SWOPblogger

karlos says:
If you haven't seen M-Pyre's post, "Looters and Finders," on the coverage of the disaster in Louisiana, you really need to go there now. Basically, as a friend said, "African Americans loot,while Whites find."

Truly a story of race and class in America.

Lives devastated, left to die - and people are called looters?

Sick.

Pasted below is a UN Pressed release passed on to us by a friend:

14/09/2004
Press Release
IHA/943
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CUBA: A MODEL IN HURRICANE RISK MANAGEMENT

GENEVA, 14 September (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- As Ivan stormed across the Caribbean, the United Nations stated that Cuba was a model in hurricane risk management in developing countries. “The Cuban way could easily be applied to other countries with similareconomic conditions and even in countries with greater resources that do not manage to protect their population as well as Cuba does”, explained Salvano Briceno, Director of the International Secretariat for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) in Geneva, the United Nations body that focuses on disaster reduction.

The figures speak for themselves: only four people were killed when Hurricane Georges hit Cuba in 1998, by far less than the approximately 600 killed in other countries in the region, with similar or better economic conditions. More recently, hurricane Charley killed four people in Cuba and 30 people in Florida.

Many reasons can explain the low level of hurricane mortality rate in Cuba compared to its neighbours. Education is possibly the main one, said Briceno. Disaster preparedness, prevention and response are part of the general education curriculum. People in schools, universities and workplaces are continuously informed and trained to cope with natural hazards. From their early age, all Cubans are taught how to behave as hurricanes approach the island. They also have, every year, a two-day training session in risk reduction for hurricanes, complete with simulation exercises and concrete preparation actions. This facilitates the mobilization of their communities at the local level when a hurricane hits Cuba.

Civil Defence and the Meteorological Institute are two other pillars of the Cuban hurricane risk management system. Everyone knows how to interpret the information given by the Cuban Institute of Meteorology. Television and radio play a vital role in informing the public as the level of alert rises. All institutions are mobilized 48 hours before the hurricane is foreseen to hit the island, to implement the emergency plan, and measures such as massive evacuation are taken. Every individual has a role to play at the community level. Local authorities know who needs special care and how to assist the most vulnerable. Schools and hospitals are converted into shelters and transport is immediately organized.

Cuba is an example that the vulnerability of people can effectively be reduced with low-cost measures -- and strong determination. Authorities are determined to implement disaster reduction policies in Cuba, says Briceno. “It is part of their development planning and their culture, which play a key role in saving lives and livelihoods. This illustrates the importance of a strong political will -- one of the main issues that will be discussed at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction. Leaders of countries around the world have at their disposal the knowledge needed to reduce risk and vulnerability to hazards. Even poor countries are not entirely without options to mitigate or prevent the consequences of hazards. What is often lacking are concrete programmes of action and the political will to implement policies and measures.”

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) will be held under the
auspices of the United Nations in Kobe, Hyogo (Japan), from 18 to 22 January
2005.

For further information, contact: Brigitte Leoni, Media relations officer,
World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), United Nations, Palais des
Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, tel.: +41 22 917 49 68; fax: 41
22 917 01 69, email: leonib@un.org.

* *** *

katrina

Update! - go to m-pyre to see their post!
Check out Air America tonight at 10pm EDT (8pm MDT, 7pm PDT) to hear Ned Sublette talk about the impacts of Katrina on the Gulf Coast, and particularly New Orleans, where Sublette just spent most of a year doing research on music, popular culture and history of the area and its relationship to the rest of the Caribbean. He has been closely following developments over the past several days. Ned will be speaking with Laura Flanders, who is subbing for Mike Malloy tonight (much mo' betta!).

Find the Air America affiliate near you at http://www.airamericaradio.com/stations

from our friend Louis:
The following was sent yesterday by Ned Sublette, author of “Cuba and its
Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo," who was raised during part of his
youth in Louisiana and who recently spent nine months in New Orleans doing
research on popular music, history and culture there and their relationship
to the rest of the Caribbean.

“Below is an e-mail by a rescue worker that was forwarded to me. I'm leery
of forwarding unattributed material because wild tales spread via internet,
but this comes from a good source.

