It was bound to happen; the chickens will come home to roost. Recently three National Guardsmen shoot up a family carne asada (barbeque) while on a "beer-fueled" joy ride near Eagle Pass, TX.

The last time the US stationed troops along the Rio Grande, a Marine shot and killed a Texas teenager tending to his goats at his home. Back in 1997 when a US military unit called Joint Task Force Six or JTF 6 was asked to assist the Border Patrol in patrolling the borders for drug traffickers, a Marine shot and killed a Texas teenager within sight of his home. Two things resulted from that day - Esequiel Hernandez Jr. became the first civilian killed by US troops since the student massacre at Kent State University in 1970 and Cpl. Clemente Manuel Banuelos became the first US Marine to kill a fellow citizen on US soil.

On May 20, 1997, Esequiel Hernandez Jr. became the first civilian killed by U.S. troops since the student massacre at Kent State University in 1970. His death led to a temporary suspension of military patrols near the U.S.-Mexican border. And in August, the government paid his family $1.9 million to settle a wrongful death claim.

Cpl. Clemente Manuel Banuelos became the first U.S. Marine to kill a fellow citizen on U.S. soil. Four investigations and three grand juries probed the May 1997 shooting. Each concluded that because Banuelos followed orders, he was innocent of criminal wrongdoing. Those who issued the orders were never tried.

Back in July when Narco News reported on this story based on new information from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents provided to Narco News by professor Keith Yearman, Narco News forewarned:

Marines are taught to hunt down the enemy and eliminate him. That's what you get when you put soldiers on the border. They are trained to kill.

That fact is something to keep in mind as President Bush's directive of dispatching [some 6,000] National Guard troops to the border is carried out over the next several months.

...If you want to destroy the border, then send in the Marines.

It looks like the chickens are half way home and about to roost. Recently, the Houston Chronicle reported that three National Guardsmen were arrested on Sept 6 on felony deadly-conduct charges for shooting up a family carne asada.

Apparently the three men were bored and used their off-duty time joyriding drunk and shooting up an innocent family outdoor gathering.

... the two-year military mission known as "Operation Jump Start" wasn't supposed to be such a tedious assignment that highly trained troops would bide their off-duty time with beer-fueled joyriding and reckless gunfire.

Three soldiers from North Texas, at least one of whom had served in Iraq, were arrested the evening of Sept. 6 on felony deadly-conduct charges after several shots were fired from their private vehicle as it passed a family cookout in a modest Maverick County subdivision, officials said.

"Apparently the family was having a carne asada outside and they saw this vehicle drive by, stop in front of the residence and shoot several times. Then they took off and made a U-turn and came back and did the same thing," Herrera said.

The young men were later found at a convenience store with "two cases of beer — minus three brews" in the car. The Chronicle reports, according Maverick County Sheriff Tomas S. Herrera, "no one was targeted or injured by the gunshots and no property damage was reported" and that "none of the soldiers appeared intoxicated upon arrest." If the soldiers were not drunk, then they must have known what they were doing.

As the sheriff's department completes their investigation, the three men have been reassigned to Camp Mabry and the beat goes on. The incident is being called an "isolated incident" and a case of the "boredoms."

Although County Judge Jose A. Aranda Jr. does agree it was an "isolated incident", he does question incident as to why they would do it considering that the "community" had "welcomed the troops" with open arms. Considering Herrera said that the young men were not "intoxicated upon arrest," Aranda's has the right to be puzzled. However, Aranda provides one possible explanation for this behavior. Life as a National Guardsmen holed up in a small border town is not all what is cracked up to be.

Aranda ... sympathizes with soldiers assigned here because entertainment options are limited to restaurants, bars, the Kickapoo casino and the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras, he said.

"You send in a group of people who are actually trained to do something else, you put them behind a desk, you've got them stashed away in a hotel. They're bored and they were out having fun," Aranda said.

Renewing his claim that troops wouldn't fully appreciate border culture, Aranda said the soldiers' random gunfire in the Deer Run subdivision showed insensitivity.

"They don't understand how our neighborhoods are, and you're not supposed to be out there shooting on the roads. That can lead to something," Aranda said.

To call this a case of the "boredoms" and labeling it "insensitivity" is nothing more but playing down to the seriousness of the incident. The three men were not drunk and they knew exactly what they were doing because they came back and did it again. To say that life at the border can make people mad is a load of bull, not were these men are from, they too are come from small TX towns. Here are the regional breakdowns of Texas. Two of the men are from McKinney, TX and the other one is from Saint Jo, TX, which are located in North Central Texas area. Eagle Pass has a population of 22,413 so the is not that much smaller than McKinny with a population of 35,782 and it is definitely ten times bigger than Saint Jo with population of 977. The stir-crazy argument many work for others, but it doesn't apply to these men.

I guess these three men decided to make an additional option to their entertainment repertoire but this time they were caught. Just like the case of Esequiel Hernandez Jr., the military will investigate, reassign, and hope everything is forgotten. Militarizing the border was wrong back then and it is wrong now. How long can we let this continue? Until innocent people and children are killed, like in Iraq.

Update - It seems that the three men had a bit of the "we are above the law" attitude with the local authorities. MySA.com reports, Ruben Cano, the sheriff's chief deputy said that all three of them took turns shooting out the car window when they decided to go out for a joy ride in the evening in a neighborhood north of Eagle Pass. Deputies responded after they had received complaints from the residents of that subdivision and when the authorities confronted the men, they were "uncooperative."

"They gave us a bunch of yahoo military talk. We advised them we weren't playing with them. Once they had spent a night here (in jail), they changed their attitude," he said.

As I stated before, the military will threat this case, just like they did with Esequiel Hernandez Jr.

National Guard Capt. Dick Jinks, the public affairs officer for "Operation Jump Start," statement to the press is a bit troubling.

"We don't know exactly what happened. We know what the sheriff's office is telling us," he said. "Of course, once the civilian law enforcement is done with their investigation, we'll take the matter under consideration. Our judge advocate general is involved." emphasis added by me

Given the offenses occuring in Iraq and the way military has been handling those incidents, Jinks' statement sounded as if he is dismissing the creditablity of the Eagle Pass' local authority and the city's residents. One does have to wonder if the National Guard is waiting for this to blow over, hoping people will forget about it and reassign them to another border town in the next state over where the residents haven't heard this incident, yet. If this is true, the it has failed to meet it's goal as an institution to protect the safety of its citizens it's guarding. It will be another blow to the military if their aim is to win the hearts and minds of the American public.

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Curbing illegal immigration and securing US borders has always been on top of the congressional agenda. And in an attempt by Republicans to show a unified party and gain points with voters in the November elections, House Speaker Dennis Hastert stood before the cameras last week shrilling about how the House had passed nine border-enforcement bills, which included their most proud bill - the construction of a 700-mile, double-layer fence. Echoing Hastert's sentiments, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-TN announced that the Senate would consider the bill to build 700-mile fence. It’s the last week of the Congressional session and it seems the GOP have suffered a major setback as Congress is unable to pass any of the GOP's draconian measures to overhaul the current immigration law.

