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The Illiminati agenda (first of a multi-series)

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by Marvin Ramírez­

­Marvin  J. Ramírez­Marv­in R­amír­ez­­­­­­

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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

Recently I have started reading about the known sect, The Illuminati, information that lately been coming out of the dark into the light. On our two previous editions’ editorials, I had the honor to publish the article, Introduction to the Secret Order of the Illuminati, and on the following week, Confusion Regarding the Terms “Illuminati” and “New World Order.

The following article, which is actually a 31-page document, titled: The Illuminati Agenda, explains in great details how our society ills and control of the people by the government as a mandate from this secret society of the most powerful people on Earth, have enslaved Americans and the rest of the world.

To most media people, this information is nothing but a conspiracy theory. But you, dear readers, can come to your own conclusions after reading it, as it explains how our top government official agendas, our current economic and educational system have been designed to control us all.

Transcript of 1967 Recording by Myron C. Fagan

[Article’s Editor’s Note: 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 spiri tual rebirth and attempted to rescue the country from the Illuminati’s stranglehold by issuing US silver certificates, which apparently greatly contributed to the Illuminati’s decision to assassinate him (his son, John ., was also murdered because he had intended to expose his father’s killers after he gained public office).

Today we realize that the Illuminati exerts almost 100 percent control over all three branches of the American government and the few remaining congressional defenders of America can be counted on one hand as the intense public vilification and disparagement recently directed at Rep. Barbara McKinney of Georgia will bear witness to. It’s too late in the game now to expect any patriot remaining within government service to rescue us from the brutal destruction that lies ahead, but the American people can save themselves from these satanic destroyers of liberty & life through NONCOOPERATION and NONCOMPLIANCE. The Illuminati plans to incorporate MIND CONTROL to force compliance, but their ELF mind control towers can be neutralized before that happens if enough people become aware of the enslavement agenda. The current crop of traitors with names like Rumsfeld, are merely stooges for hidden corporate satanists who, in turn, are themselves stooges for repressive alien overlords as described in the latest books of avid Icke and the lectures of Al Bielek. You must play some role to help save your children and this world from these madmen. Help fulfill Fagan’s Hope and distribute this article far and wide. My gratitude to Dr. Kanya Vashon McGhee <drkanya9@hotmail.com> of the for forwarding this important transcript to me…Ken Adachi]

by Myron C. Fagan h t t p : / / e d u c a t e – yourself.org/nwo/illuminat iagendabestoverviewyet8ju n02.shtml

Part 1 (Original title: The Illuminati and the Council on Foreign Relations )

The question of how and why the United Nations is the crux of the great conspiracy to destroy the sovereignty of the United States and the enslavement of the American people within a U.N. one-world dictatorship is a complete and unknown mystery to the vast majority of the American people.

The reason for this unawareness of the frightening danger to our country and to the entire free world is simple. The masterminds behind this great conspiracy have absolute control of all of our mass communications media, especially television, the radio, the press, and Hollywood.

We all know that our State Department, the Pentagon, and the White House have brazenly proclaimed that they have the right and the power to manage the news, to tell us not the truth but what they want us to believe.

They have seized that power on orders from their masters of the great conspiracy and the objective is to brainwash the people into accepting the phony peace bait to transform the United States into an enslaved unit of the United Nations’ one world government.

First of all, bear in mind that the so-called U.N. police action in Korea, fought by the United States in which 150,000 of our sons were murdered and maimed, was part of the plot; just as the undeclared by Congress war in Vietnam in which our sons are dying is part of the plot; just as the plot against Rhodesia and South Africa in which our sons will be dying is part of the U.N. plot.

However, the vitally important thing for all Americans, all you mothers of the boys who died in Korea and are now dying in Vietnam, to know is that our so-called leaders in Washington, who we elected to safeguard our nation and our constitution, are the betrayers and that behind them are a comparatively small group of men whose sole objective is to enslave the whole world of humanity in their satanic plot of one-world government.

(WILL CONTINUE NEXT WEEK).

