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Open letter to Barack Obama

President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Secretary Janet Napolitano

Department of Homeland Security U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528

Dear President Obama and Secretary Napolitano:

We write on behalf of the organizations signing this letter, to respectfully request that all enforcement activities and operations engaged in by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and impacting non-citizens be completely and immediately suspended for the rest of the year in order to encourage a more inclusive count of this country’s population during Census 2010. We are concerned that a climate of fear and distrust within immigrant communities due to immiforcement actions will deter immigrant households from returning the Census surveys and from cooperating in further Census outreach efforts.

Immigrant-based communities are among several known to be significantly undercounted by the Census; in New York City, heavily-immigrant areas have had less than a 40 percent census response rate, compared to the of 65 percent. Numerous officials have themselves expressed grave concerns about the challenges faced in convincing immigrants to participate due to persistent enforcement activity by the same government now seeking their information. Immigrants have raised doubts about the confidentiality of the Census. While officials have repeatedly stated that the information obtained will not be shared with other departments, immigrants well recall similar assurances about the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service; today, the data obtained from these agencies has provided the fuel for many of this Administration’s enforcement operations.

Because of these challenges and the severe, long-term consequences of an undercount, we urge you to follow precedent and suspend enforcement activities.

For the 2000 Census, former Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner recalls that “we definitely went further than what I’m hearing from this administration thus far”. The decision then was to make clear that “while her agency would continue to do serious criminal enforcement, other routine operations and enforcement activities would be suspended. During the 1990 Census, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, then working for the Border Patrol, recalls “when the orders came down to suspend some enforcement efforts.” In preparation for this year’s Census, the Census Bureau leadership, in 2007, had urged that immigration enforcement raids be suspended.

Under this Administration,the Census Bureau has reversed its position and stated last October that they have declined to ask the DHS to suspend raids during the 2010 Census.

We would like to makeclear that our current request is not limited to raids and sweeps, whether in the interior or border communities. As you know, enforcement activities have reached an unprecedented breadth and depth, resulting in higher numbers of detentions and deportations than even the past Administration, and utilizing strategies that are less visible than raids but well known and feared in immigrant communities throughout the country. Therefore, our request includes suspension of:

  • E-verify employment verification program and audits;
  • 287g agreements;
  • Detentions of individuals,including long-time lawful permanent residents,on civil immigration charges;
  • ICE programs — such as Secure Communities and the Criminal Alien Program;
  • Operation Streamline;
  • Absconder arrest programs;
  • Operation Return to Sender;
  • Operation Community Shield;
  • National Fugitive Operations Program;
  • Issuance of Social Security no-match letters;
  • Operation Cross Check;
  • Operation Predator;
  • Workplace, home and business raids.

Given the immediacy of the Census 2010 process, we reiterate our request for an immediate suspension of these operations to encourage maximum participation of immigrant community members, widely acknowledged among the Census’ “hard-to-count” population targets.

We look forward to your response and public statements on this matter.

Sincerely,

Signed by more than 600 community organizations.

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

by Marvin Ramírez

­Marvin J. Ramírez­Marv­in R­amír­ez­­­­­­

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: First of two parts – 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.

The Post Office and the International Universal Postal Union Ð Part one

by unknown sender

The role of the United States Post Office and the Universal Postal Union became a factor in our lawsuits because of several bankruptcies that the United States has been through over the history of the country. When one declares himself a bankrupt, that person is no longer legally competent to conduct his affairs. The court becomes a fiduciary, and appoints a trustee to oversee the affairs of the bankrupt. It does not matter if the bankrupt is a common man, or a nation; except that a nation still has a right to conduct war. Typically the average person anywhere in the world thinks of their Postal System as a part of, and subservient to, their government. However, the postal system in the United States has a different legal history than one would expect.

The Post Office and Judicial Courts were estab3214-lished before the seat of the Government.

