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New bill aims to make ‘smart meters’ mandatory for entire nation

by Jonathan Benson

There is a sinister agenda underway to forcibly convert every standard electric meter in the U.S. to the “smart” variety under the guise of promoting renewable energy interests. And one of the latest pieces of Trojan horse legislation pushing for this ominous transformation is the Smart Grid Advancement Act of 2013, introduced by Representative Jerry McNerney (D-Cal.) and co-authored by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Penn.), which would force utilities all across the country to convert their customers to smart meters.

The new bill, as stated in a recent press release posted on Rep. McNerney’s website, would require virtually all energy utility companies nationwide to implement so-called “smart grid technologies,” which in turn would require the installation of smart meters on customers’ homes and businesses. Smart meters, as you may already be aware, contain wireless communication components that are not only a serious threat to human health, but also a monumental detriment to personal privacy.

But crafty politicians like Rep. McNerney and Rep. Cartwright are couching the technology as a viable way to help save people money by lowering their electricity bills. This explanation, of course, is meant to divert attention away from the not-so-enticing fact that the technology is really nothing more than a massive, interconnected government spying and control apparatus.

“[The bill] would apparently require all electricity providers, including rural cooperatives and municipal utilities, to join the ‘smart’ grid and install ‘smart’ meters,” explains the energy freedom advocacy group StopSmartMeters.org.

What else does this inauspicious bill aim to accomplish?

According to a summary of the bill, posted as H.R. 2685 at GovTrack.us — you need to read between the lines to really understand what is being stated in this summary — certified Energy Star appliances and other energy-saving products will be required to contain wireless technologies capable of communicating with both energy providers and potentially even the government.

“[T]he bill would require appliances with the Energy Star label to include wireless transmitters that cannot be turned off, in order to communicate (and presumably cough up your private data and respond to orders from Big Brother Smart Grid to switch you off at a moment’s notice, as happened to dozens of people in Northern California recently when their not-so-smart-AC program cut off their air conditioning at the height of the recent heat wave,” adds StopSmartMeters.org.

“The bill would also establish a ‘smart grid information center’ that would presumably create pro-smart-grid propaganda at the taxpayer’s expense.”

Smart meters exposed as part of NSA ‘PRISM’ spying scam Even worse is the fact that Landis Gyr, a major smart meter manufacturer that describes itself as a “world leader” in smart grid technology, let the cat out of the bag that the National Security Agency (NSA), which we now know actively spies on innocent Americans’ phone calls and text messages, also uses smart meters to spy on Americans.

Thanks to a Natural-News reader tip, we learned that Landis Gyr recently had a company voicemail message that admitted smart meter technology is part of the NSA’s “PRISM” spying and surveillance program.

Since gaining national attention about this admission, Landis Gyr has apparently altered its company voicemail message to omit this indicting information.

Your help needed to oppose HR 2685, the Smart Meter Trojan Horse Act H.R. 2685 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration, which means this is the first point of contact in effectively killing this bill. StopSmart-Meters.org has set up a helpful action page that you can use to contact not only the committee but also the bill’s sponsors and the rest of your Congressmen: http://stopsmartmeters.org.

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Gov’t urged not to keep immigration activists in solitary confinement

by the El Reportero’s wire services

Mary Meg McCarthyMary Meg McCarthy

The National Immigrant Justice Center urged the Department of Homeland Security on Friday not to hold in solitary confinement the nine immigration activists known as the DREAM 9.

The NIJC’s executive director, Mary Meg McCarthy, cited press accounts indicating that the young people were in solitary last week and that at least two of them are still in that situation.

“(S)olitary confinement should never be used to retaliate against individuals who speak out for their rights inside detention,” she said in a statement.

“If the government feels it cannot safely maintain custody of individuals who are demanding their rights but who pose no threat to the community or flight risk, then the humane solution is to release them from detention,” McCarthy said.

The activists entered the United States from Mexico on July 22 at the Port of Entry in Nogales and requested humanitarian parole as “DREAMers” – named after the proposed DREAM Act that would legalize undocumented youths who were brought to the country as children – who should never have been deported or forced to leave.

Some of them had been deported, others returned to Mexico voluntarily and three decided to go visit family members after being approved for Deferred Action, which provides a work permit and avoids deportation but does not authorize leaving the United States.

The group is waiting at Arizona’s Eloy Detention Center for a response to their request for political exile.

