One of the thorniest problems the current administration is dealing with is whether to take away the military privileges of the Mexican Army and Navy; in other words, judging those who have committed crimes in the civil sphere by civil, not military, judges…I object! First read and then form an opinion…

The composition of the branches of government in Mexico is well defined, with the intention that no one of the three branches may have more power than another. The intention was good; they didn’t take away the just rewards from those who gave their lives to make a better Mexico, and all would have been perfect if the politicians’ hunger for power had not undermined these institutions.

The legislative branch, comprised of two houses, believes that they are the lords and masters of all that moves and breathes in Mexico; thus, we pay taxes and they, in turn, allocate them for their pleasures, always preferring themselves to others. Recently, a legislator, whose name I certainly hope was not Godoy, had the idea of taking away the right of soldiers and sailors to be tried in military courts, by military judges. I object!

It is this hunger for power that makes people think that it would be a good idea to subject the Army and Navy to the statutes that the legislative and judicial branches make. The judicial branch in Mexico is one of the most insolent on the whole continent; its excessive salaries and huge bureaucracy, used to indulge in its fantasies, defies the imagination.

The legislature is merely composed of temporary deputies and senators who put their parties’ interests before those of the nation. Politicians of the PAN block projects of the PRI, politicians of the PRI those of the PAN, the Greens block the Reds, and the ugly ones the beautiful ones…ridiculous initiatives, that mock common sense and are worthy of Godoy.

The executive branch names its own secretaries, among them those for the Army and the Navy, which is more theater than reality: In fact, those honorable secretaries are elected by a chief clerk within their own institutions; later, the President in turn “appoints” them.

Never in the history of this lovely country have we been deprived of those secretaries, even while they have leveled those of Education, Tourism, Agriculture, Foreign Policy, Communication, Health, and many others that have been added to the list of the deprived and departed.

In other words, these institutions retain their autonomy by maintaining the social stability of the country and by being loyal to the President. Well, my opposition to the initiative of the brand-new politicians is, for one reason, very simple: The Armed Forces are the last credible institution in Mexico, and these two secretaries rely directly on the executive branch, which has been discredited by this fake war on narcotraffi ckers. Let us say that the soldiers are not content, but loyalty prevails among them, they serve their country and their temporary Supreme Commander, Felipe Calderon, but that, within these same institutions, they possess powers that will not give up at the end of his presidential term. The Armed forces are more than a political notion; the Armed Forces were called into the streets because the judicial branch failed, because that branch was totally corrupted, and because its components— the PGR, AFI, PTF, PFP, etc—absolutely every institution of public security has failed.

The corruption is so great that, in the judicial branch, its own highest representative boasts about making decisions, on his own. If the legislative branch should wish to make laws affecting the Armed Forces, on that day that institution would be subjected to political whims, Mexico would head towards total chaos, and there wouldn’t exist the slightest possibility that the Armed Forces would defend us as a people.

The military is the last hope of stopping the abuses of those who have lost their true mission of being public ¡Los clasifi cados trabajan! Anuncia si buscas empleados o vendes algo con El Reportero.

415-648-3711 servants, and have, instead, made Mexico the cure-all of their whims, by creating a corrupt system and making this country their servant: the errors of politicians have carried us to this point.

The military is not responsible for this situation, but all the mistakes have been handed over to them. The military is all we have left. To you soldiers, I say do not allow an error or a bad element within rob you of your past; you swore loyalty to Mexico above everything. You are, even now, the last institution in which we believe. Hey, Donkey, How did Felipe look with his hat of five stars? Aaaaahhhhi, aaaaahhhhhiiii. No, Donkey. The fourth star we owe to Durazo. http://www.elsiglodedurango.com.mx/noticia/293020.austedes-militares.html.

(Julio Cesar Godoy is a Mexican lawmaker-elect sworn in after evading police. He is accused of ties to traffickers, and is now immune from prosecution.) – Translated by Mark Carney.

