L.A. City Council Committee Unanimously Approves ID Cards for Undocumented Immigrants

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Colorlines 

On Tuesday, members of the Los Angeles City Council Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee unanimously agreed to move ahead and ask the full Council to approve a request to allow potential vendors to study the city's program that would provide undocumented immigrants with an official city identification card. The L.A. Times called the decision a "key vote" to move ahead with the official city ID cards.

Councilman Ed Reyes, a member of the Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee, told the LA Times it's "about time" that L.A. residents, regardless of immigration status, have the ability to easily open bank accounts and access city services.

California has the highest number of undocumented immigrants in the country. San Francisco launched similar ID card efforts in 2009.

Puppetican Ryan Using Homeless People as Props in a set - like potted plants

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Reporters barred from covering Paul Ryan exchange with homeless Ohioans 13 Oct 2012 (Youngstown, OH) Paul Ryan visited a soup kitchen here Saturday on his way to the airport, but by the time the GOP vice presidential nominee and his family had arrived shortly before noon, the grits, sausage and doughnuts had been served, the hall was empty of patrons and the volunteers appeared to have already cleaned up. When Ryan did talk to some men who appeared to be homeless, as he did when he left the venue, reporters were not allowed to listen in on the exchange.

Cuba ends travel exit permit policy

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Aljazeera

Cubans who wish to travel abroad will no longer require an exit permit as from January 14, 2013, according to the foreign ministry.

The changes, announced on Tuesday, also include an extension to the period citizens are allowed to remain abroad from 11 to 24 months.

The ministry said in a statement that the new law would take effect within 90 days.

The announcement will come as a welcome relief to frustrated citizens who have endured stringent travel restrictions for half a century.

In order to travel abroad legally, Cubans have had to provide letters of invitation and obtain permits with a validity of just 30 days.

The permits can be extended 10 times, after which the traveller must return to Cuba or lose their right to reside in the country.

The complex bureaucratic process for obtaining the required permits often includes a variation of fees that make travel abroad unaffordable for many Cubans, whose average monthly salary amounts to less than $20.

The procedures, however, failed to prevent 30,000 Cubans from annually emigrating in search of a better life abroad -sometimes over harsh sea voyages using rickety boats.
 
The US government introduced legislation in 1966 granting Cubans automatic residence on reaching the United States.
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Supreme Court won’t get involved in Ohio dispute; all must be allowed to vote early

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WashPost

The Supreme Court delivered a victory to President Obama’s reelection campaign Tuesday, saying it would not stay a lower court’s ruling that all voters — not just those in the military — be allowed to vote in the three days before the Nov. 6 election.

The court turned down Ohio’s petition without comment. There were no noted dissents to the decision.

The Obama campaign had sued the state over its decision to end early voting on the Friday before the election for all but members of the military. The campaign said the decision would disproportionately affect poor, elderly and low-income voters, who are most likely to take advantage of early voting, for no good reason.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit agreed. It said that if Ohio was going to open the polls for military voters during the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before the election, it must allow all voters to participate.

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CNN Reporter who wanted to urinate on dead Afghans complains about TSA pat down

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Back on YouTube, though, Loesch breaks-down with a health sampling of snark the TSA’s sometimes overzealous actions on account of counter-terrorism. “After concluding that I wasn’t a terrorist hiding weapons in my vagina, the TSA agents allowed me to go,” she writes. Just months earlier, however, Loesch had a much more open mind about what’s allowed for the sake of security.

When video footage was leaked in January of US troops urinating on the corpses of dead Afghan fighters, Loesch chimed-in on her radio show by saluting the soldiers, saying, “I’d drop trou and do it too” and suggesting the guilty persons were worth of receiving “a million ‘cool points.’”

“Come on people, this is a war,” she said at the time. And rightfully so: it’s the very same War on Terror that spawned the Department of Homeland Security and, consequentially, the TSA. In the name of war, however, lines must be drawn, and, apparently, airport security screenings are on the side that warrants speaking up about. But the desecration of slain humans? Cool points galore.

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Racial Justice Act Concludes First Test In North Carolina Court After GOP-Championed Modifications

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HuffPost

Following eight days of highly-charged hearings that highlighted the still-problematic role that race plays in North Carolina's criminal justice system, the first case to test the state's revised racial justice law concluded on Oct. 11. The outcome of the case will lay the groundwork for how the state's landmark Racial Justice Act is interpreted in future cases.