The DREAM 9 would have joined the 300 people who are kept in solitary confinement every day in the immigration detention system, the NIJC said.

“There is growing agreement by the medical and corrections establishment that solitary confinement is psychologically harmful, and the United Nations has called solitary confinement that extends beyond 14 days torture,” McCarthy said.

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U.S. expects immunity for its cops working in new cross-border policing program

by Steve Mertl
National Affairs Contributor
The Daily Brew

We’ve all heard of diplomatic immunity, the international convention that exempts select representatives of foreign countries from arrest and prosecution unless that protection is specifically waived by their government.

The privilege has been occasionally abused, but it’s a vital element in allowing diplomats to operate in sometimes hostile environments without fear of being detained.

But how do you feel about foreign cops being given similar immunity while operating in Canada?

That’s reportedly what the United States is asking for as part of a cross-border policing agreement with Canada.

The Canadian Press says it has obtained an RCMP briefing memo under access-to-information legislation that details the Mounties’ reservations about allowing American officers to work with legal immunity here.

[ Related: Misbehaving diplomats struggle to hide behind immunity in Canada: reports ]

“Canadians would likely have serious concerns with cross-designated officers from the U.S. not being accountable for their actions in Canada,” says the classified memo prepared for RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, a censored version of which was obtained by CP.

The Conservative government is working on a wide-ranging deal for cross-border law enforcement aimed mainly at reducing the trade bottlenecks at the Canada-U.S. border created after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The program initially allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to work with Canada Border Services agents at truck pre-clearance areas on the border, with the first two pilot projects set up at Fort Erie, Ont., and Surrey, B.C.

“In addition, we will implement ‘Next Generation’ pilot projects to create integrated teams in areas such as intelligence and criminal investigations, and an intelligence-led uniformed presence between ports of entry,” says a description of the program on Ottawa’s Action Plan web site.

But the October 2012 memo reveals that Canadian and U.S. officials are at odds over whose legal system would apply to the visiting officers, CP said.
According to the RCMP memo, these kinds of cross-border initiatives have operated on the understanding that the laws of the host country apply to illegal acts committed on its territory and that its courts would have jurisdiction, CP reported.

“However, the U.S. has recently expressed concerns with the continued application of the ‘host country law model’ and has requested that its officers be exempted from the laws or the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts in Canada in the context of the Next Gen and Pre-clearance initiatives,” the memo says, according to CP.

Public Safety Canada spokeswoman Josee Picard confirmed to CP that while U.S. customs officers working in Canadian cargo pre-clearance areas would be subject to this country’s laws, the issue remains unsettled for the policing component, which was supposed to be running by last year.

This isn’t the first instance Americans have insisted its uniformed representatives abroad be swathed in a legal bubble of red, white and blue.

The U.S. military was immune from prosecution by Iraqi authorities during its occupation of the country after the 2003 war. As American forces withdrew, the U.S. government tried to negotiate immunity for private defence contractors working for the State Department, the U.S. Army newspaper Stars and Stripes reported in 2011.

Likewise, U.S. forces in Afghanistan were also not liable to the country’s admittedly dubious justice system and talks have been underway to give immunity to American troops remaining after the scheduled 2014 withdrawal of combat units, according to the Associated Press.

[Related: Cross-border policing provokes sovereignty worries]

One of the most infamous cases involved former soldier Raymond Davis, a private contractor working for the CIA.

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The name of Jesus has become a dirty word in politically correct America- Part3

by Marvin Ramirez

Marvin J. RamirezMarvin Ramirez

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: As we continue being mind-controlled via the television with pornographically programming and lies by mainstream media, we are also being bombarded with content that encourages immorality and violence, and at the same time, removing our traditional believes in God from society and our school system, to the point that being Christian, is a political sin. The following article, written by Michael Snyder, of American Dream, brings us a very detailed evaluation of this issue. Due to its size, El Reportero will publish it in three parts. This is Part 1.

The name of Jesus has become a dirty word in politically correct America

by Michael Snyder
American Dream

In the United States today, there are very few words that provoke as much outrage as the name of Jesus. It is being banned from graduation ceremonies, chaplains all over America are being forbidden from using His name in their prayers, and many school officials all over the nation have become absolutely fanatical about eliminating every trace of Christian expression from their schools. One elementary school in North Carolina even ordered a little six-year-old girl to remove the word “God” from a poem that she had written to honor her grandfathers. Political correctness is spreading like a cancer in this country, and our “freedom of religion” is rapidly being transformed into a guarantee of “freedom from religion” for those that hate the Christian faith.