However, what has received very little media attention is the decision made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to award Boeing a $2.5 billion contract to manage its high-tech border initiative on September 21, 2006. The contract is known as SBINet, one of DHS’ largest and most important Homeland Security projects. After an intense face-off among nation's largest military contractors, Boeing Company was picked by the Homeland Security. According to the Washington Post, Boeing's border security plan for SBINet is to erect a network of 1,800 towers equipped with sensors, cameras, and heat and motion detectors to secure the US border.

"Boeing's proposal relied heavily on a network of 1,800 towers, most of which would need to be erected along the borders with Mexico and Canada. Each tower would be equipped with a variety of sensors, including cameras and heat and motion detectors,"

Boeing plans to deploy the system along both the northern and southern borders within three years.

Earlier this year, when Homeland Security announced it was seeking bids to secure US borders, only five companies submitted proposals DHS, they were - Boeing, Ericsson, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. DHS Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson who oversees SBINet said that DHS choose Boeing because their plan relied less on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles than competing proposals submitted by Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Ericsson.

Conflicting Information
Before the DHS formally announced their decision to award the Boeing Company, on Sept 20, 2006, the Washington Post and the New York Times was first to report that Boeing had won the SBINet bid based on information they received from their "congressional sources" who happened to be briefed on the decision the day before, Sept 19, 2006. From the WaPO:

Aerospace and defense giant Boeing Co. has won a multibillion-dollar contract to revamp how the United States guards about 6,000 miles of border in an attempt to curb illegal immigration, congressional sources said yesterday.

And from the NY Times:

After a face-off among large military contractors, the Boeing Company was picked by the Homeland Security Department to lead a high-tech effort to secure borders, Congressional officials who were briefed on the decision said Tuesday.

However, there seems to be some conflicting information regarding the amounts Boeing is being awarded. The Post and most media are reporting Boeing received a multi-billion dollar contract, whereas, the Times came close to the amount DHS awarded Boeing, which far less that what the Post reported. The Times writes:

"The contract will at least initially be much more limited than some industry officials had expected, valued at $80 million instead of the $2 billion estimate given for the six-year deal,"

As a possible explanation for the conflicting information, GovExec.com notes that the information regarding the award had been "leaked" by Congressional sources to the Post and the Times before DHS made their official announcement.

Homeland Security Department officials on Thursday formally announced that they have entered into a $67 million contract with Boeing Co. to construct a series of towers monitoring a 28-mile stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border. Congressional sources briefed on the decision already had leaked word of the deal.

However, it seems the "leaked" information has created a problem because during the briefing, DHS denied that the department awarded Boeing a multibillion-dollar deal. DHS Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson told reporters on Sept 21, 2006, that the department only awarded Boeing a total of $67 million contract for the next three years. Jackson also said that DHS had the right to discontinue the contract, if Boeing failed to might the program’s goals, therefore downplaying DHS’ 3-year "exclusive commitment" with Boeing.

The Hot Seat
What is also not reported is that DHS has been in the hot seat with Congressional members ever since July's House Government Reform Committee hearing revealed how DHS continues to manage their procurement process poorly.

In a recent committee report (Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagemen in Department of Homeland Security Contracts [pdf]) requested by House Government Reform Committee chair Tom Davis, R-VA, and ranking member Henry Waxman, D-CA, it identified 32 contracts, worth $34.3 billion, as having "significant overcharges, wasteful spending or mismanagement." To be honest, I was not surprised by the reports findings considering the people that were appointed by Bush and Michael Chertoff, which I mentioned previously (here, here and here).

When it came to securing the borders, the report found that DHS has yet to implement DHS' $10 billion US VISIT program.However, the committee was more concern on how Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson's was handling DHS' procurement procedures for the Secure Border Initiative for not spelling out the department's specific needs to their bidders.

"That's not governing," Waxman said. "That's not planning. It's utter incompetence, and it's going to cost the taxpayers billions."

What is most troubling is how David Zavada, assistant inspector general in DHS' Office of Audits, described DHS section process for SBINet's prime contractor. Zavada told committee members the "selection of a prime contractor, appears to be at the intersection of accelerated scheduling, broad requirements and still-emerging technologies -- giving it 'tremendous risks.'"

The fact that DHS failed to spell out SBINet's mission during DHS' procurement process back in April of this year, explain the vagueness in Boeing's press release, which did not mention the amount they were awarded nor any information on the type of services they will be providing.

Boeing's consortium
Although Boeing's press release may be vague, it does provide information who will be working with Boeing in securing the nation's border.

The Boeing SBInet core team includes:

• Centech - Arlington, Va.
• DRS Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group - Palm Bay, Fla.
• Kollsman Inc. (an Elbit Systems of America company) - Merrimack, N.H.
• L-3 Government Services Inc. - Washington, D.C.
• L-3 Communication Systems West - Salt Lake City, Utah
• Lucent Technologies - Murray Hill, N.J.
• Perot Systems - Plano, Texas
• Unisys Global Public Sector - Reston, Va.
• USIS - Washington, D.C.

According to Government Computer News, most people were not expecting Boeing to win and some bidders are not happy with the decision.

Back in February, there were concerns of that foreign entity, Dubai Ports World, would be providing security. One of the arguments against Dubai Ports World was that port security should remain in the hands of American firms under American control at the very least. It seems Boeing's team members have found a loophole in that argument. One of the companies in Boeing's team is an Israeli owned company, Elbit Systems. Elbit serves as a member of the consortium through it's Merrimack, NH-based surveillance technology firm, Kollsman Inc, the American arm of the Israeli global defense firm Elbit Systems - the company that currently handles Israel's border security surveillance system that is integrated with sensors, radars, a "smart fence" and cameras, as well as sophisticated points of entry.

The irony is all this regarding the concerns of a foreign entity providing security for this nation's border and ports, in the end it doesn't matter, people forget about their fears and the Bush administration will do what ever it pleases just to line the pockets of his buddies. Six months ago, the nation was in an uproar about Dubai Ports World deal, forcing the company to make promise that it will sell its North American operations to appease critics in Congress. The same critics did not want foreigners running US ports and demanded that Dubai Ports find a buyer for its US facilities. Six months later, the company still owns those ports and it continues to say it will sell soon and Boeing found a loophole by going through an American subsidiary.

But one thing is for certain, Congress sure loves its smoke and mirrors just to get re-elected. With all there rhetoric on national security, has yet to devote the funds to hire the 2,000 new Border Patrol agents during the next five years it. And in the end, all they muster up is a plan that is merely symbolic because the government lacks the estimated $2 billion to $5 billion to build it.

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The media's response After Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez gave his speech at the 61st United Nations General Assembly and at a couple of locations in New York isn't surprising, neither is the response from the Republican party. What is interesting is how the Democrats continue to concentrate on Chávez's devil remark and not on the remainder of the message he delivered.

