say NO to SAN JOSE POLICE BRUTALITY, support the Custodio family

I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jcfc?e

I really think this is an important cause to help the Filipino community and other communities of color locally in Silicon Valley, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time.

please support the Custodio family of San Jose, CA ... thank you!

Peter C


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Warm greetings!

While some celebrated love this past February, the Custodio family in San Jose, CA will remember the horrible incident of police brutality and misconduct they experienced on February 5th. Since then, the family has courageously stepped out of the silence that blankets so many of our families stories to say NO TO POLICE BRUTALITY! Allies, friends and other victims of police brutality have all joined alongside the Custodio family forming the JUSTICE FOR CUSTODIO FAMILY COMMITTEE which launched its campaign this past May 15th with a press conference in front of the Superior Court in San Jose, CA.

The momentum is building and we're asking for you to help keep it moving! Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to read our statement (here at the bottom of this email) and if you agree with us that our families deserve respect not brutality and you want to make your voice heard, please sign our online petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jcfc/index.html

If after signing the petition you still want to do more, please email us at Justice4custodios@gmail.com and we'll put you in our database and email you when we have actions, court dates, press conferences, dinners, or committee general meetings.

JUSTICE FOR THE CUSTODIO FAMILY!
DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST THE FAMILY NOW!
PROSECUTE THE OFFENDING OFFICERS!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS AND FAMILIES AFFECTED BY POLICE BRUTALITY!

SJPD RESPECT OUR FAMILIES!!!!



========================================================================

Drop the Charges Against
the Custodio Family Now!

Charge the Offending Officers!

Unite in Justice for the Victims of
Police Brutality!


Marlo (age 18), Romel (age 25), and Marilou (age 50) Custodio, three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley in San Jose, CA were subjected to a series of unprovoked attacks by multiple members of the San Jose Police Department (SJPD)and later arrested to cover up these acts of outrageous police brutality. The beatings occurred in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7-8 p.m.

Eight police officers participated in the beatings and two officers observed. Examples of use of excessive force include:

One officer slammed Marilou's head against a police car three times. Marilou suffers
post-traumatic anxiety and trauma due to the police beating. She is a single mother.

Five officers swarmed, tackled, and brutalized Romel. Already pacified, Romel was still tasered with three weapons for 40 seconds (over the usual time limit) and had to seek medical treatment for physical injury and taser burns.

One officer choked and tasered Marlo even while he was following police orders;afterwards, another officer kneed Marlo in the face.

In late 2005 prior to Custodio family incident, the County of Santa Clara convened a civil Grant Jury to assess the possible "department-wide problem of racial profiling" in the SJPD. In May 2006, the County of Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury found "legitimate concern" regarding police use of excessive force and that the San Jose Police Department institutionally encourages police officers to disproportionately target, question,
search and arrest African-Americans, Latinos and other people of color.

Local organizations and concerned individuals strongly criticize the police and the city for this incident and many other similar incidents. A heavy burden lies with the District Attorney's Office to drop the charges against the Custodio family, grant them justice, take disciplinary action against the perpetrators and bystanders of the beatings, prosecute them, and to act decisively. We invite our friends and community organizations the support and join the campaign.

------------------------

JUSTICE FOR THE CUSTODIO FAMILY NOW
Oppose racial profiling and the use of excessive force by San Jose police officers & support the Justice for Custodio Campaign

The Justice for Custodio Family Campaign supports the family members who experienced police brutuality and their struggle for genuine justice and provides community education on racial profiling, know your rights, and social justice. At present, participating local organizations in the campaign include Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), Justice for Palestine, DEBUG, MAIZ, and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability.

For questions or to join the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign please email: Justice4custodios@gmail.com

PH Election Surprises?

I'm not sure why the so-called "trusted source of news and information" from the U.S. claims "unexpected opposition gains." For months, voter surveys (SWS, IBON, Pulse Asia, etc) indicate folks want Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to GO and very strong support for progressive party lists.

US propaganda reports:

Exit polls in the Philippines are suggesting that the opposition did better than expected in Monday's congressional elections. However, President Gloria Arroyo is still expected to keep control of the House of Representatives, where two attempts to impeach her were defeated by her allies. Meanwhile, violence continues to take its toll on the political process.

Here's a running account of electoral fraud and violence.

