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Procurenment piñata out of Hispanic reach

by Michael Marcell

A diverse group of Hispanic and other small business leaders assembled at Washington’s Capitol Hilton Hotel June 9 to sort out obstacles they are facing in winning lucrative and sustainable government contracts in fields ranging from information technology security to office cleaning services.

Thirty percent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds were dispended to small businesses, according to the Small Business Administration,. Of that figure, only 3.5 percent went to Hispanic-owned small businesses, amounting to $972 million as of June 4.

Hispanic small business owners face a substantial number of challenges in pursuit of procurement action, Stephen Denlinger, president of The Latin American Management Association and advisor the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, told the assembled entrepreneurs. “For a small Hispanic firm starting out in the federal market, just to find out where your product or service is purchased is a daunting challenge. How large are they? Are they in a position to go after a prime contract? Do they have a track record that would enable them to qualify even to bid on requirements?”

In 2002, the Census Bureau reported there were more than 1.5 million Hispanic-owned businesses operating in the United States, and Hispanics constitute 6.6 percent of all U.S. business ownership.

Denlinger said that a lot of small Hispanic businesses start out by getting subcontracts to build their company’s reputation and capital to apply for prime contracts. “They’re forming businesses at four times the national norm. It’s just amazing, the contribution the Hispanics are making to the free enterprise system.”

Bernardo Cardenal, president of Rocamar Engineering Services in Delray Beach, Fla., agreed that government paperwork has been a constant obstacle.

“Usually the RFPs (requests for proposal) are so out of my reach that I have to team with other companies, and while trying to put the teams together and write everything up in a timely fashion, you usually run out of time.” Cardenal said, warning that when companies fail to fill out their proposals properly or on time, they are disquali-fi ed.

In addition to paper-work, a constant menace to small business owners trying to operate with the government is the govern-ment itself.

President Obama sent out a memo 15 months ago directing all federal agency heads to “clarify when gov-ernmental outsourcing is or is not appropriate.” Since its release, there has been a push to turn over “inherent-ly governmental functions” to federal agencies.

Procurement attorney Robert Burton represents companies whose contracts are in jeopardy by what he calls “quota driven” re-structuring. “The President has set a goal to reduce procurement spending by seven percent in the next two fi scal years. A dramatic percentage,” he called it.

Burton said procure-ment spending has gone up naturally because of the wars in Iraq and Afghani-stan and recent natural di-sasters, all “unprecedented events that call for unprec- edented spending.” To meet Obama’s seven-percent quota, federal agencies are primarily going after small businesses.

“Unfortunately, small businesses are easy targets,because some of the work they do can probably be performed by the govern-ment, but it’s not inherently governmental,” he said.“We are seeing functions such as janitorial services, maintenance services, food services and information technology services. These are not inherently govern-mental functions. “Burton said

Burton said in addition to canceling contracts, the government recruits away small business employees because, in some instances,it does not have the exper-tise.

Burton said he plans to form a small business coalition to lobby Congress to draft legislation that would prevent the govern-ment from terminating contracts for convenience and to prevent competing against small business for employees.

Earl Hubbard, CEO of Orion Technology in Hunts-ville, Alabama, said his company lost $8.6 million in revenue this year from government in-sourcing.“We’re recommending we be exempt as small busi-nesses by aggregate sales of $35 million or less with fewer than 1,000 employ-ees, so we can prosper. “Hubbard said.

Senator Robert Mené-ndez (D-NJ) spoke to the some of the small business people who attended the Minority Roundtable Lun-cheon during a separate reception held at the Rus-sell Senate Office build-ing. Menéndez serves on the Senate’s banking and fi nance committees, and he is the chairman of the Sen-ate Democratic Hispanic Task Force.

Asked by Hispanic Link about in-sourcing and how it affects small businesses, he said it seemed “counter-intuitive to the President’s goal of creating opportunities in the federal contracting system for diversity.”

“We already have a much more limited universe than we should, and if that is being pursued, then it is only going to erode what ex-ists, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Menéndez said. Hispanic Link News Service.

(Michael Marcell is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C. Email him at Michael.M arcell306@wku.edu.)

So goes the nation

by José de la Isla

HOUSTON — Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour warned delegates to the Texas Republican convention in Dallas June 13 not to let purity be the enemy of unity.

“It’s a big party,” he told delegates, “and we need everybody who is on our side.”

“Our side?”

Texas Republicans had just approved a platform that proposed copycatting Arizona — usurping fed eral authority on suspect immigrants who are “intentionally and knowingly” in the state.