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U.S. places new emphasis on human trafficking

by Raisa Camargo

WASHINGTON D.C. — Global efforts to enact anti-human-trafficking legislation are receiving renewed attention in Washington, D.C.

Secretary of State  Hillary Clinton publicly released the 2010 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report last month, (June 14) at the U.S. Department of State.

“All of us have the possibility of bringing this problem to an end,” Clinton said during the report’s 10th annual release. “We have to ensure that our policies live up to our own ideals.”

This marks the first year the United States is ranked in the TIP report. This country is considered a source, transit and destination for labor and sexual trafficking. The majority of U.S. cases involve victims from the Latino community, with traffickers being both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens The report identified 18,144 more victims glob ally in 2009 than in the year before. Trafficking prosecutions also rose from 5,212 to 5,606.

Speaking afterwards at a press briefing, Ambassador- at-Large Luis CdeBaca of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons attributed the prosecution gains to the development of sufficient governmental infrastructures.

Argentina is one of several countries that have shown success in their efforts to work closely with non-governmental organizations by creating an anti-trafficking unit as a specialized law enforcement section.

Mexico’s civil rights division has also been working in partnership with the U.S. government to control trafficking rings in both countries.

Within the United States, increased numbers of adults and children are being trafficked for forced labor, commonly in domestic servitude, agriculture, manufacturing, janitorial services, hotel services, construction, health and elder care, hair and nail salons, and strip club dancing, according to the report.

The U.S. victims came primarily from Thailand, Mexico, the Philippines, Haiti, India, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

“What we have in the United States is a situation where home-grown traffickers are enslaving people in various segments of the economy. Some foreign nationals who are here were recruited in their home countries. Others might have immigrated and when they are here they get trapped,” CdeBaca said.

The TIP report doesn’t include the number of persons being trafficked in this country, and the rankings do not reflect the size of the problem. CdeBaca said that estimates as to the number of U.S. trafficking cases over the past decade range from 14,500 to 50,000.

According to the TIP report, more U.S citizens, both adult and children, are found in sex trafficking than labor trafficking and more foreign victims are found in labor trafficking than sex trafficking. Some victims entered the country through work or studentbased visa programs.

Laura Germino, an anti-slavery campaign coordinator for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers who has helped prosecute seven cases of slavery in Florida over the past 15 years, is the first U.S-based recipient to receive recognition as an “Anti-trafficking Hero.”

“I think it’s incredibly important that the TIP now includes the United States because it formally acknowledges that we have a problem of forced labor not just in agriculture but in factories, other work sites and forced prostitution,” Germino said.

The Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit within the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division charged 114 individuals and obtained 47 convictions in 43 human trafficking prosecutions within 2009.

On a global scale, labor trafficking prosecutions have tripled to 335 cases.

The world’s demand for exploiting labor also seems to be slightly decreasing, said CdeBaca, “On the one hand, people are desperate and therefore willing to take more risks putting themselves into harms way with an abusive labor recruiter. On the other hand, there are fewer big projects for them to be placed by those abusive labor recruiters.

The report surveyed policies in 177 countries based on standards set by the International Traf- fi cking Victims Protection Act.

The report estimated 12.3 million persons are still being held in force labor, bonded labor and forced prostitution. Hispanic Link.

(Raisa Camargo is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service based in Washington D.C. email: raisa@knights.ucf.edu)

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Correa firm on Honduras

by the El Reportero’s news services

On President Rafael Correa insisted after a meeting on July 15 with José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), that Ecuador could not accept the return of Honduras i­nto OAS. Insulza is desperately trying to bridge the continuing damaging divide between the US and most of South America over Honduras.

The US has long since taken a pragmatic stance, arguing that it’s sensible to move on and support the new Honduran government. Correa and others insist that the coup d’état simply cannot just be written into the history books and that the region needs to signal strongly that it cannot be tolerated.

Insulza is trying to arrange a compromise ahead of a planned OAS assembly to discuss the issue (tentatively fixed for July 30). Lately, he has been touting the notion of an international ad hoc tribunal to hear the pending criminal charges against the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya .

Prensa Latina: War in Iran motivated by military and fi nancial interests

President of the Academy of Geopolitical Affairs of Russia Leonid Ivashov associated US war plans against Iran with the interests of military, industrial and fi nancial sectors.

After assuring that there is a high probability of a military attack against Iran, Ivashov said in statements to Prensa Latina that all the signs of a major confl ict in the Persian Gulf and in the vicinity of Iran are visible.

To Ivashov, the premises for a confrontation underlie a powerful global clash of two empires trying to determine the global historical processes.

Ivashov defined the center of power of the Rockefeller dynasty (based primarily in the USA), which controls the world’s production, including military production,and the financial empire.

World dominance and control are the main goals of this war that is being promoted by the militaristic neo-conservatives on both sides, said Ivashov.

According to Ivashov, Israel, supported by the US government and the Zionist lobby in Barack Obama’s administration, is the third country interested in a con- fl ict with Teheran.

Role of Church and State comes under spotlight across Latin America

Relations between Church and State were central to key developments across Latin America over the course of the last week.

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez reminded the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in no uncertain terms of the principle of the secular State enshrined in the constitution after lacerating criticism of his Bolivarian Revolution from the Cardinal Archbishop of Caracas, Jorge Urosa. Roles were reversed in El Salvador where the Church reminded the government about the secular State by condemning the proposed imposition by congress of Bible readings in schools in a bid to curb violence.

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Protest rally at St. Luke’s hospital to send message to CPMC

by Jonathan FarrellThe cop who killed Oscar Grant during the verdict. (by Jonathan Farrell Nurses protest reduction of health services.

As the struggle between California Pacific Medical Center and labor union representatives continues on, a youth rally was staged on July 15 to protest the future plans CPMC has for St. Luke’s Hospital.

On that Thursday afternoon rally participants gave testimony and delivered over 1,000 post cards to CMPC officials pleading that the proposed plans not reduce health care services to the community by down-sizing the hospital.

“CPMC with its proposed plans for St. Luke’s wants to reduce services by 60 percent,” said Emily Lee, speaking for Chinese Progressive Association, as the group who sponsored the rally.

Lee told El Reportero that the plan to reduce St. Luke’s would impact the community by denying access to healthcare. A reduction in the number of beds and the shifting of services to other CPMC locations would only over burden existing hospitals in the area like San Francisco General.

Lee also said that SF General and St. Luke’s are the only hospitals in the Mission District and surrounding areas that serves a major portion of the City. Most of that population is working class and low income. SF General is already overcrowded and under funded in its efforts to serve the entire City.

Lee pointed out that CPMC as a non-profit entity it receives tax breaks in the millions, which would allow CPMC to continue St. Luke’s tradition of providing health care to low-income people.

“She is perfectly right when she says CPMC has an obligation to provide affordable or charity care for the community,” said CPMC media rep Kevin McCormack. “ It’s an obligation we take very seriously. In fact in 2009 we spent $10 million on charity care,” he said

Nato Green, labor rep for the California Nurse Association said that CPMC wants to make St. Luke’s “a permanent charity case hospital,” forcing patients to go else where for specialty needs.

McCormack said that the labor unions and nurses associations  have presented a distorted view of the proposed plans. CPMC is building a brand-new hospital at St. Luke’s precisely because CPMC wants to create a strong future for the facility. There are many people in that part of San Francisco – stretching from Noe Valley and the Mission to Visitacion Valley and Bayview/Hunters Pt. – who have health insurance and would gladly use St. Luke’s as their medical home,” he said.

Nato still sees the new plans as “lipstick on a pig,” he said. Plans are not final yet.