Without a doubt, there is a war on the Christian faith in America today. It is being waged in classrooms, courtrooms and churches all over the nation.

The following is an excerpt from a speech that Rand Paul gave earlier this year…

There is a war on Christianity, not just from liberal elites here at home, but worldwide.

And your government, or more correctly, you, the taxpayer, are funding it.

Evidence of this war on Christianity is everywhere these days. The following are just a few examples…

-An elementary school in North Carolina ordered a little six-year-old girl to remove the word “God” from a poem that she wrote to honor her two grandfathers that had served in the Vietnam War.

-The Ohio Statehouse banned Christian pastors from using the name of Jesus when they open up the daily sessions with prayer.

-The use of the name Jesus was also forbidden in all prayers opening sessions of the North Carolina State-House.

-Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that prayers before commission meetings in Forsyth County, North Carolina that included the name of Jesus were unconstitutional.

-Earlier this year, a Florida Atlantic University student that refused to stomp on the name of Jesus was banned from class.

-A student at Sonoma State University was ordered to take off a cross that she was wearing because someone “could be offended“.

-A teacher in New Jersey was fired for giving his own Bible to a student that did not own one.

-An open air preacher in Illinois was recently threatened with arrest for “scaring people” with the message of the gospel.

-A high school track team was disqualified earlier this year because one of the runners “made a gesture thanking God” once he had crossed the finish line.
-Volunteer chaplains for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department have been banned from using the name of Jesus in their public prayers. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. Chaplains all over the nation are now being banned from using the name of Jesus.

-In recent months, daredevil Nik Wallenda has walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls and has walked a tightrope across the Grand Canyon, and yet both times the mainstream media has gone out of the way to keep the name of Jesus out of news reports…

Despite Nik Wallenda’s frequent mentions of God the Father and Jesus during his high-wire crossing of Niagara Falls Friday night, an ABC News blog documenting virtually every moment of the achievement makes no mention of his verbal thanks to the Creator.

Wallenda, 33, the great grandson of legendary tightrope walker Karl Wallenda, walked across Niagara Falls on a high wire, as hundreds watched on TV at a block party in his Florida hometown of Sarasota, Fla., and millions of others tuned in for ABC television coverage.

Wallenda was fitted with a microphone during his tension-filled, 25-minute saunter at 200 feet high, and he could be heard praising God numerous times as he walked the length of four football fields from New York to Canada. A recently released 140 page report entitled “The Survey of Religious Hostility in America” included some more examples of how Christianity is being systematically oppressed in America today…

• A federal judge threatened ‘incarceration’ to a high school valedictorian unless she removed references to Jesus from her graduation speech.

• City officials prohibited senior citizens from praying over their meals, listening to religious messages or singing gospel songs at a senior activities center.

• A public school official prevented a student from handing out flyers inviting her classmates to an event at her church.

• A public university’s law school banned a Christian organization because it required its officers to adhere to a statement of faith that the university disagreed with.

• The U.S. Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that the federal government can tell churches and synagogues which pastors and rabbis it can hire and fire.

• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned the mention of God from veterans’ funerals, overriding the wishes of the deceased’s families.

• A federal judge held that prayers before a state House of Representatives could be to Allah but not to Jesus.

Are you starting to get the picture?

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John McCain wants new Cold War with Russia over Snowden

by Kurt Nimmo

On Thursday, Arizona Senator John McCain released a statement criticizing Russia for granting whistleblower Edward Snowden a one-year asylum and preventing the United States government from subjecting the former NS A analyst to the Bradley Manning treatment.

“Russia’s action today is a disgrace and a deliberate effort to embarrass the United States,” said McCain. “It is a slap in the face of all Americans. Now is the time to fundamentally rethink our relationship with Putin’s Russia. We need to deal with the Russia that is, not the Russia we might wish for. We cannot allow today’s action by Putin to stand without serious repercussions.”

And what might those “serious repercussions” be? In addition to meddling in Russia’s internal affairs, McCain wants to rekindle the Cold War by aggressively pushing a “missile defense system” on Russia’s borders. “We should push for the completion of all phases of our missile defense programs in Europe, and move expeditiously on another round of NATO expansion, including the Republic of Georgia,” he said.