If you are undocumented, the best thing to do is to have a map of Canada in your back pocket or pretend to be asleep.

The Republicans want to regulate educators and limit the amount of bilingual education to three years, while making “American English” the official language.

That raises a multitude of questions. Try “Do East and West Texas dialects qualify as American English?” Or Where is twang linguistically in all this? What are the implications for the 91 languages spoken here in Houston? Does that mean the Vietnamese characters on some downtown streets have to come down?

More realistically, the Republicans’ Texas platform intends to define the state’s Hispanic heritage and population as foreign.

Besides being simple minded, the measures are beneath the dignity of a major twenty-first century political party. Later, when Republicans choose to undo the damage, they will find out it’s already too late for them.

The reasons are quite simple. The purging was concluded at the March Republican primary when Texas Railroad Commissioner Víctor Carrillo, the last statewide elected Hispanic official, was turned out in favor of a little-known challenger. Carrillo wasn’t reticent to point out the Republican “built-in bias” regarding his Spanish surname.

With the state political ethnic cleansing concluded,purification rites, like those of the Inquisition, are now being performed about who ought to be a Republican. And that’s why its time to say bye-bye to the state party as a lasting electoral force.

Lionel Sosa has said as much: “Democrats have the right message and Republicans have the wrong message.” That from the original architect of how Republicans even became a state majority in the first place.

Back in 1978, Republican U.S. Senator John Tower won by only one-half of one percent of the vote when Texas was a majority Democratic state. For the first time, a Republican presented a coherent message to Hispanic voters. The Democratic Party was portrayed as having double-crossed Latinos and could not be trusted to uphold important bedrock values, translated into family (economic stability and education) and conservative fiscal issues. Sosa engineered the message, as he did later for Ronald Reagan, both George Bushes, and John McCain. Altogether he participated in seven presi dential races with five wins and two losses.

Sosa shared with a Houston Chronicle reporter that if Texas turns Democratic, “We’ll never elect a Republican president again.”

The reasoning is obvious. Hispanics make up 20 percent of registered voters in Texas and 12 to 14 percent of the total voter turnout. But voter turnouts increased by 31 percent between the 2000 and 2008. Today, incumbent Gov. Rick Perry is facing a formidable challenge from Democrat, former Houston mayor, Bill White.

Political analyst Richard Murray projects that a Democratic victory formula needs only the Hispanic contribution to increase to 15 percent of the total and 70 percent for White to turn the state Democratic.

The alienating Republican platform gives Democrats a boost. It serves like the fork in the road where the Republican side says, “Don’t Vote Republican.” They have now earned a jacket that will take generations to overcome, if ever.

That’s what happened in California, where only 16 percent of Latinos have registered as Republicans since 2006, and 56 percent as Democrats and 24 percent declined an affiliation. That compares to 24 percent non-Latino voters who registered Republican, 44 percent Democrat and 26 percent independent.

As rogue Republican elements control state parties like in Texas, the tail wagging the dog will end up with the whole kit and caboodle under the bus. (Does that qualify as American English, or not? 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.DayNightLifeDeathHope.com. He is author of The Rise of Hispanic Political Power (2003). E-mail him at joseisla3@yahoo.com.]

The U.S. Bankrupsy, a fact not told to educated Americans and not covered by corporate media

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by Marvin Ramírez­

­Marvin J. Ramírez­Marv­in R­amír­ez­­­­­­

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<<Gold and silver were such a powerful money during the founding of the united states of America, that the founding fathers declared that only gold or silver coins can be “money” in America.>>

First part of a two-part series

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR :

Most of us, including those exceptionally educated PhDs in economics or historians educated in our current educational system, never been aware of some facts about our country. Things like, why states and municipalities have to present a fiscal budget in April of every year; why our currency is not actually money, as opposed to money backed by gold and silver, mandated by the Constitution; why, especially, the Federal government has to borrow money from the Federal Reserve Bank – a privately-owned bank owned by foreign institutions. These questions and more can better be understood after reading the declaration of a House Representative in Congress.

The following article describes the status of the bankruptcy of the United States of America. In a address to the U.S. Congress in 1993, Speaker-Rep. James Traficant, Jr. (Ohio) addressing the House made the following statement.

by Rep. James Traficant, Jr.