I have refrained from any political commentary (in news items that he has
sent) thus far, but I will say this, re. the penultimate paragraph:

The poorest 20% (you can argue with the number -- 10%? 18%? No one knows) of
the city was left behind to drown. Period. And this was the plan. Forget the
sanctimonious bullshit about the bullheaded people who wouldn't leave. The
evacuation plan was strictly laissez-faire. It depended on privately owned
vehicles, and on having ready cash to fund an evacuation. The planners knew
full well that the poor, who in New Orleans are overwhelmingly black,
wouldn't be able to get out. The resources -- meaning, the political will --
weren't there to get them out.

White per capita income in Orleans parish, 2000 census: $31,971 Black per
capita: $11,332. Median household income in B.W. Cooper (Calliope) Housing
Projects, 2000: $13,263.

And now here's the rescue worker, whose name I don't know:”
* * *
There are dead animals floating in the water, pets left behind. Surely
people thought they would be back to collect the pets. Not so. The rescuers
smell like gas when they come back in; there's gas in all of the water that
consumes the area. Fires are burning all over the place. Our teams are tired
and they are thirsty and they are hungry. And they have a place to sleep and
water to drink and food to eat. I can only imagine how the people without
these "luxuries" are feeling right now.

Each night will be a race against time. When night falls, people can't get
picked up from roofs, the rescuers can't chop into people's roofs to check
the attics for anyone alive or for anyone dead (sadly, there are dead). At
night we can't see power lines we can't see obstacles, we can't see any of
the things that will bring down a helicopter or pose a danger to boats
rescuers.

One of the teams came in today after having been out for hours at a time.
One particular rescuer went straight to a corner and collapsed into tears. I
went directly to him and just held his hand. What else could I do?

I said nothing. He said it all. They lowered him 26 times and he pulled 26
people to safety. He wants to be back out there but there are mandatory rest
periods. His tears are tears of frustration.

Entire teams are working on nothing but evacuating the hospitals. All four
of the major hospitals are beginning to flood. Critical patients have to get
out or surely they will be lost. Generators cannot run forever; that's just
the way it is. There are limited facilities to take those that are rescued
and those that need to be evacuated. Anything that leaves by air leaves by
helicopter. There are no runways for planes that aren't under water. Only
one drivable way in and out.

Water everywhere and more keeps coming. Until they can do something about
the three levees that are broken, more water will come and more water will
kill. The water poses major health threats. Anyone with even a small open
cut is prone to infection. Anyone who touches this water and touches his
eyes, nose or mouth without find a way to "clean" himself first will be sick
with stomach problems before long. It's bad and it's getting worse. It's not
going to be anything better than devastating for days or weeks at best.

I wish I could tell you that I'll check in again soon. I can't. I don't know
when my next message will get out. We'll be leaving where we are within just
an hour or so.

Tonight at Rio Grande High School, Heather Wilson will be recruiting Ravens to join the military.

Also, she'll be at Chaparral Elementary School this morning to push No Child Left Behind. Doesn't look like it's open to the public - just a press conference. 10 am to 11 am.

Hey, Heather! Leave those kids alone!
[pic from nodraftnoway.org.]

The Fine Art of Handling U.S. Sanctioned Terrorists
by marjorie

Pat Robertson and Luis Posada Carriles have at least one thing in common: both reap the benefits of their work in favor of neo-conservative objectives that promote direct foreign intervention in the affairs of other countries. One works to disseminate and push ideas among the public considered beyond the pale and the other has a long history of terrorist acts employed to destabilize the Cuban government.

By the standards of the Bush administration’s pronouncements, both should be considered terrorists. Instead, one is given the verbal equivalent of a slap on the wrist and the other may very well receive U.S. residency this week.

read the rest of this story on ZNet...

karlos says:
New Mission for CAFB: Environmental Clean up.

The US military has long been considered one of the most prolific polluters in the world. Casualties of war include soldiers, innocents, and yes fenceline communities and contract workers on or near military installations.