In 2011, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), James Risch (R-ID), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and James Inhofe (R-OK) sent a letter to then Defense Secretary Robert Gates demanding the Obama administration move to place a missile defense-related radar site in Georgia instead of Turkey. “We believe that the Republic of Georgia’s geographic location would make it an ideal site for a missile defense radar aimed at Iran, and would offer clear advantages for the protection of the United States from a long range missile as compared to Turkey,” the senators wrote.

Iran, however, is obviously a red herring. Studies produced by the Pentagon “questioned the capability of the U.S. missile defense system to be deployed in Europe to protect the country from Iranian ballistic missiles,” writes Vladimir Kozin, a member of an interagency working group attached to the Russian government discussing missile defense issues with NATO. “Moscow and Washington should agree once and for all not to use nuclear weapons first against each other and not to deploy their missile defense systems near the borders of the other country.”

McCain’s statement also calls for interfering in Russian politics and punishing the country for imprisoning Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil oligarch who “was a key part of a Western intelligence operation to dismantle and destroy what remains of Russia as a functioning state,” according to F. William Engdahl.

Khodorkovsky was also in the “middle of making a US-backed coup 3d’etat to capture the Russian presidency in planned 2004 Russian Duma elections.

Khodorkovsky was in the process of using his enormous wealth to buy enough seats in the coming Duma elections that he could change Russian laws regarding ownership of oil in the ground and of pipelines transporting same. In addition he planned to directly challenge Putin and become Russian President,” according to Engdahl.

McCain, of course, services the financial elite, so it is natural he’d use the Khodorkovsky case to attack Russia. Khodorkovsky is connected to Henry Kissinger and Jacob Lord Rothschild and his Open Russia Foundation was based on George Soros’ Open Society, a tool used to foment color revolutions in former Soviet republics (Uzbekistan, for example, shut down the Soros operation, while Tajikistan has accused Open Society’s operation in the country of corruption and nepotism).

McCain also exploits Alexei Navalny, described by the corporate media as “Russia’s Erin Brockovich,” who was sentenced to five years in jail for embezzlement.

“The charismatic Navalny however is… or has been on the payroll of Washington’s regime-destabilizing National Endowment for Democracy (NED). According to a posting on Navalny’s own blog, LiveJournal, he was supported in 2007-2008 by the NED,” writes Engdahl. Boston banksters also “paid for Nemtsov’s trips to the very expensive Davos World Economic Forum,” thus revealing his allegiance.

McCain’s grandstanding is merely another chapter in a resurgent effort to create tension with Russia.

At Bilderberg 2012, we learned that the elite have the Russian Federation squarely in its sights. “Present at Bilderberg 2012 were Anatoly Chubais and Garry Kasparov, leading anti-Putin Russian politicians,” Wayne Madsen wrote last June.

Chubais is reviled among a majority of Russians for shepherding the wholesale privatization of Soviet and Russian Federation state enterprises under the administration of President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The chief benefactors of the privatization were a handful of Russian entrepreneurs who soon became billionaire oligarchs.

Many of these oligarchs soon found themselves in prison in Russia or in exile in Britain and Israel to avoid prosecution in Russia. Today, Chubais is the head of Rusnano, a leading Russian nanotechnology firm.

At the [Bilderberg] Chantilly conclave, Chubais rubbed shoulders with the robber barons of Wall Street, including former Goldman Sachs and Citigroup senior executive and Bill Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, Goldman Sachs International Chairman Peter Sutherland, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company co-chairman Henry Kravis and former Obama Office of Management and Budget director and current Citigroup vice chairman Peter Orszag.

In an effort to round out his obvious call for renewed military tension with Russia and demands that Putin release oligarchs colluding with Wall Street and the financial elite – the political class McCain, naturally, answers to – the congressional fixture from Arizona praised the Russian people.

And perhaps most importantly, we should speak out on behalf of the many people in Russia who increasingly are finding the courage to peacefully demand greater freedom, accountability, and rule of law in Russia. Infowars.com.

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Mexican rock band Molotov to record album after U.S. tour

by the El Reportero’s news services

MolotovMolotov

Mexican rockers Molotov plan to record an album of new material after completing their current U.S. tour, band member Paco Ayala told Efe.

“Now in our concerts we are playing new numbers that haven’t been recorded to test then with people. And we like to do this, to release them live, to see the public’s reaction,” he said in a telephone interview.

Some of those new songs, including “Santo Niño de Atocha” and “Goner,” are going over well with the fans, Ayala said.