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Confusion regarding the terms “Illuminati” and “New World Order” explained

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by Marvin Ramírez­

­Marvin  J. Ramírez­Marv­in R­amír­ez­­­­­­

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NOTE OF THE EDITOR:

Last week EL Reportero published the article, Introduction to the Secret Order of the Illuminati, written by Wes Penre. And as an aggregation to this topic about the ruling elite, an exclusive, corrupt society and without escruple we present to you the following article by the same writer, an explanation to the confusion that exists on the Illuminati and the New World Order.

by Wes Penre

Illuminati is not the correct word to use to describe the evil Power Elite, which controls most of the world. The reason I said that was because I knew that they don’t call themselves “The Illuminati;” that’s a term being used pretty uniformly by researchers of the “New World Order”. I never liked this term, but decided to go along with it and use it myself, not to confuse matters even more.

I feel inclined to mention that there are a lot of groups out there that call themselves the Illuminati, who are not the one group I am referring to on my website.

The word Illuminati means

1. People claiming to be unusually enlightened with regard to a subject.
2. Illuminati: Any of various groups claiming special religious enlightenment. Latin illmint, from pl. of illmintus, past participle of illminre, to light up. See illuminate.

These definitions are taken from “The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language”.

Like the definitions tell us, any group which considers itself “enlightened” could rightfully call itself the Illuminati. So is also the case. If you google “The Illuminati”, you will find quite a few groups claiming this name. It can be confusing, so I want to make very clear to those confused about this, that the Illuminati we are discussing here is NOT a benevolent secret society who wants to bring peace and harmony to this world by helping to bring back freedom to the people. If such a benevolent group exists and also happens to call itself “The Illuminati”, I apologize if some people will mix up the different groups. The Illuminati I am exposing here is the super-rich Power Elite with an ambition to create a slave society!

A more correct term for this group would be “The Power Elite”. It describes these people much more accurately, because that is exactly what they are, and they are structured in a hierarchal pyramid fashion with the “purest” bloodlines on top. The ones in highest power we know of are the heads of the Noble Families of the world; families that often go back thousands of years in time and always have been the ruling elite – either overtly or behind the scenes. But they have “always” been there. They inherit the power from their parents or close relatives and to them power, interbreeding, wealth and control are their four main priorities; it’s in their blood, and they want to keep their blood “clean” and not contaminated with blood from us “ordinary, lesser people”, not of the ruling-class. We loosely also call them the “Black Nobility” because they are dark in nature and use occult, often black magic, rituals and practices to help accomplishing their goals. I don’t want to use this term though, because the Black obility only describes a part of the Power Elite, the Italian Bloodline, and I don’t want to mix up yet another definition, like has been done with the Illuminati.

The current Power Elite on this Earth have its Headquarters in Great Britain and in Rome, with Queen Elizabeth II as a major player, but I am sure there are bloodlines more important to them above hers that we know nothing about. As I have showed continuously on this website, even the Presidents of the United States have royal blood, although not as thick as the Queen and the pure royalty. But they are all branching out from the same tree and they stick together on their sacred mission. You have to have royal blood to even become the President of the United States. If you haven’t, you don’t stand a chance, you’re “not in the Club”, as the late comedian George Carlin so appropriately stated.

Another term frequently used is “New World Order”. After George HW Bush rang in the New World Order in the early 1990s, this term has been used by all researchers of the Power Elite. To make things even more confusing, Bush and other powerful people before and after him used this term for a reason. The Power Elite wants to accomplish two main things:

1. They want to maintain their power and expand it to include the whole world.
2. To safeguard their control and power, in constant fear that the masses will overthrow them like they did in the French Revolution, they want to expand their power by centralizing it as much as they can. Therefore they either create catastrophic world events, or let these events happen without intervening, so they can restructure and centralize as a result of the catastrophe.

Henry Kissinger mentioned this just recently when asked about the Financial Meltdown. He said that from each catastrophe [referring mainly to the financial crisis] there is a new opportunity, and this is what he wanted to focus on. Understanding whom Kissinger works for, we know what opportunities he is talking about.

This centralization of power within business and politics, primarily, something they call Globalization, and by using sophisticated mind control and surveillance techniques, they think they will eventually keep the masses obedient enough so they don’t ever have to fear that we will rebel against them again. To be able to maintain the control and fear/negativity they feed on, they need to keep us in a spiritual trap, in which we certainly are. Although, we must remember that ultimately we put ourselves in this trap by letting us be ruled by these people in the first place and by looking the other way when truth is knocking on the door.

