SWOPblogger

Army is low on recruits.....so they step it up. Here's how.

2008-07-14T09:34:00.003-07:00

Hello we are Cheyenne and Romilly. We are youth interns here at SWOP this summer and we have been learning a LOT about the military and wanted to share some of that information with you.

Do you know exactly how many people have died since the war? Well we do. Approximately 4,116 troops have died since the beginning of the war in Iraq (antiwar.com). Would you want to be that parent that gets a call at 2 o’ clock in the morning from your child’s commander saying that your child has just been killed in combat? We certainly wouldn’t want to hear that about someone we love nor would any other parent.

Here are the facts:

- Congress has decided to increase the total size of the army by 74,000 by 2010 but now they increased that number to 574,000 active duty reservists AND national guard.

- Roughly about 30,333 US soldiers have been wounded since the beginning of the war
(antiwar.com).

- The military doesn’t mention that 1 out of 8 soldiers suffer a long term health problem
called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

- The civilian deaths in Iraq are estimated to about 1,236,604 (antiwar.com)

So where do they find all these soldiers?

In 2005, the pentagon announced in the federal registration the existence of the Joint Advertising Market Research Studies Database (JAMRS), a massive registry of 30 MILLION Americans between the ages of 16 and 25 for the military purposes. This branch is devoted to maximizing military recruitment efforts (nyclu.org)

Part of their campaign involves a database, which has information about millions of people over 17 years old or in the eleventh grade and contains their contact information. This can only be kept for 3 years, but that’s enough time for recruiters to contact hopeful soldiers. The JAMRS database can have your name, birth date, gender, mailing address, e-mail, race, ethnicity, telephone number, high school name, graduation date, grade point average, college intent, military interest, field of study, and the ASVAB Test score.

You can choose not to have your information used by opting out at the following links below or by talking to your school. As high school students, we are being targeted daily by recruiters. They come into schools giving presentations that glorify war and the military. This gives the impression that the military is the only way to go in order to avoid college loans. The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) has recently released a report demanding the reduction of military recruitment of young people. They want to end the JAMRS and create an option of giving information to the military only if the individual wants to, instead of opting out. As youth we need to be protected and our information needs to be kept safe. Protect your children and tell your friends and family about opting out. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FUTURE, GET INFORMED!!

Links to OPT out:

http://milrec.nyclu.org/2a.html
www.militaryfreezoneorg/opt_out
www.leavemychildrenalone.org/emergency.html

Hey Intel: Toxic Emissions, PR and 'Clean Technologies' Don't Mix

2008-07-12T11:55:00.005-07:00

Intel's latest attempt at greenwashing its image just doesn't square with the facts.

Intel Capital raising stake in clean tech
Deborah Gage, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, July 11, 2008

Intel Capital is boosting its investments in clean technology startups as a way to develop new sources of power for Intel processors.

I say they should invest in clean technology for the residents of Corrales, or at least take the recomendations of their own cheerleaders.

Intel endangers community health by refusing steps to solve their plant's air pollution
From SWOP Director Robby Rodriguez:
Intel is rejecting its own community front group’s recommendation to raise the height of its pollution stacks.

To review:

Intel formed the Community Environmental Working Group (CEWG), chose its members, and appointed John Bartlit as the acting chair.

Every evaluation study of the risks from Intel's toxic emissions has concluded that the existing stacks are much too low.

After nearly two decades of poisoning the air its neighbors breathe, Intel finally agreed to raise the stacks to a height that would substantially decrease the concentration of toxic emissions at ground level.

Intel also promised to raise the stacks to the height decided by its own CEWG.

After much study and input from experts, the CEWG recommended that the stack height be not less than 38 meters.

However, Intel decided to ignore the CEWG recommendation and raise their stacks to only 30 meters.

John Bartlit, Intel's appointed Acting Chair, has an opportunity to stand up for his CEWG and insist that Intel honor its promise to abide by CEWG's recommendations.

Mr. Bartlit can thereby choose to protect and defend the environment and nearby residents.

Or he can continue to protect and defend Intel.

Which option will he choose?

Fred Marsh
Corrales Residents for Clean Air & Water

SAGE Council Highlighted!

2008-07-11T13:24:00.002-07:00

From the New Mexico Independent about our sister organization! Go SAGE COUNCIL!

In the photo is Bineshi Albert one of our SWOP board members.

Last year, a SAGE Council delegation prepares for a U.S. Social Forum march. (Photo by sarahruthvg/Flickr)

By Rebecca Ford 07/10/2008

ALBUQUERQUE -- Native American voters, often treated as an afterthought in presidential elections, are receiving an unprecedented amount of attention from both presidential candidates this year in the battleground state of New Mexico.

It's a development nearly two decades in the making in which a handful of Albuquerque–based activists have been working to create a well-organized and powerful Native American voice.

Today, with 63,000 registered voters, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, Native Americans may well be the swing constituency in one of the most politically volatile states in the country.

The Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality (SAGE) Council, founded in 1996 by brother and sister Sonny and Laurie Weahkee, was formed to protest the construction of a road through the Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque's fast-growing westside. The city planned to build the road through the site, considered sacred to all of the state's pueblos, in order to ease traffic congestion for many commuters.

“A lot of people don’t realize that there’s not really a separation between the earth and the way we practice our cultures and our traditions,” said Sonny Weahkee. The petroglyphs, some of which are over 3,000 years old according to park officials, are still used for religious ceremonies by some tribes today.

The Weahkees and their fellow activists did everything they could to stop the road from being built: collected signed petitions, spoke out at council meetings, and tried to block funding for the construction. Sonny and Laurie were even arrested, along with five other SAGE Council members, when they tried to physically stand in the way of the construction of the road.

