the individual, not the collective. A life and a world founded on the collective is actually a covert operation to induce amnesia about the imagination.
The individual can choose to move forward by embodying patterns of the past, or he can step on to an entirely different path.
The universe is waiting for imagination to revolutionize it down to its core.
(Jon Rappoport is the author of two explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed and Exit From The Matrix).

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Ginger root is a mirable cure for prostate cancer

by Craig Stellpflug

Prostate cancer is one of the most over-treated cancers out there. By 50 years of age, about 40 percent of all men already have prostate cancer and likely will never know it. But it will not kill them either – unless they are screened for it and then treated with Big Pharma protocols. Then things take an ugly turn as the benign and slow-growing cancer turns into the killer kind. The numbers for prostate cancer doubles to 80 percent of all men by the age of 80 years old. If you are in the business of selling cancer treatments, this is a financial boon and a cash-cow.
The male prostate gland naturally enlarges with age. The bigger it gets, the greater the chance that some of the cells in the prostate will turn cancerous. This is mainly due to our highly inflammatory diets full of gluten, cancer causing GMOs, sugars and chemical additives combined with our sedentary lifestyles and poor stool habits.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force this year found that PSA blood tests are too unreliable and give false positives 80 percent of the time with 1,000 men needing to be screened just to prevent a single prostate cancer death – but that’s not the worst of it. Many will succumb to impotence, incontinence, heart attacks and even death from treatment of tiny tumors that never would have killed them in the first place.
Ginger is the miracle cure
The British Journal of Nutrition published the results of an American study recently in which ginger extract (zingiber officinale) actually killed human prostate cancer cells while healthy prostate cells did not die. The results occurred at a daily dose of 100 mg of ginger extract per kg of body weight (based on a man weighing 150 pounds this equals about 550 mg extract per day). In eight weeks, the ginger extract slashed prostate tumor growth in half. The researchers have estimated that 100 grams of fresh ginger eaten daily will offer the same results.
As a cancer champion, ginger has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiproliferative effects upon tumors making ginger a promising chemopreventive agent. Whole ginger extract holds significant growth-inhibitory and death-inductory effects in a spectrum of cancer cells by interrupting cancer cell-cycle progression, impairing cancer reproduction and modulating apoptosis. But most importantly, ginger does not have any toxicity in normal, rapidly dividing tissues such as gut and bone marrow.
Ginger taken orally can prevent or relieve nausea resulting from chemotherapy, motion sickness, pregnancy, and surgery.
Not only can ginger root cure cancer, but it is a natural remedy for travel sickness, nausea, indigestion, flatulence, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, loss of appetite, chills, poor circulation, menstrual cramps, dyspepsia, heartburn, indigestion and many other gastrointestinal problems. Ginger root is also a powerful anti-inflammatory for joint problems and is indicated for arthritis, fevers, headaches, toothaches, coughs, bronchitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, high cholesterol and blood-pressure and can also prevent internal blood clots. Ginger is even anti-viral and makes a warming cold and flu remedy.
Prostate do’s and don’ts
There are studies showing that men consuming large amounts of synthetic folic acid and zinc oxide are more likely to develop prostate cancer.

Men also taking large amounts of high-dose multi-vitamins develop prostate cancer more frequently. On the other hand, other studies suggest that fish oil, magnesium, curcumin, broccoli and lycopene (found in tomato products) help protect men against cancer. Avoiding all GMO foods and processed foods along with their litany of chemical additives is a must for prostate health. Maintaining a low-carb diet is also known to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Oh, and don’t forget to take ginger root. Natural News.
About the author — Craig Stellpflug is a Cancer Nutrition Specialist, Lifestyle Coach and Neuro Development Consultant at Healing Pathways Medical Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ. http://www.healingpathwayscancerclinic.com/

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Most North Americans are slaves and they don’t even’ know it

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

Perhaps most of us think we are free, free to go wherever we want, and buy whatever we want, but, are we really free or are we actually slaves? I found this article written by Michael Syder, best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog. He believes that a great awakening is coming and is working hard to help bring renewal to America. Michael is also the author of the book The Beginning Of The End.