One of the first to go on the attack is Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who felt compelled to go on record denouncing Chávez's words. She went so far to express that

"Chávez fancies himself a modern-day Simon Bolivar, but all he is is an everyday thug."

"Hugo Chavez abused the privilege that he had, speaking at the United Nations," said Pelosi, a frequent Bush critic. "He demeaned himself and he demeaned Venezuela."

Even Bush critic Congressman Charlie Rangel of Harlem condemned Chávez for being critical of Dudya.

"I want President Chavez to please understand that even though many people in the United States are critical of our president that we resent the fact that he would come to the United States and criticize President Bush," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

But this is the mid-term election season and it is hanging in the balance, politicians from both parties are jostling for votes.

It's not a surprise to hear the Republican party complain about Chávez, what is a concern is that the Democratic Party is letting the Republican Party define the playing field in vague "wedge issues" that teeters conveniently between the "patriotic" virtues and vilifying Arabs and Muslims in the name of fighting terrorism.

Why, because the Democrats have always been worried about the GOP spin machine. However, this is not the first time international leaders has come to this country and criticize Bush. Yet, the last time a foreign leader came here as said something, nobody had a problem.

In September 2005, when George Galloway, Respect party MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, came to US to promote his new book, Mr Galloway Goes to Washington, Galloway was very critical of the Bush Administration. In fact, he even had a debate Christopher Hitchens over the Iraq war at Baruch College. Speaking before a sold out crowd of more than 1,000 people, Galloway blasted Dudya in the same fashion as Chávez and nobody stated a thing. Nobody said that he "demeaned himself" or utter how "dare you come in this country" and "criticize President Bush." In fact, one could say he even was harsher than Hugo Chávez was

Nixon was impeached for far less than George W. Bush is guilty of ... [applause] ... the impeachment of these criminals, and their defeat by the people. And we have a chance to do it. Cindy Sheehan and Hurricane Katrina -- Cindy Sheehan and Hurricane Katrina have changed the political landscape here in the United States of America. If the Democrats had any guts, they'd be capitalizing on it now instead of hiding from it, because they're complicit in it on both sides.

Galloway was even advocating impeachment, which Chávez never even came close to say. The reality of the matter, Chávez simply voiced what many of us here in the US and in the world really think about Dudya. Not many people here in the US are willing to accept that the world is beginning to see us as Nazi Germany. In 2002, Arab News had an editorial cartoon having President Bush morphing into Adolf Hitler. The International Red Cross had even compared American Prison Guards at Guantanamo to Nazis.

The first concerns a story we heard first from a U.S. source that an ICRC representative visiting America's largest detention facility in Iraq last month had compared the U.S. to Nazi Germany.

Even worse a German justice minister has even compared Bush to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Sure many Germans were presumably unaware what was being said about Hitler and their country throughout the world, but with the Internet and the 24 hour news we as US citizens have the luxury to play deaf, dumb and blind to what the world is saying about us. How can we continue justifying the massive killing of 100,000 innocent civilians and the 2,702 US solders when those numbers exceed the 2,973 people who died in the Twin Towers.

It is time for us to wake up and reluctantly accept that we are becoming the most hated country in the world because of our policies that are put into place by our leaders. We can no long pass the buck and say it well it is Bush and Republicans because this is not how the world views it. They perceive us as one monolithic society. Currently, there is no third party that is even a threat of breaking up this two party system. What was said last year by Galloway about the still holds true today – the Democratic Party still lacks the guts to confront the GOP spin machine.

Instead of criticizing Galloway, America's racism within the two party systems reared its ugly head, point out, and condemn that Chávez had called Dudya the "Devil." Those within the Latin@ community who are in Congress should have indicated that when Chávez spoke of Bush as a devil, he was joking. As he said it smelled of sulfur, he made the Sign of the Cross, a common practice within the Latin@ community not only to show one's Catholic faith but also to ward off evil spirits. It is done seriously, but often it is done in jest. But no, none of that is told, it was plain and simple, someone who looks Latin@ is not allowed to criticize the mighty US.

The Democrats had a chance to capitalize what Chávez pointed out, the greatest enemy that we have is our own government. Chávez's remarks did not affect his position in the world and his relation with other world leaders. It has made him a hero. In fact, Venezuela now tops the US in aid in Latin America. Chávez has now emerged as heir apparent to Cuban President Fidel Castro of a movement, Non-Aligned Movement, that comprises 2/3 of the world's nations.

"Chavez is wildly popular in places where you wouldn't imagine people had even heard of him," said Carlos Mendoza, who was Venezuela's ambassador to Russia until last year and previously was ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "In the gulf states, for example, everyone knows who he is; they admire him and love him."

Do not be misled by what was told in the press, those secretaries did not boo and jeered, they all cheered as Chávez spoke those words.

It is time we cease playing the Orwellian game that some foreign leaders are more equal than others; we must immediately begin focusing on the real goal, halting US Imperialism, before it is too late for us.

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I like to thank Raw Story for picking my post. ¡Bienvenidos all Raw Story readers! Hope y'all stick around.

The Englishnistas have struck again. First we have the City of Bogota who was demanding that McDonald's to take down it's billboard that advertises iced coffee in Spanish because the mayor Steve Lonegan, felt that McDonald's is sending a message to Spanish-speaking immigrants that they don't need to learn English. Now it seems that a town in Tennessee (via Mixed Media Watch) has their own idea of an English only policy and a closed minded idea that if somebody is speaking Spanish, they must be illegal. According to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, several city council members from Springfield, TN are considering banning all Hispanics from their city parks.

"In last month's Mayor and Aldermen Meeting on July 18, City Manager Paul Nutting and at least one Alderman made negative comments about the large number of Hispanics that populate the park on the weekends."

"In last month's city meeting, Alderman Ken Cherry expressed concerns for safety in the parks because of the big Hispanic crowds on weekends. Monday, he admitted his sentiments are not limited to the parks. He said, 'If I could do what I wanted to do, any illegal alien would be holed up in a barbwire tent and we'd haul them up to where they came from and turn them loose.'"

"When asked to comment on the possibility that not every Hispanic using the park was an 'illegal immigrant', Alderman Cherry responded, 'If they're speaking Spanish, I tend to think they are illegal.' ... On Tuesday he said, 'The comment that I made about if they're speaking Spanish they're illegal immigrants, that's probably a little strong. In my mind, that's an indication that the possibility may...
...exist.'"

"Not all members of Springfield's Board of Mayor and Alderman, however, are in agreement with Cherry's position on the issue. Assistant City Manager Gina Holt said, 'If you polled all seven of them, they'd all have a totally different opinion probably and as a board they have not taken any action yet as far as establishing any policies related to the parks or any other services right now.'"

"Springfield's Board of Mayor and Aldermen plan to hold a community meeting on September 7 to discuss the issues they've encountered with what Alderman Cherry terms the 'growing Hispanic problem.' ... Assistant City Manager Gina Holt said the goal of the September 7 board meeting is to achieve an arrangement that is fair and equitable for all."