“At that time, we started to realize that the City of Albuquerque wasn’t going to move, no matter how many people we packed into the city council office,” said Sonny Weahkee, a Cochiti and Zuni Pueblo member. “They were never ever going to vote on our side.”

Read the rest of the article here NMI

Summer Intern Voices

2008-07-10T11:53:00.004-07:00

Our Summer Youth Intern Program has officially started and so far it's been a huge success! We have 8 great young women building relationships, in trainings, and inspiring the rest of us to keep up! Here's a blog from one intern Tracy. Keep on the look out for more through the rest of the summer.

**************
Hi everyone my name is Tracy Chacon, and I’m an intern at SWOP this summer. Life isn’t always easy. Take it from me I have been on my own since I was 14 years old and I have had to learn a lot. All through high school I was on my own and it was really hard finding information about college. But I have always known about the military and I always heard they would pay for college. So I had to TAKE CONTROL of my life and I decided I wanted more information about college instead. It’s kind of sad that a 15 year old had to go out and get information about college on their own whereas the military recruiters come find you.

You see, I have 5 brothers and none of them have finished high school much less even thought about college and neither of my parents have gone to college. That’s exactly why young people like me need other information made available to them so that we know that the military is not the only option. I know for a fact that the reason military recruiters target people of color is because they know we don’t have money for college and some of us would do whatever it took to get there, even risking our lives.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said from his letter from Birmingham jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” For me it is unjust for my personal information to be automatically given out to military recruiters without my consent. Why don’t they send it to colleges or universities instead? That’s why we have to TAKE CONTROL and get educated, youth must be involved as much as possible to make sure our schools have the information we need to get to college. It is up to us as young people to make a difference and to demand equal opportunities for all. We are the leaders of now.

FNS: 2008 Migrant Death Count

2008-07-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

Immigration News - 2008 Migrant Death Count

In a grim disclosure, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) recently released its count of the number of Mexican migrants who died struggling to reach El Norte in 2008 so far. Until June 9, the SRE documented the deaths of 117 migrants who perished while attempting to cross the Mexico-US border. According to the SRE, most of the deaths, or 72 to be precise, were registered in the state of Texas. The McAllen area of the Lone Star State proved to be the deadliest point for would-be border crossers, with 26 undocumented Mexicans losing their lives in the zone. Additionally, 14 migrants died in the El Paso area and 4 around Eagle Pass. Nonetheless, the dangerous terrain surrounding Tucson, Arizona, was the deadliest single zone for migrants, claiming 40 lives during the first half of the year. The Arizona numbers suggest migrant deaths could be on a downswing in comparison to the last two years. Still, it’s important to note the reported deaths were registered before some of the hottest days of the year pound the border region.

The US Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector reported 204 migrant deaths during the 2007 fiscal year that ended on September 30 of last year. The death toll represented a 21 percent increase from fiscal year 2006, when 165 deaths were registered. However, the Tucson-based Human Rights Coalition reported a higher death toll for the region than did the Border Patrol. The immigrant rights group cited 237 deaths for FY 2007, a number 32 higher than in FY 2006, when the coalition documented 205 deaths. In 2007, 409 Mexican migrants died in the entire Mexico-US border region, according to the SRE. Official Mexican migrant death statistics for this year report most victims were individuals in the 18 to 45-year-old age category, with the death of one minor recorded. Since 2001, the SRE has tallied the deaths of 2,956 Mexican migrants in the northern borderlands. The federal agency has identified the main causes of death as dehydration (1062), drowning (583) and vehicle accidents (247). In terms of geographic origin, ill-fated migrants from the states of Mexico, Guanajuato and Mexico City topped the list of victims.

Sources: La Jornada, July 6, 2008. Frontera/SUN, December 31, 2007.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email
fnsnews@nmsu.edu

Wanna work for SWOP?

2008-07-09T13:39:00.004-07:00

SWOP is currently looking for an intern to help with our multi-media production wing. It includes creating films, video, blogs and training others to do the same.

Call us if your interested 505-247-8832

Job Description: Communications Intern

RESPONSIBILITIES
The Communications Intern is a part-time position that will assist the Communications Organizer in carrying out the organizational Strategic Communications Plan.

We are looking for someone who is highly motivated to move our organization to the digital world. Mentorship and training will be provided. Students are highly encouraged to apply.

Sumbit your resume to joann@swop.net by July 18th
Starting date: Early August
Hours: 20 hours a week, flexible schedule
Pay: $10.00 an hour

GENERAL DUTIES

Ensure all activities are carried out in line with the SWOP Mission Statement and with the involvement of membership.
Adhere to Staff Responsibilities Statement.
Work with the membership and staff to develop and implement strategic communications plans that support organizational campaigns and program efforts.
Involvement in overall SWOP campaigns and program efforts.
Work to conduct regular system of reporting back to staff and membership and incorporating membership into campaigns.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

Maintain Online Communications: Update web site to reflect current work, support campaign and fundraising efforts, opportunities to volunteer, obtain resources and foster political discussion. Update organizational blog daily, create a team of bloggers and create original content.
Coordinate Multimedia Production: Develop infrastructure for staff & members to create multimedia productions such as podcasts, public service announcements, video podcasts, etc.
Archiving organizational work: Create a system for archiving and filing images and press coverage of organization as well campaign materials.

OTHER DUTIES

Assist in Trainings for Staff, Members & Allies: Conduct or coordinate training for staff, members and allied organizations about effective communication, video editing, multimedia production, campaign strategies and corporatization of mainstream media.
Assist in Coordinating the Production of Print Materials: Coordinate production of bi annual Voces Unidas magazine & bi annual internal newsletters by working with staff and membership to develop themes, collect articles and photographs, design, lay out and edit the newsletter.
Participate in national media reform efforts

QUALIFICATIONS

Working knowledge of Macintosh Editing software: Final Cut Pro, iMovie
Excellent writing and communication skills
Some knowledge of graphic design software: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator
Self-motivated and willing to take initiative
Bilingual preferred
Some experience in facilitation preferred
Team Player

Cops and Community

2008-07-08T10:45:00.001-07:00

From today's Journal
I want a divorce already! Who's with me?