I recently attended a conference in San Antonio, Texas that brought together community leaders from around the world to address toxic and health impacts to communities who live, work and play in and near military bases.

from the above link above: "The conference came in the shadows of the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process that is poised to close several military installations nationwide, in a manner that fails to incorporate community participation nor to address the persistent question of toxic and health impacts."

So the question is how does the Eastern New Mexico Community move on from here?

Demand Community Clean up. Provide jobs to your community by forcing the military to eliminate the health hazards associated with living on or near, in this case, Cannon.

The folks of Eastern New Mexico have sacrificed a lot for the health of the Military Industrial Complex - their children have fought and died in wars for generations and they've endured the health impacts CAFB has imposed on the community.

It's time Cannon and the Military Industrial Complex do something for the health of Eastern New Mexico.

Clean Up Cannon! Eastern New Mexico's Economy and Health depend on it!

Also from Louis...

That's where I'll be. And I'll be laying out new stuff from Issac Delgado, La Tira, El Gran Combo de Puerto, Yerba Buena, old favs from Mulenze and Palmieri, plus new bachata from Raulín Rodríguez and Monchy y Alejandra, new merengue from Amarfis y su Banda Attake and El Prodigio, plus some new reggaton if folks want it. Hey, we aim to please - with strong sides.

And Tony's going to doing the dance lesson! Check it.

That's happening at Dance Station in the Solana Center, Santa Fe on West Alameda, 1 block west of North St. Francis (to the right of the old MarketPlace grocery)

8:30-9:20PM Free Salsa classes (with $6 cover)
• Salsa Shines (stylish footwork breaks) with Antonio Perez
• Salsa Basics for beginners

9:20PM-1AM - Open dancing

From our friend, Louis...

This Saturday at the Cooperage will be a special one including the
participation of the dancers from this weekend's workshops being conducted by Eric Johnson at the Hayden School of Ballet in Albuquerque (see reminder below.)

Plus - just that little, local KICK ASS band that we're so damned proud of, Son Como Son.

Plus - DJ Pancho. My man Lix tells me he'll have 16 in the clip and 1 in the chamber, that is, killer trax he'll be laying out special for the Rueda dancers during the breaks.

If you liked all the flash of the dance contest last night at OPM, then
you'll really go for these get-down rueda dancers. They won't be doing any
back-flips, they probably won't be flicking their wrists for the benefit of
any judges, or waving any hankies around - but they'll be schooling everyone
on what clave is about and why it's so essential to the music. Dig it.

REMINDER: Cuban Style Casino & Rueda de Casino Dance Workshop
Come dance Cuban-style Salsa with Eric Johnson of San Diego, California.

Eric has been teaching Cuban-style casino and rueda de casino since 1999. He
has lived in Cuba, and studied for a year at the Instituto Superior del Arte
in Havana. Eric has studied with many of the best professionals and street
dancers in La Habana and danced on the famous "Para Bailar Casino" program
on Cuban television in April 2004 with the rueda group Cuba Baila Con El
Mundo.

Two Days of Classes:
August 27-28, 2005

Casino Dance: 1-2:30pm
Rueda de Casino: 3-4:30pm

For the Rueda classes you must know how to mark time, inside turn/enchufla,
outside turn/"por fuera," and dile que no/dame.

Location:
Hayden School of Ballet
4139 Prospect Ave NE (at Morningside)
Albuquerque
Hayden School is located south of Menaul, between Carlisle and Washington
near the Mid-Town Sports and Wellness.

Cost: $15 per class, $55 for the whole workshop.

Limited space available so call to register early. For registration and more
information, call Sarita Streng at 505-288-8713.

Do you believe in racial and gender equality and social and economic justice?

Vote in our webpoll right now!

Below are our numbers from the Temper-Pedic/Bernalillo County IRB deal. See the Journal's editorial.

(Yes, they will receive the infamous "double dip") The County hasn't provided an economic impact analysis as per their procedure as yet. The numbers below are simple conservative extrapolations based on what information is available to the public.

Sources say the deal will come to a vote tomorrow at the Commission meeting - Tuesday Aug 23, 2005, 5 PM - City Hall 5th and Marquette...

