Leilani Albano

Sayre Fire victims find relief from FEMA, local agencies

2008-11-25T07:00:12Z

Remnants of a desk stick out of the wreckage following the fires that swept through Oakridge Mobile Park in Sylmar. The blaze destroyed 484 units, leaving hundreds homeless.

The mobile park's mostly elderly residents received assistance from several government and private organizations, which were on hand at the Sylmar Recreation Center.

Leilani Albano files this report.
sylmar fires mix COOPER.mp3

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Protesters in 5 cities rally against Arizona Sheriff accused of racial profiling

2008-11-15T18:50:25Z

Protesters held a rally in front of the Wells Fargo Center in downtown LA today, demanding that the bank stop doing business with an Arizona sheriff, who is accused of racially profiling Latinos.

Promoting himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff", Maricopa County's Joseph Arpaio maintains a strong approval rating in his home state - about 75 to 80 percent - especially among older residents, who have hailed him a hero for his controversial policies.

But these days, opposition has been mounting against the four-term sheriff, whose actions against Latino and immigrant communities are sparking protests in San Francisco, Los Angeles, El Paso, Austin, Boston and Chicago.

A boisterous group of about 25 protesters carrying banners that read "Evict Sheriff Joe Arpaio" formed a picket line in front of the Wells Fargo Center on Grand Street this morning.

Veronica Federovsky, spokeswoman with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said demonstators are demanding that Wells Fargo cut ties with the Maricopa County Sheriffs Department, which pays $675,000 a year to rent office space from the bank.

"They are hosting somebody that is violating human rights," she said. "They need to consider what they are doing and stop doing business with Arpaio."

Since March, Arpaio has made immigration sweeps his top priority, conducting eight sweeps in six cities. Federal agents have deputized 160 sheriffs to help conduct the raids.

"What makes Arpaio so different from other officials is that he has a whole army behind him," said United Steel Workers organizer, Carlos Prensa. "He keeps signing all kinds of agreements with (Immigration Customs and Enforcement) to make his deputies, so they can go and arrest people."

Arizona Republic reporter, JJ Hensley, said Sheriff Arpaio is also changing the way law enforcement agents conduct the raids.

"His deputies will go into a certain area, and operate essentially a DUI operation, where they are looking for the most minor infraction to pull someone over so they can start some sort of process to determine whether that person is driving drunk," he said.

"In this case, they are using the same methodology to determine if someone has come to the country illegally."

So far, Arpaio's "crime-suppression operations" have resulted in more than 150 arrests. Of that number, 73 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally were also detained.

The operations has drawn sharp criticisms from lawmakers and civil rights groups. Phoenix mayor, Phil Gordon, along with seven members of the state's Latino Legislative Caucus - is asking the Justice Department to launch a civil-rights investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, alleging that deputies are violating people's rights by checking cars and pedestrians looking for undocumented immigrants.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund is also filing a federal lawsuit against the MCSO for detaining legal residents as well as American citizens for long periods while their immigration status is checked.

Prensa calls Arpaio's approach racial profiling. "He's basically a racist," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're a mom, or whoever. He's just attacking you for your color."

In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, Arizona Republic reporter JJ Hensely said there are likely to be other law enforcement departments across the country who will mimick Arpaio's tactics when it comes to immigration matters. "ICE has used that agreement with the sheriff's department here as a model, as they roll out that agreement to other agencies," he said.

Arpaio is already receiving push back from other Arizona officials, including Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris who said he is sinking too much of the state's money and resources into immigration raids.

Prensa agreed and said the sheriff should be concentrating his efforts elsewhere. "When you talk about police and sheriffs, we want them there, but for fighting crime. We've got plenty of that in our poor neighborhoods."

In the meantime, Prensa said organizers will continue to protest against Arpaio until he ends his practices against immigrant communities.

Rallies around the country to oppose the sheriff's raids are planned for October 12.

Proposition 6 opponents hold memorial for slain leader

2008-11-09T00:23:10Z

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However, members of one Los Angeles organization decided to spend a day in remembrance of one of their slain leaders.

The Youth Justice Coalition - a South LA group that assists urban and gang youth - dedicated one of their last anti-Proposition 6 events to the center co-founder, Jesse Becerra.

The budding activist, who was nicknamed Chuco, was shot to death at a local party.

"I wanted to do something personal," said Kim McGill, who organized a talk about the initiative followed by Jesse's memorial service, which was held at his gravesite at the Holy Cross Cemetery two days before elections.

The service coincided with the "The Day of the Dead," an annual celebration that honors the spirits of the deceased.

Prop 6, which was voted down by 69 percent, would have: mandated that youth as young as 14 be tried as adults, increased funding for prisons to $1 billion a year and $500 million every other year, and imposed harsher penalties for more than 30 crimes.

YJC members said provisions of the bill targeted immigrants, as well as blacks and Latinos - many of whom live in public housing.

Undocumented immigrants charged with violent or "gang-related" crimes would be denied bail and local sheriffs, district attorneys and trial courts are required to report their immigration status.

The measure would also fund housing authorities to conduct criminal background checks for Section 8 recipients and occupants.