The "Hispanic" Vote - Swinging for Latino

2008-07-01T11:34:00.004-07:00

Check out this great article on the breakdown of the Hispanic vote and how a candidates stance on immigration can determine if they'll get the Hispanic vote or not.

But before that:

Here's my lightbulb of the day from a conversation with a co-worker:

co-worker: The Republicans don't need to win the Hispanic vote, they just need to lower the amount of hispanics voting for democrats. That means if they are not going to vote for McCain they need to figure out how to make them stay home.

me: Now I get why on KKKob they've been asking people to abstain from voting. They've been saying for months now, "don't vote for the lesser of 2 evils, if you don't beleive a candidate can lead our country, stay home." Damn that's sneaky.

********

By Marjorie Childress 07/01/2008

ALBUQUERQUE—As New Mexico emerges as a key swing state in the 2008 elections, the two parties are increasingly focusing on the state’s Latino electorate as a key demographic.

Nationwide, Barack Obama has nearly a 3-to-1 advantage over John McCain among Latino voters, according to a poll released June 16. The telephone poll of Latino voters conducted by Pacific Market Research in collaboration with University of Washington political scientists found that 60 percent planned to vote for Obama, 23 percent for McCain and 16 percent were undecided. The researchers combined New Mexico data with other southwestern "battleground" states and found Obama leading McCain in those states 57 percent to 26 percent.

During a May 30 foreign press briefing, Susan Minushkin, Deputy Director of the Pew Hispanic Center, described the enormous growth as well as the increasing dispersion of the Latino community across the nation, but also explained that Hispanic eligible voters are concentrated in a few select states, giving Hispanics more influence in presidential elections due to their ability to influence key state races.

New Mexico has the largest rate of eligible voters who are Hispanic of any state: 38 percent. California and Texas have 25 and 23 percent, respectively. In seven other states, Hispanics constitute between 11 and 20 percent of eligible voters: Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.

Of these states, the so-called "battleground" states are New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and possibly Arizona.

Given the statistics and the winner-take-all nature of the electoral college, the significance of Latino voters in New Mexico becomes apparent.
But in New Mexico, Obama can’t take the Latino vote for granted.

Continue reading here

Intel's woes 'fit to print' of late

2008-06-30T17:34:00.007-07:00

A new twist on the conventional wisdom of Intel's math

Moore's law may yet be in need of an update to keep up with the times. SWOP has offered a hidden equation - dubbed "SWOP's Law" - which may also need updating...but that's another story.

NY Times 6/30/08 - Intel’s Dominance Is Challenged by a Low-Power Upstart

NYtimes.com: From mainframes to minicomputers and then PCs, each new computing generation has displaced its predecessor by reaching a broader audience and costing far less. And each time, the dominant company in one generation loses control in the next.
Intel hopes its tiny new Atom chip will fend off a British rival. That’s why the PC industry’s commanding chip maker, Intel, might do well to be alarmed by the computer chips being designed by Qualcomm, a maker of chips for cellphones. An engineer at Qualcomm’s gleaming corporate campus here demonstrated a palm-sized circuit board capable of displaying high-definition video. What was striking about the demonstration was not the quality of the video images, which is now commonplace. Rather it was that the microprocessor chip, called Snapdragon, drives the display with less than half the power of a similar chip recently introduced by Intel. Qualcomm designers say it will also cost less.
Continue Reading.

Putting the "Anti" in Trustiness

NY Times 5/7/08 - In Turnabout, Anti-trust Unit Looks at Intel

NYtimes.org: WASHINGTON — A global legal battle between the two largest makers of computer processors took an abrupt turn this week when the Federal Trade Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation of the Intel Corporation.

Continue Reading.

NY Times Editorial 5/15/08 - The Intel Investigation

NYtimes Editorial: It certainly took its time. But the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to open a formal antitrust investigation of Intel is very welcome.
Continue reading.

Hewlett Packard: Riding the New Mexico gravy train

2008-06-26T19:19:00.004-07:00

The Colorado Springs Gazette reported earlier this week that Hewlett Packard was offering its 800 call center employees there the opportunity to relocate next year to Rio Rancho when their new facility is built here. You know the one. It was heralded with much fanfare last week by the Governor.

Trip and I reported on the news coming out of Colorado Springs for the New Mexico Independent. Trip had already included in his original story the details about what are pretty standard economic incentives given to companies who relocate to New Mexico. You know those also. In plainer language: transfers of tax money, or tax breaks--to benefit corporations.

In the case of HP:

The company could receive as much as $8 million to $10 million in state subsidies for training workers and more than $20 million in state tax credits for creating high-wage jobs, Economic Development Secretary Fred Mondragon said last week. The governor also will ask the Legislature to provide $12 million in capital improvement financing for the project. The majority of that capital outlay money will go toward constructing the building...

Anyhow, its business as usual. In a nutshell:

New Mexico offered an incentive package in order to compete for the Hewlett Packard call center. That's what States do--it's been going on for a long time. Many feel we simply have to do this.

Given that States find themselves competing like this, most of us are usually (somewhat) understanding of our economic development professionals and politicians who feel they have to
offer tax breaks and other benefits, like job training dollars, to bring us more jobs.

But in return, we ask for a few simple things, one being that the jobs actually go to New Mexicans.

But maybe we're just a bunch of simpletons. Because according to New Mexico economic development spokesperson Toni Balzano:

"There's nothing about our incentives that makes them hire 100 percent of New Mexicans," she said. "That is entirely up to HP. If they choose to move people here or choose NM residents, that is their call."