They provide a couple links to a news video, but I took the liberty to download and upload to YouTude. That is not a misprint, Alderman Ken Cherry literally did say that "If they're speaking Spanish, I tend to think they are illegal" and that "any illegal alien would be holed up in a barbwire tent." I wonder if that goes for all gringos who know Spanish. Watch the video.

If there are any Hispanics that really thought that this anti-immigration did not include you, well -

YOU BETTER THINK AGAIN BECAUSE THEY ARE COMING AFTER YOU!!!

(a thank you to theunapologeticmexican for the pic)

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How do you whiten US communities that have been historically minority (Hispanic, African-American Asian-American) populations? Right now, El Paso, TX and other major cities throughout the US are being turned into living social experiments: turning its backs of its cultural identities that brought character to certain neighborhoods, which made them unique all in the name of profit. Neighborhoods that had their own flavor that made them unique.

I just got word from my friend Jesús Ochoa by email that the City Council of El Paso is planning to destroy its historic El Segundo Barrio to make way for the corporatist from Paso Del Norte Plan to set up retail outlets, upscale boutique stores, an arena, and a public parking facility all in the name of "downtown redevelopment."

Truthfully, this is not a new phenomenon. It used to be cool to live in the burbs, but when people realize that living far away wasn't cool any more, they started moving back into the inner cities.

Opponents call it “vertical sprawl” — and argue that it brings many of the same problems to communities as traditional sprawl.

Forget the white picket fence; people are trading them in for loft-style apartments, condos and townhomes. All of these cities have been inspired by the theories of Richard Florida, Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization, and a Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution and author of the bestselling book, The Rise of the Creative Class whose notion that cities must become trendy, hip places in order to compete in the twenty-first-century economy is sweeping urban America.

In his book, Dr. Florida argues for cities to flourish they must attract gays, bohemians, and ethnic minorities because they are not only the new economic powerhouses but also additionally the places where creative workers want to live. The creative worker Florida talks about are what he calls "the creative class". Dr. Florida defines Creative Class as a group of people that are the key driving force for economic development in post-industrial cities around the nation. He breaks the Creative Class into two sections - Super-Creative Core and Creative Professionals. The "Super-Creative Core" includes those in the fields of computers and math, architecture and engineering, the social sciences, education, arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. The "Creative professionals" encompasses financial planners, doctors and lawyers.

If the Creative Class are to include ethnic minorities then how is would they destroy El Paso? The problem with fluorides ideas it brings about a new form of class warfare because his opinions only benefits the "haves" and not the "have nots." For example, my city I live in Houston. Florida talks about saving the cities historic areas but it comes with a hefty price - gentrification because to create these hip new cities, the city itself have to institute policies - such as tax abatements for homebuilders - that target thousands of zero income to low income minorities.

It used to be that gentrification was associated with coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco, but now with the new "Creative Class" concept, inner-city neighborhoods from Milwaukee to Raleigh-Durham to Albuquerque are all rushing to become the next new hip city. In Houston, homebuilders have blanketed the city close to downtown with three-story town homes and lofts, significant area being broke such as Houston's historic Freedman's Town, the oldest Black community in this city. Freed enslaved Blacks planned and developed a five mile encircled area in 1865 and confirmed it Freedman's Town, a small community that catered to Black culture and independent existence from a Caucasian society that excluded them.

What was a "proud, self-contained neighborhood," is no longer in existence because of the city's urban renewal project. Instead of putting money into the neighborhood, the city split the area in half and sold the land closest to the new hip downtown to private developers to build subsidized homes at prices low income families could not afford in what remained of the Fourth Ward. Now, Freedman's Town is inhabited by "style-conscious empty nesters and young urban professionals."

The sense of division that Johnson is struggling to overcome also is apparent in the area’s architecture. The eastern edge of the Fourth Ward — the part sold off to developers — boasts block after block of postmodern town houses. They feature corrugated metal siding in vivid shades of red, blue and "desert sand," and stunning views of downtown. Most of these buildings are inhabited by style-conscious empty nesters and young urban professionals. Crossing over Buckner Street into the zone designated for affordable housing, the architecture shifts to two-story suburban-style houses on postage-stamp lots. Every now and then, the vista is interrupted by a block of soaring, pastel-colored town houses, blocks [Reverend Elmo] Johnson sheepishly admits his nonprofit had to sell off to raise funds. The old-fashioned shotguns that once gave the neighborhood its character are almost entirely gone.

For Mayor White, most members of the city council and preservationists, the Fourth Ward’s fate represents a signal failure in planning and a cautionary tale for what to avoid in the Third Ward. "It could have been done in a way that retained some of the pluses and had fewer minuses," says White. Members of Houston’s black community are even more pointed in their criticisms. "This is about erasing the history of the community," contends [Garnet] Coleman.

Houston lost its opportunity to save part of American history, but El Paso still has a chance to save its historic Segundo Barrio. Like the City of Houston, El Paso is also targeting low-income families - roughly between 5 to 10 thousand low-income families consisting mostly of women and children will be displaced.

In order to lure the new hip crowd, El Paso’s city planners feel they need shed some imaginary racist image of being an old, dirty, lazy, speak Spanish town to some cultural elitist image by branding it as the "New West" with the false notion that Penelope Cruz and Austin's own Matthew McConaughey are now currently residing in El Paso.

From the email I received:

In the final analysis, the barrio is or has been the home of thousands upon thousands of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, people who have forever marked it with their living culture; for many, it is the home of the Chicano movement, of people who migrated north and west to create the Latino barrios of Los Angeles and Denver, it is the home of gifted muralists and poets, it is the home of political activists, and it the home of many of the first Chicano writers. As the saying goes, the barrio is old, it is proud, it is brave, and it is not for sale.

Nor are its memories of families like mine, and there are thousands of us. Unfortunately, many of us have indeed forgotten our roots: instead of Melitón, the name of choice is now Milton: Jesús has become Jesse, and instead of María, Marie or plain Mary is in vogue. The politics of the now correctly named have also shifted to the right. But surely they must from time to time remember, and to doubt. Or at least, one would so hope.

Let's help save El Paso. Jesús Ochoa is asking for your help; don't let El Paso's Historic El Segundo Barrio become just a distant memory, like Houston's Freedman's Town. Please visit his web site - The Boboland Crónicas - or Paso Del Sur for more information on how you can help save El Paso's Historic El Segundo Barrio before it is too late.

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It seems that asked Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has made the US news for his speech at the 61st United Nations General Assembly. So after Chávez delivered his speech there has been a growing number of stories on the news that portrays President Chávez as a bitter man with "an axe to grind" with nothing relevant to say, but just to call Dudya "the devil" who owns the world.

But we currently live in a world where reporters can cull and shape their stories and story which makes it is easy to hypnotize the average person, such as those who's primary source is Fox News, a person cannot help but think Chávez is a loon who needs to be locked up in some 1960 mental asylum.