The County has assured SWOP that there will be some Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS) for UNMH and APS, as well as clawbacks. A few reps of SWOP met with the county manager, deputy manager and economic development director last week and, as per their request, sent them some language around reporting and disclosure that would tie the clawbacks to company reporting. (Click here to see what a company specific report looks like.) As it stands the clawbacks only take effect if the company packs up and relocates completely, and are really based on faith.

Things are getting better, but are far from perfect.

What do people think? Seems expensive to me. (see below)

Estimated Tax Abatements and Costs of Tempur-Pedic

Impact Fee Waiver	$991,000
Tax Abatement on Equipment	$1,500,000
Investment Credit	$1,500,000
Job Training Funds	$1,506,000
Property Tax Abatement (10 Years)	$5,047,158
Total	$10,544,158.00

$10,544,158/300 Jobs = $35,147 per Job.

If we place the entire $5,000,000 cost of the infrastructure on the project:

Impact Fee Waiver	$5,000,000
Tax Abatement on Equipment	$1,500,000
Investment Credit	$1,500,000
Job Training Funds	$1,506,000
Property Tax Abatement (10 Years)	$5,047,158
Total	$14,553,158.00

$14,553,158/300 Jobs = $48,510 per Job

Impact Fee Waiver - —Per County

Compensating Tax Abatement on Equipment 5% of $30,000,000

Investment Credit 5% of $30,000,000

Job Training Funds (($12/hour X 1004 hours)/2) X 250 Jobs

Property Tax Abatement - below

Year	Value	X 1/3	X mill/1000	Prop Tax
2006	100,000,000.00	33,333,333	0.018464	$615,467
2007	95,714,299.00	31,904,766	0.018464	$589,090
2008	91,482,500.00	30,494,167	0.018464	$563,044
2009	87,142,800.00	29,047,600	0.018464	$536,335
2010	82,857,100.00	27,619,033	0.018464	$509,958
2011	78,571,400.00	26,190,467	0.018464	$483,581
2012	74,285,700.00	24,761,900	0.018464	$457,204
2013	70,000,000.00	23,333,333	0.018464	$430,827
2014	70,000,000.00	23,333,333	0.018464	$430,827
2015	70,000,000.00	23,333,333	0.018464	$430,827
		Total		$5,047,15

Two cops were killed in the line of duty over the last week or so.

Expect them all to be extra aggressivley friendly in the near future. Be careful out there, folks.

APD doesn't seem to have a good track record with the mentally imbalanced. It seems someone always ends up hurt when APD responds to calls involving homeless, disabled and or mentally imbalanced people. (I suppose it isn't limited to only those folks, either.)

Stories like this always remind me of how social cuts really affect public safety.

Continuous health care cuts, in this case for the mentally disabled, often hurt us all in the end.

Next time cuts are up, I expect the cops to be out in full force in support of social programs. It truly is life and death issue for them.

A vote for cutting social programs is a vote against the cops and public safety!

Hi Friends and Allies!

From Rod Adair's website, quoting the Journal...

Minorities "...stand in line at the video shop, the grocery store, the airport or anywhere minorities produce identification just like anybody else who wants to buy something or go somewhere...it's just not a problem in the commercial arena."

[Republicans] would say, "You go from Blockbuster Video to the polling place and suddenly you can't pull out a driver's license?"

The Journal says the City Council may bring up Sally Mayer's voter ID bill at tonight's' council meeting for debate. Undoubtedly you will hear this Blockbuster argument in favor of the bill.

It's an interesting analogy. Ultimately, it should be as easy to vote as it is to rent a video or pull money from an ATM, or any of things we all do on a daily basis. If I go to the polling place, and have an ID, I should be able to vote and have my vote counted right then and there. I don't have to wait to get my video, I shouldn't have to wait to get my vote counted.

I should get a receipt saying when, where and for whom I voted, and that my vote was counted. Just like at Blockbuster.

Mayer and those who really don't want every day, working folks to vote, want to make it hard for eligible voters to cast a ballot come election day. They use this Blockbuster argument disingenuously and diabolically to pass a Voter ID Bill that does nothing to bring about "Blockbuster style" voting. Rather, it will bring down already abysmal voter participation rates.