The (lack) of Latino leadership

December 8, 2010

por Jorge Mújica Murias

México del Norte

“Who is the current more important Latino leader in the country?” asked the Pew Hispanic Center a few weeks ago to 1,375 adult Latinos, and published its results a week ago. Notimex, the Mexican news agency reported the most relevant finding in a single line: “There is no Hispanic leadership in the USA”.

It first gave me the impression that they were reporting a no-news item, since everybody knows nobody is recognized as a national leader is this community, despite being already about 15 percent of the population. “About 64 percent of answers were ‘I don’t know’ when asked who did they consider the most important Latino leader in the country”, reported Notimex. Another 10 percent answered “nobody is leader in the Latino community”.

What surprised me was the next part, which actually named names to the unknown Latino leadership: “Exploring the issue of Leadership, presenting some names of nationwide prominent Hispanics, the name most often recognized was that of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, with about 7 percent, followed by Chicago’s Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, with 5 percent”.

Right there I got so surprised, because it does not sound weird that three out of every four Latinos recognize “nobody” as a leader, but that the rest consider Sotomayor or Gutiérrez as “leaders” sounded really worrisome.

It got even worse, as I kept reading: “Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was considered as Latino’s leader by 3 percent, and TV news anchor Jorge Ramos got 2 percent”. Just to think that the Latino community may be led by Sotomayor, Gutiérrez, Villaraigosa and Univisión’s Jorge Ramos is so scary that I looked up the whole study to check the results.

How To Make A Leader When You Don’t Have One

Pew’s study is titled “National Leader Latino Leader? The Job Is Open”. As any poll, good and bad, this one does lead the answers to a certain point.

It happens that after the fi rst question, pollsters asked directly about a dozen names to measure name recognition. Besides the aforementioned, people were asked about César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, Bill Richardson, Janet Murguía and someone by the name of Barack Obama, maybe a Latino from Rumania because the name does not sound like Spanish. Out of the 8 that got some votes, only two were recognized by more than half of the respondents: Sotomayor and Ramos.

The next four were recognized by an average of one in four: Villaraigosa, Gutiérrez, Bill Richardson and Dolores Huerta. The last two got one out of every ten answers. The guy with the weird name did not get a single supporter as “Latino leader”. The real trick was in the third question. Those who recognize a name were directly asked if that person was a “leader”.

In order, the “recognized leaders” were Sotomayor, recently appointed to the Supreme Court, Univisión’s anchor Jorge Ramos, L.A.’s mayor Villaraigosa, and Luis Gutiérrez. The rest got recognized as “leaders by less than 20 percent of those who recognized their names. My initial surprise was gone after catching the trick. The most recognizable names are people who frequently appeared on TV.

It sounds more like “popularity” than “leadership” or it does speak about the good wish that there was a real leader. In that case, Pew could as well have asked for Los Tigres del Norte, and there would have been unanimity in the recognition. By the way, bad news for Univisión.

But the problem starts with the fi rst question. It is true; there is not a Latino national leader. I guess this happens because of two main reasons: first, the nostalgia of having a personal Leadership like that of Martin Luther King or César Chávez, and second because of the media. I believe there is leadership, but no individual.

Thousands of activists, not Judges or congressmen or news anchors are the everyday leadership, in the streets, in the barrios, getting people out of jails. Is like a political party without a name. They are the ones really leading the struggles of the community, but they are not on TV, and that’s a problem.

And the big problema is to assign a leadership to people like Janet Murguía, Director of the National Council of La Raza, someone who may be very well known only at home but who meets with politicians all the time to talk about meaningless things like immigration reform and act as “the voice of the Latino community”. mexicodelnorte@yahoo.com.mx.

The Agenda of the Illuminati (sixteenth part of a multi-series)

December 8, 2010

by Marvin Ramirez

Marvin Ramírez

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Given the important and historical information contained in this 31-page article on the history of the secret and evil society, The Illuminati, El Reportero is honored to provide our readers with the opportunity to read such a document by Myron C. Fagan, which mainstream media has labeled it a conspiracy theory. To better understand this series, we suggest to also read the previous articles published in our previous editorials.

This is the sixteenth part of the series.