It is easy to look at Hugo Chavez and make him a character. To hear his comments at the U.N. today comparing President Bush to the devil, and make him a nut. It is easy, because it is true.

He is a character. And he is a nut. But here's what makes this nut dangerous....

Fox news isn't the only one, when it comes to the US media, they go out of their way to discredit President Chávez. Even this morning Diane Sawyer, of ABC's Good Morning America, sheepishly asked what has the US ever done to Venezuela to warrant this type of response from Chávez. But it is not just the US media, in Canada, the World News section of the Winnipeg Sun columnist Kathleen Harris titled her article "Chavez UN rant draws snickers." Harris writes:

Chavez drew snickers by suggesting the U.S. president left the stench of sulphur lingering in the room after he addressed the United Nations on Tuesday. He even suggested Bush needs to see a psychiatrist and urged people to rise up against "American domination."

Did you ever wonder why most people in this country think generally the same about Chávez or even Cuban President Fidel Castro. Those who control the media hope that people will buy into these types of stories because the spin is mixed right in with legitimate stories.

Words are carefully chosen and repeated throughout the story to enhance a person's emotional impact to sway public opinion. This also is not the first time the public has been manipulated. Manipulating public opinion can be traced back to works of Edward Bernays, the Father of Public Relations Spin who was hired to advertise and sell the First World War to the American as the war that would "Make the World Safe for Democracy." The way he achieved this was by taking the ideas from his uncle, Sigmund Freud, and used them in to sway public opinion through mass psychology and schemes of corporate and political persuasion. According to Noam Chomsky, Bernays believed that "engineering of consent" was the "essence of the democratic process."

But what about now? It should be noted that the media has blacked out all of the actual events that occurred in Venezuela that Chávez accusses the Bush Junta has participated in, it is not surprising the media once again has put a negative spin to Chávez's speech because it falls in line with the reactions from the Bush administration.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was quoted saying that Chávez's speech was "not becoming for a head of state."

"I am not going to dignify a comment by the Venezuelan president to the president of the United States,"

US Ambassador John Bolton called his speech a "comic-strip approach" to international affairs."

So what did occur at the UN? Chávez begins his speech by citing from well known linguist Noam Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival. Hold the book for public view, Chávez told the Assembly that

to understand what's happened in the world in the 20th Century, what's currently happening, and the greatest threat on this planet; the hegemonic pretension of the North American imperialism endangers the human race's survival.

We continue warning about this danger and calling on the very same U.S. people and the world to stop this threat, which resembles the Sword of Damocles over our heads.

Chávez continues by urging the "brothers and sisters in the United States" to read Chomsky's book because the threat is here in the US.

The devil is right at home. The devil -- the devil, himself, is right in the house.

And the devil came here yesterday.

..

What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?

The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I'm quoting, "Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom."

Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother -- he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him.

Chávez strongly criticized Bush's for trying to impose an elitist model of democracy on the world. Chávez also talked about how the US is able to get away with its ambitions are proof that the UN system has "collapsed" and is "worthless," according to Chávez, and is in need of being "re-founded."

More importantly, Chávez talks about the birth of amovement, "a movement of the south."

Here is a partial transcript of President Hugo Chavez Delivers Remarks at the U.N. General Assembly.

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I have been sitting here for last couple of days i'm feeling pretty nauseated and drained by feelings of powerlessness as I see our humanity slowly starting to drain away. The only problem, people don't seem to mind that it is leaving them, causing them to harden their hearts, grow callous, becoming apathetic, afraid, not wanting to lose the little bit that we have in the process of that fight.

I know I am not really in line with some of the more popular bloggers. It is beginning to look that the only thing that seems to interest a lot of these bloggers is power, whether you define that in terms of site traffic, the ability to sell advertising and gain access to the media by establishing themselves as an alternative until they are co-opted and absorbed. Like anyone else that acquires power the first thing people want to do with power is to abuse it. Just last week a dust up occurred within the blogosphere, it seems Peter Daou, blogger and blog advisor to Hillary Clinton organized a bloggers lunch where 20 Democratic bloggers met with Bill Clinton.

I still feel mentally drained about this, it has really made me sick by the disgusting tripe hurled at minorities by so-called "liberal" gringos, so I will just provide the links to those who really gave the best overview of the white liberal/progressive bloggers vs people of color bloggers BS.

brownfemipower: White feminists re-center themselves & the internet, racism and women of color

Bint Alshamsa: Sometimes It's The Best You Can Do & Why FireDogLake Is No Innocent Party & The Hypocrites Abound

It is sad to see that people of color are unable to ask questions without being seen as an enemy of Democratic principles and the purveyor of hatred and bigotry. It really begs the question, how far have we come from the overt racism that was fought during the civil rights movement?

Not very far indeed, when it comes to race, like the leaders of the Democratic and Republican Party, A-List bloggers tend to pull their wagons into the same circle. It is becoming clear, gringos are having the final say on what is and is not racist.

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In a CNN Espanol interview, Hugo Chavez denounces Felipe Calderón and explains why.

El Universal

El presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, reiteró que en su gobierno "no reconocemos al presidente electo de México", donde dijo que existe "una derecha desesperada que recurre a distintas artimañas", aunque "difícilmente puede cantar victoria".

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, stated that his government will not recognize Mexico's president-elect”, he said that the Right has resortred to skulduggery” so they can claim victory.

"Nosotros no reconocemos al Gobierno de México o al presidente electo de México, porque ahí pasaron cosas muy extrañas”, sostuvo en declaraciones hechas en Cuba a la emisora latinoamericana Telesur, que las reprodujo hoy en su sede en Caracas.

We do not recognize after the Government of Mexico or Mexico's president-elect because very strange things occurred over there, they also supported [negative] statements made to Cuba on the Latin-American broadcasting station Telesur, that was also re-broadcasted [here] in Caracas.

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Delegates at the National Democratic Convention (CND) have formally declared Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) as Mexico's "legitimate president" which he is formally set to take office on November 20 at 3 p.m. at Constitution Square in Mexico City.

The delegates at CND also authorize López Obrador to appoint members to his cabinet, he is also authorized to select where the new capital in will be set up in Mexico and right to act as Mexico's official and legitimate president. The new government will observe the framework of a democratic republic, whereby the President of Mexico is both head of state and head of government. As President of the new government, he has the right to collect taxes.

The new government will denounce Felipe Calderón as Mexico's official president and all of his appointed cabinet members and all executive orders of his office.

They additionally decided to publicly reject the current standing Republic and condemn the corruption and privileges of the current regime.

Viva Mexico Cabrones!

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Protesters are claim another symbolic victory as President Vicente Fox changes site of the annual Mexican Independence day grito.

President Vicente Fox sidestepped another showdown with leftist firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, announcing Thursday that he won't hold tonight's traditional Independence Day celebrations in Mexico City's massive central plaza.