by Michael Snyder

Most Americans spend their lives working for others, paying off debts to others and performing tasks that others tell them that they “must” do. These days, we don’t like to think of ourselves as “servants” or “slaves”, but that is what the vast majority of us are. It is just that the mechanisms of our enslavement have become much more sophisticated over time. It has been said that the borrower is the servant of the lender, and most of us start going into debt very early into our adult years.
In fact, those that go to college to “get an education” are likely to enter the “real world” with a staggering amount of debt. And of course that is just the beginning of the debt accumulation. Today, when you add up all mortgage debt, all credit card debt and all student loan debt, the average American household is carrying a grand total of 203,163 dollars of debt. Overall, American households are more than 11 trillion dollars in debt at this point. And even though most Americans don’t realize this, over the course of our lifetimes the amount of money that we will repay on our debts is far greater than the amount that we originally borrowed. In fact, when it comes to credit card debt you can easily end up repaying several times the amount of money that you originally borrowed. So we work our fingers to the bone to pay off these debts, and the vast majority of us are not even working for ourselves. Instead, our work makes the businesses that other people own more profitable. So if we spend the best years of our lives building businesses for others, servicing debts that we owe to others and making others wealthier, what does that make us?
In 2015, the words “servant” and “slave” have very negative connotations, and we typically don’t use them very much.
Instead, we use words like “employee” because they make us feel so much better.
But is there really that much of a difference?
This is how Google defines “servant”…
“a person who performs duties for others, especially a person employed in a house on domestic duties or as a personal attendant.”
This is how Google defines “slave”…
“a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.”
This is how Google defines “employee”…
“a person employed for wages or salary, especially at nonexecutive level.”
Yes, most of us might not be “legal property” of someone else in a very narrow sense, but in a broader sense we all have to answer to someone.
We all have someone that we must obey.
And we all have obligations that we must meet or else face the consequences.
At this point, Americans are more dependent on the system than ever before. Small business ownership in the U.S. is at a record low, and the percentage of Americans that are self-employed has fallen to unprecedented levels in recent years. From a very early age, we are trained to study hard so that we can get a good “job” (“just over broke”) and be good cogs in the system.
But is that what life is about?
Is it about being a cog in a system that ultimately benefits others?
Perhaps you don’t think that any of this applies to you personally.
Well, if someone came up to you and asked you what you truly own, what would you say?
Do you own your vehicle?
Most Americans don’t.
In fact, today the average auto loan at signing is approximately $27,000, and many of them stretch on for six or seven years.
What about your home?
Do you own it?
Most Americans don’t.
In fact, overall the banks have a much greater “ownership” interest in our homes and our land than we do.
But even if you have your home totally “paid off”, does that mean that you actually “own” it?
Well, no, not really.
Just see what happens if you quit paying your property taxes (rent) to the proper authorities.
So if they can take your home away from you for not paying rent (property taxes), do you really own it?
That is something to think about it.
What about all of your stuff?
Do you own it?
Perhaps.
But a very large percentage of us have willingly enslaved ourselves in order to acquire all of that stuff.
Today, the typical U.S. household that has at least one credit card has approximately $15,950 in credit card debt.
And if you do not pay off those credit card balances, the credit card companies will unleash the hounds on you.
Have you ever had an encounter with a debt collector?
They can be absolutely brutal. And they use those tactics because they work. In fact, they are so good at what they do that many of those that own debt collection companies have become exceedingly wealthy.
Yachts. Mansions. Extravagant dinner parties. Life is good for the founders of one of the nation’s biggest government debt collectors.
That firm, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, rakes in big money from government contracts that allow it to pursue debtors over toll violations, taxes and parking tickets. While the debts often start small, the Austin-based firm charges high fees, which can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to the bill.
After growing this business from a small Texas law firm in the late 1970’s to a nationwide debt collection powerhouse, the firm’s founders and top brass have walked away with millions of dollars.
And I haven’t even mentioned our collective debts yet.
We have willingly chosen to collectively enslave ourselves on a local, a state and a national level.
It is bad enough that we are doing this to ourselves. But we are also cruelly saddling future generations of Americans with the largest mountain of debt in the history of the planet. The following is from my previous article entitled “Barack Obama Says That What America Really Needs Is Lots More Debt“…
When Barack Obama took the oath of office, the U.S. national debt was 10.6 trillion dollars. Today, it has surpassed the 18 trillion dollar mark. And even though we are being told that “deficits are going down”, the truth is that the U.S. national debt increased by more than a trillion dollars in fiscal 2014. But that isn’t good enough for Obama. He says that we need to come out of this period of “mindless austerity” and steal money from our children and our grandchildren even faster.
In addition, Obama wants to raise taxes again. His budget calls for 2 trillion dollars in tax increases over the next decade. He always touts these tax increases as “tax hikes on the rich”, but somehow they almost always seem to end up hitting the middle class too. But whether or not Congress ever adopts Obama’s new budget is not really the issue. The reality of the matter is that the “tax and spend Democrats” and the “tax and spend Republicans” are both responsible for getting us into this mess.