The following is a transcript of a recording distributed in 1967 by Myron C. Fagan. He had hoped that if enough Americans had heard (or read) this summary, the Illuminati takeover agenda for America would have been aborted, just as Russia’s Alexander

I had torpedoed the Illuminati’s plans for a One World, League of Nations at the Congress of Vienna from 1814-15. Fagan correctly describes those members of congress, the executive branch, and the judicial branch of that time as TRAITORS for their role in assisting to implement the downfall of America’s sovereignty. It’s understandable that most listeners of that period would have found it impossible to believe that the Kennedy’s, for instance, were (are) part of the Illuminati plot, but he did say that Jack had a spiritual rebirth and attempted to rescue the country from the Illuminati’s stranglehold by issuing U.S. silver certificates, which apparently greatly contributed to the Illuminati’s decision to assassinate him (his son, John Jr., was also murdered because he had intended to expose his father’s killers after he gained public office).

— And here I must remind you that England and France were then long in the war with Germany and that on February 3, 1917, Wilson had broken off all diplomatic relations with Germany. Therefore; Warburg, Colonel House, the Rothschilds, and all those others were enemies, but of course, Switzerland was neutral ground where enemies could meet and be friends-especially if they had some scheme in common.

That Lenin party was very nearly wrecked by an unforeseen incident: The Schiffchartered ship on its way to Switzerland was intercepted and taken into custody by a British warship.

But Schiff quickly rushed orders to Wilson to order the British to release the ship intact with Trotsky’s hoodlums and the gold. Wilson obeyed. He warned the British that if they refuse to release the ship; the United States would not enter the war in April as he had faithfully promised a year earlier.

The British headed the warning. Trotsky arrived in Switzerland and the Lenin party went off as scheduled; but they still faced what ordinarily would have been the insurmountable obstacle of getting the Lenin-Trotsky band of terrorists across the border into Russia. Well; that’s where Brother Warburg, chief of the German Secret Police, came in. He loaded all those thugs into sealed freight cars and made all the necessary arrangements for their secret entry into Russia. The rest is history. The revolution in Russia took place and all members of the royal Romanoff family were murdered.

Now my chief objective is to establish beyond even a remote doubt that communism, so-called, is an integral part of the Illuminati great conspiracy for the enslavement of the entire world. That communism, so-called, is merely their weapon and bogy man word to terrify the peoples of the whole world and that the conquest of Russia and the creation of communism was, in great part, organized by Schiff and the other international bankers right in our own city of New York. A fantastic story? Yes.

Some might even refuse to believe it. Well; for the benefit of any doubting Thomas I will prove it by reminding that just a few years ago Charlie Knicker-bocker, a Hearst newspaper columnist, published an interview with John Schiff, grandson of Jacob, in which young Schiff confi rmed the entire story and named the fi gure old Jacob contributed, $20,000,000.

If anybody still has even a remote doubt that the entire menace of communism was created by the masterminds of the great conspiracy right in our own city of NewYork; I will cite the following historical fact: All records show that when Lenin and Trotsky engineered the capture of Russia; they operated as heads of the Bolsheviks party. Now “Bolshevism” is a purely Russian word.

The masterminds realized that “Bolshevism” could never be sold as an ideology to any but the Russian people. So in April 1918; Jacob Schiff dispatched Colonel House to Moscow with orders to Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin to change the name of their regime to the Communist Party and to adopt the Karl Marx “Manifesto” as the constitution of the Communist Party. Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin obeyed; and in that year of 1918 was when the Communist party and the menace of communism came into being. All this is confi rmed in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition.

In short; communism was created by the capitalists. Thus; until November 11, 1918, the entire fi endish plan of the conspirators worked perfectly. All the great nations, including the United States, were war-weary, devastated, and mourning their dead. Peace was the great universal desire. Thus when it was proposed by Wilson to set up a “League of Nations” to ensure peace; all the great nations, with no Russian Czar to stand in their way, jumped on that bandwagon without even stopping to read the fi ne print in that insurance policy. IT WILL CONTINUE ON THE NEXT EDITION.

