Chupacabra devours cats and rabbits in the Ukraine­

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

The California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to vote Thursday, August 5, on a proposed decision that would give critical protections for Californians facing shutoff of their electricity and gas service. Last winter, The Greenlining Institute joined with a coalition of consumer advocates to push for such protections as Californians – battered by a weak economy and soaring unemployment – struggled to pay their utility bills and shut-offs spiked during the coldest, rainiest part of the  year. The PUC held an emergency hearing on the crisis Dec. 16.

Chupacabra Devours Rabbits and Cats in Ukraine

Panic over a mysterious creature, which attacks humans and animals, has reached Ukraine’s Kiev. It goes about the so-called Chupacabra, which has been recently spotted in Ukraine’s Lvov, Cherkassk and Kiev regions.It ate almost all of my neighbor’s  rabbits, and even killed a cat of another neighbor,” a woman named only as Nina, a resident of a village near Kiev said.Eye-witnesses said that the creature looked like a big dog with huge fi – ery eyes.

The bizarre animal diffused unbearable stench. Village residents also said that the animal was hunting only at night time.“We stay on duty at night near our rabbits and chickens to protect them. The men decided to kill the creature, but they have not seen it so far,” the woman said.Chupacabra is no longer a demonic monster of Latin America only. The creature appeared in Russia and Ukraine several years ago. It was terrorizing Western Ukraine in 2009.

Local residents would often come across dead bodies of rabbits and chickens. People said that it often attacked pigs and left traces of strong jaws on wooden fences.When hunting on domestic animals, the creature  would penetrate into rabbit and chicken houses, strangle the animals and suck their blood out. It killed nearly 100 rabbits in Ukraine’s  Zakarpatskaya region.

Local farmers believe that it was a Chupacabra.The mysterious monster appeared in Russia too. The blood-sucking creature appeared in the Orenburg region of Russia in 2006. Farmers lost dozens of turkeys, sheep and goats. They originally believed that the animals had been killed by bobcats or wolves, but these predators eat prey’s meat, whereas the creature only drank animals’ blood. No one has been able to explain the bizarre deaths of domestic animals.

The Chupacabra, which literally translates from Spanish as ‘goat sucker’, is a phenomenon that appeared in 1995 in the mountains of Puerto Rico. The name comes from the animal’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary.

Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1990 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail. Biologists and wildlife management officials view the chupacabras as a contemporary legend.

A woman, who saw the beast attacking a domestic animal, described the creature as a kangaroolike monster with furious  red eyes. Another eye-witness said that the beast was three or four feet high and had dinosaur-like skin. The animal also had large red eyes, long fangs and spikes on the back of its head and back

by José de la Isla  Hispanic Link News Service

HOUSTON — The so-called “immigration” issue is really a metaphor, a proxy for power plays by various factions where problem-solving is the least of the the concerns.

The civic-minded public, who want pragmatic solutions, is led down a path that seems complex, like ideological quicksand, and where everyone is betwixt and between. Actually, it’s not that complicated.

In shorthand, here’s what needs to be done: (1) legalize illegals, (2) wage fines on the surreptitious entry or require community service, (3)  a prescription for a new policy is contained in Darrell M. West’s book, “Brain Gain: Rethinking Immigration Policy,” (4) negotiate with Mexico and Canada for a new type of North American cross-border security, and (5) North Americanize by allowing law-abiding people freedom of movement around their continent but hat does not mean transferring citizenship.

Any three of the five recommendations above gets the country moving again and there is no need for acrimony nor anyone having the screaming memes.

By making these values clear, the logjam is broken that political beavers erected to sustain an untenable status quo.

Most important is that what’s at issue is not “immigration” but breaking up a whole lifestyle of bogus leadership, where one issue after another is stolen from the public. Individual citizens have been role-played into virtually needing a Ph.D. simply to have an informed opinion on this matter. Meanwhile, those responsible to coming up with solutions have the Library of Congress and other research services at their disposal to make informed decisions.

Surely it’s obvious by now something is very wrong and much of the public is being conned in this.