Future generations of Americans are already facing the largest mountain of debt in the history of the planet, and both parties want to make this mountain of debt even higher. The only disagreement is about how fast it should happen. It is a national disgrace, but most Americans have come to accept this as “normal”. If our children and our grandchildren get the opportunity, they will curse us for what we have done to them.

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Ginger root is a mirable cure for prostate cancer

by Craig Stellpflug

Prostate cancer is one of the most over-treated cancers out there. By 50 years of age, about 40 percent of all men already have prostate cancer and likely will never know it. But it will not kill them either – unless they are screened for it and then treated with Big Pharma protocols. Then things take an ugly turn as the benign and slow-growing cancer turns into the killer kind. The numbers for prostate cancer doubles to 80 percent of all men by the age of 80 years old. If you are in the business of selling cancer treatments, this is a financial boon and a cash-cow.
The male prostate gland naturally enlarges with age. The bigger it gets, the greater the chance that some of the cells in the prostate will turn cancerous. This is mainly due to our highly inflammatory diets full of gluten, cancer causing GMOs, sugars and chemical additives combined with our sedentary lifestyles and poor stool habits.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force this year found that PSA blood tests are too unreliable and give false positives 80 percent of the time with 1,000 men needing to be screened just to prevent a single prostate cancer death – but that’s not the worst of it. Many will succumb to impotence, incontinence, heart attacks and even death from treatment of tiny tumors that never would have killed them in the first place.
Ginger is the miracle cure
The British Journal of Nutrition published the results of an American study recently in which ginger extract (zingiber officinale) actually killed human prostate cancer cells while healthy prostate cells did not die. The results occurred at a daily dose of 100 mg of ginger extract per kg of body weight (based on a man weighing 150 pounds this equals about 550 mg extract per day). In eight weeks, the ginger extract slashed prostate tumor growth in half. The researchers have estimated that 100 grams of fresh ginger eaten daily will offer the same results.
As a cancer champion, ginger has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiproliferative effects upon tumors making ginger a promising chemopreventive agent. Whole ginger extract holds significant growth-inhibitory and death-inductory effects in a spectrum of cancer cells by interrupting cancer cell-cycle progression, impairing cancer reproduction and modulating apoptosis. But most importantly, ginger does not have any toxicity in normal, rapidly dividing tissues such as gut and bone marrow.
Ginger taken orally can prevent or relieve nausea resulting from chemotherapy, motion sickness, pregnancy, and surgery.
Not only can ginger root cure cancer, but it is a natural remedy for travel sickness, nausea, indigestion, flatulence, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, loss of appetite, chills, poor circulation, menstrual cramps, dyspepsia, heartburn, indigestion and many other gastrointestinal problems. Ginger root is also a powerful anti-inflammatory for joint problems and is indicated for arthritis, fevers, headaches, toothaches, coughs, bronchitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, high cholesterol and blood-pressure and can also prevent internal blood clots. Ginger is even anti-viral and makes a warming cold and flu remedy.
Prostate do’s and don’ts
There are studies showing that men consuming large amounts of synthetic folic acid and zinc oxide are more likely to develop prostate cancer. Men also taking large amounts of high-dose multi-vitamins develop prostate cancer more frequently. On the other hand, other studies suggest that fish oil, magnesium, curcumin, broccoli and lycopene (found in tomato products) help protect men against cancer. Avoiding all GMO foods and processed foods along with their litany of chemical additives is a must for prostate health. Maintaining a low-carb diet is also known to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Oh, and don’t forget to take ginger root. Natural News.
About the author — Craig Stellpflug is a Cancer Nutrition Specialist, Lifestyle Coach and Neuro Development Consultant at Healing Pathways Medical Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ. http://www.healingpathwayscancerclinic.com/