Illuminati”, the “New World Order” is also used by different groups with different agendas, so therefore I need to clarify for people who are new to this which New World Order I am talking about. There are those among us who would welcome a New World Order, because obviously the current Order is not working in our favor. So they think a New World Order is the solution. It doesn’t help that certain groups use this term to describe a benevolent future, where the Illuminati I am concentrating on is overthrown and a world of peace will emerge.

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Rare presentation by artists Guillermo Gómez-Peña and James Luna

by the El Reportero’s staff

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Galeria de la Raza invites you on Saturday July 17th at 7:00pm for an informal lecture with premiere Native American conceptual artist James Luna and Guillermo Gomez-Pena. The artists will be presenting a photographic account of their ongoing collaborative project titled La Nostalgia Remix. The photographs that will be shown were created by San Francisco photographer RJ Muna and involve a series of informal performances that took place last year at local bars and at Left Space Studio. For this photo shoots the artists invited several SF based artists and intellectuals to help them stage images that invoked the melancholy of iconic paintings such as Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

This event is free and open to the public but space is limited. (Donations are welcome). On Saturday, June 17, from 7-8:30 p.m. Galería de La Raza 2857 24th Street, SF.

John Santos Sextex at La Peña

Join us for a wonderful Latin Jazz concert in commemoration of La Peña’s 35th Anniversary. John Santos is one of the few musicians who has performed at La Peña every year since we opened our doors in 1975. He represents Bay Area Latin Jazz around the world and is a five-time Grammy nominee. Come listen to The John Santos Sextet in their first Bay Area appearance of the summer. Featuring John Calloway, Saul Sierra, Melecio Magdaluyo, Marco Diaz and David Flores.

On Sunday July 17, 2010. 8 p.m., La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, (510) 849-2572.

Great Nicaraguan tardeada with Carlos Mejía Godoy in SF

One of the greatest of the greatest talents in Nicaragua, musician, composer and singer, Carlos Mejía Godoy y Los de Palacagüina, will be in San Francisco for a special concert for one day only.

Carlos and his brother Luis Enrique, were pivotal in the New Song Movement in Central America beginning in the 1970s. They were both recently honored with Nicaragua’s highest cultural distinction, the Order of Rubén Darío.

Carlos started his career as ‘Corporito’ on the radio station ‘Radio Corporacion’, where he would daily compose songs that would rain ridicule and scorn on all politicians and politicalparties. He would do it with that biting sense of humor that so few artists are able to master.

Many of his songs, per- formed with his band los de Palacagüina, became asso- ciated with the Sandinista movement as songs of the workers and revolutionar- ies. He even composed a Mass for the working class, the Misa Campesina Nica- ragüense.

Some of his albums include: El Son Nuestro De Cada Día, La Nueva Milpa, Grandes Éxitos, and A Dos Puyas, No Hay Toro Valiente. His music has also been featured on sev- eral compilations of songs of Nicaragua and the Nica- raguan revolution: Songs of the Nicaraguan Revolution, Vol.1-2, and Nicaraguita: Music from Nicaragua.

He is also the creator of Clodomiro El Ñajo y Son Tus Perjumenes de Mujer.

On Sunday, August 1, from 1 to 7p.m., at Roc- capulco Super Club, 3140 Mission Street, San Fran- cisco. For more info and tickets, call Alex Colón at 650-906-4810 or 415-648- 6611.

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Two latinas make it big with Emmy Awards

by Antonio Mejías-Rentas

Two Latina performers are among­ this year’s crop of Emmy primetime nominees, announced July 8 in Los Angeles. Colombian actress Sofia Vergara is nominated in the supporting actress category for her role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the ABC Modern Family.

And Mexican-American percussionist Sheila E is up for an Emmy in the musical director category, for her work in the PBS special. In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina.