On Thursday, Sept. 17, 1789 we find written, Mr. Goodhue, for the committee appointed for the purpose, presented a bill to amend part of the Tonnage act, which was read the first time. The bill sent from the Senate, for the temporary establishment of the Post Office, was read the second and third time, and passed. The bill for establishing the Judicial Courts . . . , for establishing the seat of government.

Other references to the Post Office support a theory of the founding forefather’s views:

POST OFFICE. A place where letters are received to be sent to the persons to whom they are addressed.

1. The post office establishment of the United States, is of the greatest importance to the people and to the government. The constitution of the United States has invested congress with power to establish post offices and post roads. Art. 1, s. 8, n. 7.

2. By virtue of this constitutional authority, congress passed several laws anterior to the third day of March 1825, when an act, entitled “An act to reduce into one the several acts establishing and regulating the post office department,” was passed. 3 Story, U. S. 1825. It is thereby enacted,

3. That there be established, the seat of the government of the United States, a general post office, under the direction of a postmaster general.

We need to take notice where the commas are placed on that last sentence. That there be established, the seat of the government of the United States, a general post office, under the direction of a postmaster general. When we set off a clause with commas, we make sure that the sentence makes sense without that clause. Taking out the set-off clause, we read, . . . the seat of the government of the United States under the direction of a postmaster general.

The creation of the Post office occurs before the creation of the seat of the government, and is placed in authority over the seat of government. What is the effect of these legal techniques? The stated position of an object and the sequence of events play an important role in the Universal Legal Technology.

The effect is that the Government’s later bankruptcies in 1859 and 1929 have no legal effect upon the solvent Post Office. We can make a case that the formation of the Post Office before the formation of the government’s operations is a stroke of dumb luck.

Perhaps it is ingenious, since communication has a higher value than government itself. If any government fails, the people still have a need to communicate with one another to form a new government.

And to this day, the Post Office is still solvent and operational, ready to fulfill its duty to help the people in their communications; to set a new government should a complete break down of the existing governmental structures occur in the United States. Sounds like a very good back up plan.

The formation of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 has another legal effect that is very important to the Universal-Legal-Technology. The Universal Postal Union http://www.upu.int/ located in Bern, Switzerland, unites member countries into a single, worldwide postal territory. We have already learned that any litigant is going into international jurisdiction every time he goes to any court.

Since the litigant needs to establish that his papers are official, he uses a dollar postage stamp on the face of the first page. The stamps also invoke postal statutes and the Universal Postal Union jurisdiction. Currently in the U. S., the stamp of choice is the fox U. S. dollar postage stamp. The stamp is not drawn in a box, making the forty-five-degree lines unnecessary.

The litigant does, however,  need to autograph across the stamp, then date the autograph, for two reasons: to comply with postal regulations concerning private mail carriers, and to make a continuance of evidence that the process (paper work) is mail. The continuation of evidence is less of a factor, since the definitions of mail and delivery can include a clerk at a grocery store handing a customer a receipt for groceries.

Good results of bad habits? A study explains the paradox

by the University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—When people are under chronic stress, they tend to smoke, drink, use drugs, and overeat to help cope with stress. These behaviors trigger a biological cascade that helps prevent depression, but they also contribute to a host of physical problems that eventually contribute to early death.

That is the claim of University of Michigan social scientist James S. Jackson and colleagues in an article published in the May 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The theory helps explain a long-time epidemiological puzzle: why Blacks have worse physical health than whites but better psychiatric health.

“People engage in bad habits for functional reasons, not because of weak character or ignorance,” says Jackson, director of the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).

“Over the life course, coping strategies that are effective in ‘preserving’ the mental health of Blacks may work in concert with social, economic, and environmental inequalities to produce physical health disparities in middle age and later life.”

In an analysis of survey data, obtained from the same people at two points in time, Jackson and colleagues find evidence for their theory. The relationship between stressful life events and depression varies by the level of unhealthy behaviors. But the direction of that relationship is strikingly different for Blacks and whites.