(Ohio)

Mr. Speaker, we are here now in chapter 11..Members of Congress are official trustees presiding over the greatest reorga-nization of any Bankrupt entity in world history, the U.S. Government. We are setting forth hopefully, a blueprint for our future.There are some who say it is a coroner’s report that will lead to our demise.

It is an established fact that the United States Fed-eral Government has been dissolved by the Emergency Banking Act, March 9, 1933, 48 Stat. 1, Public Law 89-719; declared by President Roosevelt, being bankrupt and insolvent. H.J.R. 192, 73rd Congress m session June 5, 1933 – Joint Resolu-tion To Suspend The Gold Standard and Abrogate The Gold Clause dissolved the Sovereign Authority of the United States and the offi-cial capacities of all United States Governmental Offi ces, Officers, and Departments and is further evidence that the United States Federal Government exists today in name only.

The receivers of the United States Bankruptcy are the International Bank-ers, via the United Nations,the World Bank and the In-ternational Monetary Fund.All United States Offices,Offi cials, and Departments are now operating within a de facto status in name only under Emergency War Pow-ers. With the Constitutional Republican form of Gov-ernment now dissolved, the receivers of the Bankruptcy have adopted a new form of government for the United States. This new form of government is known as a Democracy, being an estab-lished Socialist/Communist order under a new governor for America. This act was instituted and established by transferring and/or plac-ing the Offi ce of the Secre-tary of Treasury to that of the Governor of the Inter-national Monetary Fund.Public Law 94-564, page 8,Section H.R. 13955 reads in part: “The U.S. Secretary of Treasury receives no com-pensation for representing the United States.”

Gold and silver were such a powerful money during the founding of the united states of America, that the founding fathers declared that only gold or silver coins can be “money” in America. Since gold and silver coinage were heavy and inconvenient for a lot of transactions, they were stored in banks and a claim check was issued as a money substitute. People traded their coupons as money, or “currency.” Cur-rency is not money, but a money substitute. Redeem-able currency must promise to pay a dollar equivalent in gold or silver money. Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) make no such promises, and are not “money.” A Federal Reserve Note is a debt obligation of the federal United States government, not “money?’ The federal United States government and the U.S. Congress were not and have never been authorized by the Constitution for the united states of America to issue currency of any kind, but only lawful money, -gold and silver coin. It is essential that we comprehend the distinc-tion between real money and paper money substitute. One cannot get rich by accumu-lating money substitutes, one can only get deeper into debt. We the People no longer have any “money.” Most Ameri-cans have not been paid any “money” for a very long time, perhaps not in their entire life. Now do you comprehend why you feel broke? Now, do you understand why you are “bankrupt,” along with the rest of the country?

Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) are unsigned checks written on a closed account. FRNs are an infl atable paper system designed to create debt through infl ation (devaluation of currency). when ever there is an increase of the supply of a money substitute in the econ-omy without a corresponding increase in the gold and silver backing, infl ation occurs.

Inflation is an invisible form of taxation that irre-sponsible governments infl ict on their citizens. The Federal Reserve Bank who controls the supply and movement of FRNs has everybody fooled. They have access to an unlimited supply of FRNs, paying only for the printing costs of what they need. FRNs are nothing more than promissory notes for U.S. Treasury securities (T-Bills) – a promise to pay the debt to the Federal Reserve Bank. There is a fundamental difference between “paying” and “discharging” a debt. To pay a debt, you must pay with value or substance (i.e. gold, silver, barter or a commodity). With FRNs,you can only discharge a debt. You cannot pay a debt with a debt currency system. You cannot service a debt with a currency that has no backing in value or substance. No contract in Common law is valid unless it involves an exchange of “good & valuable consid-eration.” Un-payable debt transfers power and control to the sovereign power structure that has no inter-est in money, law, equity or justice because they have so much wealth already.

Their lust is for power and control. Since the incep-

Surveillance colonoscopy should be targeted to high-risk patients

by the Unviversity of Michigan

Overuse of widely accepted test can be excessively costly or even harmful, according to study published in Gastroenterology Surveillance colonoscopy should be targeted to high-risk patients

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Surveillance colonoscopy is effective and cost-effective when targeted to high-risk patients, according to new research from a University of Michigan physician. However, overuse of surveillance colonoscopy could be excessively costly or even harmful.

“Surveillance colonos-copy is a widely accepted and utilized practice that has the potential to decrease the burden of colorectal cancer.Yet, this practice also car-ries considerable monetary and resource costs as well as the risk of procedure-re-lated complications,” said the study’s lead author,Sameer Dev Saini, M.D.,M.S., a clinical lecturer in the U-M Department of Internal Medicine and an Investigator for Ann Arbor VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence.