The proof of that became evident right after the Justice Department filed suit to halt the Arizona law that usurps federal authority and allows edgy discretions of its agents to infringe or verge on civil rights violations. You would think the Libertarians and the Tea Partiers would have been all over this intrusion and breach of personal rights. But they are not and the hypocrisy exposes the ideological charade that the “issues” are really about some people’s rights and not about People’s rights.

Why have the Libertarians and the Tea Partiers not weighed in against the Arizona law? Well, you know the answer?

On the left side of the page are those who run for cover at the fi rst sign of public opposition or heat. That political class simply wants leverage for future elections, to exploit the problem and profile themselves as answer-givers, which looks now more and more like an extortion racket.

As the first of seven lawsuits was heard on July 15, a July 6 TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence (TIPP) poll seemed to have a lot of sway on general opinion. It showed that 51 percent of Americans support Arizona’s law.

But that contrasts with an ABC News-Washington Post poll in June showing that 57 percent support giving illegal immigrants the right “to live here legally  if they pay a fi ne andmeet other requirements.

Drew Westen and Celinda Lake researched the contradictory information- -conducted in conjunction with the Republican fi rm Public Opinion Strategies and sponsored by America’s Voice. They found that 84 percent of people who support the Arizona law also support comprehensive immigration reform. Moreover, voters overwhelmingly want a national solution carried out by the federal government rather than state-by-state measures.

Frank Sharry, America’s Voice’s director, observed, the Arizona law is popular not because it is anti-immigrant but because the public is “in an anti-Washington mood.” Immigration is a stand in, a metaphor, for slow or no response to a public priority.

It’s not the first time that immigration is held hostage fearsplotation, hostility, and political agendas. Here’s one time  when the solution is easy. Getting off the question and doing something by policy-makers is what’s hard.

Instead of talking any more about Immigration Reform, isn’t it time to demand that Washington Reform Immigration. Hispanic Link.

[José de la  Isla writes a weekly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service. His 2009 digital book, sponsored by The Ford Foundation, is available free at www.DayNightL ifeDeathHope.com. He is author of The Rise of  Hispanic Political Power (2003). E-mail him at joseisla3@yahoo.com.]

by Luis Carlos López & Charlie Ericksen

For those with stunted memories: as the presidential primaries began unfolding in 2008, Hillary Clinton was the Hispanic candidate of choice. When Barack Obama became the Democratic Party’s standard- bearer, some Eastern pundits questioned whether Mexican-American voters could get really excited about a black candidate.

They found out. Lopsided Hispanic majorities in swing states proved decisive in Obama’s historic elevation to the White House. Crucial in their trust was Obama’s “guarantee” — his own chosen, oft-repeated word — that, if elected, he’d drive a bill through Congress in his first year as occupant of the Casa Blanca.

His effort wasn’t a convincing one, and he blamed his failure on the Republicans.

A Gallup Poll last month showed who Hispanics are coming to believe. Their support for Obama dropped 12 points since January and an unhappy 21 points for those interviewed  in Spanish.

President Obama’s July 1 speech on immigration reform at American University — his first since taking office — introduced nothing new. It drew reactions that ran the gamut  from ridicule to fawning praise. Not unexpectedly, most Latino leaders continued to profess their trust in the President’s ability to usher, eventually, something through Congress.

“What you won’t see is us throw more dirt on our president. We are disillusioned, but we are not going to throw in the towel,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesperson for The Coalition for Humane Immigrant  Rights of Los Angeles.

Other leaders moved in lockstep to protect Obama’s back,

Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund president  Thomas Saenz offered, President Obama has reaf-  firmed the urgency of enacting progressive immigration reform…”

National Council of La Raza president Janet Murguía called the address “a necessary step in the right direction (but) speech alone is not enough.

Center for Community Change executive director Deepak Bhargava; “This is the kind of strong leadership on immigration reform we’ve needed to see and  hear from the President…”

William C. Velásquez Institute president Antonio González: “A down payment on immigration reform…This represents a path to success in the near term and a needed addition to the President’s views…”

League of United Latin American Citizens Rosa Rosales signed off on a press release stating, “LULAC praises the President’s efforts being done on getting comprehensive immigration  reform passed…”

The President’s speech was terrific,” critiqued pro-immigration America’s Voice executive director Frank Sharry. “He has engaged the country in a long overdue debate, and made the choice clear…”

Hispanic columnists weren’t nearly so generous. Esther Cepeda of Chicago led off after Obama’s speech, “I wish I could get the last 45 minutes of my life back.