The first symbolic victory occurred when legislators from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) halted President Fox from delivering the state-of-the-nation address to Congress, which was the first time in Mexican history this ever happened to a standing president. Another symbolic victory occurred when AMLO supporters forced President-elect Felipe Calderón, to use the city's bullring for his victory rally, a small venue that could be easily secured.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his supporters had vowed they would upstage Fox by declining to take part in today's annual salute of "Viva Mexico!". They are planning to take over the Zócalo for their own celebration, which Alejandro Encinas, Mexico City's current mayor and a member of López Obrador's party, will lead in the city’s festivities.

Fox has decided he will give the symbolic "grito" - the liberty cry — in the to the small, central town of Dolores Hidalgo, which is built 170 miles northwest of Mexico City, where Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo launched the first call for independence from Spain in 1810. The area is also located in Fox's home state of Guanajuato, a bastion of support for his moderate National Action Party (PAN).

On Saturday, AMLO, the PRD and their supporters will hold their National Democratic Convention, which they expect that more than 1 million volunteer delegates from all 31 states and the Federal District to show up. Former López Obrador campaign coordinator Jesús Ortega said that almost 800,000 delegates had been registered since the meeting were announced back on Aug 19.

AMLO political future hangs on the outcome of this Convention. AMLO will be set the course for its movement in opposition to Felipe Calderón at the Convention on Saturday.

"The task he (López Obrador) faces is that of speaking out on the same issues that Calderón will be making decisions on," historian and political observer Lorenzo Meyer, a member of the Colegio de México, told EFE.

The academic said he saw López Obrador creating a form of "shadow Cabinet" that would serve as a "mirror" to criticize the Calderón administration.

Meyer said the convention could also lead to the creation of several organizations, some backed by the parties making up the leftist coalition, as well as unions, grassroots groups and non-governmental organizations, that would take action within Mexico´s institutions.

It would be interesting to see what stance AMLO will take this weekend. José Antonio Crespo, of the Center for Economic Research and Instruction showed that if AMLO chosen a radical approach he "could start to become marginalized and lose influence in decision making." However, if AMLO chosen a moderated approach he "could have a strong influence on the PRD" and bolster its position in Congress.

Despite the thousands of protesters in the streets, unprecedented disruptions, no violent outbreaks have occurred forcing the government remain peacefully tolerant. There is no doubt that López Obrador and his advisers have purposely avoided getting involved in situations that would start violence. So far, they voted not to march to a heavily guarded congressional building the day President Fox was to force his annual report to Congress and AMLO has vowed not to interfere with the military parade during Independence Day celebrations this weekend. The avoidance of force clearly has limited the government's ability to react, which in turn makes AMLO good in the eyes of his supporters and that sympathy to his cause.

On the US side, the House of Representatives voted 283-138 for a bill providing for the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border designed to curb anybody crossing the border. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 [PDF text] also allows the Department of Homeland Security to take control of the border in 18 months and it will also give border patrol agents additional authority to stop fleeing vehicles. The bill, however, does not provide the funding to pay for the construction of the "reinforced fencing," which is estimated to be between $2 and $7 billion. This is rather a curious move by Congress considering the latest news regarding the immigration debate occurred when Senator Bill Frist announced that immigration reform was "impossible to pass" but would focus on border security.

U.S. congressional leaders are giving up on broad immigration legislation that would legalize millions of illegal immigrants and instead will concentrate on border security ahead of the elections, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said

This announcement occurred right after the Mexican Electoral Court ruled Calderón winner. Now the House of Rep passes a hallow bill for the construction of a 700-mil border wall. Is this a message?

Back in March, I wrote that the relationship between Mexico and the US have been strained because Mexico became a signatory to the International Criminal Court making them the 12th country from the Latin America-Caribbean area to be punished under the U.S. American Service-Members' Protection Act. The law prohibits military assistance to states that have not signed "Article 98" agreements. An “Article 98” agreement is the agreement between the US and those states who pledge not to seek the prosecution of US citizens in the ICC. In March Houston Chronicle, announced that the authorities were imposed without an officially notifying Mexico.

One does have to wonder how much of Congress’ actions are spurred on by the events unfolding in Mexico. Building a border wall will only make matters worse between the two countries. The world waits for tomorrow.

Viva Mexico Cabrones!

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...there are somethings still worth fighting for and this is one of them!

This is a video made by engineering students at Princeton University. It clearly and succinctly shows you just how easy it is to hack into an electronic voting machine.

Este es un vídeo hecho tramando a estudiantes en Princeton Universidad. Esto claramente y sucintamente le muestra sólo como fácil debe cortar en una máquina de votación electrónica.



What more evidence is needed to get people motivated to see the importance of election fraud and the possibility that election fraud does exist.

Lo que más pruebas son necesarias para motivar a la gente para ver la importancia del fraude de elección y la posibilidad que el fraude de elección existe realmente.

A couple verses from Simon And Garfunkel's the Sound Of Silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

Fools, said i, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

Other videos

Caught on Tape, The Fix Is In

Florida Election Fraud Scandal 10-26-2004 1 of 2

Florida Election Fraud Scandal 10-26-2004 2 of 2

Greg Palast talks about the elections in Mexico

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Today, "Survivor: Cook Islands" premieres tonight at 8pm CT on CBS. The 20 contestants will be divided into four tribes by race, African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic and White.

Host Jeff Probst told CBS News' The Early Show that it was designed as a unique social experiment.

The idea for this actually came from the criticism that 'Survivor' was not ethnically diverse enough," he said. "Because, for whatever reason, we've always had a low number of minority applicants apply to the show. So we set out and said, 'Let's turn this criticism into creative for the show. I think it fits in perfectly with what 'Survivor' does — it is a social experiment. And this is adding another layer to that experiment, which is taking the show to a completely different level."

Several advertisers from previous seasons have decided they are not planning to advertise this season. And it is good they got some advertising consequences for it.

I agree with the criticisms that this show has been getting because it will encourage the audience who identify themselves strongly with the group. They may call it a "social experiment" but it is nothing more than segregation with a touch of Social Darwinism, Survival of the Fittest.

"At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world.... The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla." [Just so there is no doubt, the author in particular is claiming that whites will exterminate blacks.]
—Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 1871, ch.6.

It is interesting how they framed the show by using magic words as if it makes everything ok, such as "social experiment." By using the word experiment only conjures up ideas that some social scientist somewhere is tracking data in order to prove some type of social science experiment hypothesis. More importantly is to what layers are they adding too? Not all whites see eye to eye. Or when it comes down to it, we are all racist against each group and subgroups? That is right, sub-groups. There is only one winner. So is superior within the racial/ethnic community - Mexicans? Pervuians? Puerto Ricans? Japanese? Chinese? etc etc

Television is a representation of the current state of things that are actually occurring. So, guess what. The outrage that is happen is because we do not like what see and those who see nothing wrong with it are in a state of denial of the current racial tension that are currently taking place. Don't think so. Here are some comments from an Internet Board Military.com with Topic Discussion - Which race is superior?:

1. I've heard all the superior race crap from Nazi Muffins.
I hate Nazis, Klu Klux Klan and all other supremacists that quote the Bible to cover their perverted attempts to overcompensate for their lack of power, be it intellectual, financial, physical or sexual.

