Jerseyguy406's blog

Any thoughts on the VP debate?

Lets discuss?

This is a bit of an older story but still a very prevalent issue that still has not been addressed. These raids should be condemned for the atrocities that they cause and continue to cause among undocumented workers!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080910/ts_alt_afp/usvotepoliticsreligionim...

Wed Sep 10, 7:36 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Roman Catholic bishops on Wednesday charged that immigration raids on US workplaces break up families and disrupt communities, without addressing the country's flawed immigration system.

"The humanitarian costs of these raids are immeasurable and unacceptable in a civilized society," Bishop John Wester, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) committee on migration, said.

"I call upon the Department of Homeland Security and President (George W.) Bush to reconsider the use of these worksite enforcement raids, and without the implementation of necessary human rights protections, to please abandon them," he told a news conference.

"We ask them and the country, including the presidential candidates, to again turn their energies for building support for a comprehensive overhaul of our broken immigration system," he said.

I joined LinkedIn earlier this year but never got all that involved with it. I of course added the group CrossLeft based on Kety's invite and while there decided to check out other groups that were available within the site LinkedIn.

I went to the "groups" section and typed in homelessness (in search of groups that support 'human' homelessness) and what did I find? Well I can tell you that there are a lot citizens out there that are very, very concerned about dogs and cats and not so much so for men, women and children! Seriously there must have been a ratio of 3 to 1 that is for every 3 'shelters' there was maybe 1 group designated for the homeless. We as a society have turned our backs for far too long on these forgotten men, women and children that many of us probably walk by every day.

I recently read a post on here about how Progressive groups lack organization and the ability well simply put...to get things done. Let me worry about that...

I have already reached out too and communicated with a grassroots organization located in Chicago. They have had much success with helping the homeless on the Upper West Side over the past 3 years and I would like to use their success as a model to develop something here (Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC regions) and possibly in / near your geography as well.

I have read a lot recently about the hatred and venom being spewed by 'special interest' groups and even our main stream media. If I remember correctly I believe the FBI has shown an increase of 35% in hate crimes this year and over 25% in California alone. This increase is a direct result of the deep underlying racism that exists in America and it's also directly tied to the ongoing debate on immigration that tends to be marginalized by the main stream media oulets and therefore termed 'normal' if not expected behavior. I'm happy to see that something, however small, at least something has been done to show that this type of behavior is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. Unfortunately, I doubt that this story will make the main stream media feeds so I'm glad that there are bloggers and journalists out there reporting on these topics. Though not that ironic that this guy is actually a son of a first generation immigrant after all unless you're Native American we are ALL (yes that includes all of you Caucasians out there as well) ALL descendants of immigrants!

Here is the post I am referring to in the headline, Kety Esquivel writes...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kety-esquivel/nclr-death-threat-punishe_b_...

Kety EsquivelPosted October 1, 2008 | 07:35 PM (EST)

NCLR Death Threat Punished in Court of Law

More political posturing by John McCain...?

Jonathan Martin, Ben Smith
1 hour, 10 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080924/pl_politico/13853

John McCain called Wednesday for the first presidential debate, scheduled for Friday in Mississippi, to be delayed and urged Barack Obama to join him in Washington for a high-level meeting of congressional leaders to address the financial crisis. Obama responded that the debate should go on.

In a roll of the dice that jolted the presidential race, McCain said in New York Wednesday that he is suspending his campaign - and his fundraising and campaign advertising - as of Thursday and will return to Washington. He also scrapped a planned appearance on David Letterman.

Aides said it was unclear how long the suspension would last. The McCain campaign also left open the possibility of agreeing to the debate if a bailout deal could be reached by early Friday.

"I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself," McCain said. "It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."

Here is an interesting piece on the Latino community and McCain v Obama.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/09/06/2008-09-06_new_york_latin...

Friday, September 5th 2008, 7:30 PM

Some hope and little enthusiasm. That's what many Latinos in New York feel about the upcoming presidential election.

Battered and bruised by the current anti-immigrant - and anti-Hispanic - climate, Latinos have a hard time believing that either John McCain or Barack Obama will be able to restore the respect they deserve and end the increasingly racist immigration debate.

"We don't feel identified with any party," said Javier Castaño, editor of the Spanish language daily Hoy-NY. His assertion should not surprise anybody who followed the Democratic and Republican party conventions.

It was evident that both Obama and McCain, aware that the Hispanic vote could be decisive in a number of states this year, were doing their best to hide from the immigration hot potato.

"It was disconcerting and worrisome how little attention was given to the issue of immigration at the Democratic convention," said Moisés Pérez, the executive director of Alianza Dominicana, a community organization in upper Manhattan. "And it is shameful how much McCain has changed, even going along with the odious Republican Party platform."

After reading today's post by XP, great post by the way XP, I read some more on the issue and began wondering the following.

It's not like me to be so pessimistic or cynical, but indulge me for a brief moment. Could Ike be a blessing in discuss for the federal government? Think about it here is a possible category 4 hurricane, Mother Nature at its worst and it's heading towards a large immigrant population many undocumented. The government issues a warning, many of course do not leave for fear of deportation or detainment, the government destroys the footings of levees for a reconstruction project during the hurricane peak season!? Why would the government do this construction now? Why not wait until the hurricane season has passed or had enough foresight to begin the project earlier so it would be completed by now? Maybe the government planned it this way, maybe the levees were destroyed during the hurricane peak season in hope that a major storm would come and...Yes...wipe out many of the already suffering undocumented along the Rio Grande Valley...maybe??

Maybe it's the anniversary of 9/11 that has me thinking this way. I don't know, but destroying levees during this time of year, come on let's open our eyes!

http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/09/ike-coverage-most-vulnera...

Some more 'eye opening' info on Palin...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080903/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_iraq_war

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Wed Sep 3, 7:23 PM ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."

Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be deployed there.

"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

A video of the speech was posted at the Wasilla Assembly of God's Web site before finding its way on to other sites on the Internet.

Palin told graduating students of the church's School of Ministry, "What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys." As they preached the love of Jesus throughout Alaska, she said, she'd work to implement God's will from the governor's office, including creating jobs by building a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets.

It's been an interesting three days... Everywhere I go I am reminded of the song, "For what it's worth" by Buffalo Springfield (search it you will know it once you hear it, promise) there are people marching, protesting, holding signs for their personal cause, etc...

Walking on the sidewalks is like trying navigate through Times Square in NYC, truly a sight to be seen. I also witnessed the "Rage Against the Machine" march today, there were about 4,000 people in the march. It seemed like there were almost as many police all dressed in riot gear. The police presence here is something to be seen. Every 20 yards or so it seems like you come into contact with at least one officer.

I have to run I'll write more at a later time...