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Archive for September, 2008

The SanctuaryOn Friday, The Sanctuary released the Obama campaign’s response to an extensive questionnaire on immigration and related issues. Almost immediately, the Obama camp asked us not to publish the responses, saying they had a new, fresh, clean response.

Of course it was too late. The answers were up and were not going to be retracted. The changes? See after the jump.

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Voter Suppression Wiki Launched

9:55 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Internet|US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

20 Sep 2008

With so much talk about voting being a weapon and the importance of the vote, it’s also equally important to pay attention and act when votes aren’t counted. Enter the Voter Suppression Wiki.

The purpose of the wiki is to have a central location to coordinate information and action around efforts to suppress the vote in this 2008 election.

The following video intro gives examples of why this is needed.

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VL Follow Up : Mexican Independence Day Blasters Caught?

3:01 pm By Maegan La Mala · mexico · Comments Off

19 Sep 2008

elgritoblasts.jpeg.jpgLa Macha wrote, with some suspicion, as to who was responsible for the Mexican Independence Day blasts in Morelia. While no organization or individual has taken credit for the attacks, the Mexican government has detained at least three people, two whom they say are suspects and members of drug gangs.

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FDA Approves Genetically Engineered Animals

2:18 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Food · 1 Comment

19 Sep 2008

pigs%20in%20crates.jpgIn an extraordinarily gross move, the FDA has given permission to scientist to go full force on whatever disgusting experiments they want to conduct on animals, all, supposedly for the benefit of the consumer:

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday opened the way for genetically engineered salmon, cows and other animals to move from the laboratory to the marketplace, unveiling an approval process that would treat the modified creatures like drugs.

The guidelines make explicit the regulatory hoops that companies would have to jump through to sell products from modified animals. “It’s about time the federal government has acknowledged that these animals are on [the] doorstep and need to be regulated to ensure their safety,” said Greg Jaffe, director of the project on biotechnology at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.

Many experts, however, fear that the proposed regulations do not go far enough. In particular, they argue that the approval process would be highly secretive to protect the commercial interests of the companies involved. They also say the new rules do not place sufficient weight on the environmental effect of what many consider to be “Frankenstein” animals.

I am not even close to a religious person. I do, however, believe that Mother Nature is the only scientist that has ever known what the hell she was doing. Thus, outside of the fact that I find genetically modifying animals to be morally wrong because how they treat the lives of animals–I also find GM to be ethically wrong because they do nothing at all to improve the lives of animals or humans. And shouldn’t every scientists’ ethical responsibility to society be to improve society’s quality of living rather than destroy it?

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Angie Zapata Case to Go to Trial

1:01 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colorado|crime|GLBT|Justice|Women · Comments Off

19 Sep 2008

AngieZapata2_thumb.jpgIn July, we wrote about the horrific hate motivated killing of the young mujer Angie Zapata. Seems that the prosecutor in the case is ready to move forward with a trial.

According to Colorado’s KDRO-TV, alleged murderer Allen Ray Andrade was arraigned by Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow:

A Weld County district judge ruled Thursday that there is enough evidence against a man charged with killing a transgender woman to proceed with a trial.

Thirty-one-year-old Allen Ray Andrade is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation, felony motor vehicle theft, felony identity theft and bias-motivated crime in the death of Angie Zapata on July 17.

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When Families Suddenly Matter in Immigration

11:01 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Florida|Politics · Comments Off

19 Sep 2008

boyd_banner.jpgWhen it’s not their mother or daughter, politicians play lip service to family matters and immigration. When it is their family, in the case of Democratic Florida Congressman Allan Boyd and his son, suddenly protecting the family is important. His family. Not the family of the immigrants the 30 year old son of the Congressman was charged with smuggling after federal authorities found people hidden in his truck during a border inspection Sunday in Arizona.

Rep. Allen Boyd, a Democrat from Monticello, in Florida’s Panhandle, said today in a statement released by his office that the arrest of his son, John Finlayson Boyd, “is a family matter that my family and I will be dealing with privately.”