“Despite these con-cerns, data supporting the long-term effectiveness of surveillance colonos-copy and the choice of op-timal surveillance strategy are limited.”

The study was published this month in study in Gas-troenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Asso-ciation (AGA) Institute.

Current guidelines recommend that patients with colonic adenomas un-dergo periodic surveillance colonoscopy. But, is doing so cost-effective? Saini and colleagues sought to answer this question by using existing data to make projections about the effec-tiveness and cost-utility of surveillance.

According to study results, colonoscopy ev-ery three years in high-risk patients and every 10 years in low-risk patients (3/10 strategy) was more costly, but also more effective than no sur-veillance. A cost-utility analysis suggested that the 3/10 strategy is the optimal strategy under the vast majority of clini-cal circumstances.

A 3/5 strategy (colo-noscopy every three years in high-risk patients and every five years in low-risk patients) was considerably more costly, but only marginally more effective. Compared to the 3/10 strategy, the 3/5 strategy resulted in five fewer cancers and one fewer cancer-related death per 1,000 patients entering surveillance.

A 3/3 strategy (colo-noscopy every three years in both high- and low-risk patients), which may be attractive to gastroenter-ologists with medico-le-gal concerns over missed neoplasia, is cost-ineffec-tive and potentially harm-ful in comparison to less intensive surveillance.

Compared to the 3/5 strategy, the 3/3 strategy resulted in two fewercan-cers and one fewer cancer-related death per 1,000 patients entering surveil-lance. However, this small incremental benefit was potentially outweighed by the inconvenience of fre-quent colonoscopies under this strategy.

“There is evidence that we are over-using colonoscopy in low-risk patients and under-using colonoscopy in high-risk patients. We need to focus our efforts on high-risk patients, who have the most to gain from these procedures,” said Saini.

Saini added that fu-ture improvements in risk stratifi cation could further enhance physicians’ abil-ity to target surveillance to those patients most likely to benefi t from this practice.

Lobo – lost in Honduras

by the El Reportero’s staff

This time last year, LatinNews flagged up the simmering coup in Honduras against the-then president Manuel Zelaya, which resulted in his removal at military gunpoint early on June 29, 2009. One year on, the new president, Porfirio Lobo, has also alleged that sections of the country’s entrenched rightwing political and business elite, which still hold sway over key state institutions, in particular the judiciary that moved against Zelaya, are now plotting against him.

Six months after taking office, Lobo appears unable to assert his authority over the myriad of conflicting lobbies in Honduras. The U.S., which fully supported Lobo’s November 2009 election as the best way out of the institutional mess created by the coup, appears concerned, but its efforts to prod things along internally have recently led to a backlash.

Juan Manuel Santos to lead Colombia

On June 20, Juan Manuel Santos of the ruling Partido de la U (PU) won the second round of the presidential election with a solid 69.05 percent of the vote, defeating the Partido Verde (PV)’s Antanas Mockus, who took 27.5 percent.

With over 9m votes cast in his favour, Santos was elected president with the highest number of votes in Colombia’s recent history, surpassing the previous record held by President Alvaro Uribe by more than 1.5m votes. This is no small feat considering it is the first time he has been elected to public office.

The record level of support at the polls in conjunction with Santos’ cross-party backing in congress mean that the president-elect has been given the strongest mandate of recent times and will enter the Palace of Nariño with greater freedom to shape future policies.

Mexican economic future in Brookings event

The Mexican economy was one of the most severely affected by the global crisis and the Brookings Institution will hold today a meeting to assess the Mexican economic future.

Mexico’s GDP shrank by 6.5 percent in 2009‚ the most serious contraction since the 1995 peso crisis. Even prior to the collapse, says a Brookings press release, Mexico grew at relatively low rates, even under highly favorable global economic conditions.

According to organizers, this suggests there are structural problems that must be addressed if Mexico is to bolster its development.

This Friday, the Latin American Initiative at Brookings and the Inter American Development Bank sponsor this conference with leading Mexican and international experts to discuss the future of the North American Free Trade Treaty nation.

The conference will diagnose Mexico’s development strategy and highlight key aspects of an economic agenda to take Mexico beyond the global economic crisis. (Latin News and Prensa Latina contributed to this article.)

