Con Frijoles » News http://www.confrijoles.com A Beaner's Perspective Sun, 05 Sep 2010 05:33:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-09-05 http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-09-05/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-09-05/#comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 05:33:00 +0000 brownboyrocks http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-09-05/

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]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-09-05/feed/ 0 Another Reason to Fire Terry Abbott http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/another-reason-to-fire-terry-abbott/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/another-reason-to-fire-terry-abbott/#comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:47:10 +0000 JaimeRafael http://www.confrijoles.com/?p=953

Since Terry Abbott’s main job as Texas Attorney General is to protect Rick Perry and make him look good, Abbott’s signing onto the “Friend of the Court” brief in support Arizona’s SB1070 is not surprising.

PHOENIX — Nearly a dozen states, including Texas, have filed a legal brief in support of Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

A”friend of the court” brief filed with the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday argues that a federal judge was wrong to block implementation of key provisions of the law.

The brief submitted by Michigan Attorney General Michael Cox argues that the judge used the wrong legal standard to rule on the U.S. Justice Department’s request for a preliminary injunction.

It also says the judge erred in ruling that the law interferes with the executive branch’s immigration enforcement priorities.

Other states joining in the filing include Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia.

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]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/another-reason-to-fire-terry-abbott/feed/ 0 Developing Houston: Why the #StopHeightsWalmart Campaign Is an Exercise in Classism http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/developing-houston-why-the-stopheightswalmart-campaign-is-an-exercise-in-classism/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/developing-houston-why-the-stopheightswalmart-campaign-is-an-exercise-in-classism/#comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:27:18 +0000 JaimeRafael http://www.confrijoles.com/?p=957

Walmart Heights: Not In My Backyard

The manufactured controversy over the development of a new Walmart in Houston’s Heights neighborhood is about as ridiculous and hyperbolic as the so-called Tea Party Movement. Harsh words, but they ring true. The people up-in-arms about the planned and almost definite construction of a Walmart Supercenter just south of I-10 on Yale are angry because it’s Walmart, but more and more the nasty face of classism is making itself known.

Many people who now make up the most vocal populations in the Heights, West End, and surrounding neighborhoods are, for the most part, relatively new inhabitants in the area. I grew up, not in the Heights, but next to the Heights. I went to high school, however, at St. Thomas (which is on the edge of the Heights), and several of my family members and extended family members went to school at either Reagan High School or Hamilton High School. So, I know of one of this city’s most beloved locales fairly well. I was also there through the transition. I watched some of my favorite neighborhood places get torn down, remade, and/or changed to suit the new influx of people buying into the area.

First developed as a “Street Car Suburb,” in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Heights fell into economic disarray after the exodus of white residents beginning in the 1950s. That all changed at the turn of the 21st century. Minute Maid park was right downtown, the Metro LightRail began servicing Downtown, and the so-called “rebirth” of Houston’s Innerloop began. Beginning in the mid to late ’90s, the older houses that were sold after White Flight to less affluent minorities and lower-middle class whites, were being bought and sold to people who now wanted to experience big city-urban life. In the last fifteen years, the Heights and the West End, went from being a “ghetto” many people drove around, to being the darling of every newly minted yuppie. Beautiful turn-of-the-century Heights homes, and great little mid-century West End bungalows were torn down to make room for disgustingly generic town homes. Great old haunts were being bought out and replaced by homogenized franchise establishments. In short a micro-culture was lost to the new influx of young, affluent, self-interested people. Fast forward to Summer 2010, and we get the current ruckus over Walmart.

This is my problem with the anger over Walmart infiltrating the Innerloop: It is hypocritical to say that such a store will be detrimental to the neighborhood after so many of its current residents have already destroyed much of its culture and historical value. These are the same people that bought stucco monstrosities from the likes of Bob Perry. These are the same people that forced, and tried to force, great Houston haunts like Mary Janes, Silky’s, and Walter’s, out of business so that they could try to build their own version of Austin’s sixth street. The people who oppose the Walmart, namely those who run #StopHeightsWalmart, are fighting a battle that is not based on some altruistic notion of worker’s rights or fair trade practices. No they are fighting a battle much like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are fighting; they are fighting to keep the identity of their little piece of the country the same. In fact, here is a self-description of the community this group says they represent:

The West End is a redeveloping neighborhood, with a heavy mixture of recent and new construction patio and town homes, next to some mid century pier and beam construction. Most older construction homes have fallen into disrepair, and the neighborhood has become a targeted area for younger singles, couples, and some families to relocate nearer to Downtown, and with a central location close to the heart of the city.  The neighborhood also borders the bustling Washington Ave Corridor. (StopHeightsWalmart.org)