Organizers not only focused on how the bill criminalizes people of color, but also discussed how many minority youth become victims of crime.

According to the YJC, there have been 100,000 shooting deaths in the nation the last 25 years.

In Los Angeles, the likeliness of dying from gun violence is largely dependent on where one lives.

Kim said young men between the ages of 14-30 in South LA have a 1-22,000 chance of getting shot. That can be compared to Westside males of the same age, who stand a 1-78,000 chance of becoming a shooting victim.

YJC members said Proposition 6 would have done nothing to lower crime rates, but would actually contribute to its increase because the initiative would take away from schools and preventative services proven to reduce crime.

Three years ago, Jesse - then 24 years old - attended a house party in South Los Angeles. While standing in an alley way on the side of the house, he was shot by an unknown assailant.

His case was never solved.

At the gravesite, family members along with YJC workers, laid out Mexican sweet bread and different Jarritos soda bottles near his tombstone.

Family members also placed flowers and posters about Proposition 6 near his grave.

"I never pictured my life without him," said Alexis, who is the mother of Chuco's only child.

Jesse's best friend, Nick Estrada, didn't think he could have ever been caught up in gun violence.

In their younger days, he remembers getting into trouble with him for public drunkenness and fighting, but nothing serious. "Jesse was pretty mellow," he said.

Then, he began to turn his life around.

That was the same time he joined the YJC in 2004.

Estrada says Chuco acted differently when he was at the Center, where he began to work with youth on different issues.

He said Jesse was the kind of person that people were automatically drawn to. "He was a positive role model," Estrada said.

Kim remembers him doing chores like changing diapers, washing toilets and other tasks other people did not want to do.

Sandra, his co-worker, said he was also courteous towards women. "He was the most respectful," she said.

She said Jesse had so much more to accomplish before he was killed.

"I miss him," she said. "He wanted to do good."

Where's Nader and McKinney when we need them?

2008-10-11T22:32:32Z

Where's Nader and McKinney when we need them?

Birds of Balboa

2008-10-05T07:03:35Z

Birds of Balboa

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Create Entry - Leilani Albano | Movable Type

2008-10-05T07:01:46Z

http://blogs.uscannenberg.org/cgi-bin/mtcom/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&blog_id=14

The debate: it was much ado' about nothing

2008-09-28T15:10:01Z

Senator John McCain caused a media frenzy after attempting to get out of the presidential debates on Friday, stating that he would suspend his campaign until a rescue plan was put in place in Wall Street.

But after all the suspense leading up to yesterday's forum at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, it became abundantly clear to those watching the 98-minute exchange that Americans will not be getting the change they are hoping for under the GOP candidate or his opponent Sen. Barack Obama.

The Polls

Media pundits say the debate was a draw, with no surprises or "knockout" statements. Others say Obama, whose sole mission was to survive the debates and not flail on foreign policy issues, took a slight lead from his opponent.

Forbes.com polls indicate that both candidates fared better than their counterpart on different issues, with Obama being viewed favorably on the economy and McCain leading far ahead on foreign policy.

How the news site came to that conclusion is anybody's guess. The financial meltdown in Wall Street was the top concern at the debate, yet Obama gave no clear solutions on how to get out of it.

He starts off by blaming the mess on eight years of bad fiscal policies under the Bush Administration and then links McCain to the debacle, saying that the Arizona senator supported the president's policies.

But instead of strengthening his case by criticizing Bush's $700-billion bailout plan, Obama declined to take a position on the proposal, stating instead that he had not yet looked at the language of the plan.

Meanwhile, McCain said he would probably vote for the package.

Moderator, Jim Lehrer, tried to get another response from them by asking what approach they would take to the financial crisis. Again, Obama did not give specific solutions to the financial industry dilemna but said that he would give tax breaks to 95% of working families as well as close corporate tax loopholes.

McCain's solution to the crisis was shocking. "How about a spending freeze on everything but defense, veterans and entitlements?" he said.

Why the major networks did not hone in on that statement is anybody's guess.

Obama ended the segment on domestic policy issues by speaking about the importance of healthcare, early childhood education and alternative fuel sources but gave no specifics.

Foreign policy

Mainstream media says the two differ most over foreign policy, and in particular the war in Iraq. Obama has called for ending the war, but did not demand an immediate troop withdrawal. Meanwhile, McCain maintained that the fighting is "central to combating terrorism and stabilizing the Middle East".

McCain then tried to get Obama to admit that the surge of troops have led to successes in the region. Obama did not have a good comeback, thereby leading some mainstream journalists to count it as a win for McCain.

"The current strategy has succeeded, and we are winning in Iraq," McCain said.

Considering how much preparation the two have had prior to the debates, Obama's silence on the surge was deliberate. Not wanting to appear soft on "terrorism", he did not refute claims that the surge had led to a decrease in violence, but re-directed the dialogue by questioning McCain's ability to govern Iraq.

Obama also set out to prove he was nobody's dove by advocating for a troop increase in Afghanistan. "We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate," he said. "We need more troops there. We need more resources there."