Controlling for the extent of stressful life events a person has experienced, unhealthy behaviors seemed to protect against depression in Blacks but lead to higher levels of depression in whites.

“Many Black Americans live in chronically precarious and difficult environments,” says Jackson. “These environments produce stressful living conditions, and often the most easily accessible options for addressing stress are various unhealthy behaviors. These behaviors may alleviate stress through the same mechanisms that are believed to contribute to some mental disorders the hypothalamic-pitu-itary-adrenalcortical (HPA) axis and related biological systems.”

Since negative health behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, drug use, and overeating (especially comfort foods) also have direct and debilitating effects on physical health, these behaviors – along with the difficult living conditions that give rise to them – contribute to the disparities in mortality and physical health problems

Hyatt Hotel workers strike for three days

­­by news services

Una linda bailarina de belly dance mantiene a una audiencia ocupada en el Carnaval: (photo by Marvin J. Ramirez) Hyatt Regency workers march during a three-day strike. (photo by Marvin Ramírez)

Four hundred hotel workers at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco walked off the job Tuesday morning to protest Hyatt’s ‘moves to squeeze workers even harder despite significantly improving hospitality revenues and rising share values, according to Union Local 2. Workers will return to work on Friday morning.

The Hyatt Regency strike comes after nearly ten months of negotiations and demonstrations to secure a new contract for 9,000 San Francisco hotel workers and their families. “We think that’s long enough,” said Cynthia Reed, a telephone operator at Hyatt Regency. “Hyatt’s growing and making more money every day, and we’re not going stand by and let that come at the expense of workers and their families. If they move forward, we should too.

”This is the second strike at a San Francisco Hyatt in recent months. Workers at the Grand Hyatt on Union Square walked out November 5, 2009 – the same day Hyatt became a publicly-traded company, earning its owners nearly $1 billion. It also comes amid mounting unrest for Hyatt throughout North America. On May 26, 400 workers at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago walked off the job protesting workload increases.

UNESCO annouces selection of 13 new Biosphere Reserves

­­Report by UNESCO

PARIS, June 2 – The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme has added 13 new sites and five extensions in 15 different countries to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), which now numbers 564 sites in 109 countries.

The decision to include the new sites was taken during the 22nd session of the International Coordination Council, which took place from 31 May to 4 June at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Reserves were inscribed in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe for the first time this year. Sweden and the United Kingdom for their part decided to withdraw two sites from the World Network of Biosphere Reserves – Lake Torne and Taynish respectively – because

they do not meet the criteria set out in the Seville Strategy of 1995.

Biosphere Reserves are areas designated under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to serve as places to test different approaches to integrated management of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine resources and biodiversity. Biosphere Reserves are thus sites for experimenting with and learning about sustainable development.

Among a long list of countries declared reserved are:

Naha-Metzabok, southeast Mexico, covers the northern part of the Lacandona forest, the biggest tropical forest in the country. An integral part of the Mayan Forest biological corridor, it has regional importance for conservation. The diversity of the population of more than 6,500 indigenous people including the most ancient Maya-Lacandon as well as Tzeltales and Choles communities, adds high cultural value to the site. Agricultural and other activities practiced by indigenous communities in the buffer and transition zones contribute to sustainable development and natural resources conservation of the region.

Los Volcanes, Mexico, is characterized bya volcanic landscape of significant aesthetic and touristic value. The site includes Popocatépetl, one of the most impressive active volcanoes on the planet, and a variety of endemic, particularly adapted species, such as the volcano rabbit. The area provides important environmental services as a water catchment for Mexico City, which has the highest population density in the country. Projects for reforestation, soil rehabilitation and groundwater infiltration are being developed to protect water supply, involving many different sectors of the population.