He added, however, that the group can’t compose an entire album’s worth of material while touring.

“We have to take time to prepare the new songs and put out a good disc,” he said.

Molotov, winner of four Latin Grammys, performed Thursday in Charlotte, one of 26 cities on the itinerary of a U.S. tour that will take them from coast to coast.

Ayala and his bandmates – Miky Huidobro, Tito Fuentes de Garay and Randy Ebright – are all multi-instrumentalists and each takes part in singing/rapping lyrics that mix Spanish and English.

Molotov attained international recognition with the 1997 album ”¿Donde jugaran las niñas?,” which included “Gimme Tha Power,” a song denouncing Mexico’s political class that has become a protest anthem.

Chilean Band Astro Playing at Lollapalooza 2013 this Weekend

Today, Chicago’s Lollapalooza 2013 began and taking the stage is Chile’s Astro.

Astro will be taking the Red Bill Sound Select stage on Sunday August 4, at 12:45 PM, so if you have a pass be sure to check them out.

Astro (Octavio Cavieres, Nicolás Arancibia, Daniel Varas and Andrés Nusser) is a renowned Chilean band that stands out not only for its fresh sound and artistic sensibilities, but also for its bold, energetic and highly interpretative live show.

In a very short time, Astro has achieved wide recognition on the Chilean independent circuit and, more recently, in the international arena. The group formed in September 2008 and, by mid-2009, was already a force to be reckoned with throughout the local independent scene in Chile – they were performing to packed crowds at Santiago’s most significant events.

It must also be noted that the track “Panda”, another catchy song on their debut LP, was selected to appear on the official video game soundtrack for FIFA 13 (EASports).

In early 2013 the band has tour through Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic and USA, to perform in several sevents as: Carnaval de Bahidora, Festival Verde de Cultura Musical and Redbull Panamerika Escenario LA. Meanwhile, they are working in a new album.

Astro has it all. With a defining sound, solid musicianship, and outstanding artistic sensibilities revered throughout the world, their proven crossover potential will undoubtedly continue to define itself as they focus their future efforts on conquering the worldwide music scene.

Oh, the miracle of technology – In case you can’t be there in person, you can still check out the live Lolla webcast below.

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California Hispanic Chambers Convention

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

Calixto OviedoCalixto Oviedo

The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC) this week announced its annual convention in Oakland. It will Award Daisy Fuentes with the Excellence in Business Award

More than 3,000 small-business advocates, corporate representatives and entrepreneurs will attend the convention. This year’s theme is “CHCC 35(th) Anniversary: A Legacy of Latino Leadership: Building America’s Business Future.”

The luncheon will take place during Latina Empresario Day, a part of the Chamber’s annual convention, which theme and opening plenary, “CHCC 35th Anniversary, A Legacy of Latino Leadership: Building America’s Business Future,” will celebrate the history of the chamber’s leadership, reflect on accomplishments and promote the growth of Latino-owned businesses in California and their contributions to the overall statewide economy.

On Thursday, Aug. 15 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Oakland City Center Marriott.

Peace in the Part: Festival to energize your inner peace

I an effort to harmoniously bring together Diverse communities in the San Francisco Bay Area, while creating a restorative and peace-filled afternoon, the Brahma Kumaris.

(BK) Meditation Center of San Francisco is hosting its first annual peace festival, Peace in the Park.

The intention of the festival – through exposure to different forms of relaxation – is to spark kchange and generate peace, contentment and compassion to reconnect to a stress-free lifestyle. This event has been previously.

It will take place on Sat. Aug. 24, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., in Golden Gate Park at the Music Concourse Band Shell, situated between the de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences.

Hojarasca en Concierto: Andean Music

Hojarasca en Concierto is an evening of contemporary Andean Music. The Trio under the direction of composer and instrument maker Lucas Rodas conjures up the essence of their Antioquian culture with rich harmonies and intricate rhythms that carry one quickly up misty mountain paths into the stories of their homeland. Instruments include, churango, guitar, drum and a diverse assortment of flutes.

Friday Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m. $15 General Admission, at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.

Tributo al Timal!

Edgardo Gambón and Orquesta Candela presents an unforgettable evening of the best salsa, with a special guest from Cuba, timbal player, at Café Cocomo, on Sat. August 17, at 650 Indiana Street, San Francisco, 415-410-4012.