No where in this description does it talk about the people who have not sold out yet. Where are the people who have lived in the West End for 30 years or more? I guess they’re the ones with “older construction homes” that have “fallen into disrepair.” This description of the inner city makes it out to be a pristinely planned community that’s practically brand-new and virginal to the ravaging effects of one too many cars. In reality, the Washington Avenue Corridor is one of the city’s oldest and busiest commerce routes to and from the west. The planned location once held a large and important steel manufacturing company. Johnny Franks gave the many other factories a run for their money in terms of drawing traffic. The Sunbeam bread factory is also a major draw to the area. And, I won’t even start discussing the massive rice mill that once banked Memorial Drive.

The argument against the Heights Walmart is not about being against Walmart, it’s about the people of Walmart. Opponents of the store can lament over the destruction of great neighborhoods and they can finance their private economic impact studies, but if this store were planned for a different part of the Innerloop their vocal objections would be non-existent. If they are so worried about the “responsible development” of Houston, why is this group ignoring the approval by City Hall for companies to drill for gas below Herman Park? Where’s the outrage over that?

]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/05/developing-houston-why-the-stopheightswalmart-campaign-is-an-exercise-in-classism/feed/ 0 UH-Downtown Hosts a Deputee Voter Registrar Swearing In http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/04/uh-downtown-hosts-a-deputee-voter-registrar-swearing-in/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/04/uh-downtown-hosts-a-deputee-voter-registrar-swearing-in/#comments Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:38:36 +0000 JaimeRafael http://www.confrijoles.com/?p=959 The University of Houston-Downtown

Election day 2010 is less than 9 weeks away, and it’s gonna be ugly for someone. I’m hoping that rational people will show up to the polls and vote for Democrats, but if you believe the talking heads this isn’t very likely.

The key to winning this year will be voter turnout. If Democrats can get voters to the polls, they will win, and with all the trouble in Harris County over alleged voter fraud and mysterious fires that destroy an entire cache of electronic voting machines, every new vote can be the vote to turn the election. That’s why it’s great to see the University of Houston-Downtown sponsoring an event to deputize new volunteer voter registrars. Registration for the event ends next Wed., September 8th, and the actual swearing in is on Friday, September 10. Have a look at the flier down below.
Deputize Voter Registration Flyer 09-08-10

]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/09/04/uh-downtown-hosts-a-deputee-voter-registrar-swearing-in/feed/ 0 VotoLatino is Hiring Field Organizers http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/votolatino-is-hiring-field-organizers/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/votolatino-is-hiring-field-organizers/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:56:28 +0000 JaimeRafael http://www.confrijoles.com/?p=928

Voto Latino is hiring Field Organizers in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Florida, and California.

Voto Latino seeks to immediately hire several field organizers for its United We Win 2010 mid-term elections voter registration campaign. The organizer will be responsible for conducting non-partisan voter registration in Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Diego, Houston, Dallas, Rio Grande Valley, Denver, and southern Florida.

The ideal candidates will be experienced in handling a wide range of grassroots organizing tasks, will be detail oriented, and will be self-starters with the ability to work independently with little or no supervision. This person must be well-organized, and work well under pressure while remaining flexible, resourceful, and efficient.

This individuals will form part of Voto Latino’s national United We Win campaign team. Founded in 2004, Voto Latino is the first and leading national, nonprofit, civic engagement organization to mobilize the fastest growing group of Americans – Latino youth.

The Field Organizers will:

- Register American Latino voters between the ages of 18 and 34 at a wide variety of locales, including but not limited to community college campuses, festivals, concerts, places of worship, and places of commerce
- Distribute United We Win campaign collateral to individuals and community groups
- Build local partnerships to maximize impact
- Recruit at least 20 local youth volunteers to maximize impact
- Report to Voto Latino’s national, Washington, D.C. office on a daily basis

MUST HAVE:

-Excellent interpersonal skills
-Excellent time management skills
-Strong knowledge of local Latino demographics
-Strong verbal and written skills
-Strong knowledge of social media and digital technology
-Strong interest in Latino politics and civic life

STRONGLY PREFER:
-2+ years experience with grassroots organizing or political campaigns, or 3+ years in a communications field
-Contacts at universities, NGOs, and community groups in the region

Compensation is commensurate with experience. Candidates will need to have their own car, as this position will require significant travel across the area.

To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to jobs@votolatino.org with “Field Organizer Position – (Preferred Location)” in the subject line.

