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opinion
DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
Stockton,CA- It seems as though everyone I talk to says they are watching the republican debates. Some wonder: why? While almost everyone was watching the democratic debates a few years ago, they said if the president had not debated, he would not have received the nomination, nor won the election.
Opinion: Fear or Rights?
By Pablo Rodriguez
On Monday April 4, 2011, dozens of Tea Party members and anti-immigrant supporters met in Sacramento, California to listen to Assembly Member Tim Donnelly and Arizona’s Senator/author of [Senate Bill] SB 1070, Russell Pearce, as they introduced a new bill, known as Assembly Bill (AB) 26. Donnelly and Pearce said they would work arduously to pass immigration laws in California similar to those passed in Arizona. Leaders of immigrant rights movements decided not to give any media attention to Donnelly or Pearce. AB 26 died quietly the following day at the Judicial Assembly Committee of California.
The prompt defeat of AB 26 was one of the many defeats coming for both Donnelly and Pearce. Tired of the divided politics, and Pearce’s corruption, a volunteer army under the leadership of organizer Randy Parraz, and operating under the name “Citizens for a Better Arizona”, led a successful and historic campaign against Senator Pearce who was removed from office. This was the first time in the United States where a President of the Senate was removed from his duties during session.
In California, Assembly Member Tim Donnelly found another opportunity for right wing radio. Immediately following Governor Jerry Brown signing the second part of the California Dream Act (AB 131) in October, Donnelly and his right wing supporters started a campaign to overturn the California Dream Act. Donnelly said to the media, “All we need is 504,000 valid signatures, and I believe we will probably have a million.” Target gift cards and professional signature gatherers were able to reach 447,514 signatures by the deadline January 5, 2012.
The first week of 2012 turned out to be a bad week for Assembly Member Donnelly. At the beginning of the week, he was detained and ticketed for having a loaded 45 caliber gun and a secondary bullet charger with five bullets in a Southwest Airlines flight at Ontario’s Airport. Days after being cited, Donnelly affirmed that he was armed following recent death threats as a result of his campaign to defeat the California Dream Act. He insists that he erroneously left the weapon on his suitcase and he forgot to take it out before boarding the flight to Sacramento.
There is an evident contradiction in Donnelly’s story. He did not notify the office of the California State Assembly Speaker or the Sergeant at Arms about the presumed death threats. If he really felt threatened, he could have asked for—and he would have received— additional security by the California Highway Patrol.
Donnelly has frequently noted that he is a patriot who would like to impose the “right to bear arms.” It would be interesting to see if he will continue leading the “right to bear arms”, when he is before a judge that may condemn him to a year behind bars. Will he be as vocal about the “rights to bear arms” with the Security and Transportation Administration that could also impose a $10,000 fine? I predict that Donnelly “the Patriot” will coward.
Pablo Rodriguez is Executive Director of Communities for a New California, formally the Director of the Community Organization Institute of Dolores Huerta
OPINION: WHEN IS IT ENOUGH?
The house has sat empty for almost seven months. First the owner and his college buddies left, then his dad moved in with his wife (?), then they left and then someone moved in, and mysterious people began coming by and picking up little white boxes. Who knew: maybe they were selling lunches? Then the traffic picked up a little more. Then the night of the big party, there was loud music and a big fire pit in the backyard, and funny smells. At one o’clock in the morning, the music was interrupting our sleep, so we made a quick call to 911. (This was before all the cuts.) The police came out, and soon the party was over.
Then all was quiet, except for the traffic—day and night. Several months later we found out the tenants had had no water or electricity for about four months. How did they get along? Some neighbors were loaning them water with hoses run behind our houses. They were given 48 hours to vacate, and vacate they did, leaving a huge smelly mess. Remember it takes water to flush toilets. You guessed it: that’s where the smell mess comes into the story. First they were there, and then they were gone in the middle of the night.
Did we sit back and hide behind our curtains? Did we say it was not our problem? Did we close our eyes to this situation? No: this was our neighborhood, this is where we lived, where we had an active Neighborhood Watch. We made the necessary phone calls to our Community Service Officer (also before the cuts), code enforcement came, and soon the house was empty of people—or so we thought. But they did leave a huge mess in the house.
Soon we would see the side gate was open when it had been locked. We noticed every now and again someone would get into the empty house. How did they get in and why? Neighborhood Captains checked the backyard, and the sliding back doors were open; it was a mess. Police were called and came out (before the cuts) and would close up the house.
We boarded-up the gate to protect the house, which seemed unwanted, like no one cared about it. We tried contacting the owners at the last address we had, but the mail was returned as “undeliverable.” The house has not been foreclosed. It was as if time forgot the house, except those looking for a place to do drugs and to hang out where they thought they would not be caught.
The night the two men in the SUV came and began taking furniture was just too much for our neighborhood. We could have sat by and watched the trespassers at work and stealing furniture, but enough was enough. This is our neighborhood, where neighbors watch out for each one another, where if one person loses a family member, it is like we have all lost a relative, where we celebrate good and bad news together: this was our HOOD. We called the police (after the cuts) and they came. They were proud that we cared enough to get involved, and protect our area. Death’s around the corner, but not in our area if we stay alert. We didn’t catch the crooks, but the crooks knew we were there as we tried to get their license plate number. We did follow where they went.