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Documental on Mexican leader Pancho Villa’s death premiered

by the El Reportero’s news services

Pancho VillaPancho Villa

The documentary series “The Assassination of Pancho Villa, The Conspiracy,” will be released today on cable television, which portrays the tragic death of one of the Mexican Revolution emblematic figures.

The film is presented in the 90th anniversary of the assassination of Villa, who was known for his military exploits in the northern region of the country.

On July 20, 1923, Jose Doroteo, as he was known until he adopted the name of Francisco (Pancho) Villa, died gunned down in broad daylight, in the town of Hidalgo del Parral. Villa achieved notoriety from the uprising against the government of Porfirio Diaz in 1910.

Directed by Mexican filmmaker Emilion Maille, the film seeks to get to the bottom of the motives that led to Villa assassination and other details of his life, which will be presented by Discovery Channel in Spanish, according to vanguardia.com.mx.

Villa’s role is played by Mexican actor Enoc Leano, who had already played the character in the El Encanto del Aguila (The Eagle Charme).

This serial has the support of renowned Mexican historians as the Pancho Villa biographer, Pedro Salmeron, author of five books on Mexico history, who worked on the documentary historical endorsement with Jesus Vargas Valdes, Martha Loyo, Jane Dale Lloyd and Antonio Campuzano.

Int’l Film Festival for children in Mexico

The International Film Festival for Children and Youth “Divercine” returns today to Guadalajara, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, after two years of absence.

This is a replica of the didactic way to carry footage to youngest populations, emerged in Uruguay in 1992 under the auspices of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

This festival is Manningported by the Ministry of Culture of the state of Jalisco, Ministry of Culture in Guadalajara, and the Cultural Institute in Zapopan.
This event, coinciding with the vacation period, presents 90 short films from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, United States, Ecuador, Spain, France, Netherlands, Mexico, and Venezuela, among others.

Among the films that will be screened in the Metropolitan Zone of Guadalajara, from today until July 28, are La Navidad de Max (Max’ Christmas), “La higiénica odisea de Lolly Poo” (The Hygienic Odyssey of Lolly Poo), “Nora, la bulliciosa” (Noisy Nora), “Jack el campesino” (Jack, The Peasant), and “Duerme negrito” (Sleep Little Black Boy).

The coordinator of the event in Guadalajara, Jorge Triana, told journalists that the intention of the festival is that each three to 100 yearold children is involved in film, and through Divercine, they enjoy difficult work to see in commercial displays.

Colombia: Women on Stage for Peace Festival

A total of 70 companies from 11 countries will attend the Women on Stage for Peace Festival from August 8 to 31, in a bridge from theatre and dancing to harmony and peace among peoples of the world.

During three weeks the Colombian capital will be filled with colours and joy, with proposals from countries like Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, among other nations, in an initiative fostered by Colombian artist Patricia Ariza and the Colombian Theatre Corporation.

In its 22nd edition, the event will include outdoor presentations, workshops, seminars and a national and an international meeting, centered in a culture of peace.

A total of 100 shows in conventional spaces, 18 rooms in all the city of Bogota and another 20 available also form part of the program.

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California prison hunger strike

“It’s an absolute madhouse

A California Department of Corrections guard.

by Sal Rodríguez
Slitarywatch.com

California prisoners in over a dozen prisons are entering their third week on hunger strike, which began on July 8th with 30,000 prisoners across the state participating. This is the third hunger strike since June 2011 that California prisoners in the Security Housing Units (SHU) have participated in, demanding the same five core demands, with an emphasis on ending California’s practice of long-term segregation of inmates suspected of prison gang affiliation. As of Sunday, July 21, 1081 individuals were still on hunger strike.
One hunger striker, J., 36, has been incarcerated since he was 16, and has spent the last seven years in the SHU at California State Prison, Corcoran. J. wrote in a letter to his mother on the 7th day of the hunger strike, that he was “feeling a lot better than I expected so I think I’ll be able to last quite a while longer.” He reports that the prison administration is “just waiting us out. They’re not running yard at all and they finally ran showers for the first time last night. The only medical attention they’re giving us is if you go man down or put in a slip, other than that a nurse is walking the tier every 3 days and simply looking in all the cells but not asking any questions at all. Literally if you blink you’ll miss the nurse walk by they’re going that fast.”

J. also states that prison officials “gave everyone who’s participating a 128 A memo as a warning that if we continue we’ll be getting 115’s [disciplinary write ups] next. It’s crazy cause they’re trying to say us protesting is gang activity, but every race is participating so how is that possible? Then when we eventually all get 115’s for it they’re gonna use it to continue to keep us in the SHU. That’s why they’re writing it up like that, it’s pretty much a form of retaliation on their part.”