2. Ok, I see I'm going to have to explain my title of this thread.

It was in jest. I do not believe there is a superior race and this show will do nothing to prove that there is.

People like me(white) and my boss(black) are going to have fun ribbing each other about it, that's all.

3. (A response to #2) Yeah right! Whatever, this topic is not surprising at all on this website though!

4. We all know the blacks are going home wit da money. Tis about time some negroes win some of deez reality TV shows!

5. Which race is superior? - Jewish

6. I would say the Arabs are the superior race. Nobody else in the world can eat sand and drink oil and still rule the nation.

That is not even a white supremacist forum, like Stormfront. No matter how much "ribbing" can occur between friends of different groups, at one point or another, each person will continue to test the waters just to see how far they can go in blurting out each groups stereotype. It will get to a point it no longer becomes funny because one will start to wonder if that is how one truly thinks about them or their racial/ethnic group, peppered with the old “You are not like them” meme. This show will only reinforce the different stereotypes between each group.

In the end, there is no win-win in this situation and we, the viewers, don't go away with the cash prize. We all lose in this little social experiment. And so goes another layer of our humanity.

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May the angels accompany you into heaven, Ms Ann Richards. Rest in peace.

Ann Richards' Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

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The US government has used the 9/11 attacks to defend every stupid criminal thing to come out of Washington for five long terrible years. It seems now those who are running the war want to test their newest non-lethal toy on American citizens before "they are used on the battlefield."

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne is arguing in favor of using non-lethal high-power microwave weapons such as the "people zapper" on American citizens for "crowd-control" before they are used on the battlefield. Wynne states by doing this the US would be able to "avoid questions" from the international community over "safety concerns."

"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne.

"(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."

How is cooking the skin of humans considered a non-lethal weapon? This is just another attempt to squelch dissent that is sweeping this nation and one that clearly sends message to America: Dissent at will, but proceed at your own risk.

This is the latest in a series of government attacks that threaten the fundamental rights and freedoms without making us safer. The current administration has done everything in its power to squelch dissent wherever it has sprung up, using an array of tactics – from censorship and surveillance to detention and denial of due process. Now it seems the government now wants to practice excessive force using military grade weaponry for crowd control.

Where is our humanity? What they consider non-lethal is called high-power microwave weapons - weapons that produce a few seconds of energy powerful enough to damage electronic components and scramble computer memories just to maintain law and order.

Yet in a Washington Post poll, 30% of those surveyed couldn't come up with the year of the event.

Have we accepted the rape of our Constitution all in the name of security?

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Today is the 5th anniversary of the "terrorist" attacks on New York and Washington DC. If you haven't done so, please take a moment or say a prayer for those who suffered or died that day or afterwards. Once you are finished, please consider these oddities that occurred on the same day or was found.

1. All jetliners are equipped with flight data recorders (FDRs) and cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) contained in "black boxes" designed to survive the most severe crashes. The 9-11 Commission says "The CVRs and FDRs from American 11 and United 175 were not found..." Yet, a passport, made from a fragile material known as paper, from Satam al-Suqami managed to survive?

ABCNEWS sources identify another hijacker as Satan Suqami, a Saudi national on American Airlines Flight 11, whose passport was recovered in the rubble.

Nicholas DeMasi, a firefighter who helped the recovery efforts claims in the book Behind-the-Scenes: Ground Zero,

"At one point I was assigned to take Federal Agents around the site to search for the black boxes from the planes. There were a total of four black boxes. We found three."

2. According to the 9-11 Commission, flight attendant Betty Ong placed a call from Flight 11 to American Airlines Nydia Gonzalez, an operations specialist. Although Ong talked for 23 minutes, the recording is only 4-1/2 minutes long. Ms. Ong did not sound like a woman on a hijacked plane. There was a big confusion where it was Flight 11 or 12. Click here for the recording

3. If the 78th floor of the South Tower was a "raging inferno" then how Chief Palmer reach the fire and request two fire hoses to put out, what he describes "two isolated pockets of fire"?

"Just two hose lines to attack two isolated pockets of fire. "We should be able to knock it down with two lines," he tells the firefighters of Ladder Company 15 who were following him up the stairs of the doomed tower.'

4. Why would Larry Silverstein, owner of the World Trade Centers, order the NYFD to "pull" the WTC 7 building, to "pull" is language in the construction industry meaning to bring it down, destory. On a PBS documentary, "America Rebuilds", Silverstein makes the following statement:

"I remember getting a call from the, er, fire department commander, telling me that they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire, and I said, 'We've had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is pull it.' And they made that decision to pull and we watched the building collapse."

Which pill would YOU the readers like to take, the red or the blue?
- Click on the red pill if you are curious for an alternative answer to the question "what happened on September 11th?"

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Funding across the nation for public education, day care, after-school programs, and job training have been severely cut because of Dudya’s thirst for war. Moreover, as all this is happening, Congress continues to throw billions of dollars into the military budget.

But what happens when the US decides to participate in too many international conflicts and commitments? The outcome, there are too few soldiers.

What happens next, you wind up having people like CO Republican candidate Rick O'Donnell, who I wrote about wanting to have a national service corp. draft for men. Or someone like Edward Bernard Glick (via Jeffersonian Democrat at Booman Tribune), who recently wrote an op-ed article in the Christian Science Monitor, advocating for the reinstatement of the military draft.

That's why it's time to reinstate the draft. A draft would do more than just harness the energy and idealism of the nation's youth to meet the military's unmet personnel needs. It would also tap more of the resources of the nation's women, heeding their demands for more gender equality by making their obligations more consonant with their rights.

The difference between Dr. Glick's, professor emeritus at Temple University in Philadelphia, proposal from O'Donnell's, Dr. Glick draft would include women, some flexibility for conscientious objectors, and he considered it "fairer," whatever that means.

It would give the federal government more flexibility in dealing with conscientious objectors. And it would be fairer to African-Americans and other minorities, who might stop viewing military service as just another job choice.

During a time of war, the US Military has a long history of targeting people who happen to come from working class families and areas with a large amount of minorities, both urban and rural - otherwise known as a "poverty draft." What makes today's "poverty draft" more devious, given our current economic state, it tends to feed off those who are concentrated in low-paying jobs without benefits or job security. These pour souls will become the few, the proud – the military's cannon fodder.

In the document "Strategic Partnership Plan for 2002-2007" written by the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, the architects of what we might call "niche recruiting" state: "The Hispanic population is the fastest growing demographic in the United States and is projected to become 25% of the U.S. population by the year 2025." The Plan goes on to explain: "Priority areas [for recruitment] are designated primarily as the cross section of weak labor opportunities and college-age population as determined by both [the] general and Hispanic population." Not surprisingly, the top two recruiting batallion areas according to the Plan are Los Angeles and San Antonio.