Under the law, death row inmates can appeal their sentences to life without parole if they can demonstrate that race played a significant role in the sentencing process.

Previously, an appeal could rely solely on broader statistical evidence to substantiate its claim, much as an employee would do in a class-action suit. But after the GOP-led state legislature reworked the statute in June, defendants must now demonstrate that prosecutors discriminated in their particular case -- which some claim will make it much more difficult to prove racial bias.

"Just going through this hearing clearly pointed out the continued problems we're having in North Carolina with racism in jury selection," said attorney Ken Rose, who works at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation and has been closely involved with both appeals brought under the RJA. "It also pointed out that the prosecutors seem to be oblivious to those problems."

Defendants Tilmon Golphin, Quintel Augustine and Christina Walters are all asking for relief on the grounds that prosecutors struck otherwise-qualified black jurors for their cases at more than twice the rate of white individuals.

In Augustine's case, all five qualified black jurors were kept from serving. Augustine was then sentenced to death by an all-white jury, even though the county in which he committed the crime was 35 percent African-American. The state struck five out of seven black jurors in Golphin's case, and 10 out of 14 in Walters' case.

Golphin and Augustine, who are both black, were convicted of murdering white police officers in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Walters, who is Native American, received a capital sentence after being convicted of involvement in the murders of two white women in 1998.

White supremacist and killer Joey Pedersen ready to die -- but denies conspiracy

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OregonLive

David "Joey" Pedersen, convicted of murdering two people and accused of killing two others, is prepared to face the death penalty for crimes detailed in a federal indictment. He says he was on a campaign to protect the white race. But he disputes the indictment's premise that he was part of a criminal organization. 

 

"I alone am accountable for everything that's been done," he told The Oregonian in an interview in Multnomah County jail. "Any allegation of conspiracy is absurd." 

 

The indictment, returned in August, accuses Pedersen, 32, and Holly Ann Grigsby, 25, of kidnapping, carjacking and murder as part of a racketeering "enterprise" focused on promoting "a white supremacist movement to 'purify' and 'preserve' the white race." Grigsby attended Parkrose High School, Pedersen North Salem High. They met last year in Portland. 

Pedersen, polite and well spoken during the interview but showing no remorse, reiterated his belief in white supremacy, saying the government's "multicultural agenda" poses a threat. 

 

"I've given up my freedom and potentially my life" to protect "white European culture," he said. 

 

But he acted alone, he said, not part of an organized group. 

 

"It's absurd for them to allege that Miss Grigsby and I had a structural group," he said. "There were no others." 

 

According to the indictment, Pedersen and Grigsby killed his father, David "Red" Pedersen, and stepmother, Leslie "DeeDee" Pedersen, on Sept. 26, 2011, stole his father's Jeep and drove to Oregon, where they met 19-year-old Cody Faye Myers  near Newport. The indictment says they killed Myers on Oct. 1, stole his Plymouth Breeze and three days later killed Reginald Alan Clark, 53, in Eureka in Northern California. 

 

Pedersen, speaking about the indictment, said, "I did these acts of my own volition." 

 

Asked why he killed Myers, a music fan who was in Newport to attend the jazz festival, he said: "He happened to be a means to an end." 
"I have no remorse for anything," he said. "Would I have preferred to get someone who deserved it -- yes." 
He was dismissive of Clark, an African American, saying he was not disabled as portrayed in news reports. 
"He got around just fine until the bullet from my gun ended his days on this earth," he said. 
Pedersen and Grigsby were arrested in northern California on Oct. 5, 2011. Pedersen said in the interview that he had planned to go to Sacramento to kill a Jewish leader, whom he did not name. 

Asked why he killed Myers, a music fan who was in Newport to attend the jazz festival, he said: "He happened to be a means to an end." 
"I have no remorse for anything," he said. "Would I have preferred to get someone who deserved it -- yes." 
He was dismissive of Clark, an African American, saying he was not disabled as portrayed in news reports. 
"He got around just fine until the bullet from my gun ended his days on this earth," he said. 
Pedersen and Grigsby were arrested in northern California on Oct. 5, 2011. Pedersen said in the interview that he had planned to go to Sacramento to kill a Jewish leader, whom he did not name. 