Maria’s Island, Mexico, is a reservoir of endemic species that developed over eight million years of insularity. It contains a rich diversity of ecosystems including a dry tropical forest, mangroves, swamps and coral reefs. A federal penitentiary is established there. The National Institute of Ecology, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas and the Secretariat of Public Security have introduced sustainable management projects, such as reforestation and agriculture, to rehabilitate the prisoners inhabiting the island.

Ometepe Island, Nicaragua, is an island biosphere reserve in the biggest freshwater reservoir in the country, Cocibolca Lake or Lake Nicaragua. The site’s name in the local Nahuatl language is “island of two hills”, referring to its two volcanoes. The surrounding lake serves as an important source of freshwater, as well as habitat for exceptional species, e.g. freshwater sawfish, Nicaraguan freshwater shark and many others. The island is home to some 30,000 people and its rich pre-Columbian vestiges (petroglyphs, statues, ceramics) demonstrate its long history of human settlements. Current activities include community-based ecotourism.

Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha, Peru, is part of the country’s Amazonian high forest region. Although classified as a conservation hotspot, the region is under intense pressure from human activities such as deforestation, causing loss of biological diversity. To address these issues, the biosphere reserve has developed participatory management processes involving regional authorities, NGOs and the local population. The presence of indigenous cultures, such as the Yánesha and Asháninka, helps preserve ancestral knowledge in managing natural resources. Sustainable development initiatives include progressive adoption of agro-forestry and promotion of eco-tourism and artisanal crafts.

The MAB-ICC also approved extensions to five already established Biosphere Reserves:

Araucarias Biosphere Reserve, Chile, originally designated in 1983, has been extended to 12 times its original size•Cordillera Volcanica Central Biosphere Reserve, Costa Rica, originally designated in 1988, has been extended to five times its original size.

Pheonix mayor brings star power and resounding message against Arizona’z law

by Luis Carlos López

In his latest visit to Washington D.C., Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon appeared in a panel with New Haven, Conn. Mayor John DeStefano and Arlington County board member Walter Tejada at the Centerfor American Progress to discuss the effects of implementing Arizona’s immigration law.

­Gordon’s visit to the country’s capital marks his latest round of appearances in his effort to overturn SB1070 and change the perception of some who regard Arizona as a “racist state.”

“My goal is to get this law revoked as soon as possible,” Gordon said. “Not everyone is like those you hear and read about…

”Last month during Phoenix’s continuing vigils against the law, which started April 19, the week Gov. Jan Brewer signed it, Gordon made several appearances, including one with Colombia-born and Grammy Award winner Shakira.

The singer was in Phoenix to show solidarity to the Hispanic community and the mayor. During her visit to City Hall, Gordon showed members of the media that his office has received numerous hate letters and faxes calling him and his office “traitors” for turning his back on the state.

One such fax stated, “You are a traitor to Arizona and America…Each of you should be arrested, tried in court, found guilty of treason and HANGED from the nearest tree, death to traitors.

”Gordon, whose grandparents migrated to the United States fleeing Europe during the height of anti-Semitism before and during World War II, has maintained that immigration needs to be fixed through reform and not through questionable enforcement and hateful tactics, especially those that target people based on race.

“This is America, this is Arizona and this is 2010. We are not going backward. We need to go forward, so we’ll fight this,” Gordon said.

Since the bill was signed, Gordon has been meeting with top-level officials in the White House, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to get the federal government to intercede and challenge the law.

During his visit to Washington Gordon said, he was optimistic about getting the Justice Department to take action.

Meanwhile, back in his home state, Gordon faces an uneasy climate as the bill remains popular, but still triggers strong opposition.

Puente, the Arizona based activist organization, says it plans to keep pushing for gatherings at the Phoenix capitol and elsewhere in the state until the law is overturned.

On May 29, the organization will hold a march in its “National Day of Action.”

“Every week there’s something going on and we are not going to stop,” said Puente representative Sandra Castro.

TV News Chief Re-signs after Rejecting Tape Showing Police Beating Youth

by Rosalba Ruíz

Seattle television station KCPQ-TV is taking heat for not immediately airing a video of police officers pummeling Martín Monetti, 21, during a downtown armed robbery investigation involving “Hispanic males.”