He also hinted taking strong actions against Iran and Pakistan.

Towards the end of the segment, McCain showed his foreign policy prowess by giving a in-depth account of Russia's invasion of Georgia.

Obama then gave his take on the situation:

(Russians) actions in Georgia were unacceptable. They were unwarranted. And at this point, it is absolutely critical for the next president to make clear that we have to follow through on our six-party -- or the six-point cease-fire. They have to remove themselves from South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

While critics say Obama needed only to survive the foreign policy debates in order to get ahead in the debate, he showed he was capable of holding his own on foreign policies and took a bold stance against Russia's actions.

But while he may have passed the test by not bungling on international issues, it was McCain - who was triumphant on the surge question and long on specifics - who came out on top on foreign policy issues.

The same old

Obama's campaign of hope and change captured the imagination of the nation, however Friday's much-anticipated debate revealed that neither are able to deliver.

Both candidates gave no real solutions to the country's deepening economic crisis, but fell back on the same cookie-cutter solutions they have long advocated for - tax cuts, no tax cuts, an end to foreign oil dependence, a freeze on spending, nuclear power.

It is baffling to hear networks saying Obama triumphed on economic issues, since he provided absolutely no new insight or problem-solving measures to avert a full-blown economic disaster.

On foreign policies, McCain may have sounded more knowledgeable but his answers to international conflicts were the same as Obama's, with both advocating for aggressive action in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, if deemed necessary.

In the end, both had advocated for the status quo by failing to challenge the Bush Administration's domestic and foreign policies.

What's this about change? At the debate, it was much ado' about nothing.

News sites do little to challenge big media's problems

2008-09-21T15:17:24Z

With the state of the economy in flux, the number of catastrophic disasters around the globe increasing, and the wars in the Middle East continuing with no end in sight, it's little wonder that consumers are demanding more reliable news coverage.

The makers of NewTrust.net and Spinspotter.com aim to provide just that.

News sites do little to challenge big media's problems

Olberman and Matthews demoted for doing their job

2008-09-14T07:03:33Z

Olberman and Matthews demoted for doing their job

Neutral stories versus objective reporting

2008-09-07T11:45:21Z

Neutral stories versus objective reporting

Hillary Clinton's speech at the DNC

2008-08-31T07:08:44Z

Hilary Clinton's speech at the DNC

Why become a journalist?

2008-08-26T08:28:39Z

You asked that we write a sincere response to the question: What are our intentions of becoming journalists?

The answer we give for this assignment, instructed Professor Cooper, should be our real answer, as opposed to the one we included in our graduate admissions application. In my case, they aren't any different. My intentions are to contribute a body of work to causes that I care about, namely, to improve conditions in the Philippines.

Although I have worked as a free-lance writer for some time, my family has not supported my decision to remain in the field.

Rather than valuing my writing, I was oftentimes told to look for more lucrative work. And for a time being, I listened. I continued to write, but didn't commit to becoming a full-fledged reporter for several years, opting instead to dabble in other fields, such as public relations and labor organizing.

That changed after I was invited to join a international group of activists to participate in a 12-day excursion to the Philippines. Our mission was to hear testimonies of family members whose loved ones were killed by government forces led by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and to advocate on their behalf.

Reporters - along with activists, farmers, lawyers - were among those targeted by the Arroyo government, making journalism the second deadliest profession in that country in 2005.

While facing death squads was an occupational hazard, there were other struggles Filipino journalists experienced as well.

During one excursion, I met with progressive-minded reporters working at a small newspaper. Because they routinely wrote on crimes committed by the Arroyo administration, they were vilified and discredited by the public and government. They also faced economic hardships such as earning a low salary or, some months, nothing at all. As a way to get by, reporters shared housing with their co-workers.

With so many problems they had to face, I asked, why do the job at all?

One young journalist responded, "So I can help my country."

That should have been the answer I was expecting. However, my own conditioning taught me to believe that the perks of a job - more money, prestige, a way out of the country - should compel people to take up certain kinds of work.

But his answer made me realize that journalism, when used towards the greater good, can be a powerful tool for social change.

From that day on, I knew that I could no longer remain half-committed to journalism. There were too many people fighting wars, too much exploitation on the job, too many starving, too many dying, to be going back and forth about my career choices.

I don't know if I could make the same choice as the Filipino reporters made, that is, to stay in a country where the government murders its reporters. But I strive to be a reporter who makes a difference.

As a US-er, I aim to use my journalism skills to expose the human rights violations committed by the present administration, continue reporting on the US military occupation in the South and other regions, air stories that highlight the efforts by progressive partylist members to impeach the president and create an open dialogue between activists back home and US-ers about the plight of Filipinos in the country.

By doing this, I hope to bring an end to the present administration and foster peace in the region.

Our Van Tour to Skid Row

2008-08-26T07:03:06Z

What I learned from the Tour

For decades, single men have come to pre-dominate the streets of Skid Row, but that is changing, as more families move into the area. This trend has worried policy makers, who after a highly publicized killing of an infant in a shelter last year, declared a "zero tolerance" policy for children living on the Row.

Our Van Tour to Skid Row