"I intended to carry out a campaign" to eliminate those "Jews pushing a Zionist agenda," he told The Oregonian. 

 

Grigsby and Pedersen were extradited from California to Washington to face trial. In March, Pedersen pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder in the death of his father and stepmother. He was serving two life sentences and Grigsby was awaiting trial when the federal indictment was handed down. Both were extradited to Oregon. 

 

Grigsby pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in U.S. District Court in Portland in August. Pedersen entered the same plea in early September. 

 

The two were charged under RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act enacted in 1970 to prosecute the mafia. The act was later used against gang members and white supremacists. 

 

"One of the great accomplishments of RICO was to make serious homicidal crimes federal offenses," said Philip Heymann,  professor at Harvard Law School. "If only two people are involved in two crimes, it can be RICO." 

Heymann said both people do not have to commit the crimes. "If she helped him, that would be enough," Heymann said. 

 

Pedersen would not comment on Grigsby but clearly wants her released. 

 

"The fact that Miss Grigsby is being held in a cage is a gross miscarriage" of justice," he said. 

 

The next hearing is scheduled for mid-July, when a trial date will be set. Pedersen said he's eager to go fight the RICO charges. 

 

"I'm not going to plead guilty to any conspiracy charges," he said. "Under no circumstances would I accept any plea." 

 

He expects the U.S. attorney general to seek the death sentence. 

 

"How do you not kill a Joey Pedersen?" he said. "I want to get the show on the road. If they're going to kill me, get the rope out already." 

 

Farrakhan urges Obama to fight

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UPI

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan spoke of a racist America and urged President Obama to fight for his presidency at a rally in Charlotte, N.C.

In a speech billed as a Muslim "blueprint for ending need and want," Farrakhan, 79, instead offered a two-hour sermon Sunday on racial themes at an event marking the 17th anniversary of the 1995 "Million Man March" on Washington, saying: "Mr. President, you've got to realize you're fighting for your presidential life. You're fighting for your vision of the Democratic Party and the country."

Farrakhan also accused Republicans of "overt" racist motives in their opposition to Obama and attacked a political process controlled, he said, by moneyed interests eager to "keep America white," The Charlotte Observer reported Monday.

"You aren't going to win any more white votes by being kind and gracious," he said, speaking to Obama. "Be a little black."

The address was attended by about 6,000 people, the newspaper said.

Mittens Appeals to White Tribalism in Ohio

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Truthout

Author Thomas Frank calls this brand of politics "Pity the Billionaire ... a revival crusade preaching the old-time religion of the free market." Frank argues the post-Obama resurgence of the right is not about racism or culture wars, but a populist politics of resentment. The right, he explains, has effectively defined the economic crisis as "a conspiracy of the big guys against the little," and their solution is "to work even more energetically for the laissez-faire utopia."

It's not either-or as Frank contends, however. The right is invoking "producerism," telling Americans bruised by the downturn that your pain is due to social factors, which are presented as coded racial categories.

Political Research Associates, a group of scholars who study right-wing movements, defines producerism as a call to "rally the virtuous 'producing classes' against evil 'parasites' at both the top and bottom of society." The concept stretches back to the Andrew Jackson era, and weaves "together intra-elite factionalism and lower-class whites' double-edged resentments." Today, the parasites at the top are liberals, bureaucrats, bankers, and union "bosses"; the ones below are "welfare queens," teachers, Muslims, and "illegal aliens." They are all taking money from the hard-working Americans in the middle.

By historical standards Romney should be a Walter Mondale, a candidate who has lost even before the race begins. But he is effectively utilizing the politics of white resentment because of Obama's dismal economic record. Tens of millions of low-wage workers feel their world is coming apart and they don't know whom to blame. To them, change may mean lower wages, fewer hours, no health care, or a lost home. Romney plays on fear by linking it to Obama. In Sidney he said, "The president seems to be changing America in ways we don't recognize," which elicited chants of "USA! USA! USA!"

It's not that the United States is inherently right wing, as many commentators claim. In Ohio, autoworkers say there is almost universal support among their co-workers for Obama because the auto bailout saved their jobs. But the bailout affected less than 1 percent of all U.S. jobs. In a recent poll the president has the support of only 35 percent of white working-class voters compared to Romney's 48 percent.