Latino entrepeneurs take swings at federal procurement piñata

By Michael Marcell

A diverse group of Hispanic and other small business leaders assembled at Washington’s Capitol Hilton Hotel June 9 to sort out obstacles they are facing in winning lucrative and sustainable government contracts in fields ranging from information technology security to office cleaning services.

Thirty percent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds were dispensed to small businesses, according to the Small Business Administration,. Of that figure, only 3.5 percent went to Hispanic-owned small businesses, amounting to $972 million as of June 4.

“Hispanic small business owners face a substantial number of challenges in pursuit of procurement action,” Stephen Denlinger, president of The Latin American Management Association and advisor the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, told the assembled entrepreneurs. “For a small Hispanic firm starting out in the federal market, just to find out where your product or service

s purchased is a daunting challenge. How large are they? Are they in a position to go after a prime contract? Do they have a track record that would enable them to qualify even to bid on requirements?”

In 2002, the Census Bureau reported there were more than 1.5 million Hispanic-owned businesses operating in the United States, and Hispanics constitute 6.6 percent of all U.S. business ownership.

Denlinger said that a lot of small Hispanic businesses start out by getting subcontracts to build their company’s reputation and capital to apply for prime contracts. “They’re forming businesses at four times the national norm. It’s just amazing, the contribution the Hispanics are making to the free enterprise system.”

Bernardo Cardenal, president of Rocamar Engineering Services in Delray Beach, Fla., agreed that government paperwork has been a constant obstacle. “Usually the RFPs (requests for proposal) are so out of my reach that I have to team with other companies, and while trying to put the teams together and write everything up in a timely fashion, you usually run out of time.”

Cardenal said, warning that when companies fail to fill out their proposals properly or on time, they are disqualified.

A CONSTANT MEN-ACE

In addition to paper-work, a constant menace to small business owners trying to operate with the government is the govern-ment itself.

President Obama sent out a memo 15 months ago directing all federal agency heads to “clarify when gov-ernmental outsourcing is or is not appropriate.” Since its release, there has been a push to turn over “inherent-ly governmental functions” to federal agencies.

Procurement attorney Robert Burton represents companies whose contracts are in jeopardy by what he calls “quota driven” re-structuring. “The President has set a goal to reduce procurement spending by seven percent in the next two fi scal years. A dramatic percentage,” he called it.

Burton said procure-ment spending has gone up naturally because of the wars in Iraq and Afghani-stan and recent natural di-sasters, all “unprecedented events that call for unprec-edented spending.” To meet Obama’s seven-percent quota, federal agencies are primarily going after small businesses.

“Unfortunately, small businesses are easy targets,because some of the work they do can probably be performed by the govern-ment, but it’s not inherently governmental,” he said.“We are seeing functions such as janitorial services,maintenance services, food services and information technology servicesThese are not inherently govern-mental functions. “Burton said.

Burton said in addition to canceling contracts, the government recruits away small business employees because, in some instances,it does not have the exper-tise.

Burton said he plans to form a small business coali-tion to lobby Congress to draft legislation that would prevent the government from terminating contracts for convenience and to pre-vent competing against small business for employees.

Earl Hubbard, CEO of Orion Technology in Hunts-ville, Alabama, said his company lost $8.6 million in revenue this year from government in-sourcing.“We’re recommending we be exempt as small busi-nesses by aggregate sales of $35 million or less with fewer than 1,000 employ-ees, so we can prosper. “Hubbard said.

DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

Senator Robert Menén-dez (D-NJ) spoke to some of the small business people who attended the Minority Roundtable Luncheon dur-ing a separate reception held at the Russell Senate Offi ce building. Menéndez serves on the Senate’s banking and fi nance committees, and he is the chairman of the Sen-ate Democratic Hispanic Task Force.

Asked by Hispanic Link about in-sourcing and how it affects small businesses,he said it seemed “counter-intuitive to the President’s goal of creating opportuni-ties in the federal contract-ing system for diversity.”

“We already have a much more limited universe than we should, and if that is being pursued, then it is only going to erode what ex-ists, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Menéndez said. Hispanic Link.

Workers introduce worker’s Bill of Rights

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Workers ask for labor justice at S.F. City hall. (by Leyney Parra)

by news services­

 

A group of labor representatives,workers and community leaders gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall under a new umbrella organization,San Francisco Progressive Workers Alliance (SFPWA) to introduce a low wage worker Bill of Rights and unite against the Mayor’s budget cuts, which cuts vital services and balances the budget off the backs of the most vulnerable.