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Why immigrant rights advocates aren’t worried about Texas’s judge ruling?

by Elena Shore
New America Media

A federal judge this week blocked Obama’s executive actions from going into effect, a move immigration reform advocates are calling only a “temporary setback.”
Texas U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen issued a temporary injunction on Monday, siding with Texas and 25 other states that signed on to a lawsuit against Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The White House announced on Tuesday that the Department of Justice is appealing the decision.
The judge’s ruling was released just two days before the expanded version of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was slated to go into effect.
It means that — until the ruling is blocked or overturned by a higher court — individuals will not be able to apply for the new programs announced by President Obama on Nov. 20, 2014. These include the expanded version of DACA, which was slated to start Wednesday, and the new program for parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), which was expected to start in May.
Together the programs could protect over 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and provide them with temporary work authorization.
Monday’s ruling does not affect so-called Dreamers, who can still apply for (and renew) DACA under the program that was announced in 2012.
The chess game
The federal lawsuit in Texas is the latest move in a broader political chess match now being played out between Republicans and Democrats over the president’s recent steps on immigration reform.
Since Obama’s announcement in November, Republicans have attempted to block his initiatives in Congress. But the legislation has not gotten passed the Senate (and even if it did, it would be vetoed by the president).
That left one pathway for the GOP to challenge Obama’s executive actions: through the courts.
“As they did in the health care fight, when they were unable to block the Affordable Care Act’s implementation through legislation, Republicans have turned to the courts to resolve what really amounts to a political dispute over policy,” Marshall Fitz, vice president of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, told reporters on a national press call hosted Tuesday by New America Media.
“Make no mistake,” said Fitz. “This is a partisan political attack disguised as a lawsuit.”
The plaintiffs “sought this judge out” because, Fitz said, he has “a history of highly antagonistic, over-reaching, really extremist, anti-immigrant decisions.”
“They went judge shopping, they found their judge, they got the decision they wanted,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, in Washington, D.C. “But reading through the decision, it is poorly argued, [rests on a] very weak basis, and it is clearly a politicized decision that is not going to survive appeals up through the court system.”
The case is expected to go next to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel known for its conservative bent. After that, the case would go to a full U.S. court of appeals and even potentially all the way to the Supreme Court.
“The wheels of justice are slow,” said Fitz, “but at the end of the track, we will have confirmed legality and the program will be implemented.”
Immigration advocates have several reasons to be confident.
“The fact is that the Obama administration has an airtight legal case,” said Sharry. “Every president since President Eisenhower in the 1950s has used executive authority in the area of immigration policy to do similar things.”
“We have the law on our side, legal precedent, historical precedent,” said Sharry, “and when a judge makes a decision in the future — hopefully in the coming days or weeks — based on the law, we are confident that expanded DACA and DAPA will be able to go into effect.”
The real danger is fear
Immigration reform advocates say they are confident that the judge’s decision will be reversed. Far more worrisome, they said, is the fear that it could generate among immigrant communities in the meantime.
“Part of the Republican strategy here is to introduce elements of uncertainty and controversy around this program in hopes that when it does go into effect, fewer people will sign up,” said Sharry of America’s Voice.
He cautioned immigrant communities “not to fall for this.”
Some immigrants are hesitant to apply for a program that is temporary, he said, because they are afraid that their information might be used to deport them if the program were ever overturned. But Sharry said these fears are overblown. “In my 30 years of working on immigration policy,” he said, “I’ve never seen a temporary program taken away in a way that subjects people who’ve come forward to deportation.”
What you can do now
Although they can’t apply for the new programs yet, undocumented immigrants can start getting their documents together.
“We really want to emphasize the message to immigrants, their friends and families, to not despair, that everyone should continue to prepare, that people can get ready to apply for the programs as soon as this block is lifted,” said Shiu-Ming Cheer, immigration attorney at National Immigration Law Center based in Los Angeles.
Cheer encouraged immigrants to continue to save money (the application fee for DACA and DAPA will be $465) and gather evidence that they have been in the country for the last five years. This includes proof of identity (such as a passport or matricula consular), proof of living here (such as bills, bank statements and medical records) and their criminal and immigration histories.
Most importantly, Cheer said, undocumented immigrants should seek help from qualified attorneys at trusted local community organizations, not from notarios or unauthorized practitioners.
“If you’re eligible for the new DACA or DAPA, both of those programs are on hold. There is no way to apply right now,” warned Sharry, “so don’t be fooled by scam artists promising to get you to the front of the line.”