Balzano said the state hopes that the majority of jobs at the Rio Rancho center go to New Mexicans.

Balzano said that even if they bring outsiders in for the jobs, many of which are expected to pay $40,000 plus a year, just having the jobs alone will be good.

So what do you think? Is it enough to just have the jobs here, or should a multi-million dollar investment of tax dollars mean that New Mexicans, at the least, get a first shot at them?

cross-posted on m-pyre.

Save the Date! Arte Si! Guerra No! Silent Art Auction

2008-06-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Friday June 27th, 5:30-8:00pm

Come Join us for an unforgettable night of art, music, culture, food and of course social justice history.

Looking for affordable art? Here's your chance and you don't want to miss it.

Dinner will be available at 6:00pm for a $10.00 donation.

Download your own copy of the invitation and send it to your friends!

invitation_art_auction.pdf

Intel endangers community health by refusing steps to solve their plant's air pollution

2008-06-20T12:54:00.007-07:00

From SWOP Director Robby Rodriguez:

Intel is rejecting its own community front group’s recommendation to raise the height of its pollution stacks.

****
See the video here.
Intel is building new smokestacks, and some people in Corrales are fighting to have them built taller.

Residents said the higher stacks will bring less air pollution to their neighborhood.

Intel is building the new smokestacks 30 meters tall, shorter than the 38 to 40 meters recommended by Intel's own community group. The company said 30 meters is already taller than what is mandated and any taller would interfere with neighbors’ views.

..."As you go to much higher stacks, the concentration of material that gets down to ground level will be less," said [Hugh] Church...who was on Intel's community environmental working group. "I think 30 meters is too short."
Read the full article.
****

What the Channel 7 report does not say is that NMED’s own staff stated publicly and on the record that “Intel could be culpable for residents illnesses”.

That statement was made by Mary Uhl of the NM Environment Department after an independent air modeling study found extremely high correlation between Intel’s pollution plume and resident complaints to the Environment Department. After that statement, Governor Richardson through his Secretaries for Environment & Health shut down the task force process.

The task force met anyway to make recommendations and Intel did agree to raise the height of their stacks.

Given all this, why does Intel stop at 30 meters when their own cheerleaders are calling for 38-40? What’s another 8-10 meters?

What a bunch of jerks.

Between the Right and Racial Justice: Wedging The Movement for Media Reform

2008-06-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

By Malkia A. Cyril and Jen Soriano, Center for Media Justice

Conservative Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has done it again.

Sensationalism, exaggeration, and inaccuracy are the cornerstones of Right-wing punditry- so it wasn't surprising when Bill O’Reilly ripped the 2008 National Conference on Media Reform with ridiculous and unsubstantiated claims that “lunacy”, “danger” and “hatred” dominated the event. His “news” crew clearly didn’t experience what thousands of others did: the amazing speakers, strategic dialogue, and insightful information that predominated the conference.

What was surprising was that while some leaders of the movement for media reform rightly chastised Bill O’Reilly for his bullying, they were strangely silent on his obvious use of racist and homophobic stereotypes to bolster his claims – stereotypes we believe were leveraged to marginalize and divide our movement along lines of race, class, and gender identity.

How exactly did Bill O’Reilly try to use racism and homophobia to marginalize media reform?

During the Fox “news” show that aired on Monday June 9th, 2008, O’Reilly showed a clip of National Hip-Hop Caucus President Rev. Lennox Yearwood speaking passionately against Fox and commented, “Our crew felt they were in physical danger at this conference”. Then Mary Katherine Ham, Bill O’Reilly’s white female commentator, compared Rev. Yearwood to Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor Rev. Wright by saying that media reformers “apparently [have been] studying in the Reverend Wright school of oratory”. Most blatantly, O’Reilly said to Black Fox News correspondent Juan Williams, “Juan, you’re an African-American, you know this much better than I do – the hatred, Juan, at that conference…. was just off the chart.”

Um, why would “hatred” and (the erroneous insinuation of) “violence” be better understood by a black man?

And the homophobia…lawd-a-mercy. O’Reilly stated that in contrast to the so-called “liberal media”, Fox “played it straight” in providing critical coverage of Obama. He then claimed Fox to be a watchdog of media reform activists by touting that Fox is “outing them every time”. This wasn’t the first time that O’Reilly claimed to be “outing” media reform activists. In the lead-in show that appeared the Friday before the main story, O’Reilly referred to “outing” Dan Rather. His commentator answered, “Was he ever in the closet?”

African-Americans and queer communities might disagree with O’Reilly about the degree of their representation at the 2008 Conference on Media Reform, especially after he conjured up enough stereotypes to make his meaning clear: the media activists at the National Conference on Media reform were dangerous black men and closeted gays who represent a serious threat to traditional American values.

Let’s talk about the response.

Instead of directly confronting the bias, thereby increasing the scope and breadth of our movement, Free Press attempted to fight right wing conservatism with liberal conservatism and framed an attack on an entire movement as an attack against the narrowest version of its leadership.

Free Press’ video response to O’Reilly’ depicted Bill Moyers’ demand that O’Reilly appear on his show and stop “pretending to be a journalist." The written response was similar, echoing the demand for real reporting and correctly claiming that media reform is a “main street” issue that belongs to everybody.

Movements that attempt to win the support of both the right and the left often choose not to confront racism because of the need to move quickly, or because of the challenges posed in moving issues through the legislature. These are real considerations. But whether under attack by Bill O’Reilly or by corporate media consolidation, ignoring blatant bias is un-strategic; it forces our movement into its most centrist position and surrenders rather than shifts the terms of debate.