Andy Porras, publisher of the journal Califas in Northern California, quoted Obama the candidate on “fixing” immigration: “I cannot guarantee that it’s going to be in the first 100 days. But what I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration  bill that I strongly support and that I’m promoting and that I want to move it forward as quickly as possible.”

Porras added: “That first year has long come and gone, and there is no such bill in sight.”

Finally, Hispanic Link/ Scripps-Howard syndicate columnist José de la Isla: ”Weren’t Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan a whole lot more effective at  getting things moving? It’s hard to tell what difference (Obama’s speech) makes, except of course to those who make a living from delay politics, checkmate rhetoric and blaming the  other side for inaction.”

As another advocate framed the Hispanic dilemma: “With Republicans already kissing Hispanics off, he’s the only game in town for us.” Hispanic Link.

(López and Ericksen are Washington-based editors with Hispanic Link News Service, Email: carlo se@hispaniclink.org)

by Jonathan Farrell

Ironically, as the Americans with Disabilities Act commemorates its 20th Anniversary, California legal advocates gave a press conference on July 27 as witness to the fact that Social Security owes about $700 million to people who had been wrongly cut off from their benefits.

“That number is what the Social Security Administration calculated. But we estimate that is closer to $1 billion,” said Gerald McIntyre of the National Senior Citizens Law Center of Los Angeles office.

McIntyre spoke to the press at New American Media headquarters in San Francisco. He was part of a panel of attorneys and advocates familiar with the 1996 U.S. law saying that benefits must be cut off from SSA recipients fleeing from court prosecution.

McIntyre was the lead attorney in the civil class action law case against SSA. The lead plaintiff was Rosa Martinez of Redwood City,CA. Her disability benefits were declined because of mistaken identity with someone with same name who had a 1980 felony warrant in Miami. Martinez then enlisted legal help because SSA reps would not listen even when she presented documented proof.

“Papers were filed in the summer of 2008, and an Oakland District Court Judge made the decision in favor in Dec. 2009,” said McIntyre, making Martinez v. Astrue a landmark case. (Michael J. Astrue is the U.S. Social Security Commissioner.) Now SSA under court order is restituting over 200,000 people nationwide who were erroneously denied benefits.

This 1996 SSA law was designed to eliminate fleeing felons from the SSA re- cipient rosters. “It was one of those regulations that did not really get enforced until about eight years later,” said attorney Steve Weiss of the Bay Area Legal Aid office of Alameda County.

“This regulation was narrowly and distortedly interpreted by SSA officials, said Andy Chu, director and counselor of the Positive Resource Center of SF. It resulted in thousands of disabled and elderly people cut off from benefits.

“The potential of felons receiving SSA benefits is less than one percent of the population,” noted McIntyre.

A “felony” could be as “something as stupid as a bounced check,” said Jose Munevar, who also spoke at the press conference. In his case benefits had been cut off for just that reason. Attorney Christopher Douglas of Legal Aid of San Mateo, noted that Munevar’s situation is not that uncommon. “Many people can have a warrant issued against them for whatever reason and not even know it.”

“Something as simple as an unpaid bill going to into collections caused some SSA recipients lose benefits,” said Weiss.

“This is why we want to get the word out to the public about this. So, that if people were wrongfully cut off from their benefits they need to contact Social Security. The first step is to seek advocate help,” said McIntyre. This can also apply to some Special Veterans Benefits. As a result of the Martinez v. Astrue case many people may be entitled to as much $10,000 to $40,000 retroactively in  lost benefits or assistance through Social Security Administration.

For more information visit www.ssa.gov/ martinezsettlement. In the SF Bay Area, people can get free legal assistance by contacting Bay Area Legal  Aid at (800) 551-5554 The telephone number of El Reportero is 415-648- 3711

­ Opposers protest against Arizona law.

by local services

In San Francisco and Oakland, immigrants and community activists protested Arizona’s SB 1070, which would require police and local law enforcement to check the immigration status of people they suspect might be undocumented, on the day the law took effect. A day earlier Federal Judge Susan Bolton invalidated much of the law, but demonstrations involving thousands of people took place against the law around the country nevertheless.