Any Voter ID legislation without same day voter registration and voting, is at best seriously flawed and at worst intended to deny eligible voters the right to vote.

karlos says: Haven't blogged in a while. And there's so much I've wanted to talk about.

from the New York Times. Pretty interesting to say the least.

2 Illegal Immigrants Win Arizona Ranch in Court
By ANDREW POLLACK

New York Times
August 19, 2005

DOUGLAS, Ariz., Aug. 18 - Spent shells litter the ground at what is left of
the firing range, and camouflage outfits still hang in a storeroom. Just a
few months ago, this ranch was known as Camp Thunderbird, the headquarters
of a paramilitary group that promised to use force to keep illegal
immigrants from sneaking across the border with Mexico.

Now, in a turnabout, the 70-acre property about two miles from the border is
being given to two immigrants whom the group caught trying to enter the
United States illegally.

The land transfer is being made to satisfy judgments in a lawsuit in which
the immigrants had said that Casey Nethercott, the owner of the ranch and a
former leader of the vigilante group Ranch Rescue, had harmed them.

"Certainly it's poetic justice that these undocumented workers own this
land," said Morris S. Dees Jr., co-founder and chief trial counsel of the
Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which represented the
immigrants in their lawsuit. Read more...

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search
Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Back to Top

...is your chance to celebrate resistance to colonization, imperialism.

This Saturdayat the Jemez Monument there will be a celebration in honor of the anniversaryof the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, lead in part by POPE (pronounced Popay).

Should be a cool historic event.

Friday, August 12, 5:30 PM - TARDEADA at SWOP. There will be frito pies and we hope you will bring a dish to share. SWOP member Louis Head will give an update on the Pastors for Peace trip to Cuba as well as the trial of Luis Posada Carriles. Jovencitos will be practicing for their performance on Satureday.

Saturday, August 12, 2 PM - JOVENCITOS PERFORM at the folk festival at Robinson Park. ...also, SWOP member Cy Evans will be selling t-shirts at the folk fest. See all you folkers there!

Tuesday, August 23, 6:30 PM - MAYORAL FORUM at the Harwood Art Center. Mayoral hopefuls Judy Espinosa and Eric Griego have confirmed and the other candidates have been invited. This is a good chance to explore the issues. Be there.

Friday, August 26, 5:30 PM - TARDEADA at SWOP

Saturday, August 27th, 6:30 PM - JOVENCITOS ART OPENING at Offcenter Art Gallery

Friday, September 9, 8 pm - SWOP anniversary concert with Quetzal and B-Side Players Appearing Live.

from prwatch.org

OPEN SOURCE DOCUMENTARY
http://www.echochamberproject.com/

Kent Bye's "Echo Chamber Project" is attempting a new type of
citizen journalism: an "open source, investigative documentary about
the how the television news media became an uncritical echo chamber
to the Executive Branch leading up to the war in Iraq." By "open
source," Bye means that he is sharing both the transcripts and
footage from his documentary with anyone who wants to use it or
remix it with other footage as they see fit. He is also trying to
"develop more sophisticated techniques for citizen journalism,"
include new software tools that will enable other collaborative
efforts. A preliminary video of the Echo Chamber Project is
available on OurMedia.org, a non-profit initiative that provides
free storage space and bandwidth to anyone with videos, audio files,
text files, or software that they'd like to share with the world.

SOURCE:
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/3898

Hi folks: I've been involved with SWOP since 2001. I'll be doing occasional commentary for SWOPblogger. --marjorie

Tim McGivern has an excellent commentary in the Alibi this week about Press Release Journalism -- you know, how journalists take press releases almost verbatim and turn them into news. In this example he slams the Albuquerque Journal’s Business Outlook for running a story about a commercial chile thinner that was produced at New Mexico State and is now being put into production by a farmer in Columbus. Apparently the reporter for the story is none other than an assistant editor with NMSU Agricultural Communications. That’s right folks -- the Journal is running as news the promotional materials written by publicists.

Good catch, Tim.

Another thing caught my eye in this commentary that I’d like to share. One of the quotes from the Journal story is by Rich Phillips, senior project manager for NMSU’s College of Agriculture and Home Economics:

“This is a major step forward in an effort to mechanize chile production. We saw the need for this machine, developed the technology, tested it and then handed it to a commercial manufacturer.”