The people of Watsonville picking the colonizer’s vegetable

December 8, 2010

by David Bacon

Farmworkers pick vegetables in Watsonville. (PHOTO BY DAVID BACON)

The California coast, from Davenport south through Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Castroville, is brussels sprouts country. Most of this vegetable in north America comes from these fields, although a growing harvest now takes place in Baja California, in northern Mexico.

In both California and Baja California, the vast majority of the people who harvest brussels sprouts, like those who pick other crops, are Mexican. In Baja they’re migrants from the states of southern Mexico. In California, they’re immigrant workers who’ve crossed the border to labor in these fields. On a cold November day, this crew of Mexican migrant workers picks brussels sprouts on a ranch outside of Watsonville.

Many people love this vegetable, and serve it for dinner on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Native people in the U.S. point out that Thanksgiving celebrates the beginning of the European colonization of north America, which drove them from the lands where they lived historically. The brussels sprouts came with the colonizers. While the Romans probably grew and ate them, the first plants came to this continent with the French to the colonies of Quebec and the Atlantic seaboard.

Today the people picking in this field may be immigrants to the U.S., but in a longer historical view, they are the descendents of indigenous people whose presence in north America predated Columbus and the arrival of the brussels sprouts by thousands of years. Now they cross the border between Mexico and the U.S. as migrant workers, many speaking indigenous languages as old, or even older, than those of the colonizers – Mixteco, Triqui or Nahuatl. In the soft conversations among the workers of this picking crew, and other crews harvesting the sprouts, you can hear those languages mixed with that of the Spaniards.

Brussels sprouts may be a colonizers’ vegetable, but it has many healthy properties. It contains sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol, both of which are believed to play a role in blocking the growth of cancer. In yet another irony, in non-organic fields, picking crews often get exposed to the agricultural chemicals that are one important cause of the explosion of cancer in the U.S. Farm workers get much higher doses than the supermarket patrons who buy the produce they pick.

But it’s a job. Putting the food on the table is really one of the most important jobs people do, and one that gets the least acknowledgement and respect. So the next time you decide on brussels sprouts for dinner, first, don’t boil them. It removes those healthy anti-cancer chemicals. And don’t overcook them either – that’s what produces the sulfur taste many people don’t like. But then, when they’re out there on the table, remember who got them there.

Junk food industry now targeting children and tennagers

December 8, 2010

by Fast Food Marketing for Youth

A Yale University study presented last November 8th, during the American Association of public health’s annual meeting, in Denver, points out that fast food chains dangerously increased their advertising aimed at children and teenagers, going for kids as little as two years old until those of age nineteen.

Some of the alarming results of this research, conducted for more than a year in the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity of Yale, are based on a significant increase in advertising specifically aimed at children, from companies such as McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC. For example, in comparison with 2007 numbers, in 2009 children between 6 and 11 saw 26 per cent more McDonald’s commercials, 10 per cent more of Burger King’s and 59 per cent more from Subway.

This industry spent no less than $4.2 billion in advertising in the last year and, according to Yale, used mainly television, Internet, social media and mobile phone applications to capture the attention of children.

The co-author of the research, Ph.D. Kelly Brownell, noted “If they truly wish to be considered partners in public health, fast food restaurants need to drastically reduce the total amount of marketing that children and teens see for fast food and the iconic brands that sell it.”

The study, which included 12 main chains of fast food restaurants all around the United States, demonstrates this industry’s advertisement is so effective that Forty percent of children ages 2-11 ask their parents to go to McDonald’s at least once a week, and 15% of preschoolers ask to go every day. Actually, an 84% of parents report taking their child ages 2-11 to a fast food restaurant at least once in the past week.

Also, while this type of restaurants have said in the past they are improving their nutrition values and so, especially for the children meals.

Yale’s research demonstrated neither the portions of the meals have been reduced or have won nutrition value. In fact, out of the 3,000 kids’ meal combinations and 2,781 dishes on the menu the University studied, only 12 meet the researchers’ nutrition criteria for preschoolers and Only 15 meet nutrition criteria for older children, all others exceed healthy values of fat, sugar and sodium.