“I don’t know if all this is gonna do us any good in the end, but this fight is worth the effort for sure,” J. writes, “If we don’t stand up for ourselves who will?”

The hunger strikers, led by prisoners at the Pelican Bay State Prison SHU, have faced retaliation. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has seized prison canteen items from participants’ cells, including items such as Kool-Aid packets and coffee. Those identified as leaders of the strike at Pelican Bay and Corcoran have reportedly been transported to different segregation units.

Michael Zaharibu Dorrough, incarcerated in the SHU since 1988 following validation as an affiliate of the Black Guerilla Family, recently wrote a letter to a friend dated July 14th, in which he describes being identified as a leader of the hunger strike at Corcoran. Dorrough and his cellmate, J. Heshima Denham, with whom he has shared a cell designed for one in recent years, were identified as leaders of the hunger strike at the prison, along with two Northern Hispanics, two Southern Hispanics, and one white individual. They were transferred from their SHU cells to the section of Corcoran where gang dropouts and informants are housed. “It’s an Absolute Madhouse,” Dorrough writes.

“A day after we were moved here, mattresses were placed in front of our cell. This was designed to re-enforce, psychologically, the feeling of being isolated. And, I guess, to prevent us from receiving food or beverages from anyone. It’s so silly that it borders on being offensive. We have absolutely nothing at all in common with any of the people housed in the building. There is no reason at all to communicate with or accept anything from them. As is said, it’s a building full of stool pigeons. This is the CDCR’s version of sending us to a black site.”

The blocking of cell doors with objects has also been reported by a hunger striker at California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi, where sandbags have been placed at the cell doors of hunger strike participants to prevent the passing of objects or messages. The Public Information Officer at Corcoran confirmed to Solitary Watch on Monday that a “sand bag type of hose has been placed at the bottom of cell doors to effectively monitor and manage hunger strikers and their nutritional intake,” and that some hunger strikers have had visitation privileges curtailed for reasons that cannot be stated “due to safety and security.”

Dorrough and Denham had participated in the hunger strikes of 2011. Both reportedly lost at least 10 percent of their body weights, with Denham passing out during the first hunger strike in 2011, which lasted for three weeks. Recent events and retaliatory actions during this round of hunger strikes strongly mirrors the actions CDCR took against hunger strikers during their September October 2011 hunger strike.

Denham wrote the following in October 2011:

On or about Oct. 3, they raided 4B1L-C Section and removed all food and drink items – even coffee and salt packs – from the cells of hunger strikers. A short time later the warden and her entourage arrived in our section laughing and joking like it was a day at the fair and ordered sandbags placed in front of each of our cell doors to prevent any fishing so as to ensure non-hunger strikers are not fishing coffee and kool-aid to those on hunger strike.

Human rights attorneys have been banned and we have been denied access to yard and law library. The warden has directed IGI to open and/or confiscate all legal mail for hunger strikers in 4B1L-C Section. RNs have been dismissive and outright verbally disrespectful to some hunger strikers in a blatant attempt to provoke us.”

It was recently reported that attorney Marilyn Mc-Mahon of California Prison Focus, who represents many of the leaders of the hunger strike, has been banned from visiting clients in the SHU. She and fellow attorney Carol Strickman had been banned from visiting clients during the September-October hunger strikes for reasons never fully explained to them.

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Tribute to Simón Bolivar in his 230th Birth Anniversary

by the El Reportero’s wire services

Simón BolivarSimón Bolivar

The tribute to Libertador Simon Bolivar marked the start of the commemoration activities for the 230th anniversary of his birth, in recognition to his decisive role in the Venezuelan independence.

Venezuelan Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Peace, Miguel Rodriguez; Carmen Melendez (Defense), Fidel Barbarito (Culture), and Maryann Hanson (Education), headed the national flag hoist ceremony in the pantheon where Simon Bolivar’s remains are resting.

Members of the different components of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) participated in the solemn activity, which is part of a wide program of events.

The 190th anniversary of the battle of Lago de Maracaibo is commemorated Wednesday, to remember a naval action that faced the Spanish republican navy squad in a battle on July 24, 1823.

The Spanish republican squad was at that time formed by 32 combat and transport ships while the rebel one had only 22 ships.

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