Low-wage workers are in crisis with the prominence of wage theft, exploitation,and unemployment, and the crisis will only grow with the Mayor’s so-called “balanced budget,” an organization’s communiqué said.

The new organization is comprised of members of Latino Day-laborers and Domestic workers of the Day Laborer Program, Women’s Collective and Mujeres Unidas y Activas in the Mission, Filipino Caregivers of the Filipino Community Center in the Excelsior, African American and Latino workers of POWER in the Bayview and others.

On Wednesday the PWA will announce the launch of a Low-Wage Worker Bill of Rights that will: 1) Call for job opportunities and training; 2) Protect workers rights and enforce labor laws; 3) Support responsible businesses;4) Protect the social safety net, and 5) Demand equal treatment for all workers because in San Francisco there should be NO second-class workers!

 

The Post Office and one of the world’s most powerful organizations: the International Postal Union – Part 2

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by Marvin Ramírez

­Marvin J. Ramírez­Marv­in R­amír­ez­­­­­­

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The Post Office and the International Universal Postal Union

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Second of a two parts series – It happened many years ago and most of the people today are not even aware of the creation of one of the most powerful organizations in the world, we are not talking about the United Nations, nor UNESCO, but the Universal Postal Union. Many of us have seen stamps in documents like Birth Certificates or even checks, but never wonder what is the meaning of this? The following article that we received in our offices recently offers an ample idea of what is really going on behind this humongous organization, we proudly publishes this article for learning purposes of the history of this important organization.

The UPU (Universal Postal Union) in Berne, Switzerland, is an extremely significant organization, It was formulated by treaty. No nation can be recognized as a nation without being in international admiralty in order to have a forum common to all nations for engaging in commerce and resolving disputes. That is why the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation could not be recognized as a country.Every state (colony) was sovereign, with its own common law, which foreclosed other countries from interacting with the USA as a nation in international commerce. Today, international admiralty is the private jurisdiction of the International Monetary Fund, et al., the creditor in the bankruptcy of essentially every government on Earth.

by unknown sender

The legal writers were forced to make the definitions wide enough to encompass the private rural carriers, and private advertisers that have placed advertisements on our door-steps, or in our hands. We have thought about this is-sue a lot, and we did not find any other better alternative. Any loophole would have devastated many consum-ers, and caused a plethora of other laws to be enacted to cover the loophole.

Additionally, on the back of the first page, we authenticate the authority of the Post Offi ce with an endorsement, and simul-taneously authenticate our identity by placing a postage meter stamp, from a post-age meter machine that we have purchased in advance,on the lower quarter of the back of the fi rst page. All commercial papers have endorsements to authen-ticate their authenticity. Again, we autograph across the meter stamp, and date. The postage meter stamp is better than a regular stamp,and stamps are said to have rendered seals superfl uous. The purchase of a meter ma-chine requires identifi cation in case the meter machine is tampered with or is stolen. The meter number on the meter stamp can be traced back to the owner (litigant) and therefore authenticates the endorser better than any seal.

What are we doing by placing our paper work into the jurisdiction of the Universal Postal Union? To answer that question,we need to look at the structure and finance of that organization. The of-fi cial aims and purposes of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) are two: to form a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of correspondence; and to secure the organization and improvement of the postal services and to promote in this sphere the development of international collabora-tion. The organization of the circulation of the inter-national mail is based on the freedom of transit, . . . as a result, therefore, only by enduring absolute freedom of transit can the effectual universality of the postal territory be attained. Free-dom of transit is guaranteed throughout the entire terri-tory of the union. Admin-istrations may exchange,through the intermediary of one or more of their number,both closed mails and open mail according to the needs of the traffi c and the require-ments of the service.

Starting in 1878, the union created a category for territories which were recognized as non indepen-dent but which were given all the rights of union mem-bership afforded to clearly independent countries. So the members of the union have been operating as sovereign, independent countries, and their cur-rency is based on the gold French Franc. Gold is the acceptable form of money in international jurisdic-tions, or paper backed by gold. When we purchase postal money orders, the money order is backed by gold, not the fiat money called Federal Reserve Notes. The FRNs, as some call them, are based instead on a promise to pay a debt. The debt is based only upon the full faith and credit of the United States, and lacks any intrinsic value.

Some of the obligations in the convention can, in some states, be introduced into domestic practice with-out involving a nation’s leg-islative process or without even reaching the desk of the chief executive. The Union also sets forth the principle that postal admin-istrations are responsible for loss of, theft from, or dam- age to, insured items, and then goes into detail about exceptions to the principie of responsibility, cessation of responsibility, how the sender is indemnifi ed, and the manner in which re-sponsibility is apportioned between postal administra-tions.

