This May 1st, immigrant communities and citizens alike will hit the streets to say no to Arizona's new "show me your papers law" and yes to real, federal action on immigration reform this year. Eighty cities across the country are gearing up for major rallies, marches, and protests tomorrow. Students who had come in from New York, Florida, and California to participate in the Washington protests led their own action in front of Governor Jan Brewer's DC office today. They chanted, "Arizona, Shame On You! Immigrants Are People, Too!"

Watch it:

Tomorrow's marches are a follow-up to the major March for America: Change Takes Courage, which drew over 200,000 people to the National Mall on March 21st. At that event, President Obama delivered a firm message promising he'd work on comprehensive immigration reform "this year." Now, with Arizona's new law driving already-desperate communities into action, we're likely to see events in Chicago, New York, and L.A. turn out tens of thousands of people.

At the DC event, 40 protesters will go so far as to risk arrest, practicing peaceful civil disobedience in the face of cynical Washington politics.

Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change, writes today at Huffington Post:

Tomorrow, there will be over 80 demonstrations in favor of immigration reform across America. One of them will be in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. There, some 40 dignitaries including a member of Congress, clergy, heads of organizations and community leaders will likely be arrested in acts of civil disobedience against unjust immigration enforcement and the political cowardice in addressing our broken immigration system. I will be one of those getting arrested.

I am willing to get arrested tomorrow because the massive deportations being undertaken by the Obama Administration are tearing apart families, separating children from their parents, risking the lives of disabled immigrants and vulnerable refugees, and spreading terror into our communities. I will be arrested because America needs to understand immigration reform is not merely a political issue; our broken system is a moral disaster unfolding in our nation. Civil disobedience is important at this point because it signals to our leaders that the current situation is so unjust and unsustainable that people are no longer willing to comply or be complicit in the injustices committed by our government.

Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who just announced that he intends to join in the civil disobedience, released this statement:

We have to keep the pressure on and let the President and Congress know we need immigration reform this year," the Congressman said Friday. "I am joining the rally in Washington because the effort to get immigration reform passed is escalating, the attacks on immigrants and immigration reform are escalating, and the Arizona law is a wake-up call that inaction at the federal level has huge consequences for communities, families, and individuals.

WHAT:   Rally for Immigration Reform

WHEN: Saturday May 1, at 2:00 p.m. ET (music program starts at 1:30 p.m.)

WHERE: Lafayette Square, (across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House)

In addition to civil disobedience, many May Day events will feature celebrities who are taking a stand against what happened in Arizona. Via Perez Hilton:

And if you're lucky enough to be in Los Angeles this weekend, go be a part of their march with guests like Gloria and Emilio Estefan also taking part!

It's not just a hispanic issue, it's one that affects everyone regardless of their background.

Last but not least, students who've walked 1,500 miles on what they are calling the "Trail of Dreams" will be a major part of the Washington, DC event. Watch their stories:

Find a protest near you.

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Friday morning on CNN Kiran Chetry spoke with Arizona's AG Terry Goddard about the raging drug war taking place along our southern border and how U.S. gun and drug laws are perpetuating the violence.

Since George Bush allowed the assault weapons ban to expire, the gun smuggling trade in the U.S. has skyrocketed and many of these weapons are ending up in the hands of Mexican drug lords and are responsible for thousands of murders. The right has been going bonkers, warning Democrats want to take everyone's guns from them and turn us into a nation of dopers, but it's high time they admit that our gun laws are aiding drug cartels and making it possible for them to get more drugs into our country.

Goddard points out that the vast majority of the drug cartel's income comes from the sale of marijuana which begs the questions - is it time to reinstate the assault weapons ban and legalize pot? Both President Obama and AG Eric Holder have said they want to reinstate the assault weapon ban, hopefully they will be successful. As for the legalization of pot, I think the time has come.

Boston Globe:

Rep. Barney Frank said he plans to file a bill to legalize "small amounts" of marijuana.

Frank announced his plans late Friday on the HBO show "Real Time," hosted by Bill Maher.

"I'm going to file a bill as soon as we go back to remove all federal penalties for the possession or use of small amounts of marijuana," Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, told Maher.

Frank didn't define "small amounts." Efforts to reach Frank on Saturday were not immediately successful.

Frank said he'd filed a similar bill in the Massachusetts Legislature in the 1970s, but hasn't tried since he was elected to Congress.

"I finally got to the point where I think I can get away with it," he said.

Frank said he thinks "its time for the politicians in this one to catch up to the public. The notion that you lock people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly."

I am totally for legalization of marijuana, but I have to differ with Frank on this: to think that at this time with this administration that you could get away with a bill legalizing pot actually is what sounds silly.

From The Largest Minority:

The United States is the only industrialized nation where hemp is not an established crop, much to the delight of oil, coal, and chemical industries which benefit from the ban.