And when this happens, our movement makes itself much smaller than we truly are. Today’s Main Street is no longer just middle-class white America; it is neglected and rural, targeted and urban, and more diverse than ever before. It is made up of communities structurally adjusted out of political and economic power – people of color, the foreclosed on middle class, poor & working class communities of all races, immigrants, women, queer & trans people, non-English speakers, disabled people, prisoners, progressives. Today’s Main Street requires a bigger vision for media change featuring us. Working together, we can establish compelling media policies that achieve Media Justice, with reform as a strategy on the road to an equitable redistribution of political, economic, and cultural power.

O’Reilly’s attempt to divide this growing movement for media policy change along lines of race, class and gender identity is just the latest example of the age-old tactic of using wedge communications to marginalize progressive fights with the potential to win real change. This strategy only works when elements within the targeted constituencies consent to splintering their own alliances. We won’t let that happen without a fight. We want our movement to do better. And we believe it can.

But we can only do better through broad-based alliances led by the diversity of people who make up the United States today. These alliances can only have integrity when their leadership sees racist, sexist or homophobic attacks for what they are, and chooses to respond. So when you tell O’Reilly that you don’t buy his journalism, tell him you don’t buy his racism either. And when you do, know that the Center for Media Justice and the Media Action Grassroots Network stand with all our constituencies and allies- including Free Press. Including you.

The only road to a truly free press is a movement united from the beltway to the hood against racism, sexism, and economic inequity- and for media accountability and justice for us all. In solidarity, CMJ.

Interview with NM House District 13 Rep-elect Eleanor Chavez

2008-06-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

Eleanor Chavez went one-on-one with Elaine Baumgartel of KUNM news Friday, June 13 about what it took to win her NM House District 13 campaign, which unseated 22 year incumbent Dan Silva on the west side of Albuquerque. She also talks about legislative priorities, which include working to obtain universal healthcare for New Mexicans. Eleanor is Executive Director of NM District 1199 Hospital and Healthcare Employees Union, and a long time member and former Board President of the SouthWest Organizing Project. She has also been the chair of the NM Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign, which has led the fight for adequate healthcare for all New Mexicans.

Check it at 061308-ChavesQA.MP3

New Mexicans: Free the "Cuban Five" Prisoners in the United States

2008-06-16T14:26:00.003-07:00

SWOP members joined others from Stop the War Machine this past Friday in front of the Federal Courthouse to demand once again of the Justice Department and Bush Administration that the "Cuban Five" political prisoners be released.

Last week the 11th Circuit Appeals Court in Atlanta, Georgia - in a highly politicized verdict that sounded at times as if it were written by the Bush Justice Department itself - upheld the convictions of the prisoners, who are held in federal penitentiaries throughout the US.

The Five were sent to southern Florida in the 1990s to monitor right wing Cuban exile organizations based in Miami that have engaged in violent acts against Cuba (including murder) and gotten away with it for nearly 50 years. In 1998, information gathered by the Five was turned over to the FBI, which at the time expressed strong interest in the activities of such groups. However, instead of doing anything about the terrorists, the Justice Department instead moved to arrest the Five, accusing them of crimes ranging from failure to declare themselves as "foreign agents" to military espionage and conspiracy to commit murder.

After one of the longest trials in US history, a Miami jury found the Five guilty on all charges, including some for which the prosecution had even stated that there was not enough evidence to convict. The Five were given sentences totaling 75 years and four life terms.

The Atlanta court did find that three of the defendants must be re-sentenced. Below are a statement issued by the International Ctte for the Freedom of the Five and an AP story on the court decision. Keep up to date on the Five at the website of the National Committee to Free the Five.

RESPONSE TO THE ATLANTA APPEALS COURT RULING BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE CUBAN FIVE

On Wednesday June 4th, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced its ruling in the appeal case for the Cuban Five.

In the 99-page opinion, the three-judge panel unanimously upheld the convictions against the Five Cuban Patriots. The court also upheld the sentences given to René González (15 years) and Gerardo Hernández (two life sentences plus 15 years).

The court¹s ruling on Gerardo¹s sentence, however, was not unanimous: 2 to 1. On page 16 of the written opinion, Judge Phyllis Kravitch states that the government did not present sufficient evidence to convict Gerardo of conspiracy to commit murder.

The sentences of Ramón Labañino (life plus 18 years); Fernando González (19 years) and Antonio Guerrero (life plus 10 years) were returned to Judge Joan Lenard's Florida court for re-sentencing. Lenard will need to call for a hearing to issue the new ruling - this is the same judge who imposed the excessive and unjust sentences in 2001.

The Atlanta Appeals Court's written opinion, which employs startling political rhetoric, states that the defense's arguments lacked merit and clearly favors the government.

The court's ruling exposes various contradictions between the opinions of two of the justices and the author of the opinion, Judge William H. Pryor, an ultraconservative appointed to the bench with the help of Republican John McCain despite opposition from the Senate.

The defense attorneys, Weinglass, MacKenna and Horowitz, ensured they will continue the legal battle that began in December 2001 when they were unjustly sentences. There are still some legal avenues open.

Given the United States government's legal ploys to expand the sentences of our Five Brothers, we are not surprised by the judicial ruling. On the contrary, it reaffirms our need to continue fighting tirelessly to denounce this colossal injustice.

Exposed once again is the contempt of the United States government, which yesterday, in another U.S. city, defended the criminal Luis Posada Carriles.

A man who, rather than fittingly declaring him a terrorist for his crimes against humanity and extraditing him to Venezuela where the government has declared Carriles a fugitive and repeatedly demanded his extradition, the U.S. government has granted him full liberty.

Gerardo is not surprised by the ruling. "This is the same system that has unjustly incarcerated Mumia for more than 20 years along with Leonard Peltier and the Puerto Rican political prisoners, he said today.

"We will endure as many years as necessary, 30, 40, whatever it takes. As long as one of you is resisting, we will also resist until there is justice."