Even worse, Companies facing increasing pressure about portion sizes are renaming, rather than eliminating, their biggest sides and drinks. One of them is Burger King, that changed the name of their “King” 42 ounces drink by the name “Large”, but it is exactly the same amount of soda, only a game of words to make people believe they are eating less.

Another disturbing finding is that teenagers who buy food in these restaurants end up purchasing between 800 and 1,100 calories each time, which means half of the recommended total daily calories; in other words it’s like your 13 years old eating half their lunch and all their dinner at once.

Latin and Afro American children in the spotlight

Another important fi nding is the advertisement coming from the fast food chains aims for Latin and Afro American children. Hispanic kids see on average 290 TV commercials from fast food restaurants each year, while Afro American children and teenagers are impacted with 50% more publicity than their white peer, mostly commercials from KFC and McDonald’s.

For Yale scientists it is not a joke that these restaurant chains need to improve their advertising practices. “Despite pledges to improve their marketing practices, fast food companies seem to be stepping up their efforts to target kids,” said lead researcher Jennifer L. Harris, Ph.D., M.B.A., director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Center.

Nica-Costa Rica conflict goes to The Hague

December 8, 2010

by the El Reportero’s news services

Daniel Ortega

The controversial participation of the Organization of American States in the conflict unleashed by Costa Rica against Nicaragua seems to have lost the little sense it had and the case will go to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

After the Costa Rican government went to the OAS with the evident intention of politicizing its differences with Nicaragua, the OAS showed its total inability to mediate a problem over which it has no jurisdiction. The issue will now goes to the international court, as it should have in the first place.

Speaking to reporters on November 3, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega discredited the Costa Rican decision to involve the OAS in the dispute, because it has no jurisdiction in border matters, and said Nicaragua would go to the international court.

Later, in a rigged and partial decision, the OAS Permanent Council issued a statement clearly favorable to the government of President Laura Chinchilla, which Nicaragua rejected, saying it would not discuss the matter in that body again. Nicaragua also ignored the approval of a December 7 meeting with OAS foreign ministers, called at the request of Costa Rica in a discussion in which Nicaragua had no part.

Lobo’s legally blond moment

On 17 November, President Porfirio Lobo declared that if it was up to him he would “pardon” everyone involved in or affected by the June 2009 coup d’état, including the military and the ousted former president Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009). Lobo has muddled up “pardon” and “amnesty”.

On 18 November he stated: “if the congress would give me, for example, the capacity that previous presidents had, to issue a pardon, then I would pardon them all, the military, Mel and all of them”. In fact, what Lobo appears to mean is a political amnesty, which only the congress can grant, as per Article 205 (16) of the 1982 Constitution. On 27 January 2010, the congress did in fact grant a political amnesty to all the coup participants and to Zelaya. Zelaya, however, is still facing criminal charges for which there is still an arrest warrant pending.

‘Happy slapping’ in the Argentine congress

There were insults, accusations of intimidation and bribery and even a televised slap across the face in the Argentine congress on 17 November. If the protagonists hadn’t been well known legislators, Argentine viewers may have thought they had tuned in to the latest episode of a saucy telenovela instead of the latest congressional meeting to overcome the political deadlock that has thus far left the country without a 2011 budgetary law.

Colombia shuts down mafia’s amusement park

The public embarrassment caused by the irregularities afflicting Colombia’s Dirección Nacional de Estupefacientes (DNE), the national drugs directorate, was such that the institution was labelled the “mafia’s amusement park” by its new director, Juan Carlos Restrepo, and as “the nucleus of illegality” by President Juan Manuel Santos.

The move to place the DNE under administration on 2 November pending an investigation into allegations of “administrative corruption” underlined the high risk of penetration of Colombia’s public institutions by narco-trafficking groups and has given the government an opportunity to demonstrate its stated commitment to confronting criminal interests head on; conversely, it has revived the debate over the accuracy of drugs data and whether the legalization of marijuana could be a viable option in the so-called ‘war on drugs’, which some argue has irrefutably failed to accomplish its goals. (Latin News contributed to this report.)