San Jose Police Brutality and Racial Profiling of Filipino Family Condemned

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2007
CONTACT: Raj Jayadev (408) 757-5875

San Jose Police Brutality and Racial Profiling of Filipino Family Condemned
Community Demands the District Attorney's Office to Drop Charges Against Family Members and Prosecute the Offending Officers Immediately

WHAT: Press Conference -- "Campaign Against Police Brutality and Support Filipino Family" with speakers from the Asian Law Alliance, Coalition for Justice and Accountability, and several local community organizations

WHEN: TUESDAY, May 15, 2007, 12 noon

WHERE: Public assembly area outside of the Superior Court, 190 West Hedding St, San Jose, CA, 95110

San Jose, CA-- San Jose police officers used unnecessary excessive force and racially profiled Marlo (18), Romel (25), and Marilou Custodio(50), three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley. The beatings occurred in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7pm.

One officer slammed Marilou's head against a police car three times. Marilou is the single mother of Marlo and Romel and is employed in a professional occupation. After experiencing the police beating, she is suffering from post-traumatic anxiety.

Several officers physically brutalized Romel, age 25. Already pacified, officers still used tasers on him. After the incident, Romel sought medical treatment for the physical injury and excessive taser burns. Also, an officer choked Marlo, age 18 and another kneed him in the face.

"I'm appalled with police conduct against the Custodio family and urge the District Attorney's Office to drop charges against the family members right away," said Dr. Peter Chua, sociology professor at San Jose State University. "This is a clear case of police misconduct and hypocrisy. The police charged them with resisting arrest. The offending officers should be facing criminal charges."

"The San Jose Police Department has been under scrutiny recently for its routine and systematic practice of racial profiling against the Blacks and Latinos in the city and for use of excessive force against poor, racial, and immigrant communities," said Rowena Tomaneng, member of the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign and of MALAYA, a San Jose Filipina women's organization.

The Justice for Custodio Family Campaign supports the family members who experienced police brutality and their struggle for genuine justice and provides community education on racial profiling, know your rights, and social justice. At present, participating local organizations in the campaign include Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), Silicon Valley De-Bug, and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability as well many concerned individuals.

# # #

URGENT ACTION--DEMAND JUSTICE FOR CUSTODIO FAMILY & SAN JOSE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

Dear Friends and Supporters of the Filipino Community:

Please distribute to your contacts!!!

The Justice for Custodio Family Committee (JCFC), San Jose, Ca and Coalition for Justice and Accountability(CJA), San Jose, Ca condemn the San Jose Police Department and the City Government for the brutal use of excessive force against three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley.

Marlo Custodio (age 18), Romel Custodio (age 25), and their mother Marilou Custodio (age 50), experienced RACIAL PROFILING AND UNNECESSARY EXCESSIVE FORCEduring unprovoked questioning and arrest without probable cause. The excessive force includes:
-- An officer slamming Marilou's head against a police car three times.
-- 5 officers beating Romel and three of them tasering him for 40 seconds (over the usual time limit).
-- An officer choking, beating, and tasering Marlo even while he was
following orders.
The family is now suffering from post-traumatic anxiety due to the police brutality.

The beatings occured in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7-8 p.m. Eight police officers participated in the beatings and two officers observed.

We invite friends, community organizations, and supporters of the Filipino community, and victims of Racial Profiling and Police Brutality to join this campaign for Justice and Police Accountability.

JCFC, CJA, and other local organizations and concerned individuals are gathering for a press conference on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 from 11:30a.m.- 12:30 p.m. We are also attending the hearing proceedings with the Custodio family between 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. More Details Below:


Justice for Custodio Family
Press Conference
TUESDAY, MAY 15TH
11:30A.M.-12:30 P.M.
SUPERIOR COURT
190 W. HEDDING
SAN JOSE, CA


Meet in front of the court house at 11:30 a.m.
Wear white shirts to show unity and solidarity with the family.
Bring placards that demand justice and police accountability, an end to
racial profiling and police brutality, prosecution of police who brutalize our
community, etc.


For more info: contact Rowena at (650)743-9349 or filipineza@aol.com


The Justice for Custodio Family Committee (JCFC) is a coalition of Filipino organizations in the South Bay, which includes Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), and the Filipino National Historical Society (FAHNS). We seek to gain effective and adequate legal representation for the Custodio family members who experienced police brutality, to raise funds to support the Custodio family (a single parent household), and to conduct community education on racial profiling, know-your-rights, and social justice.