Both Latinas are first-time Emmy nominees. Vergara, only the third Latina actress nominated in the supporting category for comedy in the 62-year-history of the primetime Emmys, said she was stunned by the nomination.

With this accent, it’s very hard to find roles, she told Associated Press. To have been able to find a role so perfect for a person like me with my ethnicity, with the way I look, it’s unbelievable.

Previous nominees were Puerto Rican actresses Rita Moreno (in 1983) and Liz Torres (in 1990, 1994 and 1995), but neither won the award in the category.

The Emmy Awards will be handed out Aug. 29 in a ceremony to be broadcast. Enrique Iglesias’s new album is the first recorded in Spanish and English by the 35-year-old singer born in Madrid but raised in Miami.

The son of Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias calls Euphoria the most eclectic album I have ever done in a 15-year-career

Enrique Iglesias has usually recorded one album in Spanish and a separate version in English, but in an interview with Associated Press he said it was the right time for a bilingual album.

I have always written in English and in Spanish, I think in English and in Spanish, I dream in English and in Spanish. The timely moment didn’t arrive before … (But) this moment asked me for it creatively, he said.

The recently released album already contains two hits off the album: I Like It, with Pitbull and Lionel Richie, and Cuando me enamoro, a duet with Juan Luis Guerra. The album also includes collaborations with Akon, Nicole Sherzinger, Usher and Wisin & Yandel.

ONE LINERS: The American Ballet Theatre will perform in Cuba for the 22nd annual Havana International Ballet Festival, taking place Oct. 28 to Nov. 9.

Scholars hope that La educación de laVirgen, a painting found in the archives of the Yale University Museum and newly attributed to Spanish painter Diego Velazquez, will provide new insight into the early career of the 17th century master.

Greek Cypriots are mounting an angry internet campaign complaining about an upcoming concert in the Turkish-dominated north Cyprus by Jennifer Lopez; the pop diva expects to celebrate her 41st birthday at the July 24 planned opening of a $220 million casino. Hispanic Link

 

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Grassroots coalition sues California over shool funding

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

A coalition of grassroots groups and individuals rep- resenting thousands of low- income students and parents from across California is suing the State of Califor- nia over a school funding system that the Governor’s own Committee on Educa- tion Excellence said is “not equitable;…not efficient; and…not suffi cient for stu- dents who face the greatest challenges.”

The lawsuit calls on the State to live up to its constitutional responsibility and “provide all California public school students with a new school fi nance system that suffi ciently and equitably supports its public schools, so that every child has a reasonable opportunity to obtain a meaningful educa- tion that prepares them for civic, social, and economic success in the 21st century,” said a coalition’s written statement.

The complaint makes two main legal claims under the California Constitution: 1) that the State’s school funding system fails to pro- vide children with an oppor- tunity to obtain a meaningful education, in violation of the Education Clause, and 2) and that it violates the equal protection clauses.

“We’re asking the court to declare the current fund- ing system unconstitutional and to order that a new one be created,” said Howard Rice partner Marty Glick. “Our funding system must be aligned to the actual costs of preparing students for college and careers and to individual student needs

Chabot College adds fall semester welding classes

Chabot College has good news for students who want to take welding classes this fall semester.

Due to a campus con- struction schedule change, previously cancelled classes now will be offered in the college’s popular welding program.

Fall semester welding classes include Introduction to Welding, Welding Lay-out and Fitting, ARC/Flux Core/Blueprint, TIG/MIG, Welding Inspection, Skills Laboratory, Certification Preparation, and Welding for Artists. Class meeting times include day, evening, and Saturdays.

Street parks program provides free gardening and cooking workshops

On Saturday, July 24, 2010, residents with an inter-est in gardening and growing their own food will meet at Visitacion Valley Greenway for Dig in San Francisco, a free gardening workshop where they will learn how to grow fruits and vegetables with skills they learn, such as composting, planting and garden maintenance. In ad- dition, a guest chef will be on hand to demonstrate how to cook using fresh garden vegetables.