Man proves TSA policies at the airport are unconstitutional

December 8, 2010

by Paul Joseph Watson

Infowars.com

Blogger Matt Kernan was able to bypass both the naked body scanner and invasive TSA pat down procedures during his return to the United States this past weekend, proving that both measures are completely unconstitutional and creating a precedent for a total shakeup of airport security. Kernan, who documents the case on his websitem, was returning from a trip to Europe and was perturbed to see TSA workers making Americans who had already cleared security in their airport of origin go through backscatter x-ray machines and be groped simply to reenter their own country.

“You see, it is official TSA policy that people (both citizens and non-citizens alike) from international flights are screened as they enter the airport, despite the fact that they have already flown,” writes Kernan. “Even before the new controversial security measures were put in place, I found this practice annoying. But now, as I looked past the 25 people waiting to get into their own country, I saw it: the dreaded Backscatter imaging machine.”

Having seen the plethora of cases in recent weeks of TSA thugs abusing and humiliating women and children, Kernan, who had no connecting flight and time to kill, decided to take a stand. So begins Kernan’s description of his 2 and a half hour debate with TSA officials and airport police after he refused to go through the naked scanner or be groped.

After TSA workers laughed at Kernan for opting out of the radiation scanner, he politely informed them that if they touched his genitals he would consider it an assault.

With TSA officials repeating “policy” like a broken record, Kernan stated, “I am aware that it is policy, but I disagree with the policy, and I think that it is unconstitutional. As a U.S. citizen, I have the right to move freely within my country as long as I can demonstrate proof of citizenship and have demonstrated no reasonable cause to be detained.”

Soon after the TSA Supervisor, a Delta Airlines manager and the airport police were called and Kernan informed them that he was recording the audio of the exchange on his iPhone. “I will not do anything that is not explicitly stated on recording as mandatory,” Kernan told them, as the police suggested they conduct the pat down instead of the TSA. However, the cops were forced to back down when they refused to state on record that Kernan would have to have his genitals touched in order to be free to go.

After a disagreement between the police and the TSA about who had jurisdiction to arrest Kernan, the police began to get frustrated with the TSA Supervisor for pawning off the responsibility on them. At this point, the Supervisor tried to involve the “Federal Security Director,” who was told that Kernan was being polite and citing his constitutional rights. After more deliberation, Kernan was eventually escorted out of the airport without having to go through a naked body scanner or have his genitals groped.

“And then came the most ridiculous scene of which I’ve ever been a part. I gather my things – jacket, scarf, hat, briefcase, chocolates. We walk over to the staff entrance and he scans his badge to let me through. We walk down the long hallway that led back to the baggage claim area. We skip the escalators and moving walkways. As we walk, there are TSA officials stationed at apparent checkpoints along the route. As we pass them, they form part of the circle that is around me. By the end of the walk, I count 13 TSA officials and 2 uniformed police officers forming a circle around me. We reach the baggage claim area, and everyone stops at the orange line. The Supervisor grunts, “Have a nice day,” and leaves.”

By simply remaining calm and polite while citing his constitutional rights, Kernan proved that, despite the best efforts of the TSA to intimidate people into submission by threatening $11,000 fines, it is not illegal to refuse to be put through a radiation scanner or be groped by TSA workers. Kernan proved that the whole procedure is unconstitutional and a violation of rights, and after acknowledging this fact, TSA officials and the airport police had no other choice but to let him go free.

Tomorrow’s national op-out day provides the opportunity for thousands more Americans to follow in Kernan’s footsteps and permanently put to rest the notion that violating TSA “policy” is a criminal act, when in fact the policy in itself is a violation of constitutional rights and therefore completely illegal.

—Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for PrisonPlanet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a fi ll-in host for The Alex Jones Show. Watson has been interviewed by many publications and radio shows, including Vanity Fair and Coast to Coast AM, America’s most listened to late night talk show.

Teatro Nahual to perform controversial play

November 23, 2010

compiled by Mark Carney

Miembros del elenco de Los Monólogos de la Vagina.

