The Million Dollar Man

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Well, here we go again. We hear one million. Do we hear two million? A million here, a million there. Hey, Newtie, just how many millions are we talking about? Can we be your girlfriends? Never had a bauble from Tiffany. Bling it on, Newtie, bling it on.
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DREAM Act

Dear Dot,

Have you checked today's New York Times yet? There's an incredibly compelling op-ed in today's edition by an undocumented immigrant who happens to be a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist where he speaks out about his experiences as a student in the United States and calls the country to action on the DREAM Act.

It's really worth a read.

President Obama has the power to stop the deportation of the tens of thousands of young men and women eligible under the DREAM Act. Right now its clear that he isn't doing enough
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Check out excerpts from the piece below and then please call the White House and tell President Obama that the time to act is now--we need an Executive Order to stop the deportation of DREAMers.

Here's where to call:
Pres. Obama - (202) 456-1111

Below are excerpts from Jose Antonio Vargas who came to the United States from the Philippines when he was just 12 years old. You can read the full version here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigrant.

"One August morning nearly two decades ago, my mother woke me and put me in a cab. She handed me a jacket. “Baka malamig doon” were among the few words she said. (“It might be cold there.”) When I arrived at the Philippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport with her, my aunt and a family friend, I was introduced to a man I’d never seen. They told me he was my uncle. He held my hand as I boarded an airplane for the first time. It was 1993, and I was 12.

'My mother wanted to give me a better life, so she sent me thousands of miles away to live with her parents in America — my grandfather (Lolo in Tagalog) and grandmother (Lola). After I arrived in Mountain View, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area, I entered sixth grade and quickly grew to love my new home, family and culture...

'One day when I was 16, I rode my bike to the nearby D.M.V. office to get my driver’s permit. Some of my friends already had their licenses, so I figured it was time. But when I handed the clerk my green card as proof of U.S. residency, she flipped it around, examining it. “This is fake,” she whispered. “Don’t come back here again...”

'I decided then that I could never give anyone reason to doubt I was an American. I convinced myself that if I worked enough, if I achieved enough, I would be rewarded with citizenship. I felt I could earn it...

'I’ve tried. Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream.

'But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them. It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful. And it has meant relying on a sort of 21st-century underground railroad of supporters, people who took an interest in my future and took risks for me.

'Last year I read about four students who walked from Miami to Washington to lobby for the Dream Act, a nearly decade-old immigration bill that would provide a path to legal permanent residency for young people who have been educated in this country. At the risk of deportation — the Obama administration has deported almost 800,000 people in the last two years — they are speaking out. Their courage has inspired me.

'There are believed to be 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. We’re not always who you think we are. Some pick your strawberries or care for your children. Some are in high school or college. And some, it turns out, write news articles you might read. I grew up here. This is my home. Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.

'I’m done running. I’m exhausted. I don’t want that life anymore."

Thanks and ¡adelante!
Laurie, Favianna, Felipe, Carlos and the rest of the Presente.org Team

Carl Paladino Softens Remarks on Homosexuality

Carl Paladino softens remarks on homosexuality, but says children can be 'Brainwashed.'

New York's Republican candidate for governor, Carl Paladino, on Monday attempted to clarify remarks he'd made the previous day about homosexuality, telling Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" show that discrimination against gays "is horrible. It's terrible."

Paladino, a Tea Party favorite, on Sunday had sharply attacked homosexuality in a speech to Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn even as the tragedy of gay bullying has riveted the nation and a day after three gay men were tortured in the Bronx because of their sexual orientation.

Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at Congregation Shaarei Chaim in the trendy and traditional Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, where hipsters live cheek by jowl with Hasidic Jews, Paladino was talking about the importance of not "pandering to the pornographers and perverts" when he continued on to the issue of gay rights, which he opposes.

"I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don't want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option -- it isn't," said Paladino, who has a reputation for being frank to the point of volatility.

Paladino also had controversial remarks that he did not deliver, writing at one point in his prepared speech: "There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual" and being homosexual "is not how God created us."

In the "Today" show interview, Paladino said he is not anti-gay and that he would "absolutely" recruit gays to work in his administration. "You name it. Wherever their expertise may be, we'll put them in our government."

Asked about the "brainwashed" remark, he said that comment had "to do with schooling children. My feelings on homosexuality are unequivocal. I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. My only reservation is marriage."

He said that "children should not be exposed to that at a young age. They don't understand this. It's a very difficult thing. And exposing them to homosexuality, especially at a Gay Pride parade, and I don't know if you've ever been to one, but they wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other. It's just a terrible thing."