The Department of Pub-lic Works (DPW) is partnering with the American Community Gardening Association and San Francisco Parks Trust in order to advance Mayor Newsom’s initiatives that encourage urban gardening and healthy and local eating habits. The workshop is sponsored by Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi.

DPW’s Street Parks Pro-gram, which allows residents to adopt and maintain public land for landscaping and gardening, currently has more than 100 project areas com- plete or under development.

“There is a lot of op- portunity to grow food on these properties, and we want to not only encourage people to become stewards of the land, but to grow food there. This workshop helps us teach everyone how it’s done and what the ben- efits to their communities and their health are,” said Mohammed Nuru, Deputy Director for Operations at DPW.

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Arizona aspersions

By José de la Isla

HOUSTON — My friend Alice called while she had several hours’ layover, awaiting processing before returning to Iraq. The civilian contract worker was home on leave but is now returning.

She wanted to tell me how upset she was about Arizona. In her monologue, she had tales to tell about regional U.S. attitudes showing up in the conflict zone and how Bosnians  who are Muslims, staunch allies and contract workers  know to push back when pushed. There are stories about Filipinos who signed on for five years who will not see their families during the whole time.

She talks about her deceased mother, from a native Texan rancher family with limited English ability and her courage to speak up when that needed doing. What would she think about Arizona? How would she feel about the aspersions that she doesn’t look or sound “American” enough? It bothers Alice, and she says it will continue annoying her in Iraq.

She has to go, Alice tells me. The PA system says an assembly is about to begin before deployment.

She leaves me in mid-thought about how politics catches you. Bernard Malamud,the acclaimed author, once pronounced that to be alive is to be political. It is a hard truth to accept, especially by nice, mild-mannered apolitical people when they face astringent attitudes.

Also hard to understand is how the air for serious discussion over immigration issues got so sulfuric. The shank was already being heaved as far back as May 2006 when CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, interviewing Attorney General Alberto Gonzáles, asked: “Tell our viewers who aren’t familiar your personal story, how you got to where you are, your grandparents, your parents… I don’t know if they came here legally or illegally. But give us the story.”

Gonzáles fell into the trap. The aspersion was cast not on who Gonzáles was but who his grandparents were. He said three of his grandparents went to Texas from Mexico. Both his parents were born in Texas. But that wasn’t enough for Blitzer, who persisted: “When they came to Texas, were they legally documented, were they unlegally documented?”

Gonzáles said, “It’s unclear. It’s unclear.”

Actually it’s very clear. The Attorney General is a U.S. citizen. Otherwise, what is the CNN relevance of pursuing this questioning about a time when “docu- ments” and visas were probably not required the way they are now?

It is faintly reminiscent of the thinking that domi- nated for three centuries in the New World when a ra- cialism sought to fi nd im- pure Jewish blood among the Spanish-surnamed.

Again, the impulse is to pry into the personal, to find a “questionable” background. The purpose served is not to get an- swers but to defi ne a sus- picious class of people, then find the “legal” and “illegal” among them, as if that defi nes who’s loyal and who isn’t.

The inquisition raises the question of legitimacy, as if to ask which ones are bastards? There is also oneupsmanship here, be- cause the element of doubt feeds the suspicion. Even when someone knows the other person is licit, just by having questioned the legitimacy is to bring up an element of doubt, likely association with a disdained class, making ethnicity in a democracy matter more than respect. After all, it is all about getting the upper hand.

Even in giving, there is a lot of taking. That happened recently when Alfredo Corchado of the Dallas Morning News received the prestigious Lovejoy Award for courage in journalism for his cover- age of drug trafficking in Mexico. Twenty-one jour- nalists reporting on these stories have been murdered since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The press release announcing the award said Corchado’s family “legally immigrated” to the United States when he was six years old.

How tasteless, unthink- ing, uncouth, demoralizing. orrected, how far will this go?

I think it’s already reached Iraq.