]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/votolatino-is-hiring-field-organizers/feed/ 0 Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-29 http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-08-29/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-08-29/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 05:33:00 +0000 brownboyrocks http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-08-29/

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]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-08-29/feed/ 0 Tax Cuts For Corporations Don’t Help Workers http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/tax-cuts-for-corporations-dont-help-workers/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/tax-cuts-for-corporations-dont-help-workers/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 02:40:20 +0000 JaimeRafael http://www.confrijoles.com/?p=931

I received the following comment that didn’t really fit where it was posted, yet I still wanted to respond to it. I’ll just do that here. First I’ll let you read the post.

In the Aug 25 Houston Chronicle, race and ethnic politics expert Victoria DeFrancesco Soto cautions that President Obama’s current proposed tax increases on the US oil and gas industry not only runs counter to efforts to revitalize the economy but would disproportionately affect communities of color: The Latino community has been especially hard hit in this recession with unemployment rates consistently above that of the national average. Even in the midst of the immigration debate, jobs still remain the top concern for Latinos, as shown in a recent AP-Univision poll … Amid the deepest recession we have seen in 70 years, every effort should be made to balance environmental, security and economic concerns. These goals are not mutually exclusive; however, recent legislation seeks to make them so.
For example, an amendment added earlier this month to the Senate’s “Small Business Jobs” bill by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., repeals a tax credit currently available to all American manufacturers. If passed, this amendment would have the perverse effect of cutting U.S. jobs, increasing our energy prices, and providing foreign firms a competitive advantage. I invite Baucus to come to Harris County, Texas, and see for himself how his proposal fares with the thousands of people whose livelihood depends on American oil and gas companies … In 2008, more than 67 percent of the Latino population voted for Barack Obama. Spending more than $20 million to target their community alone, his campaign was the most aggressive to date in courting the Latino vote. Candidate Obama and now President Obama promised he would protect the jobs of Latinos. In this high stakes energy debate, he has an opportunity to do just that. Visit the Houston Chronicle to read the full piece.
Victoria DeFrancesco Soto’s work political psychology and race and ethnic politics gives her a unique perspective on issues that will play into this November’s elections. Her research projects examine the influence of social group identity on political behavior, in particular with regards to campaigns; black-Latino intergroup relations; comparative race studies; and attitudes toward immigration. A third major component of DeFrancesco Soto’s research is the area of campaign media effects, where she and Jennifer Merolla were the first to publish a study on the role of Latino-angled campaign advertisements on electoral behavior in 2006.To speak with Dr. DeFrancesco Soto, email media@DeFrancescoSoto.com or call +1-202-579-1103.

I won’t call myself an expert, but I do have a few responses to this comment, and the news article it’s promoting. There are many Latino people who work in the oil industry, my father was one of them, but the affect of a petroleum tax is not something that workers in the industry should really be worried about. The multi-billion dollar corporations that are adamantly opposed to any form of tax, are cutting jobs and reducing workforces without the tax. The point of a corporation is to make money, and they make money by paying people as little as possible and getting as much work out of their body’s as possible. The one thing that forces companies like these to support their employees is well-being is a federal tax that supports the entire country’s well-being. If corporations wanted to “revitalize the economy,” they would not be sitting on top of more than $800 billion of cash. 1  Appealing to the economics hardships of Latino people who are hurting more than others for the benefit of those who hurt them in the first place is a disgusting tactic of the oil companies.

Notes:

  1. “Corporate Cash Hoarding Isn’t Sustainable,”Fortune, 2 August 2010. ↩
]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/tax-cuts-for-corporations-dont-help-workers/feed/ 0 Reading Marx: Learning to Reject the False Prophets of Profit http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/reading-marx-learning-to-reject-the-false-prophets-of-profit/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/29/reading-marx-learning-to-reject-the-false-prophets-of-profit/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 01:00:51 +0000 JaimeRafael http://www.confrijoles.com/?p=927 I would like to know who this artist is. I like his/her work.

“The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.” 1

For too long the work of Karl Marx has been dismissed in the United States. The Red Scare, McCarthyism, and the Cold War, all made it a nearly treasonous act to study and promote the works of Marx in this country, and because of this the religiosity of free-marketers has been allowed to reign unchecked for half a century. Political, economic, and social modes of thinking in the United States must revisit the works of Marx and his intellectual descendants in order to better understand the forces of brutal capitalism. Most of all we need to learn how to reject the false prophets of profit.