The Romney rally was stunningly white. Among the estimated 9,000 people, it was hard to find more than a handful who looked to be Black, Latino or Asian. Attendees complained about welfare and high taxes destroying the country. Romney fed the resentment by claiming Obama was going to "raise the tax on savings," "put in place a more expensive death tax," and raise taxes on "a million" small businesses.

Democrats dismiss Romney as a snake-oil salesman. Joe Biden pointed out in the debate against Paul Ryan that the GOP counts billion-dollar hedge funds as small businesses. That's true, but it doesn't account for the popularity of their ideas. You see, the Republicans have turned small business into a catch-all group the way "working class" once served that function for the left.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the number of self-employed and employer firms – those with employees other than the owner – numbered 15.7 million in 2009. It's likely that most are kitchen table, garage or laptop operations, but that's beside the point. Republicans are courting millions of Americans whose livelihood depends on unswerving faith in the market.

Of the five people we talked to who told us their profession, four said they were a small-business owner. They did not seem to think of themselves as workers, but as frustrated entrepreneurs. When Romney says he's going to help small business expand and stop Obama from increasing taxes on small businesses they think he's speaking to them. They hope Romney will return the nation to its natural free-market state – free from regulations, bureaucrats and welfare – in which hard-working Americans like them achieve the success they deserve.

Why shouldn't they believe this rhetoric? The Democrats mimic the right even when they control all of Washington. Obama says he will make business more competitive, cut taxes, sign trade deals, bomb the world into democracy and drill, frack and mine for energy. The Democrats' dilemma is they are in the pocket of Wall Street, but need votes from groups that want the economic pie to be sliced more evenly. The result is liberals worship the same free-market god as conservatives, but have no conviction about it.

Absent an alternative, many voters veer right because they are reaching for the only lifeline they see. "Energy independence" and "a military second to none" are not just catch phrases. They provide millions of decent-paying jobs for the white working class.

This is not to say Romney voters always understand what they are voting for. Talking to some was like walking Through the Looking Glass, where backwards is forwards. Supporters repeatedly ascribed to Romney positions that are the exact opposite of what he advocates. Or they swallow lies about Obama that contradict their own experience. This suggests that racial identity often outweighs rational self-interest. Romney again made this a direct appeal, capping his speech by saying, "We're taking back America."

Is Your Voting Booth Owned by Bain Capital?

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Chicagogopride

I suppose by now I shouldn't be surprised in the least at the sheer amount of corruption and shadiness that runs rampant in the American political system. Occasionally, however, even I'm shocked at some of the outrageous conflicts of interest that arise.

Hart Intercivic supplies electronic voting machines to many locations in the United States - including the entire states of Hawaii and Oklahoma and half of the state of Washington - where they'll be voting on marriage equality. These machines are infamous for making "mistakes" like when it added an extra 10,000 votes in one Texas county that hadn't been cast.

As of last year, a private equity firm called HIG Capital is heavily invested in Hart. Who controls HIG Capital? Why, many of the owners - including the company's founder - all come from Bain Capital. Isn't that convenient how they invested right before their former boss got the Republican nomination for President?

H.I.G. Capital employees have given $338,000 to Mitt Romney's campaign. That amounts to over $1500 per employee. Bain Capital, Mitt's former company, by comparison, only gave him $268,000. H.I.G. is the 11th largest donor to the Romney Campaign. Clearly they are working really hard for their man. It appears that they will work even harder on election night. Although not boisterously promising to deliver states where their machines are to Romney as Wally O'Dell of Diebold did for Bush in 2004, they can alter hundreds of thousands of votes and swing the vote in the crucial swing state of Ohio.

Will Mitt's cronies steal our democracy the way they stole our jobs? Time will tell, but they have certainly positioned themselves to do so if they choose.

Democracy is for sale in America, ladies and gentlemen. But it's not cheap - only cheapened.

Continue reading "Is Your Voting Booth Owned by Bain Capital?"...

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Trial Begins for Black PG County Officers Accused of Beating Unarmed White Man (they're going down. they are on the wrong team)

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From [HERE] Trial began today for two Prince George's police officers accused of beating a University of Maryland student during a melee that followed a March, 2010 basketball game between the University of Maryland and Duke University. Officers Reginald Baker and James Harrison are both accused of first and second degree assualt and police misconduct for beating student John J. McKenna with batons during the melee the night of March 3 and the early morning of March 4. The alleged beating was captured on video, which has become a key piece of evidence in the trial.