Teatro Nahual, a theatrical troupe formed in 2003, presents ten plays a year, in Spanish, throughout the Bay Area. Besides performing plays in Spanish, Teatro Nahual also teaches acting classes in Spanish to aspiring actors of all ages. This month they will be performing two plays: The Vagina Monologues, a controversial play in which four actresses convey the sufferings of women who have been abused, and also Chismes de Machos, a play in which five actors talk about their experiences with women.

On Saturday, Nov. 13, they will perform at the National Hispanic University in San Jose, while on Saturday, Nov. 20, they will be at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Galeria de La Raza benefit performance Don’t miss the Galeria de La Raza’s Benefit Performance and Awards Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 3:30 pm. It will be an entertaining afternoon, consisting of an awards ceremony, a silent auction, music by DJ Guardado, and the San Francisco premier of Strange Democracy, a spoken word piece performed by Guillermo Gomez-Peña.

Afterwards, there will be a VIP afterparty, catered by Radio Africa & Kitchen, and music by J.Boogie and Rene Flores. In short, an afternoon of food, drinks, music and theater, in the Brava Theatre Center, located at 2857 24th St., in San Francisco.

Theatre Flamenco to perform Una Nota Flamenca

Aida Cuevas

Theatre Flamenco, which happens to be San Francisco’s second oldest professional dance company, will be performing Una Nota Flamenca this weekend. Led by Artistic Director Carola Zertruche, the company will be joined by several notable guest artists from Spain, such as Manuel Gutiérrez, Juan Siddi and Cristina Hall.

”This production”, according to Zertuche, “is an expression of flamenco dance that embodies the emotion ignited from a single musical note—una nota flamenca— that will captivate the senses. It combines extraordinary footwork and invigorating music into a deeply moving theatrical experience.” The performances will take place at Fort Mason’s Cowell Theater, in San Francisco, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Free internet training provided

If you are unsure how to take advantage of what the internet offers, you could benefit by the free, weekly classes provided by the Unity Council. Internet searching and the uses of email and social media will be covered. If you’re interested, call Marie-Louise Clark, at (415) 608-2209.

Mortgage modification conference

In the midst of a housing crisis, many homeowners are in need of counseling as to how they can modify their mortgage. The Making Home Affordable Program, or HAMP, can help some homeowners to reduce their mortgage payments and remain in their homes. But, because of the legal complexities, many homeowners are baffled and bewildered, unable to understand the laws and guidelines that affect them.

If this describes you, perhaps you should attend the Northern California Urban Development’s seminar on Nov. 30, at the East Palo Alto City Hall. For more info call Zuzuki Velásquez at (650) 328-1890 ext. 103.

Candidates for the next Latino Grammy are announced

November 23, 2010

by Antonio Mejías-Rentas

Aída Cuevas

STARS ALIGNED: Performers, announcers and hosts have been announced for the upcoming Latin Grammy Awards.

Singers Juan Luis Guerra, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, Aída Cuevas and Jenni Rivera, as well as pop group Camila are among the acts scheduled to perform at the 11th annual awards, to be held Nov. 11 in Las Vegas. Peformance highlights also include a duet by Caribbean superstars Gilberto Santa Rosa and Johnny Ventura, who will debut their new single Hay que dejarse de vaina, and a performance by bachata nominee Prince Royce of his hit single Stand by Me, along with the song’s originator Ben. E. King. Mexican stars Eugenio Derbez and Lucero will host the event, to be broadcast by Univision. Announced award presenters include Pepe Aguilar, Jorge Drexler, Kany García, and Tito: El Bambino.”

RICKY RETURNS: A muchawaited autobiography by a well-loved Puerto Rican performer coincides with the release of his first single in two years.

On Nov. 2, Ricky Martin releases Lo mejor de mi vida eres tu, the first single from the Spanish-language album he is expected to release in early 2012. The same day marks the release of the Spanish- and Englishlanguage versions of his memoir, Yo (Me). Martin embarks on a media blitz this week that includes a Nov. 2 appearance on Oprah and subsequent interviews on Ellen and Late Show with David Letterman and book signings from coast to coast.