The quote atop this post is from Marx’s “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” that was first published in 1852 as an article in the New York magazine Die Revolution. 2 In this essay, Marx investigates the farce that was the February Revolution of 1851 and argues that the coup d’etat of Louis Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I, was but a return to the “oldest form, to the shamelessly simple domination of the sabre and the cowl.” Rather than destroy the feudal systems of domination that lingered well into the 19th century, the February Revolution actually restored those modes of power. 3 The importance of this essay to the current state of affairs in the United States cannot be mistaken.

Today, on the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream,” speech thousands of foolish people are listening to a man who “invoked the founding fathers and the ‘black-robed regiment’ of pastors of the Revolutionary War.” 4 This person, with a worldwide audience of buffoons hanging on his every disingenuous word, is conjuring the perverted ghosts of American history in order to advance his fake bourgeois revolution. Appealing to god, country, and ways of old, this teabagger icon appropriates some of the greatest of American ideals, and has now appropriated the day, the memory, and the space, of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest moments. The pseudo-celebrity of this Faux News anchor has mutated into what his supporters, and the circle-jerking media, call a movement by doing exactly what Marx says Louis Bonaparte did in 1851.

By appealing to the base fears of American society, people like those who today desecrated the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are attempting to rewrite the course of history. Unlike the cunning of Louis Bonaparte, the current crop of neo-liberal charlatans are blatantly calling for a return to an era that so many working class people fought and died to make disappear. These people, so-called tea party patriots drape themselves in the constitution, yet rip it apart to suit their xenophobic desires. Marx’s criticism of the false February Revolution certainly applies to the actions of the tea party because this corporate financed “movement” operates not for the advancement of society, of American democracy, or even spiritual glory, but for the benefit of the uber-wealthy. If the tea party wins influence in November the American people will see a  massive drop in public spending, infrastructure, education, health-care, and the list will go on. These false prophets of profit will see America turn to rubble while they build their palaces and transition from their roles as de facto American nobility to de jure nobility with titles, land grants, and the political power to complete the circle.

The burden here falls on the educated classes. Those who had the privilege and time to read Marx’s work, understand it, and concur with his arguments, are bound by their duty to call the tea party for what it is, a ruse perpetrated by the powerful. By rephrasing Marxist thought in the terms of inclusion, democracy, and appeals to the highest standards of human decency, the stigmas of 20th century Stalinism and Maoism, can be overcome. Karl Marx is only revolutionary because the same feudalistic powers that controlled the world in the 17th and 18th centuries are still lingering like putrid smells of a rotting slaughterhouse. As Marx says: “Society now seems to have fallen back behind its point of departure; it has in truth first to create for itself the revolutionary point of departure, the situation, the relationships, the conditions, under which modern revolutions alone becomes serious.” 5 We must not allow the Civil Rights Movement to be usurped by the purveyors of hate. Determining who and what we are fighting for is absolutely necessary to be successful in the American Endeavor, and the work of Karl Marx is the place to start.

Living in the land of the “free-market” it is easy to forget that there are other ways of living life especially when you get people like those who drink the kool-aid at tea parties clamoring for “their country back”. If people want to be serious about change, than one of the places we need to look to find our way is in the works of Marx. The United States is a fully developed industrial country, even if we stopped being as industrial as we once were, and our system of democracy, if un-perverted, can successfully begin the transition to a more equitable society. It’s time to revisit Marx with an open mind so that we can learn about the tactics of false prophets of profit.

Notes:

  1. Karl Marx, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” in Robert C. Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engels Reader (2nd ed.; New York, 1978), 595. ↩
  2. Robert Tucker, The Marx-Engels Reader (2nd ed.; New York, 1978), 594. ↩
  3. Marx, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” 597. ↩
  4. I’m referring, here, to Gle.n B.eck. I refuse to use his name in my posts, and so I’ll only refer to him by his actions and vomit-speech. “In Washington, a Call for Religious Rebirth,” New York Times, 28 August 2010 (quote). ↩
  5. Marx, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” 597. ↩
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]]> http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/22/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-08-22/feed/ 0 Save KTRU Rice Radio http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/17/save-ktru-rice-radio/ http://www.confrijoles.com/2010/08/17/save-ktru-rice-radio/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:04:38 +0000 JaimeRafael http://www.confrijoles.com/?p=910

Let Rice Know You’re Unhappy.

A website was just put up to help gin up support for KTRU. Students, alumni, and invested interests are trying to keep Rice University from selling the 91.7 FM frequency and tower. There’s also a petition you can sign, if you’re so inclined. I say do what it takes to keep KTRU on Houston’s airwaves because it is an amazing resource that celebrates the city’s diversity.

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