Cultivation of hemp is currently illegal under US federal law thanks to the lobbying of the aforementioned groups. The California Narcotic Officers’ Association has testified that the passage of such a bill would only make law enforcement more difficult because farmers might hide illegal marijuana in their legal hemp fields. I could be wrong, but it seems like this association is either admitting that they’re too incompetent to do their jobs correctly, or they’re making the case for the legalization of marijuana so that they’re not forced to make the distinction. Either way, I say let the layoffs begin.

HomoMeter

TDS had a funny bit last week. A year after the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts, Ed Helms investigates to find out if the critics' worst fears have come true. Has gay marriage ruined Massachusetts?

Download | play -WMP

Download | play -QT

Does James Dobson have to quake in his boots?

The New York Times' Go To Guy For Right-Wing Pseudo Science On Race And Gender Roger Ailes

Today marks the first official appearance of Steve Sailer, writer for the white nationalist webrag, VDare, in an John Tierney op-ed column. Tierney has cited in the pages of the Times before, but not in his op-ed column.

Tierney's column is filled with "evolutionary psychology" mumbo-jumbo purporting to show that golf is a manifestation of mens' hunting instinct. (Next column: "Aiming At The Urinal Cake Reveals Nature's Plan For Male Dominance"). Perhaps the similarities between Tierney's column and this three-year old Sailer column reveal the natural male instinct to recycle crap.

The web version of Tierney's column approvingly links to another Sailer piece containing this profound analysis: "On the other hand, the Ladies Professional Golf Association's Nabisco Championship in Palm Springs has become one of the largest annual lesbian get-togethers in the United States, but, as Camille Paglia has noted, lesbians tend not to be interested in the classic visual arts, and, indeed, are often resentful of the prestige of Dead White European Male artists." Do Tierney and the Times endorse this bigotry?

You can read more about John Tierney's best buddy his bigoted pal in the pages of the Times before, but not in his op-ed column.

Tierney's column is filled with "evolutionary psychology" mumbo-jumbo purporting to show that golf is a manifestation of mens' hunting instinct. (Next column: "Aiming At The Urinal Cake Reveals Nature's Plan For Male Dominance"). Perhaps the similarities between Tierney's column and this three-year old Sailer column reveal the natural male instinct to recycle crap.

The web version of Tierney's column approvingly links to another Sailer piece containing this profound analysis: "On the other hand, the Ladies Professional Golf Association's Nabisco Championship in Palm Springs has become one of the largest annual lesbian get-togethers in the United States, but, as Camille Paglia has noted, lesbians tend not to be interested in the classic visual arts, and, indeed, are often resentful of the prestige of Dead White European Male artists." Do Tierney and the Times endorse this bigotry?

You can read more about John Tierney's best buddy here and here.

DEA strikes a blow against "marajuana legalization movement" 
Seeing the Fores

This is outrageous: The Canadian Police have arrested marajuana legalization activist Marc Emery (a Canadian citizen, and founder/head of the British Columbia Marajuana Party) and two employees of his marajuana seed distribution company. This was done at the request of the U.S. Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (which obviously has nothing better to do, like taking out meth labs and breaking up crack distribution networks). They are attempting to have him extradited to the US, where if convicted, he faces prison time (up to ten years), and is even theoretically subject to life in prison or the death penalty, as a "drug kingpin" (ala Pablo Escobar). Why? Well, the quote below tells you: a transparent attempt to suppress a political point of view. Facism, pure and simple.
here and here.

DEA strikes a blow against "marajuana legalization movement"

Seeing the Fores

This is outrageous: The Canadian Police have arrested marajuana legalization activist Marc Emery (a Canadian citizen, and founder/head of the British Columbia Marajuana Party) and two employees of his marajuana seed distribution company. This was done at the request of the U.S. Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (which obviously has nothing better to do, like taking out meth labs and breaking up crack distribution networks). They are attempting to have him extradited to the US, where if convicted, he faces prison time (up to ten years), and is even theoretically subject to life in prison or the death penalty, as a "drug kingpin" (ala Pablo Escobar). Why? Well, the quote below tells you: a transparent attempt to suppress a political point of view. Facism, pure and simple.

a column by Joel Connelly in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this morning quotes a statement by DEA chief Karen Tandy suggesting political motivations: " Today's arrest of Mark (sic) Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and the founder of a marijuana legalization group, is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the US and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement... Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on."

Here's the full article, from stopthedrugwar.org: Marc Emery Busted -- Canada's Leading Marijuana Activist Facing Life in American Prison Over Seed Sales

Here's the full column quoted above: Pursuit of drug case all smoke, no fire
Continue reading "DEA strikes a blow against "marajuana legalization movement""a column by Joel Connelly in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this morning quotes a statement by DEA chief Karen Tandy suggesting political motivations: " Today's arrest of Mark (sic) Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine and the founder of a marijuana legalization group, is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the US and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement... Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on."

Here's the full article, from stopthedrugwar.org: Marc Emery Busted -- Canada's Leading Marijuana Activist Facing Life in American Prison Over Seed Sales

Here's the full column quoted above: Pursuit of drug case all smoke, no fire
Continue reading "DEA strikes a blow against "marajuana legalization movement""