Authorities said two of the undocumented immigrants found in Boyd’s truck told them they had agreed to pay $3,000 each to be smuggled into the United States.

Certainly, the immigrants have been detained, are living in horrific conditions as they await deportation.

Via / Adventures in the Coconut Caucus

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The Battle for Reality

9:01 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · media justice · 1 Comment

19 Sep 2008

resist2.jpgRemember how I told you yesterday that Charlize Theron was out promoting her new film, Battle in Seattle? Well, I just got word in my email inbox that actual protesters that were at Seattle during the World Trade Protests have something really major to say about that movie:

It’s time that we in the social movements tell our own stories, reclaim our own histories, and publicly fight damaging myths of our movements past and present. We must intervene in the public understanding of what happened, what is happening, and what it all means. Stories are how we understand the world and thus shape the future—they are part of our fight against corporate power, empire, war, and social and environmental injustice and for the alternatives that will make a better world.

The real story of Seattle 1999 is of tens of thousands of people rising up, taking direct action, and changing history; standing up to corporations and governments and winning; joining with movements around the world in our common struggle against the WTO.

Here is the really interesting website that this statement came from–it is run by the activists themselves, and I found all sorts of amazing information and commentary there. I highly recommend you check it out!

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The SanctuaryAs the presidential candidates point fingers about who had the better immigration policy and who has been a better friend to immigrant communities, one of the best options is to let the candidates’ own words speak for themselves.

This is easier to do when the candidates actually respond to requests for information. From The Sanctuary:

our original intent was to present a meaningful side-by-side comparison of the policies and positions of all presidential candidates in order to better inform voters, Senator McCain’s unwillingness to answer our questions, or to go on the record with his positions on the specific details covered in the questionnaire, has made this impossible. Senator McCain’s reluctance is all the more troubling in light of the fact that his previously published positions, available on his website, appear to directly contradict those in the official platform coming out of the Republican National Convention earlier this month. This has left many of us who are concerned about immigration reform at a loss to know exactly where the Senator actually stands on vital issues.

McCain and his campaign have refused to answer a comprehensive questionnaire about immigration reform. His silence in many ways speaks for itself about his commitment to the issue. In the meantime, read, after the jump, Senator Obama’s answers, in their entirety, to a questionnaire on immigration and related issues and then decide for yourself.

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Spanish Ad From Obama Camp

6:49 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

18 Sep 2008

I’m a bit older than many people, and as such, I grew up in a time when the thought of politicians reaching out to voters on the issue of women getting equal pay for equal work or critiquing the Spanish outreach of another’s campaign was outrageous–or even grounds to lose an election.

And yet here we are in the year 2008, and such things *are* happening on a national stage at that. Here is the latest from the Obama camp:

For those of you who are like me and only got the “Soy Barack Obama” part, basically, what the ad is arguing is that the McCain campain has “two faces.” One they represent to Latin@s and one they represent to non-Latin@s. As such, he can’t be trusted, because what really is his message?

Ed O’Keefe at Washington Post gives the lowdown specifics on the video. I would ask you what you think, but comments aren’t working today, so you can’t tell me! Keep your thoughts in mind, so you can tell us all tomorrow!

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Forclosures=Tent Cities

5:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · housing|Labor|US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

18 Sep 2008

MSNBC is reporting that with the increase in foreclosures countrywide, there has been an alarming increase in a phenomenon known as tent cities. Tent cities are reminiscent of Hoovervilles of the Great Depression, basically areas where homeless people congregate and live. What makes these areas different than “normal” homelessness is that generally it’s agreed that most of the people are living in these areas for reasons directly related to events connected to the government/free market, such as the Great Depression or the home foreclosure crisis.

The absolutely only good thing about this horrible mess?

Homeless people and their advocates have organized three tent cities at City Hall in recent months to call attention to the homeless and protest the sweeps — acts of militancy, said Harris, “that we really haven’t seen around homeless activism since the early ’90s.

I just wish that homeless activism wasn’t dependent on people reacting to what is probably the worst times of their lives.

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VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.

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