In a village
sheltered by mountains of family
a groom is dressed for his wedding
The stubbled face of youth
Is lathered and shaved
the suit of a new man
presented
the boy buttoned up forever
inside a white shirt [Read more…]
In a village
sheltered by mountains of family
a groom is dressed for his wedding
The stubbled face of youth
Is lathered and shaved
the suit of a new man
presented
the boy buttoned up forever
inside a white shirt [Read more…]
by Rich Kacmar
After Sen. Jeff Merkley was turned away from the Casa Padre Center in Brownsville, Texas, operated by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, where immigrant children are being detained, the department began to provide access to the media. From the MSNBC YouTube website:
MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff was one of a small group of reporters allowed inside the largest facility for immigrant children in the U.S. – the facility Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) was refused entry to earlier this month. Jacob joins Lawrence to share what he saw. Sen. Merkley also joins the discussion.
by Doug Porter
When Congressman Darrell Issa announced his retirement on January 10, speculation began over what would become of his million-plus dollar campaign war chest.
In early March, nearly $180,000 in refunds were made to donors–including the Koch Brothers–who earmarked contributions for his 2018 general election campaign. Republican party organizations in San Diego and Orange counties received $5,000 each, and $2000 went to his endorsed candidate in the 49th Congressional District, Diane Harkey.
Now we know what recipient Issa has in mind for the rest of the money: himself. [Read more…]
by Source
By Julia Conley / Common Dreams
Children who are taken to the former Walmart which now serves as a detention center for young immigrants in Brownsville, Texas, are greeted by a mural of the man responsible for their incarceration—President Donald Trump.
MSNBC journalist Jacob Soboroff was given a tour of the facility, now known as Casa Padre. He shared images of the mural, which includes the quotation, “Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.” [Read more…]
by At Large
By Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation Project Staff Attorney / ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties
On June 7, Tiana Smalls, whose Facebook profile describes her as owner of Fire Flower Beauty Company, was riding a Greyhound bus from Bakersfield, California to Las Vegas, Nevada. As the bus approached an agricultural checkpoint at the Nevada state line, Ms. Smalls said the driver made an unusual announcement: “We are being boarded by Border Patrol. Please be prepared to show your documentation upon request.”
Ms. Smalls immediately reacted. According to a description she posted on Facebook, she stood up and loudly said, “This is a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights. You don’t have to show them *shit*!!!” She then used Google Translate to repeat her message in Spanish, reassuring the Spanish-speaking woman sitting beside her and probably countless other fellow passengers.
Border Patrol agents boarded the bus and started to ask the passengers for their “documentation.” Ms. Smalls stood up again and shouted, “You have NO RIGHT to ask me for anything! This is harassment and racial profiling! We are not within 100 miles of a border so [these agents] have no legal right or jurisdiction here!” [Read more…]
The world premiere of The Loneliest Girl in the World is a creative and moving work that looks at an early period of the gay rights movement by paralleling the lives of two figures, Anita Bryant and Thom Higgins (just Tommy in the musical).
The show opens with the press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1977, where Tommy threw a pie in Anita’s face. The next two scenes take the audience back to the 1959 Miss America pageant, where Anita was the second runner-up. A young Tommy watches the pageant on TV while baking a pie with his mother. These scenes sets Tommy’s fixation on Anita, who, in his imagination, sings and dances with him.
The rest of the musical alternates between Anita and Tommy, capturing key events and experiences in their lives: Anita’s marriage to the former disc-jockey Robert Green, who becomes her manager; Anita’s appearances in commercials; her thriving career in the music industry. Tommy’s moving to a new city; his growing awareness of his sexuality; his first awkward encounter with Kyle, his future boyfriend, highlighted by a musical number “Twin Bed.” [Read more…]
by Rich Kacmar
Another update on the Department of Justice policy of taking children away from their parents when taken into custody at the border: All In’s Chris Hayes speaks with Pramila Jayapal (D-WA7) who reports on her visit with 174 women being held in a Federal prison in Washington state. None of the women had yet even had a “Credible Fear” hearing. [Read more…]
The World at Play and the US isn’t there. Ah, gee..
Saudi Arabia and Russia are kicking it off, opening the games, June 14. How humorously ironic, our arch-« enemies » from the past-present, not that anyone in the US cares, because we are building The Wall and we aren’t in The Games. I bet that Russia wins the opening match. I’ll be watching. It is decidedly agreed by the soccer powers that the hosting country (Russia 2018) will make it to the semi-finals, at least. That’s the least one can do for the hosting country, n’est-ce pas?
Like we boycotted the Russian Olympic Games of 197whatever…because they were warring with Afganistan, god bless them, the English tried it and failed, we tried it and failed…too bad Afganistan doesn’t develop their soccer league, they would champion! And even though the Russians are hacking our computers and influencing our politics, according to the press who are quoting The Initials (NSA, CIA, FBI..), we still, or perhaps because of, didn’t make the playoffs.
Is that the fault of Trump? I thought they liked him? well, God bless America, my home sweet home. Better luck in four years. [Read more…]
by Doug Porter
As the administration’s war on immigrants and brown people reached new lows, it was announced that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will visit San Diego next week, with a delegation of 15 Democrats organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Things are looking bad, really bad, right now. Just about every part of the government is actively working hard to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on human beings who happen to lack identity papers.
We can only hope Pelosi’s trip to the border region will generate enough awareness to stimulate opposition to government actions that should be seen as violating international law and basic moral conduct. [Read more…]
by Anna Daniels
A few months ago at a San Diego Free Press contributor meeting a group of us shared stories about where we were, what we were thinking and what we were doing in 1968, a watershed year for many of us. It was fifty years ago that so many baby boomers came of age against the backdrop of first Martin Luther King’s assassination, then Bobby Kennedy’s. It was a year of civil rights protests, school walk outs, university sit-ins and broad civil unrest.
At the summer Olympics in Mexico City, American medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in protest of racial discrimination. That same year Cesar Chavez announced that he would begin a fast to promote nonviolence within the ranks of the United Farm Workers.
The Tet Offensive occurred in 1968. There were 549,500 American troops in Viet Nam at the time. (The draft would be imposed a year later in 1969). This would be the next to the last year of LBJ’s presidency. North Korea seized the USS Pueblo, heightening Cold War tensions.
These are just a few of the events that rocked our world in 1968. There was substantial interest among us at the contributor meeting to recognize the significance of that year. [Read more…]
In 2006, the relatively small Inglewood Unified School District (IUSD) had over 18,000 students and was a fiscally sound competent system. Today, IUSD has 8,400 students, is 30 percent privatized and drowning in debt. In 2012, the state of California took over the district, usurped the authority of the elected school board and installed a “State Trustee” to run it. IUSD is on its sixth state appointed trustee in six years.
This crisis was created by politicians and wealthy elites. It did not just happen. Understanding the privatization of Inglewood’s schools through the choice agenda is instructive of the path that could lead to the end of public schools in California. [Read more…]
by Anna Daniels
Who do you think promulgated this video, Trump or Kim Jung-un? If your first impression is that this is a North Korean propaganda video, you are not alone. Seeing the White House icon with WH.GOV beneath it is pretty damn chilling. And the propaganda machine is fueled with our taxes. [Read more…]
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