Will The Rock Play Captain Marvel in 'Shazam!' after Getting Smart

Though Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (recent 35th bday) has dabbled in video game adaptations (Doom) and big-budget fantasy flicks (The Scorpion King), surprisingly, he has yet to try on a superhero costume. But that might change, as the actor has expressed interest in playing Captain Marvel for the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Shazam!

He is planned to be in the movie adaptation of the 1960s sitcom, Get Smart.

Island power rules!

some halal food in southern Philippines

- unleavened roti bread in lamb oil: plain or with beef, chicken, or egg
- satti with chicken or liver

Places in Zamboanga such as Tini's and Jimmy's Satti serve halal dishes where you can get hot or cold tea tarik and local kahawa coffee.

VOTE KABATAAN PARTY!

KUNG MAHAL MO BAYAN PANDRAYA LABANAN.
POL KILINGS 22LAN!
SA TRAPO WAG PALOKO PROGRSIBO IBOTO.
FWD 2 10 PPL IN U.S & PHILS.
VOTE KABATAAN PARTY!

FROM TEXT BACK (Brgde Against Chtng & Killngs)- USA
____________ _________ _________

(Translation: If you love our motherland, fight against cheating. Oppose political killings! Don't be fooled by traditional politicians, vote for progressives)

Our votes may not count, but our voices will be heard: No to cheating! Stop Political Killings!
Vote for Progressive Party Lists!

Statement on the arrest of two PUP Sociology Students by the Military in Caluag, Quezon

The PUP students who were captured by the troops of the 4th Infantry Battalion on the allegation that they are NPA recruits are legitimately enrolled in our university. They are in fact doing their summer course in community organizing, a course requirement for their curriculum in Bachelor of Science in Sociology, traditionally being done every summer between April and May of each school year. There is no way they could be there in Quezon province to participate in rebellious or subversive activities as alleged by their captors. The undersigned groups in PUP strongly condemn such arbitrary arrests of civilians, most particularly our students. We are also urging the concerned authorities to immediately release Jihan Manampad and Rina Togonon and stop pursuing their eight other classmates who are also doing community organizing work in the same area. Any actions from the military that violate the human rights of such students under their custody will be legally pursued by the academic community and organizations in PUP.

We are also seeking the support of the PUP administration, the faculty, employees and students for the two students now being falsely charged of rebellion by the military. Currently, the teacher of the students, Prof. Justine Nicolas, is negotiating for the release of his students and is himself in the same risk of possible arrest. The PUP administration should act decisively on this matter as it involves not only the basic rights of students and teachers but also and more importantly the core principles of academic freedom, which every university must uphold.

Release our BSS 3-1 students, Jihan Manampad and Rina Togonon! Stop pursuing legitimate students in the course of fieldwork for their academic work!


Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy–PUP (CONTEND-PUP)

Faculty Circle—PUP

Unyon ng mga Kawani—PUP (UNAKA)

Unyon ng mga Guro sa PUP (UGPUP)

University Center for Human Rights Research and Education (UCHURRE)

Monday, May 7, 2007 11:01:57 PM (philippines)

food image: green tea panna cotta

Source: she who eats blog.

On undocumented migrants in rural England

P. Hetherington of the Guardian ("Old shame haunts new slave market," 2 May 07) comments on "deceptive, systematic underpayment and appalling living conditions" of undocumented migrants in England:

A Lithuanian journalist who posed as a migrant worker found that many co-workers were subjected to deception, systematic underpayment and appalling living conditions...

When Society Guardian recorded the desperate plight of migrant workers in the east of England three months ago - from poverty pay under the minimum wage to grossly overcrowded housing - the response was probably not what we expected...