Martin’s autobiography is expected to recount his decision to hire a woman to give birth to his twin children and the much talked-about announcement of his homosexuality.

ONE LINERS: The New York-based American Ballet Theatre will perform in Havana during the Cuban International Ballet Festival, which began Oct. 28 with a tribute to Alicia Alonso, who danced with ABT and now directs the Cuban National Ballet. It continues through Nov. 7… bandleader Arturo O’Farrill says he plans to take his late father’s band, the Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, to the International Jazz Festival in the Cuban capital in December… the town of Dolores Hidalgo, in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, is commemorating the Primer Festival Internacional José Alfredo Jiménez all month long, dedicated to the late legendary songwriter…Madonna will launch a new international chain of gyms with the Nov. 29 opening of the first Hard Candy Fitness in Mexico City… Max and Emme, the twin children of Jennifer López and Marc Anthony, made their modeling debut in an ad for Gucci children’s wear in which they appear with their famous mom…. U.S. sculptor Richard Serra shares with French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf Spain’s Principe de Asturias prize in the arts and letters…. And Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is expected to attend the Nov. 4 opening on Broadway of the musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, based on his movie… Hispanic Link.

Libertarians oppose strip-search machines at airports

November 23, 2010

Compiled by Mark Carney

Raise a stink now or your kids are going to be condemned to living in a police state.

Offended by the extensive use of strip-search machines in airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Mark Hinkle, the Libretarian Party Chair, is urging their immediate elimination.

“We have reached a point where our government has no qualms about humiliating us. The fact that I want to travel on an airplane does not make me a threat, and it does not allow anyone to conduct a warrantless search under my clothing,” Hinkle said.

Other groups, like the American Pilots Association and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), have also urged the government to discontinue their use. EPIC, in fact, recently filed a lawsuit against the program, arguing that it violates several laws, including the federal Privacy Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act and the Fourth Amendment.

Hinkle noted the perverse uses to which these images may be put, saying, “Regardless of policy, some security personnel will want to store the images, and they will fi nd ways to do it. This is already reported to have happened in Florida, where U.S. Marshalls stored thousands of images from a courthouse scanner.”

Hyatt housekeepers file injury complaint with OSHA

On Tuesday, November 10, Hyatt hotel housekeepers in eight cities fi led injury complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), alleging repetitive motion and other kinds of injuries. In California alone, Hyatt housekeepers in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Los An geles and Long Beach are involved in the complaint. According to the complaint, at some Hyatt properties housekeepers are required to clean as many as 30 rooms a day.

When cleaning a room, the housekeeper not only vacuums the carpet and cleans the bathroom, but also changes the sheets, which requires her to lift a mattress weighing more than 100 pounds.

In the press conference call announcing the complaint, Gary Orr, an occupational ergonomics expert, pointed out the increasing frequency of repetitive motion injuries, particularly within the service industry. Indeed, he emphasized that, in the hotel industry, being a housekeeper may be the most dangerous job of all.

A recent study published in the American Journal of co-workers to suffer an injury, Industrial Medicine found that housekeepers are injured more frequently than other hotel workers, female hotel workers are 50 percent more likely than their male and Hispanic women are twice as likely to be injured at work as their white female co-workers. In this same study, Hyatt housekeepers had the highest injury rate of all the hotel workers analyzed.

“It is critical that we explore ways of making hotel work safe to reduce the high rates of injury that we see among housekeepers”, Orr stated. Among other things, Orr recommended “common sense changes like fitted sheets, mops, or caps on daily room quotas that can make the difference between healthy bodies and hurt housekeepers.”

Daily Bail supports raising retirement age In an editorial posted on the website The Daily Bail, the author agrees with the incoming speaker of the House of Representatives, who wishes to raise the retirement age to 70. What bothers him, however, is the reason he allegedly gave for this reform: Boehner reportedly said that paying for the war will require reforming the entitlement system. “We need to look at the American people and explain to them that we’re broke,” Boehner said.

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