You know, it doesn’t get much plainer than that. So, in the future, when this manufacturer, CEMCO Inc., makes a fortune and people chalk it up to their “hard” work and sacrifices, just remember that it was the public that developed their product for them.

Am I saying that there shouldn’t be transfer of public goods to private entities for profit? Well, yeah, I guess I am. But that’s how our economy works -- there is rampant exploitation of public goods by private companies for profit. Some of it is direct transfer of technology, like this example, and the “commons”, like our public airwaves. There is also the use of our public infrastructure. And there is the unpaid use of our environment, which is quite often polluted at will by companies -- what economists call negative externalities and what many of us call environmental racism because most likely these industries will be in poor communities of color.

So, knowing that this is how it works, can we all just agree to drop the charade of this so-called “free market” and stop glorifying capitalists for their “hard” work and ingenuity. I don’t care how philanthropic some of these folks are. Some of them, I’m sure, are truly fine individuals -- that is not the point. The point is that we are all in this together and some people have been able to exploit the system better than others. This is one of the reasons such things as a progressive tax structure and regulations that protect our public assets are good.

from Louis...

Live8

Add this to the ongoing barrage in Salon.com and other publications.

A little follow up to piece by Dave Marsh last month on Live 8 - below is a
note from Manu Chao posted on his own website re. a performance he was
supposedly scheduled for at the Paris concert.

The word that got out was that he had cancelled at the last minute. Here he
clarifies things, in French and Spanish. For those who speak neither
language, he says that he had refused to play in the first place, and that
his "cancellation" had been announced in spite of this. He writes in his
note in Spanish that he considers Live 8 to be "a show biz montage set up
for stars to gain cheap publicity." He adds his opinion that an entity such
as Clear Channel would not consider the cancellation of the African debt to
be within its interests.

BONJOUR A TOUS

Juste un petit mot au sujet du concert
LIVE 8 de Bob Geldolf and Co a Paris…le 2 Juillet dernier .
A mon immense surprise, M6 a annoncé
en direct que j’avais annulé mon concert
a la dernière minute…

C’EST ABSOLUMENT FAUX !.

Vu que je n’avais jamais eu l’intention
de participer à cet évènement….
Malgré cela les organisateurs ont continué
A tromper le public en faisant croire
que j’allais venir chanter… C’est tout simplement
dégueulasse… et prouve un manque de respect absolu
envers tout le monde….

Il était hors de question pour moi
de participer à un évènement benefit
où trempent des sociétés comme Clear Channel…
qui sont, à mon avis bien loin d’être sincèrement
preoccupés par la dette africaine…

je vous suggère d’ailleurs de vous renseigner
sur Clear Channel et leurs activités dans le monde
de la musique…vous risquez d’être surpris…
…n’hésitez pas à m’informer de vos trouvailles…

Merci de votre attention
et bonne journée à tous.

MANU

HOLA A TOD@S

Solo unas palabras para aclarar
lo de mi participacion al concierto
Live 8 de Bob Geldof y compania el 2 de Julio
supuestamente para pedir cancelar
la deuda de los paises africanos…
Muchos medios de comunicacion
manipulados por los propios
organizadores han anunciado que
participé a ese evento…

YO NO HE PARTICIPADO A ESE EVENTO !
Y NUNCA TUVE LA INTENCION DE HACERLO !
Que quede bien claro !!!
No porque yo, este en contra de la cancelacion
de la deuda de los paises africanos….todo lo contrario…
Pero porque ese evento me parecio mas todo un montage
de show buziness y estrellas en busca de publicidad
barata y facil que otra cosa….mi lucha va por otros caminos.
Ademas tengo serias dudas que una Sociedad como Clear Channel
que cada dia mas esta monopolizando el buziness
de la musica mundial
este realmente interesada en la deuda africana…
…si teneis tiempo…informaros sobre lo que es realmente
Clear Channel….es muy interesante…casi da miedo…
…no dudeis en mandarme info sobre lo que averigueis por ahi
en el forum….