Once again we boarded up the gates, boarded up the door and notified the only company we knew might care. They said they’d be out within 3 to 5 days to board the whole house up. Thanked us for caring and said it was okay for us to board the entrance until they could come out. They also could not believe we lived in Stockton and cared enough to be involved. It was with great pride as we told them we did care and we had a neighborhood who said, “NOT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, BECAUSE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”
We don’t need “Marshall Plans,” we need active Neighborhood Watches where neighbors know neighbors, like in the OLD DAYS. Where neighbors knew the kids on the block and watched out for them. Where when you went on vacations you knew your house was safe, because your neighbors watched out for your house, because next time it was your turn.
It is time to take back our neighborhoods. Care enough, and soon the gangs and crooks will know we have neighborhoods that say, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
OPINION: PAY ME $500 AND I’LL LET YOU SELL FOR ME.
A man walks into a bar. He’s dressed for success, his hair is combed, he smells good. He is very friendly and engages in conversation with you. He is charming, but he is only interested in one thing: your money.
COMMUNITY OPINION: Delta Mess
STOCKTON, CA – Every so often items of interest come up in the news. This story of the Delta being destroyed by political views such as the peripheral canal and other issues seems to be the major plot of the liberals.
Commentary: Plan B Restrictions too Dangerous for Latinas
Jessica González-Rojas is the executive director of National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, which works to secure access to reproductive health and justice for Latinas, their families and their communities through public education, community mobilization and policy advocacy.
New America Media, Commentary, Jessica González-Rojas, Posted: Dec 09, 2011
(NAM) This week, politics interfered with healthcare when young women were again denied the ability to obtain over-the-counter emergency contraception (EC) despite recommendations from the nation’s leading health experts.
OPINION: NO POLITICS PLEASE.
THOMAS BENIGNO
In case many of you haven’t noticed, the news is full of politics and it is negative on one side or the other. This is just business as usual for many politicians who just can’t wait to get their paper work done so that they may be in the news. And for some who have been in office for quite some time, it’s a time to start thinking about what they will do if they are not elected. This is where things get tricky in politics. They need to find a way to generate interest, so that they can start raising more money for the next race. In doing so, they almost sell their souls to get elected, and the money brokers know it.
COMMUNITY OPINION: THE TEA PARTY, WHAT DO THEY REALLY STAND FOR?
THOMAS BENIGNO
Many citizens are watching the battle between the parties, but many are asking what is the” TEA PARTY “and what do they stand for? Last week I went to a TEA PARTY meeting in Tracy at the civic center which was unusual in itself that they were able to use the facility. The meeting was open to the public although not many people attended. They had a guest speaker who I never heard of before but she was a very effective speaker.
OPINION: Senate Bill 375- What’s at Stake for Us?
Michael Villanueva
President
Hispanics for Political Action
Senate Bill (SB) 375 is centered on Sustainable Communities Strategy.
There will be Sustainability Forum (AB 375) on Friday, September 23, 2011, 08:00 AM at Council of Government (COG) board room, 555 E. Weber Avenue, Stockton, CA
The public is encouraged to attend and ask questions of the law’s author, Senator, Darrell Steinberg who is the lead speaker.
OPINION: Is it too early?
Thomas A Benigno
Former candidate for congress & business person.
Tracy, CA
Here we go again! Almost the third year into his term of president, Obama is campaigning for re-election. One wonders what is next for America, and will President Obama win another term or not. Now on the other side, the republicans are staging an attack on president Obama as never before in the history of politics. The republican candidates are also coming out early on a bid for a candidate to take on President Obama in 2012. They themselves have started early to see who has the stamina and most of all, the money to get the nomination. The candidates vary in many ways but all seem to be going after each other more so than the last election. The issues are varied from immigration, to a balanced budget, but to date none have seemed to strike at the heart of the problem which is the economy and jobs.
OPINION: WHERE WERE YOU?
On Tuesday, June 23, we joined over 200 concerned citizens at the Atherton Auditorium San Joaquin Delta College to participate in the “Redistricting Meeting”. This meeting gave ordinary citizens an opportunity to voice our opinions on where the Congressional District, State Senate and Assembly Districts were to be realigned for the next ten years.
OPINION: Thanks For Reading
I just want to thank everyone for their comments about the articles in the bilingual weekly news paper. I started writing for the paper about 2 years ago, and I can assure you it’s been a labor of love for me. The opportunity to write ones thoughts and feeling these days is rare, with the entire backlash from the political pundits around these days. It makes me feel that America is still on tract and is one of the greatest countries in the world, where we can tell it like it is. The freedoms these days are getting scarce when one can’t say what they feel.
OPINION:The Wild and Scenic Merced River Under Attack
www.bilingualweekly.com By Deanna Lynn Wulff
Something beautiful is under attack—again, and unfortunately, it’s one of our national treasures. Jeff Denham’s Bill HR 869 proposes to raise the New Exchequer Dam and flood a section of the Wild & Scenic Merced River, the very river that flows out from Yosemite Valley’s waterfalls and cascades into the Central Valley. The legislation could unwind a landmark national environmental law and affect rivers throughout the nation. What’s more—the project would provide scant additional water—not enough for one-thousandth of one percent of California’s population.
Why Are We Still Friends With Pakistanis?
After searching the world over for Osama Bin Laden we now have settled our debt with him and some of his associates who killed over 3,000 people at the twin towers on 911.
OPINION: A Country with Dignity
Carol Hadley
Regardless of how we feel about the man who lives in the White House, he is as a leader. We have to give him, and those who worked with him, accolades for giving Osama bin Laden a dignified burial. They prevented more blood shed and in some ways made up for the so called religion people in Florida who burned the Koran.
THANK YOU
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