In San Francisco demonstrators also protested cooperation between police and immigration agents in arresting people for deportation, in front of the office of California Attorney General Jerry Brown. Brown, a candidate for governor, ruled that San Francisco could not opt out of the Secure Communities program, which mandates such cooperation and would invalidate San Francisco’s sanctuary city ordinance. Protestors then went into Brown’s office and told one of his assistants about their objections to his action.

Renee Saucedo, an attorney with La Raza Centro Legal and a leader of the protestors, said: “It’s no coincidence that Arizona has this outrageous law, because all the proposals from Washington on immigration reform encourage the same criminalization, racial profiling and discrimination. Immigrant communities are demanding an end to these policies and laws, including “Secure Communities” and “E-Verify.” We deserve a new direction from Washington, with real change, including legalization and workers’ rights.”

In many other parts of the country, demonstrations connected the Arizona law to local anti-immigrant measures, and to an increase in enforcement actions by the Federal government. In Mississippi, the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance held a protest inside the state capitol in Jackson, in front of a statue of former Senator Theodore Bilbo. In the era in which African-Americans were beaten and even lynched for demanding voting and civil rights, Bilbo was a leader of the Dixiecrats in Congress. He was notorious for attacking African Americans, Jews, immigrants, Catholics and all progressive people.

A church choir sang “Listen Mr. Bilbo,” written by Bob and Adrienne Claiborne in 1946 and popularized by Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers. The song begins with the verse: Listen, Mr. Bilbo, listen to me I’ll give you a lesson in history. Listen and I’ll show you that the foreigners you hate Are the very same people made America great.

Bill Chandler, director of the Alliance, asked: “Is not trying to bring this xenophobic and racist Arizona law into Mississippi playing the Bilbo Card? Is it not their stated intent to intimidate and drive immigrants out of our state, just as their ancestors’ intent was to intimidate, terrorize, and drive out African Americans in the last century? And to enforce inequality on thoseleft behind?”

by the El Reportero’s news services

In response to Colombian accusations of “continued and permanent tolerance” of Colombian guerrillas on Venezuelan soil, on July 22 Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, accompanied by none other than Diego Maradona, followed through on his earlier threat and broke off all relations with Colombia, ordered the Colombian embassy in Caracas closed and gave the embassy staff 72 hours to leave the country.

This is the first time since coming to power in 1999 that Chávez has completely broken off his long tempestuous relations with neighbouring Colombia. The timing is exceedingly bad for the incoming president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, prompting much speculation in recent days about the motives, political or otherwise, of the outgoing president, Alvaro Uribe. At the end of the day that’s rather immaterial. Uribe was already isolated within the region and will leave office in rather ungainly fashion.

Uribe accused of sabotaging Santos’ rapprochement with Venezuela

Colombia’s defense minister, Gabriel Silva, showed the media behind closed doors on 15 July what he claimed was incontrovertible evidence that senior leaders of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) were hiding in Venezuela. As we go to press a week later, his government is poised to present this evidence to the Organization of American States (OAS). In the meantime, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez has threatened to sever ties with Colombia completely and ruled out attending the investiture of Presidentelect Juan Manuel Santos on 7 August. It is far from the first time the administration of President Alvaro Uribe has claimed the Farc and ELN seek sanctuary in Venezuela, so the timing of these latest revelations is more interesting than their contents.

Indigenous frustration with Morales laid bare

This month saw one of the biggest challenges to Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, Latin America’s first indigenous leader, from the country’s indigenous sector (which accounts for roughly two thirds of the population). While triggered by the approval of the five ‘leyes orgánicas’ framework laws necessary for the implementation of the new 2009 “plurinational” constitution to take effect, the show of frustration from what is one of the core planks of Morales’s support base, exposed more generally how, despite the considerable progress achieved by his administration vis-à-vis indigenous rights, certain expectations have yet to be fulfilled.