Hasta luego
y feliz dia a tod@s.

MANU

[from Good Jobs First] [pic from reclaimdemocarcy.org]

The Arizona Department of Economic Security has just joined the list of state agencies that have disclosed the names of private-sector employers with the largest number of workers participating in publicly financed healthcare programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP.

As in most other states, Wal-Mart tops the list. About 2,700 of its workers -- or 9.6 percent of the company's Arizona workforce -- were found to be getting health coverage compliments of the taxpayers.

With other recent states -- Montana, Wisconsin and New Hampshire -- Arizona makes 16 that have disclosed such information.

Good Jobs First continues to track these disclosures on our website at:
www.goodjobsfirst.org/gjfhealthcaredisclosure.htm

Available now: The Great American Jobs Scam at www.greatamericanjobsscam.com
At Powells online bookseller for 20% off at www.powells.com/s?kw=Jobs+Scam

Greg LeRoy
Executive Director

Good Jobs First

Email: goodjobs@goodjobsfirst.org

Phone: 202-626-3780 ext. 27

Website Address: http://www.goodjobsfirst.org

Dear members and friends of SWOP,

We, Jovenes Unidos, invite all kids and youth to participate in music, break dance, rap music, poetry, and art. This is the last chance for youth who have not participated so far, to be involved in our summer program and performance. There is still time for kids/youth to learn the songs and dance. If you have a Jovenes Unidos calendar, we have ADDED rehearsals, so please bring friends and family to participate in this educational, cultural, and fun program.

Here are the rest of the rehearsals and events for the Summer:

Wednesday (TODAY) August 3^rd 6-7:30PM- Break Dance workshop, rap rehearsal, music

Friday, August 5^th 6-7:30PM- Music, dance, rap rehearsal

Wednesday, August 10^th 6-7:30PM Music, dance, rap rehearsal

Friday, August 12^th 5:30-7:30PM (and BBQ/tardeada) Dress rehearsal

Saturday, August 13^th 2PM PERFORMANCE at the Folk Festival in Robinson Park on Central and 8^th Street

Wednesday, August 17^th 6-7:30PM Art, poetry, music, dance

Saturday August 20-September 1^st:: art exhibit up at the Offcenter art gallery on Park and 8^th Street (free)

Friday, August 26^th 6-7:30PM Dress Rehearsal at the Offcenter art gallery of music, rap, dance

Saturday, August 27^th 6:30PM-8:30PM OPENING RECEPTION at Offcenter Art Gallery (free and open to the public)

We also need volunteers to help:

Friday, August 19^th 1PM to take over art work and set up at Offcenter Art Gallery

Friday, August 26^th during day, to make trays of food for opening reception

Phone banking between August 15^th-August 27^th to publicize/invite people to the opening reception and exhibit

On Publicity, to get people to all events, especially the opening reception

Invite performers of all arts to perform at opening reception or Folk Festival

For more info, call Rosina at SWOP 247-8832

SouthWest Organizing Project
211 10th St. SW • Alburquerque, NM 87102-2919
(505) 247-8832 • fax: (505) 247-9972
www.swop.net

telesur

Last week saw the launch of a historic television collaboration in the Americas. The new network, TeleSUR, has been in the works for six years and is a collaboration of several Caribbean, Central and South American nations.

Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay put up the money to fund what is touted to be the al-Jazeera of the global South.

The US government, meanwhile, has sought permission from Congress to jam TeleSUR's signals with propaganda-style programming. However, in TeleSUR's main hub, Caracas, US threats were brushed off as celebrations of this new network took place on July 24.

Pacifica Radio´s Deepa Fernandes and Christopher Sprinkle were there and bring us this montage of TELESUR.

That's tonight on KUNM's Raices Program, 8:00pm MDT (10pm EDT/7pm PDT).

KUNM-FM 89.9 FM Albuquerque and Santa Fe, 91.1 FM in Arroyo Seco, Cuba and Cimarron/Eagle Nest, and 91.9 FM Taos, Las Vegas, Socorro and Nageezi. Those outside northern and central New Mexico can catch it online at http://www.kunm.org/.