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State bills would limit access to officer body camera videos

by Ryan J. Foley

IOWA CITY, Iowa — State legislators are pushing to make it much harder to release police officer body camera videos, undermining their promise as a tool people can use to hold law enforcement accountable.
Lawmakers in at least 15 states have introduced bills to exempt video recordings of police encounters with citizens from state public records laws, or to limit what can be made public.
Their stated motive: preserving the privacy of people being videotaped, and saving considerable time and money that would need to be spent on public information requests as the technology quickly becomes more widely used.
Advocates for open government and civil rights are alarmed.
Police departments nationwide are already spending millions to outfit officers with cameras and archive the results. In this latest clash between the people’s right to know and government authority, the responsibility to record controversial encounters, retain copies and decide what to make public mostly rests with the same police.
Absent public records protections, these police decisions can be unilateral and final in many cases.
“It undercuts the whole purpose of the cameras,” said Michelle Richardson, public policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
“People behave better on film, whether it’s the police or the suspect, because they realize others are going to see them. When you take away that possible consequence, you really undercut the oversight value of these,” she said.
Supporters say the privacy rights of crime victims and witnesses need protecting, and that police need to limit the broad and costly public records requests they’re getting. Routinely releasing these videos will deter people from calling for help and cooperating with police, they say.
“Public safety trumps transparency,” said Kansas state Sen. Greg Smith, a Republican. “It’s not trying to hide something. It’s making sure we’re not releasing information that’s going to get other people hurt.”
The Kansas Senate voted 40-0 last month to exempt the recordings from the state’s open records act. Police would only have to release them to people who are the subject of the recordings and their representatives, and could charge them a viewing fee. Kansas police also would be able to release videos at their own discretion.
Even some supporters of privacy restrictions agree that barring extraordinary circumstances or a court order, police could exercise too much unilateral authority over what gets seen.
“I think it’s a fair concern and a fair criticism that people might cherry pick and release only the ones that show them in a favorable light,” said former Charlotte, North Carolina, police chief Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. “Transparency is the best policy, but you have to be thoughtful about what you are releasing because of the potential impact and unintended consequences.”
Most proposals would generally grant access to the people being recorded. Bills in Oregon and Utah are among those that would preserve a presumption of openness in situations involving police use of force or allegations of misconduct.
Still, police know they’ll be accused of holding back incriminating evidence against their officers, even when none exists because cameras weren’t turned on or videos were accidentally erased. Initial studies in some cities have shown that individual officers often fail to turn on cameras when using force.
“That’s going to be an issue,” said Major County Sheriffs Association President Donny Youngblood. “We don’t erase videos. We don’t alter videos… but not everyone in the public believes that.”
Existing state disclosure laws typically provide exemptions for ongoing criminal and personnel investigations. Open government advocates say the privacy challenges of body camera videos can be addressed within those laws — for example by editing out or blurring identifying details before videos are made public.
But the White House, through the Task Force on 21st Century Policing it created in the wake of violence in Ferguson, Missouri, suggested new restrictions this month, despite President Barack Obama’s promise that the videos would improve transparency in policing.
The task force warned that releasing videos showing use of force, “even when lawful and appropriate,” can undermine trust in police, and that images showing minors and graphic events raise concerns. It said public-records laws need updating to protect the privacy of people in these recordings.
Obama has proposed a $75 million program to help agencies buy the cameras.
But the desire for transparency is colliding against competing interests in state legislatures.
A bill approved by Arizona’s Senate this month is among the most hostile to public access.
It would strip the public’s ability to review “the most reliable, contemporaneous records” of police conduct, Phoenix lawyer David Bodney complained.
“Why would we adopt an enhanced form of documentation of law enforcement activity, only to forbid public inspection of those documents? It’s nonsensical,” said Bodney, who is lobbying against the bill on behalf of The Arizona Republic newspaper and a local NBC affiliate.
The bill declares that body camera recordings are not public records, and as such can be released only if the public interest “outweighs the interests of privacy or confidentiality or the best interests of the state.”
That wording would make getting a court order very difficult, Bodney said.
Its sponsor, Arizona Republican Sen. John Kavanagh, said that without such protections, unscrupulous website operators could post compromising videos of people and extort payments to remove them.
“Every time there is a victim of a violent crime, they’ll want the video and they will post pictures of the distraught, crying crime victim that’s on the camera,” he said.
Florida’s legislation says body camera recordings could “be used for criminal purposes if they were available upon request,” and exempts places where people have a “reasonable expectation of privacy.”
“We do not want the voyeuristic public requesting video of the inside of someone’s house,” said its sponsor, Florida Democrat Christopher Smith.
A bill in Washington state, approved in a House committee, requires people who don’t appear in videos to get a court order to see them. Otherwise, said Rep. Drew Hansen, a Democrat, the public records law would permit “broad distribution of very, very intimate, sensitive footage.”
Bellingham, Washington, Police Chief Clifford Cook suspended his body camera program after receiving a broad public records request for recordings made during an initial rollout.
“It was a very painful lesson for us,” Cook told lawmakers. “We found that the staff time necessary and the cost involved for review, redaction and release prevented us from providing a fully funded program.”