There was only one instance, according to the Belgium delegate, where the bureau would have any power even approximating the right to intervene in the affairs of administrations,that is in the arbitration of disputes, but in this instance the bureau could act only when requested to do so by an administra-tion. The Functions of the International Bureau for the Universal Postal Union include acting as a clear-inghouse for information concerning postal matters. It also functions as a clear-inghouse for international postal accounts and as a conciliator and arbitrator in disputes over postal matters between administrations.

So what we are doing,by placing the postage stamp on our admiralty pa-perwork and endorsement on the back of the first page, is using the authority of the sovereignty of the longest surviving, solvent,governmental authority in the United States. Through the admiralty, we are tak-ing the Post-Offi ce and the judicial system back some two hundred years, and simultaneously creating a new territory with all the rights of union member-ship afforded to clearly in-dependent countries. We are establishing the laws in this new territory with the paper work that we have fi led.

As we will see later, we are also correcting the errors of the founding forefathers;in that we are also bringing the equal rights that they neglected to give to all the people in the United States.We are eliminating all of the legal deficiencies that handicap the sovereign sta-tus of us, the people, within the court. We are guaranteed that all of the parties in the case: the clerk, judge, bai-liff, and litigants have the freedom of transit in the admiralty court. If the clerk,judge, or other offi cial fails to deliver our documents as directed, or delays them, or obstructs them, that person is faced with several penal-ties within the postal rules and admiralty rules. The fi nal advantage is that if we are obstructed, because of the transitory nature of the action, we are in the admi-ralty and can take the case offshore for adjudication in any court in the world.

 

CCSF to showcase students’ design program on generating electricity

by the El Reportero’s staff

Students from 23 San Francisco Unified School District high schools are enrolled in a FREE, two-week iDesign program at City College of San Francisco.

CCSF Engineering Professor Mark Martin has organized this program for the second summer, which showcases presentations of their building projects of small, wind-turbines to generate electricity.

These presentations are the culminating activity of what students have learned about electronics, product design, manufacturing, and renewable energy. The students will have also visited a number of local factories, and listened to engineering guest speakers talk about technology, engineering and manufacturing.

On Friday, June 18, starting at 3 p.m., at Science Hall, Room 47, City College of San Francisco Ocean Campus, 50 Phelan Avenue, San Francisco.

Emergency town hall meeting for actions against SB1070

Last month on May 29, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their allies across the country took to the streets to protest Arizona’s racist law SB1070; among them were Bay Area community members that made the long trek from San Francisco to Phoenix aboard what they called the “Freedom Bus.”

The “Freedom Riders” are now back and are calling for the defense of immigrant communities, which are under attack.They are organizing a town hall meeting to chart a way to defeat SB1070 and the federal “Secure Communities” program.

National nurse protest and court hearing

National Nurse Protest in Support of Univ. of Calif.RNs’ Right to Strike for Patient Safety.

Registered nurses from throughout California and the nation will join their University of California Medical Center colleagues Friday to protest UC’s attempt to silence nurses by blocking their right to strike for patient safety. In recent weeks, thousands of registered nurses across the country fighting for safe patient staffing have taken similar actions.

The protest will be followed by a hearing in San Francisco Superior Court on a planned one-day strike by 11,000 University of California RNs. Last week, a Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order against the strike, acting on a request from the University of California and a state labor relations agency whose members are appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,long an adversary of California nurses.

Friday, June 16, 2010, at 8:30 a.m., at San Francisco Superior Court, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco

Walk in the Wild at Oalkland Zoo

The Oakland Zoo’s Annual Fundraiser, Walk in the Wild 2010. Now in its eighteenth year, Walk in the Wild – An Epicurean Escapade! is one of the Bay Area’s premier fundraising events.

This year, the engagement will feature more than 90 restaurants, caterers,bakeries, wineries, and breweries. With each reservation,guests will receive a commemorative wine glass and plate to enjoy beverages and delectable cuisine.

This adult-only event supports the Oakland Zoo’s conservation, education, and animal enrichment programs. On Saturday, June 26, from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

You may also contact the Zoo directly at 510-632-9525 ext 154. Due to the service of alcohol, all guests must be 21 years of age or older.

