Education excellence in Arizona - School kids pose with bullet riddled image of President Obama

Why am I not surprised at this, from a state who has a shrewish wingnut for a Governor, a Neo-Nazi wanting to be Sheriff of Pinal County and a flaccid ass fool for a Sheriff in Maricopa County who has one foot in the Federal pen and the other on a banana peel! Stephen Lemons, the respected columnist at Phoenix New Times reports on a photo that appeared on the Facebook page of a sergeant in the Peoria (Az) Police Department, Pat Shearer. The photograph showed seven casually dressed young punks, four of whom clutched weapons and one of whom held up a T-shirt covered with small holes and gashes and bearing a likeness of Mr. Obama above the word MORE

 
Four Lives Lost - The innocence and wrongful convictions of 4 Texas woman

San Antonio, Texas – In September 1994 allegations of aggravated sexual assault on a child were brought against Elizabeth Ramirez (19) and three of her friends – Anna Vasquez (19), Cassandra Rivera (19) and Kristie Mayhugh (21). The complainants in the case were nine-year-old V.L. and seven-year-old S.L., nieces of Elizabeth Ramirez. The girls claimed that on two successive days during a week-long visit with their aunt Elizabeth, she and her three friends held them down and sexually assaulted them. Elizabeth Ramirez was tried in February of 1997 and sentenced to 37-and-a-half years. In February of 1998 the other three women were tried together and sentenced to 15 years for the same alleged crimes. No physical or corroborating evidence was MORE

 
Undocumented Student Activists who went head to head with ICE, tell their story
http://vimeo.com/33189634

On November 10, 2011, two undocumented student activists from California, Isaac Barrera, 20, and Jonathan Pérez, 24, took the journey of their lives and landed in a Louisiana detention facility to draw attention to the disparate treatment immigrant face in United States. They purposely entered a border patrol agency in Mobile, Alabama as part of a direct action to prove that immigrants are currently undergoing punitive treatment by ICE and state officials. Border patrol agents placed Isaac and Jonathan in custody for not having identification or papers proving their legal residency or citizenship. While in the Louisiana detention facility, they spoke with other immigrants who had been forcibly detained and placed in the detention facility. Barrera and Perez, while in MORE

 
Another right wing effort underway to turn a convicted Border Patrol Agent into a "hero"

Another Border Patrol Agent who was recently convicted of perjury and “deprivation of civil rights under color of authority” and sentenced to 24 months in prison is once again being hailed as a hero by the same wingnuts who attempted to do the same for convicted felons Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Former Border Patrol office Jesus Enrique Diaz Jr and other agents were chasing other a group of illegal migrants through a pecan orchard near Eagle Pass the night of Oct. 16, 2008. Once the group was apprehended and handcuffed, Diaz targeted on 15 year old, kicked his feet out from under him and once on the ground, grabbed his handcuffed wrist jerking his arms back behind him at a painful MORE

 
Judge Susan Bolton - Arizona has no right to sue Feds over border control

In a ruling that could have repercussions across the nation in a positive way against the hideous and draconian copycat laws other states are adopting, Federal Judge Susan Bolton ruled that  Arizona has no legal right to sue the federal government for failing to secure the border Judge Susan Bolton acknowledged federal law directs the Department of Homeland Security to achieve “operational control” of the border. A separate law requires construction of at least 700 miles of fencing. But the judge said those are only goals, and Congress set no deadline for when the fence needs to be completed. Bolton said that means Arizona cannot seek – and she cannot grant – an order for the federal government to do MORE

 
Racist talkers "John and Ken" and their Misguided Fury on Immigration

Jorge-Mario Cabrera How far will conservative talk radio shock jocks go to incite hate, division, and resentment against immigrants while debasing anything and anyone supportive of immigrant rights? Will these so-called populists, experts at spreading fear and loathing stoop so low as to invade a private citizen’s privacy, publicly disclose private facts, and risk placing him in the crosshairs of angry and tormented souls like them? Meet disc jockeys John Chester Kobylt and Kenneth Robertson Chaimpou, better known as John and Ken, hosts of a four-hour weekday radio show, The John and Ken Show, on KFI AM640. Last week I got a real taste of how far these low-brow instigators will go and how low they will stoop to “stimulate” political discourse. MORE

 
On first anniversary of David Hartley fiasco, Tiffany Hartley tells still a different story

Hard to believe a year has passed since a questionable incident on Falcon Lake put the small town of Zapata Texas on the world map. A year ago today, Tiffany and David Hartley took their personal watercraft across the border and only Tiffany Harley returned telling  a harrowing and unbelievable  tale that stills smells like the rotting fish along the docks of Falcon Lake. Tiffany claims drug cartel gunmen chased her across the lake, having shot David in the head. She said she was forced to leave her soul mate in the normally calm waters to save herself. But now, on the anniversary of the incident, still unsolved, Hartley is telling yet another version of what “happened” on Falcon Lake MORE

 
Who in the hell is Miguel Perez - Latino Rights Activist or Republican Stooge?

Does the name “Miguel Perez” ring a bell with anyone? What about a group called “Chicanos Unidos Arizona”. Anyone? No one? Then perhaps you’ve heard of a group that calls themselves “Take Back Aztlán”? Nothing there? Let’s try one more.  “Nuestros Reconquistos”.  Nothing there either eh? Didn’t think so, and neither have we because the latter three groups apparently don’t exist except in the mind of a coconut calling himself “Miguel Perez”. Perez, who writes for the website Examiner.com and bills himself as the “Phoenix Civil Rights Examiner”, is apparently a fraud and possibly a plant by far right wing Tea Baggers to further smear and besmirch the Hispanic population in our country, joining the likes of FAIR, NUMBERSUSA and MORE

 
9% unemployment and the US Shrimping industry can't find workers

Ridiculous people! Off your asses and the public dole and check out these jobs. Fresh air, easy work and good money! According to KRGV, the shrimping industry in the lower valley is struggling to find workers. Could this be another one of those jobs, Americans think themselves too good to do? The article says; Companies say they’re having a hard time finding people to work for them this shrimping season. The shrimping industry is struggling to survive in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Many fear there will be no future. Shrimpers say it isn’t because there will be no shrimp. They say they’re running out of finding good young fishermen. Juan Reyes, a shrimp boat captain, has seen the problem MORE

 
For Mexico, Years Since 9/11 Are a Lost Decade

MERIDA, Mexico – Five days before terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Mexican President Vicente Fox addressed a joint session of U.S. Congress. George W. Bush’s first state dinner was in honor of Fox, a sign of the Bush administration’s determination to focus on greater economic, political and social integration with Mexico and Canada— strengthening the “NAFTA” nations—in part to respond to the emerging consolidation of the European Union. During the presidential campaign, Bush advanced an “isolationist” policy, favoring the idea that his administration should focus on “our neighbors.” Speaking in Washington, D.C., on June 26, 2000, Bush the candidate stated, “Immigration is not a problem to be solved, it is the sign of a successful nation. MORE