Freelance videographer Jud Morris captured images of offi cers beating and kicking Monetti, who was lying on the pavement. At one point an officer told him, “I’m going to beat the (expletive) Mexican piss out of you, homey! You feel me?”

Upon establishing that Monetti was an uninvolved bystander, police released him at the scene.

Morris offered his video to the Fox affiliate, for whom he had worked that day.

The station’s news management said it had no intention of airing the video because the police action was not “egregious,” according to Morris, so he posted it on YouTube.

Later he sold it to competitor KIRO-TV for $100. Almost a month later, as the story built, KCPQ did run the footage.

KCPQ stated that because the video is “very disturbing,” it would have done a disservice to the community and to the police department” if it did not first investigate the matter further.

News director Steve Kraycik has since resigned.

Monetti has obtained legal counsel and is reportedly preparing a claim against the police. Hispanic Link.

Boxing

Saturday, June 5 — at New York, NY (HBO)

  • WBA light middleweight title: Miguel Cotto vs. Yuri Foreman.
  • WBC lightweight title: Humberto Soto vs. Anthony Peterson.
  • John Duddy vs. TBA.

Saturday, June 19 — at Oakland, CA (Showtime)

  • WBA super middleweight title: Andre Ward vs. Allan Green.

Saturday, June 26 — at San Antonio, TX

  • Interim WBO bantamweight title: Eric Morel vs. Jorge Arce.
  • Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. John Duddy.

Saturday, July 10 — at Hato Rey, Puerto Rico (Showtime)

  • WBO featherweight title: Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Bernabe Concepcion.

Saturday, July 10 — at Las Vegas, NV

  • WBA/WBO lightweight titles: Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz.

Saturday, July 24 — at TBA, Mexico

  • Erik Morales vs. TBA.

Saturday, August 7 — at St. Louis, MO (HBO)

  • Devon Alexander vs. TBA.

Saturday, August 14 — at Montreal, Canada (HBO)

  • WBC light hea­vyweight title: Chad Dawson vs. Jean Pascal.

Saturday, August 21 — at Nottingham, United Kingdom (Showtime)

  • Carl Froch vs. Arthur Abraham. 

Mr. Baldomero died virgen – a theater play

­by the El Reportero’s staff

Una escena de la obra Don Baldomero murió virgenAn scene of Don Baldomero murió virgin.­

“Don Baldomero murió virgen”, written by Marco A. Almazán, with music by Gerardo Fernández, and directed by Veronica Meza, is a comedy with shades of a farce. It has a historical, political, social and religious context. It occurs between the years of 1910 and 1940, a time when Society did not allow Mexican women to study, to be heard, or to select a boyfriend or husband. Women were repressed, adopting a subliminal role in the family and the society.

Mr. Baldomero Died a Virgin has a delicious shape of history and humor, promoting education and entertainment through the Spanish language theater arts.

This play will be presented at the Mission Cultural Center on Saturday, June 5th at 7:00 p.m. Discount for students and seniors. Buy your tickets at the theater door. For more information, call (650) 669-2949. Send an e-mail to: info@teatronahual.org.

32nd Annual Ethnic Dance Festival

The Festival is considered the most prestigious encounter of its kind in the country. It brings together music and dance artists of the world, including a special homage to Mexico’s Bicentenary and 37 dance companies. This  new world events of Hispanic artists, include 26 dance premiers of dance, and the commission of four new works: all with Hispanic artists!

This year, the Festival is proud to announce that the charitable Gala of June 11 marks the world premiere of the special Commission of the Bicentenary of Mexico and commemorates the centenary of the Mexican Revolution. This series of dances focuses in the soldaderas – the heroines of the Revolution – and it will bring in the acclaimed choreographer Zenón Barrón and ballet dancers from six local companies: Folkloric ballet Alma de México of South San Francisco, Folkloric Ballet of Carlos Moreno, Company Mazatlán Bellas Artes, Assemble Folkloric Ballet of San Francisco, The Lupeños of San Jose, and Folkloric Group Root of My Earth.