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Nicaraguan revenues for remittances increase

by the El Reportero’s wire services

Nicaraguan family remittances accounted for 183 million USD in the first two months of this year, representing an increase of $7.4 million USD compared to the same period of 2014, indicated data issued by the Central Bank today.
According to the Central bank report, the total amount of remittances sent reached $88.9 million USD in January and $94.1 million USD in February, while the remittances in January 2014 totaled $85.6 million USD and in February 2014 $90 million USD.
In 2014 Nicaragua reported more than $1.13 billion USD in remittances.
According to the report, Nicaraguan remittances in 2014 were sent mainly from the United States, Costa Rica, Spain and Panama.

Tribute to Panamanian mural painter
The French Alliance in Panama prepares an exhibition in tribute to the artist Virgilio Ortega Santizo, considered the mural of political struggles and nationalist sentiment in the country.
Under the slogan “Panama, our America and the world from the perspective of the teacher,” the audience will appreciate -from 8 to 23 April- 152 works of the late painter and musician of international renown, struck by the strength of his revolutionary ideas.
Graduated from the National School of Arts, in 1976 organizes and directs the muralist Felicia Santizo brigade, along with other intellectuals and Panamanian artists, devoting himself to painting murals alluding to the struggle for the return of the Canal and territorial sovereignty, in the streets of country.
Other historical events of the Isthmian nation as the battle of Calidonia Bridge and the patriotic fervor of the National Institute students also were reflected in his paintings.
Along with the brigade Felicia Santizo, a teacher to serve the people, came to Nicaragua, where he remained from 1979 to 1981 as part of the support provided by Panama in the reconstruction of the Central American nation.
His print was also present in Venezuela, where he participated in the late 80s of last century in an exhibition with “Panama in the Bolivarian struggles” and “The Congress anfitriónico Panama” paintings that now lie there.

Increase in kidnapping of migrants in Mexico
The cases of kidnapping of Central American migrants reported to the Mexican government multiplied by 10 in just one year, according to figures from the National Institute of Migration (INM) released Monday.
In 2013, 62 complaints were reported kidnapping of migrants.; 37 Hondurans, 19 Salvadorans, five Guatemalans and a Nicaraguan citizen.
In 2014, the report said, there were 682 cases; 365 Hondurans, 200 Salvadorans, 100 Guatemalans and 17 Nicaraguans.
Since 2012 the Direction of Immigration Control and Verification began recording and compiling statistics related to violations of human rights of migrants.
In that year, 77 cases of assistance to illegal migrants by kidnapping cases. Of these, 50 were Hondurans, 12 Guatemalans and 15 from El Salvador, according to the INM.