When interviewer Matt Lauer noted that some of the content in Paladino's speech was written by the people he was addressing -- a group of Orthodox Jews -- Paladino said, "That section of my presentation was written, okay, and it was handed to a staffer and it was put into the text. I crossed it out. "

"That group gets to write the comments they want you to make?" Lauer asked?

"No," Paladino responded. "It was with a discussion, but then they went too far in the discussion and I crossed all that stuff out. The only part that I said was what you just quoted me" on about children being brainwashed.

Asked to clarify the reference to homosexuality equating with "dysfunction," he replied, "I did not say that. It's unacceptable."

In his remarks Sunday, the Republican also had harsh words for his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, for marching in this year's gay pride parade. "That's not the example we should be showing our children," he said to applause.

He added: "And don't misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. That would be a dastardly lie. My approach is live and let live."

In his "Today" interview, Paladino took another swing at his opponent: "I was trying to define myself very clearly, as oppposed to Mr. Cuomo. Mra Cuomo took his daughters to a Gay Pride parade. Is that normal? Would you do it? Would you take your children to a Gay Pride parade? I don't think it is proper for them to go there and watch a couple of grown men grinding against each other. I don't think that's proper. It's disgusting."

Paladino's campaign manager, Michael R. Caputo, told The New York Times on Sunday that the candidate employs a gay man on his campaign staff and said his views reflect those of the Catholic Church.

"Carl Paladino is simply expressing the views that he holds in his heart as a Catholic," Caputo told The Times. "Carl Paladino is not homophobic, and neither is the Catholic Church."

Aarrgghh! I can’t keep my views to myself here or I’ll bust! Okay, Mr. Goodie Paladino...is it okay then for grown, filthy men to abuse small boys just because they are hiding behind priest garb?

Remember The Frugal Gourmet? No fancy garb...no more TV show.

Caputo continued that line in remarks to CNN.

"Carl Paladino's position on this is exactly equivalent to the Catholic Church," Caputo said. "And if Andrew Cuomo has a problem with the Catholic Church's position on abortion and homosexuality, he needs to take it up with his parish priest."

Mr. Caputo, Mr. Paladino...don’t be too righteous. It will eventually bite you in the ass.

Paladino's comments drew a harsh rebuke from the gay community.

"His words foster a climate of hatred and intolerance instead of helping heal the city of its wounds," Michael Silver, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, told the Daily News. Silver called on Paladino to apologize immediately.

Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto blasted Paladino's comments.

"Mr. Paladino's statement displays a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality," Vlasto said in a statement. "These comments along with other views he has espoused make it clear that he is way out of the mainstream and is unfit to represent New York."

Caputo disagreed. "The majority of New Yorkers agree with him," he said of Paladino's views on homosexuals and gay rights.

Polls have shown 58 percent of New Yorkers favor gay marriage, which Paladino says he opposes. Polls have also shown Cuomo expanding his lead on Paladino after the gap had closed last month to six points.

Paladino's own personal life has been an issue in the campaign. He has raised charges about Cuomo's sex life that he now admits are unsubstantiated, while Paladino is married but has a 10-year-old daughter from an affair with a former employee of his. He has also admitted to sending out obscene and racist e-mails.

Now. Now, Mr. Paladino. Was it an immaculate conception or did that bad boy get loose?

You send obscene and racist e-mails? Hmm. More obscene and racist or less obscene and racist than Anthony Wiener’s?

2010 Elections
From Political Daily & AOL Online

Taxation without representation in Benton Harbor, Michigan

April 20, 2011 -- If you're upset about the destruction of democracy in Benton Harbor, you ought to be. AmericaBlog has a great explanation of what's going on. Not only have residents been deprived of representation, publicly owned land is being turned over to wealthy interests for their own luxury golf course. Here's the story in a nutshell:

    Benton Harbor, 85% black, with an average income of $10,000/year, is home to Whirlpool. A Whirlpool heir, Fred Upton, represents Benton Harbor in the U.S. House, and his former staffer, Al Pscholka, represents Benton Harbor in the state house. Pscholka's the guy who introduced the "financial martial law" bill. And thanks to that law, Benton Harbor is first to get it in the neck. Full circle.

    What do the big boys have their eye on? Fiscal health for Benton Harbor? Not quite. They want to turn Benton Harbor's beautiful lakefront park into part of a beautiful rich-man's golf course and housing development, and with sweeping dictatorial powers, they can do it in a blink. (Much more at this Daily Kos link and in a Rachel Maddow segment on Benton Harbor.)

Oh, and guess where Whirlpool just moved its Benton Harbor plant? You got it. Mexico.

Posted by Teamster Power
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