June 5 y 6; 12 y 13; 19 y 20; 26 y 27, 2010, at Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco.

Osvaldo Torres’ Catastro de Colores y Esperanzas / Registry of Colors & Hopes

An art exhibit of Osvaldo Torres’s paintings at the Pueblo Nuevo Gallery, 1828 San Pablo Ave. #1, 2nd floor in Berkeley. June 6 – Juy 4, 2010.

Opening Reception June 6th 7-11pm.

Gallery Hours: Sundays 12-6 or by appointment at 510 452 7363.

2010 Festival of Flamenco arts & traditions

Manuela Carrasco, Queen of Gypsy Flamenco Dance, Direct from Spain in “Suspiro Flamenco” with el torombo and Rafael De Carmen in Suspiro Flamenco.

Also appearing, Enrique el Extremeño, Samara Carrasco and Joaquín Amador, among others. Tuesday, June 15th, 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, U.C. Berkeley Campus.

Continuing the Festival, at Julia Morgan Theater, Berkeley will perform “Cante Gitano” featuring Living Legend, Manuel Agujetas, which includes the presentation of Miguel el Gitano de Bronce and guitarist from Jérez, Manuel Valencia, on Saturday, June 19th, 8 p.m. Tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/109292 or purchase by phone at (800) 838-3006.

Salsa from Colombia

A solid–sound of Colombian salsa, Sonora Carruseles will bring their Colombian power to SF this month.

Sonora Carruseles was grouped in the Colombian city of Medellin in 1995. With more than 12 years of existence, Colombia’s Sonora Carruseles has perfected a trademark sound that is cherished by salsa lovers all over the world. On June 27, at Roccapulco Súper Club, 3140 Mission Street, SF.

For more info call 415-821-3563.

Numbers grow in the industry to boycott Arizona

by Antonio Mejías-Rentas

Zack de la RochaZack de la Rocha

­WON’T PLAY: Rocker Zack de la Rocha is asking fellow musicians to join him and the likes of Kanye West, Calle 13 and Los Tigres del Norte in boycotting the state of Arizona over its new antiimmigrant law.

The Rage Against the Machine frontman released a letter criticizing the Arizona measure “that legalizes and sanctions racial profiling” and asking fellow musicians to refuse to perform or appear in the state.

“Fans of our music, our stories, our films and our words can be pulled over and harassed every day because they are brown or black, or for the way they speak, or for the music they listen to” reads the letter partially.

“People who are poor like some of us use to be could be forced to live in a constant state of fear while just doing what they can to find work and survive.”

The letter is co-signed by fillmmaker Micheal Moore and more than a dozen musical acts, including several Latino groups like  Calle 13 and Los Tigres del Norte that have already decried the Arizona law. Others on the list include Juanes, Ozomatli, Café Tacvba and Cypress Hill.

Though not on the list, at least one prominent Latino musician currently on tour has cancelled an Arizona gig. Cuban-American rapper Pitbull said he will not perform the May 31 Phoenix date of his Mr. Worldwide’s Carnaval tour, because of the Arizona law.

BACK TO THE STAGE: The Tony-winning creator of In the Heights is once again taking the starring role in the musical for its upcoming five-week engagement in Los Angeles as part of its current national tour.

Lin-Manuel Miranda will sing the role of Usnavi, which he created

on Broadway, during most of the June 22-July 5 performances at the city’s Pantages Theatre. He is also recreating the role for a film version currently in pre-production.

“I’ve been itching to play with the tour cast since we began their

rehearsals last fall,” Miranda said. “I’m excited to play at the gorgeous Pantages Theatre. I can’t think of a better way to prepare myself for the demands of playing Usnavi in the movie version.”