Russian-Argentinean relations have reached new level

The topic was developed further in Buenos Aires where the President of Russia arrived next day. Answering the question whether the US will be con cerned with Russia moving to Latin America that was always considered “American back yard,” Medvedev said: ”I have an impression that people in the White House are sensible. Thus I hope that it is no one’s concern. And if it is a concern, we do not care.”

Agreements were reached with Argentina regarding construction of railway road, use of Glonass satellite system, supply of military equipment and construction of a nuclear power station. The nuclear power station project is  worth several billion dollars. To promote such projects, especially to not very wealthy countries, these countries have to be provided with billions worth of loans. The orders for a part of equipment have to be placed locally. “Half of the components will be from local manufacturers,” Kirchner, Argentina’s President, confirmed. Medvedev completed his visit to the American continent in Brazil where the second summit of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) took place.

by Tiana Pugh and  Luis Carlos López

Republican and Democratic architects are latticing strategies and spending millions in their political warfare over which party will take control of the 112th Congress next January.

Their successes on Nov. 2 election day will be rooted on how well their congressional candidates appeal to Latinos, reveals a new National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Of- ficial study.

The Hispanic voting role will be most palpable in California, Colorado, Texas and Florida, says NALEO executive director Arturo Vargas. In those four competitive states, twothirds of the nation’s Hispanic registered voters reside.

Overall, NALEO’s Educational Fund projects at least 6.5 million Latinos will cast their ballots in November, a 17 percent increase over the last midterm congressional election.

Among issues of greatest concern, immigration — often considered part of a Hispanic political litmus test — has quickly el evated to become No. 1 among Latino registered voters. The NALEO survey, first shared with Hispanic Link News Service and other media July 20, showed 27 percent of the 1600 Hispanics polled — 400 in each of the four states — ranked immigration above unemployment, cost of living, health care and education.

By contrast, a January 2009 study by the Pew Hispanic Research Center showed Latinos were out of touch with immigration as a political issue despite the 2007 attempt by President Bush and the late Senator Edward Kennedy to pass a comprehensive reform bill.

Their efforts at that time were stalled by heightened racial rhetoric and what current White House director of intergovernmental affairs Cecilia Muñoz, then vice president of the National Council of La Raza, referred to as a “poisonous atmosphere.”

Muñoz commented with foresight in 2007 that the impact of the failed Senate bill would pressure state and local governments to write their own immigration legislation.

As President Obama took office, Latinos ranked immigration sixth behind the economy, education, health care, national security and the environment, the Pew Hispanic Research survey showed.

ThIs month’s NALEO presentation, mediated by Vargas at the National Press Club pitted Democratic strategist María Cardona and GOP strategist Leslie Sánchez. Each described how their party would be affected by Hispanic infl uence in November.

Cardona, a native of Bogotá, Colombia, now principal at the Dewey Square Group, said, “Latinos should definitely be looked at as a swing vote. We have seen some trends. Republicans should be very frightened.”

On immigration, Cardona echoed the message delivered by Obama, in his July 1 speech when he addressed immigration for the first time since taking offi ce. Cardona hammered home that advocacy groups and Hispanic organizations should vent their frustration on Republicans.

Afterwards, Sánchez told Hispanic Link that Obama’s call to castigate the Republican Party for its inaction was just “political spin to mobilize a Democratic Latino base for November. It is a serious issue that needs serious attention, but not just a couple of months prior to an election.”

Sánchez maintained that the immigration debate was “missing a lion” to push for a bill as late Sen. Ted Kennedy did in seeking support across the aisle. “Republicans want to see sincere efforts,” she said.

Sánchez agreed the GOP should seek Hispanic support by being more inclusive, but she made it clear that the term “com-prehensive” when attached to “immigration reform” is code for “amnesty.”

Among Republicans, “that dog won’t hunt,” she said .

Cardona countered by saying the word “comprehensive” is “the only thing that is going to get the ear of Latino voters.”

The strategists acknowledged that Arizona and its immigration law SB1070, now being challenged in federal court, was the catalyst for the elevated interest in fi nding a national solution.

Sánchez and Cardona agreed that if the issue of immigration is not addressed in Washington soon, the year 2011 isn’t likely to be a pleasant one. Hispanic Link.