Like lambs to the slaughter, many Hispanics and African Americans are eager to join the military with the promises of scholarships, good employment and visions of success and prosperity. Hoping they escape their economic prison, many come realize they have been bamboozled with empty words and false images – war really means death and suffering, not some X-box video game they thought it was.

As the military began preparing the invasion of Iraq, they already realized they were lacking the manpower needed for their invasion. There is no doubt the military’s Recruiting Command did not overlook the use of non-citizens to play a major role in their plan.

In July 2002, President Bush issued an executive order that would grant any non-naturalized soldiers serving honorably in the "war on terrorism" to speed up their process to citizenship once they have enlisted. Within 6 months, citizenship could be granted and they are once naturalized they can apply to have immediate families naturalized also.

According to Betsy Streisand, of the U.S. News & World Report, citizenship applications have gone up from 300 a month before Bush's order to 1,300 a month in 2003. In short, the only reason Hispanics enlist in the military, really has nothing to do with defending our national security or "honor", it is solely to increase their access to a decent education and a better life.

In a 2005 report by the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA Inc), a federally funded research organization for the US Navy, analysts found immigrants were half as likely as their US-born counterparts to wash out before completing their enlistment. Based on their finding and recognizing the need to "help fill current gaps and meet future needs," they made several recommendations to tap into the "roughly 1.5 million potential non-citizen recruits"

To facilitate recruitment and retention of non-citizens in the military, the Department of Defense should:

• Provide military recruiters with more information for non-citizen recruits by developing materials for applicants and new recruits that explain eligibility for expedited citizenship, the advantages of filing for citizenship while in the military, and the benefits of attaining citizenship.
• Consider more structured, installation-based assistance that would help non-citizen service members and their dependents with the citizenship process.
• Investigate, through the Office of the Secretary of Defense, whether more uniform treatment of noncitizens across the military services is needed.

As Congress debates to tighten immigration controls, tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants are serving in the armed forces. What is not generally known is that the Bush Junta, like the business community, has also been exploiting them. Some have even gone even further, Council on Foreign Relations neoconservative senior fellow Max Boot, and have proposed that the military, enlist and actively recruit foreigners from other countries.

The military would do well today to open its ranks not only to legal immigrants but also to illegal ones and, as important, to untold numbers of young men and women who are not here now but would like to come. No doubt many would be willing to serve for some set period in return for one of the world's most precious commodities -- U.S. citizenship. Open up recruiting stations from Budapest to Bangkok, Cape Town to Cairo, Montreal to Mexico City. Some might deride those who sign up as mercenaries, but these troops would have significantly different motives than the usual soldier of fortune. (Emphases mine)

As extreme as that might sound, when it comes to military service, many immigrates are willing to put their life on the line as a way to prove their loyalty to the US in hopes of obtaining the American Dream, equal treatment and acceptance in their new country. Realities the military and neo-cons like Max Boot are well aware of and are willing to exploit.

During the 2004 Presidential race, many people were talking about the possibility of reinstating the draft. But want many people don't realize, once America went to war and after Bush's executive order, the military, Congress and Citizenship and Immigration Services were already in the process of fast-tracking applications and making it easier for immigrants to become citizens.

When reports were coming in about the military recruitment was at a 30-year low, the military already started targeting Hispanics to meet their targeted numbers. One of the Pentagon goals is to double the amount of Hispanic enlistment through aggressive marketing.

Another tool aiding the military in recruiting Hispanic into the armed services is through the little known Hispanic Access Initiative Act (HAIA) of 1996, which allows ROTC recruiters to target Hispanic students at high school and Hispanic Serving Institutions, colleges with a large Hispanic student body. Recruiters are given access to high school students' addresses and phone numbers and are free to contact them at home, unless parents object. In 2004, the Army has added $10 million to its recruitment budget to advertise directly aimed at Hispanic audiences.

So how effective are their advertisement efforts in the recruiting process? As of Sept 9, 2006, everything is going as planned:

The Pentagon announced Friday that the Army met its recruiting goal for August, which a senior Army official said makes it virtually certain that the service will achieve its aim of signing up 80,000 new soldiers for the full recruiting year, which ends Sept. 30. Last year the Army fell short for the first time since 1999.

And recently, Emilio Gonzalez, director of the Bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, announced there are more than 40,000 immigrants currently serving in the military and more than 26,000 have already been naturalized since Sept. 11, 2001.

Their pipeline for a brighter future - a chance to become the next teachers, doctors, scientist, and other professionals - is soon to becoming nothing more but a pipe dream of empty hopes and promises. For them, there is no American Dream, only an American Nightmare.

The sadistic irony in all of this, as many immigrants risk life and limb entering this country for a better life, they are now being asked to risk life and limb to be played as pawns in a geopolitical chess game - all for the most "precious commodity" - US citizenship.

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It seems Mexico has been hit by the Orwellian PAN rules - some pigs are more equal than others. In its final ruling, Mexico's electoral court (TEPJF) acknowledged there were illegal campaign interference from President Vicente Fox and the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE). They state that both Fox and the CCE showed favoritism towards candidate Felipe Calderónthe of the ruling National Action Party (PAN).

They recognized that the attack ads used against Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) were illegal, however, they pointed out that the AMLO had used the same tactics. Nevertheless, in the end, the seven-judge panel firmly stated that none of the irregularities was significant enough to have significantly altered the outcome of the election.

The unappealable ruling handed down by the electoral court, which in its 10 years of existence has never been accused of bias, details each of the irregularities that were found, but says that their impact was not strong enough to justify annulling the elections.

Where the Orwellian rules enter is the fact TEPJF had previously ruled to annull two provincial governor race. In TEPJF landmark cases, the Tabasco election the court determined there were "grave irregularities." They found there that vote buying existed and there was greater coverage produced for the PRI candidate by the state-owned television network.

The court had also rejected the allegations that López Obrador received unfair treatment by the media, and that the Fox administration manipulated government social programmes to benefit Calderón.

With regard to the alleged misuse of government social programmes, the electoral court found that in more than half of the municipalities where local residents benefit from the aid plans, López Obrador triumphed, while the winner in the country's 15 poorest municipalities was Roberto Madrazo, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled the country from 1929 to 2000, but came in third in the July elections.

In a mid August El Universal poll, those living in Mexico City 59% felt that the election was stolen. After decades of a one-party rule sustained with fraudulent elections, it is not surprising that many Mexicans have a deep distrust of their own institutions and courts.

According to Reforma columnist, Miguel Granados, the judges decision to downplay the irregularities, has now sent clear message that "illegalities are good business." I have to agree to his assessment. There was clear evidence of voter fraud had occurred in which the election court has chose to ignore. What would does it take to prove fraud? If more than half of the tally sheets from the nation's 130,000 election precincts contained errors in arithmetic, how can one make a judgement that it is due to widespread "incompetence" among poll workers? How does one explain ballots magically appearing and disappearing?

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