Gerardo has asked that we communicate his confidence to all of you, "For anyone who asks, tell them I am fine, strong and always looking forward."

Along with all of our friends around the world we call for mobilizations beginning on the morning of June 6, in front of all headquarters of the terrorist U.S. government - in Europe, Latin America and the U.S. - which holds our Five Brothers imprisoned.

Only solidarity, constant condemnation and international mobilization will secure freedom for the Five.

International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five
June 5, 2008

Court rules on sentences of 'Cuban 5'
By WALTER PUTNAM

Associated Press
06/04/08

ATLANTA (AP) - A federal appeals court has again upheld the politically charged convictions of five Cuban intelligence agents accused of spying in the U.S., but vacated sentences of three of them, including two who are serving life terms.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned those cases to a federal judge in Miami for resentencing based on findings in an opinion filed Wednesday that the spies gathered no "top secret" information.

It was the third time the case had come before the court.

The full 11th Circuit court already upheld the convictions of the so-called "Cuban Five" in August 2006. It rejected claims that their federal trial should have been moved from Miami because of widespread opposition among Cuban-Americans there to the communist Cuban government.

The five have been lionized as heroes in Cuba, while exile groups say they were justly punished.

In the appeal ruled on Wednesday, the five challenged a judge's refusal to suppress evidence from searches conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, sovereign immunity, discovery procedures, jury selection and alleged lack of evidence to support their convictions.

"We conclude that the arguments about the suppression of evidence, sovereign immunity, discovery, jury selection and the trial are meritless, and sufficient evidence supports each conviction," Circuit Judge William H. Pryor wrote.

The latest decision included the life sentence for Gerardo Hernandez, who was convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four Miami-based pilots shot down by Cuban jets in 1996. The panel split 2-1 to uphold Hernandez' life term.

The four slain pilots flew planes that were part of the Brothers to the Rescue organization, which dropped pro-democracy pamphlets on the island.

Hernandez and the others - Ruben Campa, also known as Fernando Gonzalez; Rene Gonzalez; Luis Medina, aka Ramon Labanino; and Antonio Guerrero - were members of what was known by Cuban intelligence as The Wasp Network.

The panel vacated the life terms of Medina and Guerrero and Campa's 19-year sentence, agreeing with their contentions that their sentences were improperly configured because no "top secret information was gathered or transmitted." The judges concurred with Campa that his sentence was too strict because he was not a manager of supervisor of the network.

The five acknowledged being Cuban agents but said they were not spying on the United States. They said their focus was on U.S.-based exile groups planning "terrorist" actions against the Castro government.

After a trial that lasted six months, they were convicted in 2001 of acting as unregistered Cuban agents in the United States and of espionage conspiracy for attempting to penetrate U.S. military bases.

A three-judge 11th Circuit panel overturned the convictions in 2005, saying there should have been a change of venue. But the full court reversed that decision, 10-2.

The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five denounced the decision to uphold the convictions.

"It flies in the face of the truth. The five men are not guilty of any crime," said Gloria La Riva, the committee coordinator. "They were saving lives by stopping terrorism. They never had weapons. They never posed any harm to the people of the United States."

Defenders of Marriage

2008-06-13T09:57:00.004-07:00

I was on my way to work and heard this great song on "This Way Out," on KUNM. I wasn't able to hear the show, but this song made my day. It's hilarious!

Also a great example of how art can send a great message and inspire social justice work. Love it...and rock on Roy Zimmerman.

Bill O'Reilly thinks we're a threat!

2008-06-10T20:23:00.004-07:00

This weekend, 3,500 people stood together to call for a better media system at the National Conference on Media Reform. But Rupert Murdoch doesn't like that. So last night he launched a laughable attack against the media reform movement, and journalism itself.

His on-air bully Bill O'Reilly called the conference attendees "crazy" and "fascist" --- you, me, and the millions of others who want media reform. These people are "doing a lot of damage to America," O'Reilly yelled. Our crime? Calling for journalism that's more honest, just and accountable to the public.

When Bill O'Reilly goes after you, you must be doing something right. So we've decided to return the favor, and tell him two things: (1) Thanks so much for the compliment and (2) please stop pretending to be a journalist.

Tell Bill O'Reilly: Stop Pretending to Be a Journalist

NCMR 2008

2008-06-06T16:28:00.002-07:00

So Joann, Marjorie and Karlos are at the National Conference on Media Reform.

FNS 6/3/08: Garbage Collectors vs. Green Automation

2008-06-03T15:46:00.002-07:00

June 3, 2008
Tijuana News: Garbage Collectors vs. Green Automation

Professional trash scavengers known as pepenadores conducted a blockade June 2 of Tijuana’s municipal landfill for several hours, preventing garbage trucks from entering the facility. More than 600 people participated in the action to protest a new recycling program they contend will throw them out of work. As informal workers who make a living from gathering and selling recyclable materials, the disgruntled garbage collectors fear new machinery that processes cardboard and aluminum will result in their displacement.

Protest leader Mario Rodriguez charged that Tijuana’s municipal government had not complied with earlier promises to leave some materials for the pepenadores. Rodriguez contended that the city government was using new employees to recycle more than two tons of material every day. Advised of the blockade, Tijuana Mayor Jorge Ramos reiterated his disposition to negotiate with the protestors, but warned that force could be used to end the blockade and allow sanitation trucks back into the landfill.

After meeting with Department of Urban Development chief Marcos Sarabia, the protestors agreed to lift their blockade and resume negotiations on June 3. Sarabia said the city was willing to accommodate the needs of the
numerous landfill scavengers. “If it’s necessary, we’re going to put a recycling plant in the landfill so these people can have permanent work,” Sarabia vowed.