Also on the same day,from 8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m., Dancing & Dessert Under the Stars. Celebrate into the evening hours with live music, dancing, and delicious desserts. Masterpiece,a collective of Bay Area artists, will perform live with a mix of song favorites including Pop, Soul, Funk, R&B, and Jazz.

New salsa Nicaraguan star promotes CD in San Francisco

por Marvin Ramírez

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Sergio D’ Fernández PHOTO BY MARVIN RAMIREZ

The musical glory in Nicaraguan salsa music is starting to take off in the U.S. as the star Luis Enrique – the salsero – tries to correct ‘errors’ of the past after his unpatriotic statements darkened his c­areer for several years by identifying Puerto Rico as his beloved country over his own native one, Nicaragua. Certainly it cost him. His artistic career went down the drain for many years as thousands of his followers turned their backs on him.

Now, Luis Enrique, in a flash tour to the Golden Gate city—which could be referred to as fraud to the fans—got paid approximately $40,000 for his presentation, according to rumors, while he only sang for one hour. Nevertheless,he gained favor from his countrymen and other nationalities in the end, with a sweet flavor during the dance-concert event at the Hilton on May 8. To close the night, he sang the famous revolutionary song: Nicaragua, Nicaragüita probably as an apology to the public that felt betrayed by its idol. It could have been for convenience.

The Nicaraguans follow their idols, undoubtedly.

During the era of Santana Band, they followed the small giant closely, the big of the big ones who raised Nicaragua up to the highest heights—the timbalero, José ‘ Chepito ‘ Aréas­.Other musicians did not come so highly, but have kept themselves in the public eye, such as Cali Alemán, with his success of Torero, which he recorded with the successful Colombian Orquesta Guayacán. Roger Danilo, and others to name a few, established a presence in the exclusive salsa market as well.

Nevertheless, one who has been sounding in silence as was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth as other musicians did, who were supported by recording labels or investment capitals during the take off of their careers, has just been born. His music is already breaking through in air time on radio stations and appearances TV networks.

Everything began with his own effort, and then pushed by local friends who, after listening to his music, became convinced that he is the new star to shine in the sky.

With a voice that has no need to envy singers like Marc Anthony or Luis Enrique, Sergio D’ Fernández has the vocal and musical hardware to be the new idol of salsa—in addition to style, personality and humility to win over hearts.

In an exclusive interview with El Reportero,D’ Fernández proudly iden-tifi es as part of the neighbor-hood of Managua, Máximo Jerez and other humble quarters, like the Barrio Los Pescadores – despite having been born in Los Angeles,California.

He emphasized his dis-covery at the age of 14.

“I approached one trio that was playing and asked them if they would allow me to sing and they let me…when I started singing the song, Amor a Dios (Love to God), they were amazed.The Postmen was the name of the local trio—they all were mailmen at the Post office of Nicaragua.” D’ Fernández joined the group thereafter.

From this opportunity,D’ Fernández began his singing career—other of-fers would come later. A salsa group looking for a singer hired him, establish-ing his career in salsa music.He sang with that group for 15 years, and then broke ground with his own music under its own direction and name.

From his birth town and domicile of Los Angeles,the second of his two CD recordings in 2009 is the jewel that is now springing him to fame. A song off this recording, Nicaragua is my Land, has shaken patriotic emotions and is on top of the hit parade at the national level in Nica- ragua. From radio stations in Managua, in the majority of the departments, includ-ing the Atlantic Coast; and internationally from El Salvador, Cuba, Sweden,Germany and Spain, Sergio D’ Fernández has received congratulations. The song mentions the majority of the departments.

D’ Fernández plans to write a song in honor of Chepito Aréas and have him play in his next CD as a Special Guest.

As the old proverb says, “Nobody is a prophet in one’s own land.” The singer, who started selling his CD on his own and doing publicity personally at a local level, found the help of a few new friends and countrymen in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A friend of former box-ing champion Mike Galo,in Los Angeles asked Galo to helping promote a singer friend. Galo contacted promoter Alex Ocón and a friend Henry “ El Chele” Rodríguez in San Francisco.With their help, Sergio D’ Fernández got a much-need-ed push to bring his music to radio programs in San Fran-cisco and to the juke boxes of local restaurants.

It is hoped that the motto of Sergio’s career take should be: “Sergio D’ Fernández takes off from San Francisco,” Galo said.

“Sergio D’ Fernández will soon be in concert in San Francisco, “said Alex Acón, of Ocón Productions.For more information visit: http://www.myspace.com/ sergiodfernandez

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