Summit of the Americas, a chance to Panamanian businesspeople
The Summit of the Americas will be a unique opportunity for the country to show how much it can offer, Jose Zluis Ford, president of the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (CCIAP) said today.
Thus, we are proposing that the Business Forum, the sessions of which will be held on April 9-10, debates issues of common interest for the region, as logistics, distribution, border, bilateral agreements in Central America, financial services from and to Panama, and others. , he told Prensa Latina.

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Mexican Nights in San Leandro

by the El Reportero’s staff

The Organizing Committee of the Cultural Exchange Mexico USA 2015 invites you to enjoy the traditional Mexican Nights.
The singer and interpreter Laura San Pablo, will be the invited artist of the night. The event will be full of entertainment and dinner, while the Folkloric Mexican Ballet of Carlos Moreno performs his best repertoire.
It will take place at the Puerto Bello Mexican Restaurant, 14680 Washington Ave. San Leandro, Calif. On Sunday, March 22, from 4 to 8 p.m. Mexican nights is an every-Sunday event.

Carnaval San Francisco to name new royals at Carnaval King & Queen competition
Sequined and feathered dancers will test their sassiest Latin and Caribbean moves against each other in hopes of being voted Carnaval San Francisco royalty at the annual Carnaval San Francisco King & Queen Competition, to be held Saturday, March 28 at 7 p.m. at the Brava Theater in San Francisco.  The winners will lead the 37th Annual Carnaval San Francisco Grand Parade on Sunday, May 24, 2015.
It is anticipated that more than 20 contestants will compete in the Carnaval King & Queen Competition, an exciting and tough competition judged by a 5-person panel of leaders and master artists from San Francisco’s dance community.  Contestants will be scored on their costume, dance technique, overall performance, audience response and Carnaval spirit. The winning pair will receive a cash prize of $500 each, and will have several opportunities to showcase their talent at upcoming Carnaval SF related events.  In addition, they will ride on the leading float in the Carnaval SF Grand Parade on Sunday, May 24, which will be broadcast live on KOFY TV.
The Brava Theater is located at 2781 24th Street in San Francisco; doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the competition, available at the door, are $17 each. Purchasing advance tickets online at www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org is recommended. Last year’s event sold out.
10thAnnual Bay Area Flamenco Festival
Festival Flamenco Gitano – The Bay Area Flamenco Festival will feature Spain’s top dancers and musicians for a week of special events this spring (March-22-29) in celebration of the Festival’s 10th Anniversary. Featured artists direct from Spain include dancers Concha Vargas, Pepe Torres and Gema Moneo and singers Esperanza Fernández and José Valencia.
Sunday, March 22, 7 p.m. at the Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St., San Francisco.
Other Flemenco events:
Cante Jondo: Cante Gitano
Esperanza Fernández & Jose Valencia, on Friday, on March 27, 8 p.m., at the Brava Theater, 2781 24 St., St, San Francisco,
Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1224405
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5TguxEE_N0
Exotic music of the old and new world
Marin Baroque Chamber Choir and period instrument Orchestra, with renowned early brass ensemble The Whole Noyse and Music Director Daniel Canosa, present Birds of Paradise: Exotic Music of the Old & New Worlds. Janequin, Flecha & Fernandez, and music of the Latin American missions.  Sixteen voices, percussion, vihuela, Baroque guitar, shawm, cornett, and early brass instruments are all featured.
On the program:
Le Chant des Oiseaux full of bird song by Clément Janequin; an ensalada, San Sabeya Gugurumbé, with a mixture of Castilian, Catalan, Portuguese, and African vernacular by Mateo Flecha; the plaintive Con Que La Lavare by Juan Vasquez, a popular poem and song in 16th-century Spain and a beautiful example of a villancico; and other music from the Latin American missions.
Sunday, March 29, 8 pm, La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley
$5-$25. Tel. 415-497-6634, email marinbaroque@gmail.com. Tickets  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1228865 (Berkeley).

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