Although Mexican cities like Tijuana are barely ratcheting up formally-organized recycling programs, thousands of people across the country have long earned their livelihoods scavenging dumps for aluminum cans and other recyclables. Additionally, large public gatherings or scheduled events like the arrival of cruise ships to tourist ports attract individuals who scour the ground and poke through trash cans to recover goods that can be sold and recycled.

Sources: El Sol de Tijuana, June 3, 2008. Article by Fernando Barroso.
Frontera, June 2, 2008. Articles by Daniel Salinas.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email
fnsnews@nmsu.edu

(west side) Journal gives Pajarito Mesa community, and SWOP, Props!

2008-06-02T16:26:00.003-07:00

The West side Journal gave the Pajarito Mesa props last Thursday, and SWOP too.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Cheers to Water On Pajarito Mesa

Please raise a glass to toast the hard work of the Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association of Pajarito Mesa. After eight long years and several false starts, the landowners up on the dry mesa above the South Valley have signed a deal bringing water to their off-the-grid community.

At a festive groundbreaking last Saturday, about 150 people celebrated a $750,000 agreement that will construct a fill station to be supplied by a new water reservoir at the foot of the mesa. The project is expected to be completed by February.

This wasn't an easy victory. For years, a 28-square-mile section of Pajarito Mesa has been gradually filling with people, even though there is no electricity or water on the mesa. With no county rights of way to divide the area's 10-acre parcels, it has been impossible to build paved roads.

An estimated 500 to 1,500 people live in mobile homes or hand-built houses on the wind-swept mesa. Some have sunk their own wells, but the majority of residents are water-haulers who drive down to the valley and pay to fill up their containers at private wells— sometimes twice a day.

With help from Gov. Bill Richardson and the Southwest Organizing Project, the water association is going to put an end to all that— and just in time, as gas and diesel prices make each water-hauling trip more painful.

Association members will pay a monthly fee to be able to drive into a fenced fill station to be built by the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and fill their tanks close to home. By piping the water from a new reservoir near Coors and Pajarito SW, the water authority will avoid the water-rights issues that complicated earlier efforts to drill a well for mesa-dwellers.

Speaking about the mesa's piecemeal development last year, County Commissioner Teresa Córdova was frank: "This is the toughest planning issue I have ever encountered," she said.

A community water supply is a vital first step toward a full infrastructure of community services on Pajarito Mesa— and it's the only step the county will be taking any time soon, Córdova made clear Saturday. Faced with pressing needs in the South Valley itself, "We're not bringing any other infrastructure up there," she said.
That makes sense. The mesa-dwellers who moved to their remote parcels over the years definitely got the cart of land ownership ahead of the horse called government services. That overworked horse will come along slowly.

Nonetheless, the Pajarito water association deserves credit for making progress against almost impossible odds. "We never gave up," said Sandra Montes, the tireless association president.

So let's raise our glasses high to the mesa's hardy residents, even though there won't be any water to fill those glasses until February. That's OK: People on Pajarito Mesa know how to wait.

Pajarito Mesa Celebrates Water Win

2008-05-27T09:39:00.004-07:00

Community to get fill station after decade long battle (click for journal site)

BY JUAN-CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Journal Staff Writer

Pajarito Mesa residents spent Saturday celebrating their successful quest to get their own water supply.

Residents, politicians and the various aid groups that helped the off-the-grid population in its nearly decade-long search for water gathered at the site of a future drinking water fill station for a groundbreaking ceremony.

“The groundbreaking was a celebration for the community of Pajarito Mesa for that which is basic to all life — water,” said Robby Rodriguez, executive director of the Southwest Organizing Project, which helped organize the mesa residents trained them how to have meetings, keep minutes, file paperwork and other tasks associated with the project.

The residents are getting a fill station that is going to be connected to a new drinking water reservoir that is going in a little farther east on Pajarito SW.

Gov. Bill Richardson provided the $750,000 it took to get the project done. The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority acted as fiscal agent for the project.

“It was a good celebration. We’re all happy because now we see our water system is a reality,” Pajarito Mesa resident Sandra Montes said. “We were all excited that thing is going to start soon.”

Montes added the new fill station is going to be a relief for residents who previously drove all over to fill up large portable tanks with water for their homes.

Nearly 150 residents came out for the ceremony, Rodriguez said, adding that it was a great relief to people who worked hard to get water.

“It all began about 10 years ago when residents first marched to the county commission meeting and demanded basic services. They are taxpaying residents, yet they lacked every single basic service the county provides,” Rodriguez said. “What it all boils down to is, these folks organized and advocated for their basic human dignity.”

Bernalillo County Commissioner Teresa Córdova, who also serves on the authority board, attended the groundbreaking.

“I think it was a very nice community event,” Córdova said. “It was a pleasure to help support their efforts in getting access to water.”

Still, Córdova cautioned that the county will not be extending any other services any time soon.

“Our first priority is still to finish the water system on the valley floor. We’re not bringing any other infrastructure up there,” Córdova said.

KOB TV: Work begins on Pajarito Mesa's water station

2008-05-24T23:13:00.006-07:00

See the Video at KOB.com.

The ceremonial ground breaking allowed residents to reflect on the achievement Saturday

A project eight years in the making has broken ground in northern New Mexico which should bring water to Pajarito Mesa.

The water facility, when finished, will supply drinking water to about 400 families living in the area. Those residents have had to drive for miles to obtain water.

While residents will still have to transport the water from the new station to their homes, they will no longer have to buy it from neighboring areas.

The new water system will work with key cards, allowing access only to tax-paying residents.

Pajarito Mesa currently has no basic utilities, including electricity. Sandra Montes, a leader with the Southwest Organizing Project, said Saturday's groundbreaking was a turning point for the community as they develop their infrastructure.

"This event, for us, is very important. It's a first step in getting the basics we need up here," she said.