J. Butler theorizing migrant politics by linking Arendt and Said

Butler wrote the following for the London Review of Books, "I merely belong to them" (10 May 07):

Arendt could be said to have embraced a diasporic politics, centred not on a Jewish homeland but on the rights of the stateless. To read her now is to be reminded of the passages in Edward Said’s book Freud and the Non-European where he suggests that Jews and Palestinians might find commonality in their shared history of exile and dispossession, and that diaspora could become the basis of a common polity in the Middle East. Said sees the basis of solidarity, in part, as the ‘irremediably diasporic, unhoused character of Jewish life’, which aligns it ‘in our age of vast population transfers’ with ‘refugees, exiles, expatriates and immigrants’. If Arendt sometimes argues for home and for belonging (though she does this less frequently over time), it is not to call for a polity built on those established ties of fealty. A polity requires the capacity to live with others precisely when there is no obvious mode of belonging. This is the vanquishing of self-love – the movement away from narcissism and nationalism – which forms the basis for a just politics that would oppose both nationalism and those forms of state violence that reproduce statelessness and its sufferings.

More thoughtful analysis is regarding the "transfers" of refugees, exiles, expatriates, immigrants, and similar groups.

On desire and cultural imperialism

A kiss is but a kiss... from Economist's article on "It started with a kiss: India’s moral police blow their whistles" (2 May 07):

India’s freedom fighters—and subsequent nationalists—revered chastity. For them it was a defining Indian virtue, separating them from the more permissive West. According to Dipankar Gupta, a sociologist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi: “Kissing went off-screen primarily because of our desire to capture the high moral ground against the British.” But thanks to globalisation, young Indians have become more like the louche Westerners the bigots deride. “We’re in a bit of a cleft,” says Mr Gupta.

Alway nice to read commentary from Third World sociologists. Still, I don't agree with Gupta's analysis here.

On "fashionable racism"

Against "fashionable racism."

I find this term to be an interesting redefinition linking personal expression and aesthetic racism, yet more institutional analysis is needed.

Biopic of Young K.M. in the Works

Haitian filmaker Raoul Peck (worked on Lumumba) is looking to chronicle the philosopher's young life -- from 1830-1848, from age 12 to 30. This span will allow the auteur to cover notable pieces of his youth, including growing up surrounded by intellectuals, his time as a Young Hegelian, his love for Jenny von Westphalen (his aristocratic wife), meeting F.E. and the publishing of the C. Manifesto.

See http://www.cinematical.com/2007/05/04/biopic-of-young-karl-marx-in-the-works/

Apr27 issue of the Economist: SV deportation; PH dictator; victim blaming; entrepreneurs again; and capitalist restoration

On Silicon Valley: Deportation Order and "Brain Circulation"

SILICON VALLEY, as the old joke goes, was built on ICs—Indians and Chinese that is, not integrated circuits. As of the last decennial census, in 2000, more than half of all the engineers in the valley were foreign-born, and about half of those were either Indian or Chinese—and since 2000 the ratio of Indians and Chinese is reckoned to have gone up steeply. Understandably, therefore Silicon Valley has strong views on America's visa regime.

The latest reminder of the power of the “quota raj”, as Indians like to call it, came on April 2nd, the day the Citizenship and Immigration Services began receiving applications from employers for this year's batch of H-1B visas, a special class of visa that allows highly qualified foreigners such as software programmers to work in America for up to six years.....

AnnaLee Saxenian, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and author of “The New Argonauts”, a book on the subject, argues that the exact opposite is the case. It might be called brain circulation.

Immigrants, she maintains, tend not to leave a place altogether. They form networks that, in effect, make Silicon Valley the head office and their home countries the branch offices. That's what the Taiwanese and Israelis who came to Silicon Valley in the 1970s and 1980s did, and the Indians and Chinese followed the same pattern.

I'm not sure if "brain circulation" adequately describes highly trained and educated contract workers in the Silicon Valley and other U.S. areas. I suspect that only a very select of these contract workers (with H1-B visas or student visas if they are in graduate school) have sufficient resources to become transnational capitalist entrepreneurs. If they are already from elite and well-off families in India, China/Taiwan/Hong Kong, and other Third World areas, then maybe there educational training and transnational political-economic networks can make it possible for them to shuttle back and forth and circulate their "brain." More likely, U.S. homeland security will ask any H1-B visa workers in the U.S. who are not from elite families to leave once their visa expires, re-negotiate their labor (at a lower cost) back home, and find work again outside of their home country.

Also, the title of this article on "deportation" is misleading and hides from the reader the horrific experiences that many (both authorized and unauthorized) migrants who are not very rich face during detention, deportation, and inadmissibility activities. Further, the title conflates the terms "immigrants" with "contract migrants," ignoring the often miserable working conditions of both low wage and seemingly high paid contract workers in the U.S.