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

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Beware: Miranda rights restricted

Constitutional right flies out the door

by Marti Hiken

<IT HAPPENED EARLY THIS YEAR>

The words we hear in so many movies and television shows when someone is arrested, “Read him his Miranda rights,” no longer have meaning. These rights are dead because the courts have “interpret  ed” them out of existence. Throughout our country, if you don’t say the right words during police interrogations, your rights to remain silent and to a lawyer don’t kick in. This leads to unfettered police power when any arrestee tries to protect herself in a powerless situation when confronted by the police. And in a courtroom, all your statements are admissible against you.

This is about the only phrase left to ensure that you retain your rights: “I want to remain silent. I want a lawyer.” Again, another way: “I don’t want to speak to you anymore without my lawyer being present.” It is important not to answer further questions after asserting these rights; instead, merely repeat the statement.

The reason for the Miranda warnings in the first place was that the torture and cruelty inflicted on prisoners in this country decades ago and especialy in the South, brought a public outcry. It resulted in the Miranda v. Arizona, (384 U.S. 436) decision in 1966.

In that decision, the Court attempted to strike the appropriate balance between law enforcement interests in obtaining a confession and a suspect’s Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate him- self. “….[T]he decision mandated that the suspect be informed prior to any custodial interrogation that he has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney and that no inter- rogation can occur until the suspect waives these rights. Moreover, the sus- pect can assert these rights any point during the inter- rogation and, if he does, questioning must imme- diately cease.” (Strauss, Marcy, “The Sounds of Silence: Reconsidering the Invocation of the Right to Remain Silent Under Mi- randa,” “William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal,” March 2009. In her article Strauss lists the status of the courts’ interpretations of Miranda warnings state- by-state.)

Custodial police in- terrogations can go on for hours on end and the Miranda Court “recog- nized that they were so inherently coercive as to create a presumption that a resulting confession was involuntary unless the suspect was explicitly told prior to questioning that he need not answer questions and that he had the right to consult with an attorney for advice.” (Ainsworth, Janet, “‘You have the right to remain silent…’ but only if you ask for it just so: the role of linguistic ideology in American police interro- gation law.” The Interna- tional Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, Vol. 15.1, 2008, p. 3)

The problem is that “ambiguous” statements aren’t enough, and in actuality, everything you say will be interpreted by the courts to be ambiguous other than the sentences: “I want to remain silent. I want a lawyer.” Invoking the Miranda rights means clear, unequivocal and unambiguous declarations in the interrogation room. Of course, in jail there is a power disadvantage in that the tempo, timing, and level of brutality are set by the police.

So, no hedged or indi- rect language invokes the rights.

  • No theoretical comments about the availability of counsel, such as “Could I get a lawyer?” or “May I call a lawyer?”
  • No language that softens the demand for a lawyer:
  • “It seems like I need a lawyer.”
  • No logistic questions:“Could you get me my wallet and bring my lawyer’s business card to me?”
  • No imploring ambiguous language:“I don’t want to talk about it.” or “I won’t talk anymore.”
  • No being and remaining silent (you must be defi nite and utter words)
  • No combining demands:“Screw you, talk to my lawyer.” or “I don’t feel like I can talk with you without any attorney sitting right here to give me some legal advice.”bleaker, however, in the case Davis v. United States (1994) U.S. 452:

– “Give me a lawyer” or “I want a lawyer” are not deemed by the police or courts as kicking in your constitutional rights. (Note that wanting and requesting a lawyer is not the same thing as your right to remain silent by taking the Fifth.)

– Refusing to sign a form indicating a waiver of your rights when coupled with incriminating statements to the police does not invoke your rights. (The incriminating statements obtained by the police are proof that your rights were waived.) To state simply: Make an incriminating  statement and your rights are waived.

Underlying all of this is that judges now have no compunction regarding the role of unlimited and brutal interrogation, torture, and intimidation by the police. They also ignore the context that language plays when someone communicates in an abusive situation. Finally, the social context of the arrestee and his intentions become blurred by language. Losing our Miranda rights is simply another step in the wrong direction.

Marti Hiken is the exec- utive director of Progressive Avenues. She can be reached at mlhiken@comcast.net

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