Former Maryland student Nathan Cole testified that he was 10 feet from fellow student McKenna when he saw police with shields and batons strike McKenna over and over again. "I'll tell you I lost several days sleep over it. I really did. It really really bothered me."

The officers "abused their power, broke trust, and violated the law," said prosecutor Joseph Ruddy during his opening statement. "For that abuse they must be held responsible." McKenna said he suffered a concussion and other injuries in the incident. Police ultimately arrested 23 students after the Maryland-Duke game.

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Breaking: Latest White Party (GOP) Apology: Wisconsin GOP Clown Tommy Thompson says son sorry for Obama go back to Africa remark

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The Grio

Republican Senate candidate Tommy Thompson’s campaign says his son apologizes for suggesting voters in the fall election should send President Barack Obama back to Kenya.

Jason Thompson, the son of the former Wisconsin governor, was caught on camera Sunday making those remarks during a brunch hosted by the Kenosha County Republican Party.

“We have the opportunity to send President Obama back to Chicago — or Kenya,” said Jason Thompson, an attorney at a large Milwaukee law firm.

The comment drew laughs from the crowd, with one woman jokingly adding, “We are taking donations for that Kenya trip.”

The video was taken by a Democratic Party operative and posted at BuzzFeed Politics on Sunday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Obama’s father was Kenyan, but the president was born in Hawaii.

Jason Thompson, 38, has been involved in his father’s efforts to win a Senate seat and has represented the candidate at some events.

“The governor has addressed this with his son, just like any father would do,” the campaign said in a statement. “Jason Thompson said something he should not have, and he apologizes.”

Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin is running against Thompson. Her campaign’s spokesman, John Kraus, said Monday that the Thompson campaign is becoming increasingly desperate and dishonest.

The candidate himself “has not apologized for these comments, nor has he disavowed them,” Kraus wrote. “Thompson needs to start taking responsibility for what his campaign says and does.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brad Courtney also spoke at the Kenosha event.

Priebus issued a statement Monday, saying he agreed with Gov. Thompson. “The comment was out of line and his son rightfully apologized,” he said.

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Trayvon Martin’s parents launch political committee aimed at ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws

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theGrio

Saying the laws “allow individuals to shoot first, and ask questions later,” the parents of Trayvon Martin have turned to activism, launching a political committee whose goal is to repeal or change “Stand Your Ground” type laws across the country.

Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton appear in a YouTube video marking the launch of Change for Trayvon, an organization geared at encouraging voters and legislatures to educate themselves on the new and existing laws under which, as Fulton says in the video, “decisions on shootings are made even before a prosecutor can review the case.”

George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old man who shot Martin, 17, on February 26th, as the teen walked to the home of his father’s fiancee in Sanford, Florida, was not arrested for more than 40 days following the shooting. Sanford police and the Seminole County state attorney’s office initially ruled that the shooting constituted self defense under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. After weeks of protests across the country, Florida Gov. Rick Scott appointed a special prosecutor, who charged Zimmerman with second degree murder in April.

Critics have said “Stand Your Ground” laws like Florida’s are applied unevenly based on the race of the deceased and the shooter, and that they tie the hands of judges and prosecutors.

“Most of the legislators who voted for SYG laws will admit that they never thought SYG would be used as it is being applied,” Martin and Fulton’s attorney Benjamin Crump said in a release about the new organization.

“Stand Your Ground” laws are now being used by the aggressors and agitators. I even had a case where an individual shot his victim in the back and claimed he was “Standing His Ground.” Most people don’t know whether these laws are on the ballot to be reviewed in their state or not.”

Hundreds march in Haiti demanding president’s resignation

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RT.com

Hundreds of people poured into the streets of Haiti's capital to protest the government of President Michel Martelly. Protesters noted the high cost of living, rising food prices and the government's inability to fund schools. Some demanded the president’s resignation. Martelly, a pop music star before he turned to politics, is trying to rebuild the impoverished nation following a powerful 2010 earthquake that displaced more than a million people. Haitians complain that Martelly has fallen short of improving their livelihoods following the disaster. In September, the government created a commission to stabilize food prices.