Miranda conceived and composed the musical, which won four 2008 Tony awards, including best musical. In the Heights tells the story of one weekend in the lives of the mostly Latino residents of the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights, where Miranda was raised by his Puerto Rican parents.

ONE LINERS: Gabriel Vargas, the creator of La Familia Burrón, one of Mexico’s most-loved comic strips, died May 25; he was 95… Spanish actor Javier Bardem picked up the top acting award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Biutiful, by Mexican filmmaker González Iñárritu..on his first U.S. tour in 30 years, Cuban  singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez performs two dates in Carnegie Hall next month, as well as single concerts in Oakland, Los Angeles, Washington and Orlando.

Sobreviviente, a tiny 1938 oil painting by Frida Kahlo which the artist put in a pewter frame from Oaxaca, sold for $1.7 million at auction in New York, a new record for the Mexican artista …and a pregnant Julieta Venegas shunned her accordion for her May 27 concert in Mexico City, what is likely the singer-songwriter’s last concert before giving birth in a few months. Hispanic Link.

San Franciscans leave for Arizona to protest anti-immigrant policies

­Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

Dozens of people from San Francisco embark on a caravan to Arizona to voice their solidarity with the Arizona’s immigrant community.

Called the National Day of Action  on Saturday, the caravan would be convening with labor and community groups in Arizona, similar to the Freedom riders of the 1960s, who challenged Jim Crow in the segregated South, organizers hope to draw attention to SB1070 and the recent destruction of ethnic studies programs that codify racial bias and will result in increased racial profiling and systemic discrimination.

According to a written statement by Just Cause, here in San Francisco, the organizers have also planned a protest of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, whose owner Ken Kendricks, according to The Nation columnist Dave Zirin, “not only supports this bill, [but] he us[es] his position as Diamondback team owner to do it.”

The organizers, through their statement, asked supporters from the Bay Area who cannot join the caravan to Arizona to instead protest the Diamondbacks at their Saturday, May 29 game against the Giants at AT&T ballpark.

The last few weeks have seen a number of alarming developments stemming from President Obama’s lack of proactive leadership on immigration reform: the number of states considering measures similar to Arizona’s extremist immigration law has now climbed to 17.

Advocates also see similarities between the harsh Arizona law and federal Police-ICE collaboration initiatives such as the so-called “Secure Communities” or S-Comm program, set to begin in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 1st. S-Comm would require fingerprints of immigrants arrested even for minor infractions to be sent to ICE and would threaten public safety by destroying trust between immigrants and local police. Insecure Communities, as immigrant rights’ advocates call it, was instituted by Gubernatorial Candidate and Attorney General, Jerry Brown, will likely deter immigrants from coming forward and reporting crimes, including domestic violence survivors.

18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status for Nicaragua

Automatic 6-Month Extension for Employment Authorization Documents Included.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Honduras from the current expiration of Jul. 5, 2010, to the new expiration date of Jan. 5, 2012.

During the past year, DHS and the Department of State have reviewed the conditions in Honduras. Based on this review, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has determined that an 18-month extension is warranted because the conditions that prompted the TPS designation in 1999 following the environmental disaster caused by Hurricane Mitch persist and prevent Honduras from adequately handling the return of its nationals.

Under the extension, individuals who have been granted TPS are eligible to re-register and maintain their status for an additional 18 months provided they remain otherwise eligible for TPS. There are approximately 66,000 nationals of Honduras (and people having no nationality who last habitually resided in Honduras) who may be eligible for re-registration. TPS does not apply to Honduran nationals who entered the United States after Dec. 30, 1998.

SF teachers & SFUSD ratify contract

The members of the United Educators of San Francisco officially ratified the recent contract agreement with the San Francisco Unified School District.

The agreement provides $39 million in savings to SFUSD over the next two years, and saves hundreds of teacher and paraprofessional jobs. It was unanimously passed by the SF Board of Education at their meeting on May 25, 2010.

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