On The Philippines' elections: Celebrity big ballot and "An Elected Dictatorship"

This article makes several interesting observations:

VOTERS taking part in the Philippines' mid-term elections on May 14th will be put through an absurd ordeal. They must memorise the names of up to 18 candidates for various positions in national and local government and enter these by hand on a blank ballot-paper. What this means is that those with the best-known names, not necessarily the best policies, tend to win....

Mrs Arroyo's coalition, Team Unity, wants a strong mandate to unclog the corridors of power by changing the constitution to replace presidential rule with parliamentary government. But it has kept quiet about this issue, knowing that any talk of changing the constitution inevitably stokes public suspicion that it is some sort of plot to establish an elected dictatorship. Last December the threat of mass public protests forced Mrs Arroyo to drop an attempt to ram the charter-change through Congress.

We have to wait to see that extent to which the current dictator will use election fraud and violence to stay in power and the mass public protests will force the dictator out of office. And what does it really mean to say "elected dictatorship"? Dictators are not elected by the People; they sneak, cheat, and use corruption and violence to run the country.

On Another day, another $1.08 and Blaming the Victim Again

Why, for example, do more Ghanaian farmers not cultivate pineapples, which would fetch returns of 250-300% by some estimates? Why do so few farmers in western Kenya dress their fields with fertiliser, even after the benefits have been demonstrated to them?

“One senses a reluctance of poor people to commit themselves psychologically to a project of making more money,” the authors write. When you live on a dollar a day it may be painful to confront your circumstances too squarely, or even to aspire to better things. The “great redeeming feature of poverty,” George Orwell wrote after his excursions in the social gutters of Paris and London, is “the fact that it annihilates the future”.

Again and again, I ask why do academic economists in the Third World blame the Third World poor for creating their own conditions, their lack of psychological "aspiration," and the poor's seeming inability to strive for a better future under capitalism. I wonder why? Duh!

On Joseph Schumpeter and Entrepreneurs Again

Modern economic historians remind the business world of J. Schumpeter's teachings: that capitalism is great; that entrepreneurs as risk takers are the main engine of capitalist innovation; and that inequality and social problems are a small price to pay for material progress. I guest Schumpeter likes migrants with lots of money (such as those in Silicon Valley [see the first summary above]). Where did these entrepreneurs get the money in the first place? Was it theft? Someone forgot to read and learn from the "primitive accumulation" chapter written by another more famous economist and political thinker.

On the Death of Boris Yeltsin and Rebirth and Restoration of Russian Capitalism

Here is an interesting commentary on what jump-started capitalist restoration in Russia:

For millions of Russians, it seemed that Mr Yeltsin's liberalisation of prices in 1992—not the bankruptcy of the Soviet Union—had plunged them into poverty. He refused to back off. Unlike Mr Gorbachev, he did not want to reform the communist system. He wanted to break its neck. His mass privatisation, which destroyed the basis of the regime, created robber barons too, and a communist backlash was never far away. In 1993 armed communists and fascists tried to overthrow Mr Yeltsin's government; he shelled the hostile parliament. In 1996 communists almost won the presidential elections; by twisting the rules, he saved himself and his country.

Yeltsin seems to be just continuing the restoration policies and reform programs set into motion by Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Grobachev.

All Out for May Day Marches; No to the Gutierrez-Flake bill

Pro-migrant groups celebrate May 1st across the U.S. For example, the centrist Mexican American Political Association calls for improved conditions for all workers and stand against:

• No guarantee of permanent legal status, seriously delays by six to more years the temporary status, and thus, legal uncertainty, and charges exorbitant fees
• A process for permanent resident visa application could extend from five to twenty years depending on the country of origin
• Further criminalization against unauthorized migrants
• More onerous interior enforcement measures to criminalize the poor further
• Use local police to arrest and detain migrants
• More expedited removal by DHS without due process
• More onerous employer sanctions hurting workers
• Increase criminal penalties against migrant workers
• Pro-employer guest-worker program
  

May 1st is International Worker’s Day to celebrate the social and economic achievements of the global labor movement by commemorating the executions after the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, which started on May 1 and ended on May 4.