The water station is being helped along with a $500,000 grant. Organizers expect it to begin operation next year.

Pajarito Mesa Water System Ground Breaking -- This Saturday!

2008-05-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 24, 4:00pm

Where:

Drive south on Coors Road, to Pajarito Road, 2.5 miles south of Rio Bravo. Turn west onto Pajarito, and you will see us on the left hand side of the road before you reach the top of the hill.

The community of Pajarito Mesa, along with our partners in government, are breaking ground on a drinking water system for residents of the Mesa.

Many years in the making, this project represents significant progress in our efforts to improve the quality of life on the Mesa. We hope you will join us for a ground breaking ceremony this coming Saturday.

Please join us as we celebrate water and life on the Mesa!

Unite Here! releases "Intel: Inside Out"

2008-05-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Unite Here! and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition were at Intel's recent shareholder meeting. As part of their advocacy for workers and communities, Unite Here! has released a report on Intel's claims of "corporate responsibility."

An Excerpt:

Responsibility in the Balance

Toward real accountability

Intel’s corporate responsibility reports and the Electronic Code of Conduct present Intel as a company as committed to adding to the community as it is adding to shareholder value.

Yet Intel’s behavior raises questions if Intel is serious about corporate responsibility or if the company uses Corporate Responsibility to deflect criticism.

In 2004, a shareholder resolution was sponsored by New Mexico community environmental group, The Southwest Organizing project, (SWOP) and the Jessie Smith Noyes foundation. In exchange for the group removing the resolution Intel resolved to set-up a Community Advisory Board28 in Rio Rancho, NM. This led to the creation of Intel’s Community Environmental Working Group (CEWG) in Albuquerque, chaired by John Bartlitt of New Mexicans for Clean Air and Water, a Los Alamos-based group.

Intel admits “two of Intel’s strongest critics,” Corrales Residents for Clean Air and Water and South West Organizing Project, have refused to participate.

Robby Rodriguez Executive Director of SWOP explained:

"We didn’t feel that CEWG held the promise for any meaningful change. Its leadership was hand- picked by Intel, and not representative of the actual community opposition to their practices with regard to water use and chemical emissions. It’s clear to us that Intel views this as a public relations effort, not an effort at real accountability or corporate responsibility."

Download the full report.

*****************************
A sample of how you can act to support workers and communities who feel the effects of Intel's version of corporate responsibility.

My name is Juan Carlos Ramirez. I worked as a washer at Prudential Overall Supply in Milpitas, California for three years. Each morning I spent hours washing items for Intel Corporation.
Last fall, my coworkers and I set out to improve conditions by forming a union at our plant. Prudential responded by suspending me from my job. After my coworkers came together, I was reinstated, but the company's attacks continued and we were forced to strike for four months. Soon after the strike I was laid off again. That's why I chose to speak out a Intel's shareholder meeting.

Support Juan and send Intel a message.

Green jobs coming to Albuquerque

2008-05-21T09:21:00.003-07:00

This is a re-post from the New Mexico Independent.

Check out our SWOP members and allies New Mexico Youth Organized

Albuquerque City Councilor Rey Garduno at a press conference with 1Sky New Mexico to announce the Job Corp program. Photo by Alicia Maldonado.

By Marjorie Childress 05/20/2008

Creating the “green economy” is the new mantra these days and along with it comes new “green collar” jobs, something not lost on politicians or community organizers who want to see those jobs go to local people.

Gene Grant noted in his Albuquerque Journal column yesterday that venture capitalists and entrepreneurial talent are in overdrive to create companies in Albuquerque using new green technologies emerging from national research institutions. We’re also seeing large scale manufacturing companies set up shop in Albuquerque, such as Advent Solar and Schott Solar. These companies, along with various other kinds of green ventures, need a sustainable base of skilled workers in order to be successful in the long run.

For this reason, the timing is right for the “Albuquerque Green Job Corps,” a training program introduced by City Councilors Debbie O’Malley, Rey Garduño, Michael Cadigan and Isaac Benton at the city council meeting last night. It would fund the creation of a jobs program that would train and then match local people with new jobs in the green economy sector. City Councilors worked with 1Sky New Mexico organizers to develop the job training program concept. According to 1Sky Campaign Manager Keegan King, the program is modeled on a highly successful Oakland Jobs Corp program. The Oakland program also spurred the inclusion of green collar jobs funding in the federal 2007 Energy Bill.

“We worked closely with the organizers at Green For All, the group behind the Oakland initiative, to design a program for Albuquerque that will create a qualified workforce to fill jobs in green businesses,” King said. “This is a city-funded pilot project which we hope will make the case for state level funding in 2009.”

Local educational institutions would be invited to submit a proposal to participate in the program, and successful applicants would receive funding to create vocational programs for green jobs. The program also provides for paid internships with green businesses, as well as job coaching support, placement and retention services, and assistance for graduates seeking to further their education at local community colleges or in union apprenticeship programs.

Councilor Garduño in a press release by 1Sky New Mexico had this to say about the jobs program: “Albuquerque is leading the way in providing sustainable employment in environmentally friendly trades with the Green Jobs Corps. By building a workforce trained in industries like solar installation and manufacturing we are investing in the future of our city.”

Councilor O’Malley added that “We have a great opportunity to do something good for the environment and at the same time provide jobs in a green economy.”

And it seems there’s agreement in other branches of city government as well. On Wednesday of last week Mayor Martin Chávez signed a “Green Jobs Pledge” at the ICLEI summit, held in Albuquerque, committing the city to invest in community-based jobs training to ensure a skilled local workforce for emerging green industries. The green jobs pledge signed by the mayor was developed in part by the folks at Green For All, who also provided help with the creation of the city council initiative. Such across the board agreement bodes well for the future of Albuquerque workers, as well as the companies who depend on them.